Akh, Akhet & Ankh -
Akh = "Spirit" It is in aspect of the
soul, like the more well-known Ka & Ba
Akhet = "Horizon"
Ankh = "Life" or a variant thereof (ie.
Living, Lives, etc...)
Akhet-Aten (Akhetaten) - "Horizon of Aten". The ancient name for
Amarna (Tell el-Amarna), Akhenaten's capital in middle Egypt.
Aten (Aton, Iten) - the Sun-Disc. The sole (official) God during the
Amarna Period. In glyphs it is spelled I-t-n.
Amon, Amen, Imen) - The "Hidden One," the King of the Gods
during the New Kingdom. His main center of worship was Thebes (Waset) and he was
thus the patron of the House of Thebes, the ruling family of the 18th dynasty.
That is, until Akhenaten rejected him.
In hieroglyphs, Amun is written as follows: I-mn-n. This is why names like
Tutankhamen and Ankhesenamen can be spelled so many different ways -- Amen, Amon
and Amun are all just approximations of how it would have been pronounced.
Co-Regent - A king who rules at the same time as another king. This
was common in many dynasties in Egypt. In most cases, it was the Crown Prince
who was made a co-ruler with his father, in order for the Prince to learn how to
be a King.
Dahamunzu - Ta-hemet-nesu: "The King's Wife." How the Egyptian queen (Ankhesenamen?)
signed her letters to the Hittites.
Heda - the winged sun disc. Akha ma Heda! (May the Winged Sun
Disc protect and envelop you! - common blessing of the day)
Hemet Nesu Weret - "Queen." The Egyptian's had no word for "Queen." A
Pharaoh had many wives, but (normally) only one Hemet Nesu Weret: Great Royal
Wife or King's Great Wife. She would be the 'Queen' in the modern sense of the
word, the first lady of Egypt.
Ka - an aspect of the soul. Spirit. Life force.
Kemet - What the Egyptians called Egypt. It means "The Black Land,"
refers to the dark, fertile soil of the Nile valley.
Ma'at (Maat, Maet, Mayet) - Truth, Justice, Divine Order. Also a
Goddess who is patroness of the same.
Ex: Ankh em MA'AT: "Living in TRUTH."
Mennefer - an ancient name for the Egyptian city of Memphis, where
Tutankhamen's court most likely went after they left Amarna.
Mut - Mother. Mut also was a goddess, the wife of Amun. In
hieroglyphs, her name is spelled something like: M-w-t. (Tutankhamen's name is
like that too! The 'u' in 'Tut' is probably more correctly written as 'w', but
that's difficult to say! Twt, that is. :)
Mut Nesu - King's Mother = 'Dowager Queen'
Neb & Nebet - Neb: Lord, Master; Nebet: Lady, Mistress.
Ex: in NEBkheperure: "LORD of the Manifestations of RE." or Nebet-Tawy: "LADY of
the Two Lands."
Nefer, Neferu & Nefert - Good, Beautiful, Perfect. Nefert is the
feminine version of Nefer, Neferu or Nefru is the plural.
Ex: NEFERTiti: "The Beautiful One Has Come."
Nesu - Royal, of the King.
Ex: Sit NESU "King's Daughter" or "Royal Daughter."
Netjer, Netjert, & Netjeru - Netjer: God, Divine; Netjert: Goddess,
Divine (fem); Netjeru: Gods.
Ex: Ay's title of It Netjer: "DIVINE Father" or "God's Father."
Per'aa - Great House: "Palace". It is also the Egyptian title that
developed into the word "Pharaoh." Think of how Americans use "the White House."
Ex: "The White House responded today by placing economic sanctions on
such-and-such a country." The house itself didn't do anything, but the people
who live/work in the house did. See? :)
Ra (Re) - the Sun, a Sun God.
Ex: SetepenRa: "Chosen of RA" or "Chosen of the SUN."
Sen & Senet - Sen = brother. Senet = sister.
Sen Nesu - King's Brother = 'Prince'
Senet Nesu - King's Sister = 'Princess'
Senet is also the name of an Egyptian board game.
Lovers also called each other "Brother" and "Sister."
Si & Sit - Si (or Sa) = Son. Sit (or Sat) = Daughter.
Si Nesu - King's Son = 'Prince'
Sit Nesu - King's Daughter = 'Princess'
Si Re (or Sa Ra) - Son of Re, one of the titles of a King, it preceeded his
birth name. (ie. Neb-Tawy, Nebkheperure; Si Re, Tutankhamen)
Waset (Wast) - The ancient name for the city of Thebes. Thebes was the
city where the ruling family of the 18th dynasty came from orignally. It was
also the religious capital during most of said dynasty.
Wer & Weret -
Important, most valuable (see quote. (Aa -- as in per'aa -- means
something similar) Weret is the feminine version of Wer.
Ex: Hemet-Nesu-WERET "King's GREAT (most important) Wife."