ḥwt-kꜣ-ptḥ

Egyptian

FWOTD – 8 August 2018

Etymology

From ḥwt (“enclosure”) +‎ kꜣ (“ka”) +‎ ptḥ (“Ptah”) with direct genitive constructions, thus literally ‘house of the ka of Ptah’.

Pronunciation

 

• (reconstructed) IPA^(key): /ħawitˌkuʀpiˈtaħ/ → /ħawiʔˌkuʀpiˈtaħ/ → /ħajəˌkuʔpəˈtaħ/ → /ħəjˌkøʔpəˈtaħ/

• (Old Egyptian, c. 2500 BCE) IPA^(key): /ħawitˌkuʀpiˈtaħ/
• (Middle Egyptian, c. 1700 BCE) IPA^(key): /ħawiʔˌkuʀpiˈtaħ/
• (Medio-Late Egyptian, c. 1350 BCE) IPA^(key): /ħajəˌkuʔpəˈtaħ/
• (Late Egyptian, c. 800 BCE) IPA^(key): /ħəjˌkøʔpəˈtaħ/

• (modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /ħuːt kɑ pɛtɛħ/
  • Conventional anglicization: hut-ka-ptah

Proper noun

 f

1. The temple of the ka of Ptah in Memphis, Egypt
   • c. 725 BCE, Victory Stela of Piye (Cairo JE 48862), line 97:

     drp ḏꜣḏꜣt ḥwt-kꜣ-ptḥ

     presenting an offering to the assembly (of gods) of the temple of Ptah

2. (metonymically) Memphis, Egypt
   • c. 1351–1340 BCE, offering-list of Amenhotep IV/Akhenaten, lines 1–2:

     [rꜥ-ḥr-ꜣḫtj-ḥꜥ-m-ꜣḫt-m-rn.f-m-šw-ntj]-m-[j]ṯn [ḥr] nꜣ n(j) ḫꜣwt rꜥ šꜣ(ꜥ)-m ḥwt-kꜣ-[ptḥ] nfryt-r zmꜣ-n-bḥḏt

     [Ra-Horakhty-who-rejoices-on-the-horizon-in-his-name-of-Light]-in-the-Sun-Disk is [upon] the altars of Ra from Memphis all the way to Zema-Behdet.

   • 19th Dynasty, Papyrus Sallier IV (British Museum EA 10184) verso (A Letter Concerning the Wonders of Memphis), 1.3, 2.1:

     …

     m.k ḥr ḏd n ptḥ ꜥꜣ rs(j)-jnb.f nb ꜥnḫ-tꜣwj n sḫmt ꜥꜣt mry(t) ptḥ […] n nswtyw-bjtjw ntj jmj-wrt ntj ḥr jmnt n(j) ḥwt-kꜣ-ptḥ […]

     Look, (I) pray to Ptah the Great, He-Who-is-South-of-His-Wall, the lord of the life of the Two Lands, to Sekhmet the Great, beloved of Ptah, […] to the Dual Kings of Egypt who are in the West [i.e. the afterworld], who are to the west of Memphis […]

3. (metonymically) Egypt

Descendants

• → Akkadian: 𒄭𒆪𒌒𒋫𒀪 (ḫi-ku-up-ta-aḫ /ḫikuptaḫ/)
• → Ancient Greek: Αἴγυπτος (Aíguptos) (see there for further descendants)