nswt-bjtj

Egyptian

Etymology

nswt +‎ bjtj, literally ‘the belonging one of the sedge, the one of the bee’, or, more simply, ‘he of the sedge and the bee’, the sedge and the bee being emblems of Upper and Lower Egypt, respectively, according to the traditional etymology. Sometimes it is instead read as n(j) +‎ swt +‎ bjt, literally ‘the belonging one of the sedge and of the bee’, thus ultimately expressing the same meaning. In recent times the derivation and reading of nswt has been questioned; if it is not in fact derived from swt (“sedge”), then nswt-bjtj may just be a compound of two words meaning ‘king’. The term is also attested in cuneiform script as 𒅔𒋛𒅁𒅀 (in-si-ib-ia) from a Ramesside-era Hittite letter.

Pronunciation

 

• (reconstructed) IPA^(key): /nijˈsiːwat biˈjaːtVj/ → /nijˈsiːjaʔ biˈjaːtVj/ → /ʔənˈsiːʔ bəˈjaːtə/ → /ʔənˈsiːʔ βəˈjoːt/

• (Old Egyptian, c. 2500 BCE) IPA^(key): /nijˈsiːwat biˈjaːtVj/

  where V represents an unknown short vowel.

• (Middle Egyptian, c. 1700 BCE) IPA^(key): /nijˈsiːjaʔ biˈjaːtVj/

  where V represents an unknown short vowel.

• (Amarna-period Late Egyptian, c. 1350 BCE) IPA^(key): /ʔənˈsiːʔ bəˈjaːtə/
• (latest Late Egyptian, c. 800 BCE) IPA^(key): /ʔənˈsiːʔ βəˈjoːt/

• (modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /nɛsuːt biti/
  • Conventional anglicization: nesut-biti

Noun

 m

1. dual king of Upper and Lower Egypt; pharaoh
2. Conventionally written before the cartouche containing a king’s praenomen.

References

• Schenkel, Wolfgang (1986) “Das Wort für König (von Oberägypten)” in Göttinger Miszellen, 94, pp. 57-73
• Sethe, Kurt (1911) “Das Wort für König von Oberägypten” in Zeitschrift für Ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde, vol. 42, issue 1-2
• James P[eter] Allen (2010) Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs, 2nd edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, pages 67, 463.