nswt

Egyptian
FWOTD – 11 February 2018

Etymology

Traditionally (since Sethe 1911) derived from n(j) (“of, belonging”) +‎ swt (“sedge”) in a direct genitive construction with n(j) used as a noun, literally ‘the belonging one of the sedge’, i.e. ‘the one to whom Upper Egypt belongs’, the sedge being an emblem of Upper Egypt. The odd glyph order in the written form is probably due to a preference for forming compact groups of hieroglyphs.

However, this interpretation has been challenged, as Helck, Schenkel, and others have argued that the plant represented by swt is not the emblem of Upper Egypt at all; Schenkel also suggests the reconstructed vocalization of the word does not support such an etymology. Peust goes so far as to say the word has no special connection with Upper Egypt, and derives it as borrowed from Sumerian 𒉺𒋼𒋛 (ensi2) with the Egyptian noun-forming suffix -w. This might also be suggested by the alternate reading nzw and the cuneiform rendering 𒅔𒋛𒅁𒅀 (in-si-ib-ia) for the compound form nswt-bjtj from a Ramesside-era Hittite letter.[1]

Pronunciation
 
  • (reconstructed) IPA(key): /nijˈsiːwat/ → /niˈsiːwaʔ/ → /ʔənˈsiːʔəʔ/ → /ʔənˈsiːʔ/

Noun

 m

  1. king of Upper Egypt
  2. king of (Upper and Lower) Egypt, especially as a divine power (as opposed to ḥm, which refers to a particular incarnation that holds that power)
    • Stela of Ity, British Museum, Egyptian Antiquities, 586:




      jw wḥm.n(.j) ḥzt ḫr nswt […]
      I repeated favour before the king […]

Usage notes

Only Egyptian kings were considered nswt and ḥm; foreign kings were regarded as merely ḥqꜣ or wr.

Inflection
Declension of nswt (masculine)
singular nswt
dual —
plural njw-swt, nswtyw

Alternative forms
Alternative hieroglyphic writings of nswt  





nswt nswt nswt nswt nswt nswt nzw nswt nswt nswt
[Pyramid Texts] [since the Middle Kingdom] [since the Middle Kingdom] [since the Middle Kingdom]
abbreviation

Much debate centers around the apparent variant form nzw, attested from very early times, and its relation to nswt. Some authors see it as a dialectal variant of the latter; others treat it as an entirely separate word. Schenkel instead reads nswt in a different order as ntsw and considers it a variant spelling of nzw, hypothesizing that the Egyptian z is an affricate equivalent to ts; a number of authors have adopted this suggestion.

In some outdated publications, nswt was read as stn, stnj, or swtn, but these readings are now generally rejected.

Sometimes, based on the traditional etymology, a fuller reading as njswt or nj-swt is given.

Derived terms

References
  1. KUB 03, 066, described in Cochavi-Rainey, Zipora. Egyptian Influence in the Akkadian Texts Written by Egyptian Scribes in the Fourteenth and Thirteenth Centuries B. C. E.
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