| "dual king" inhieroglyphs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
nswt-bjtj "[He] of the Sedge and the Bee" | ||||
 | ||||
Theprenomen, also calledcartouche name orthrone name[1] (Ancient Egyptian:𓆥nswt-bjtj "of theSedge and Bee") ofancient Egypt, was one of thefive royal names ofpharaohs. The firstpharaoh to have a Sedge and Bee name wasDen during theFirst Dynasty.[1]
Most Egyptologists believe that the prenomen was aregnal name.
The first part of the title,ni-su, seems to have referred to the eternal institution of kingship itself. It was, in fact, the word for "king" in expressions[.] The wordbjt, on the other hand, more properly referred to the ephemeral holder of the position. In this way, both the divine and the mortal were referenced in the phrase, along with the obvious dual division of the northern and southern lands. For these reasons, the translation "Dual King" is preferred today.[1]
Others think that it originally represented the birth name of the rulers.[2]
The term "of the Sedge and Bee"[3] is written by the hieroglyphs representing asedge, representingUpper Egypt (𓇓Gardiner M23) and abee, representingLower Egypt (𓆤 L2), each combined with the feminine endingt (𓏏 X1), read asnsw.t andbj.t respectively; the adjectivalnisba ending-j is not represented in writing.[2][4]
During the first three dynasties, the prenomen was depicted either alone or in pair with theNebty name.Semerkhet was the first pharaoh who devoted his prenomen to theTwo Ladies. From PharaohHuni, the probable last king of theThird Dynasty onward, the prenomen was encircled by thecartouche (the elongated form of theshen ring).[2]
For most of history of Egypt, the title was written in a male form, regardless of the ruling pharaoh's gender.[5] A feminized version -nsjt bjtjt - is attested only for the last female Pharaoh,Cleopatra VII.[6][7]
Thenswt-bjtj title is recorded from the time of the First Dynasty. It is conventionally paraphrased as "Dual King" or "King of Upper and Lower Egypt", but its literal interpretation would be "[He of] sedge [and] bee". Thet hieroglyph (X1) is archaically read astj, so that inOld Egyptian the transliteration of the title would bensw.tj-bj.tj.
The spellingsw.t.n in the Old Kingdom was initially interpreted as representingswtn orstn (now deprecated).Kurt Sethe later proposed the interpretation ofn-swtj as "belonging to the Sut-plant".The prepositionaln is omitted in the spellingsw.tj. The termnswt is used in reference to the king, but not as a title placed before a royal name.[8] A rare variant form spellsnswt asnzw.
In theAmarna Period, anAkkadiancuneiform transliteration of the title is recorded, asin-si-bi-ya, representing aLate Egyptian pronunciation of approximately [ɪnsəˈβiːjaʔ]. Schenkel (1986) cites a reconstruction of an older Egyptian form, based on the cuneiform, as*jinsiw-bījVt, where V is an unknown vowel.[9] This would seem to cast doubt on the widespread reading ofn(j)-sw.t bj.tj, because at in this position is preserved in Coptic, and would not have been omitted in cuneiform.[10] Schenkel and Peust (2007)[11] have also questioned the derivation ofnswt fromswt "sedge", considering theswt-graph to be a borrowed sound rather than the emblem of Upper Egypt. In this case,nsw(t)-bjt(j) would simply be a combination of two words meaning "king".
Kahl (2008) attempts a symbolological interpretation of the "sedge" and the "bee" as representing Upper and Lower Egypt, respectively. According to Kahl, the "seal of the sprouting reed", reveals a "rather maternal and protecting function" of the king, and the "seal of the defensive bee" represents "a rather power and strength seeking character".[4]The earliest instances of the use ofbjt date back to the time period corresponding to queenMerneith's possible rule, between the reigns of Djet and Den in the mid First Dynasty.[12]
Honey was used in Ancient Egypt as food, medicine, table offering intemples andshrines and as an important trade ware.[13] Additionally, the bee sign might have had the meaning of "wealth, affluence". This might explain as to why thebjtj crest is used when describing offices that were responsible for economic duties such as theKhetemty-bity for "seal bearer of the bjtj-king".[14]A military interpretation, depicting the bee in reference to its sting, has also been proposed.[2] The strongest evidence supporting this conclusion comes from the pyramid texts of kingUnas andTeti of the late Fifth and earlySixth Dynasty. In these texts, the goddessNut is described as a "swarm of bees, encircling and devouring the king's enemy".[15]
Three different uses for thenswt-bjtj group of signs are known. First, they represented the highest level of command, for the king himself as well for his subjects. Thus, every title of an official containing thenswt- orbjt signs gave the holder the highest executive authority. Examples of such titles aresḏꜣwtj-bjtj andsḏꜣwtj-nswt. Despite using thebjt andnswt group of signs, both titles actually mean "sealbearer of the king". However, when used separately and in mere economic contexts, the titles could have a more specific meaning, for examplesḏꜣwtj-bjtj can be read as "sealbearer of the king of Lower Egypt" andsḏꜣwtj-nswt as "seal bearer of the king of Upper Egypt". A unique case seems to be the birth name of theThird Dynasty king Huni: his name contains thenswt crest beside the signs forḥw meaning "utterance" or "appointment" orḥwj for "smiting" or "beating".[2][4]
Secondly, both sign groups could be used either alone or together to designate the personal property of the pharaoh or an order of him. The former usage is similar to that of the hieroglyph of the sitting falcon while an example of the latter is found in a rock inscription in Sinai dating to theSecond Dynasty. The inscription, which names the "administrator of the desert and general Ankhenity", further readswpwt nswt meaning "[commissioned] by order of thenswt king".[2] A similar factum is found in words describing royal actions. The wordwḏ nswt, for example, means "royal decree".[1]
A third symbolic and also practical meaning ofnswt lies in its use to express and accentuate relationships in the royal family. Originally thenswt crest expressed a direct blood link with the pharaoh, for example in the titlessꜣ-nswt for "son of the king" andmwt-nswt for "mother of the king". At some point during theFifth Dynasty however, the titles for son or daughter of the king became honorific and were given to high officials and courtiers alike. Indirect kinships and mere acquaintances with the king were expressed with titles such assmr-nswt meaning "friend/courtier of the king" andrḫ-nswt for "favorite of the king".[2] This kind of expression dates back to the First Dynasty, with the titlesmry nsw, "beloved of the king", andꜥnḫ-mrr-nsw, "living for and beloved by the king", appearing during the reign ofDjet. Both titles are rare and might point to elite positions held by the title bearers.[16]
Finally, similarly to thenswt crest, thebjt crest also expressed royal authority. For example, a "seal-bearer of thebjt-king" was - alongside the direct relatives of the king - the only one allowed to touch, count and seal the personal possessions of the pharaoh.[17]
When used singly or combined with other symbols,nswt andbjt received advanced meanings in Egyptian heraldry, especially when connected with administrative and/or economic institutions. The sign grouppr-nswt, for example, meaning "house of the king", represented the royal household and/or the palace of the king.[2][18][19]
Semerkhet, the seventh ruler of theFirst Dynasty, introduced the famous Nebty name as a complementary counterpart to thenswt-bjtj crest. Semerkhet's predecessor,Anedjib, had introduced thenbwj name as a heraldic emendation. Butnbwj (meaning "the two lords") seemed to include the wrong gender. Semerkhet seemed to seek for a "female" crest and thus changed thenbwj name into thenbtj name, the crest of the "Two Ladies" (Nekhbet andWadjet). From Semerkhet toNynetjer (the third ruler of the Second Dynasty), thenswt-bjtj crest appeared in pair with the Nebty name.Seth-Peribsen (possibly Nynetjer's direct successor) was the first to separate the crests and use thenswt-bjtj crest alone again. He used thenbtj crest separately, too, but peculiarly, the name "Peribsen" was used in all crests.[20]
The final form of the titlenswt-bjtj was introduced during the reign of kingHorus Den, the fifth ruler of the First Dynasty, and was then adopted by all subsequent kings. At the time of the introduction of thenswt-bjtj crest both groups were already in use separately. The single sign groupnsw.t was already in use under king Djer, the third king of the dynasty and maybe even under king Hor-Aha, his predecessor. The sign groupbj.t appeared slightly later, during the reign of Den. An interesting[citation needed] background is the symbolic implementation ofnswt with the White Crown of Upper Egypt andbjt with the Red Crown of Lower Egypt.[2][4]
KingDjedefre, the third ruler of the Fourth Dynasty, combined thenswt-bjtj crest for the first time with the titleSa-Rē (Egyptian:zȝ-rˁ "son of Rē"). This title followed the cartouche as an emendation of the birth name.[2] KingNeferirkare Kakai, the third ruler of the Fifth Dynasty, was the first who separated thenswt-bjtj- and thesa-rê crest and turned them into two different, independent names:nomen andprenomen. Now the titlesa-rê introduced the new name and it was also placed in a cartouche. During later times, pharaohs often used both names, prenomen and nomen, in cartouches, which sometimes led to confusion amongst Egyptologists in the past. The reason for the confusion was differences between the royal names presented by the ancient historianManetho and the Ramesside king lists, such as the Abydos King List, the Saqqara Table and the Turin Canon. Whilst Manetho referred to the nomen, the Ramesside king lists used the prenomen. Another reason is that many rulers of later periods used the cartouche versions of their nomen and prenomen separately in different inscriptions. Only in inscriptions that depict both names side by side is it obvious that the two names belong to the same king.[21]
The title was used in the same - male - form, even in cases when ruling pharaoh was a woman.[22] The only instance of a feminized version is known from the reign ofCleopatra VII for whom there is attested formnsjt-n-tꜣ-šmꜥ bjtjt-n-tꜣ-mḥw that contains female versions of bothnswt andbitj, as well references to Upper and Lower Egypt, and can be translated as "Queen of Upper and Lower Egypt", or - more detailedly - "Queen of the land of Upper Egypt (and) Queen of the land of Lower Egypt".[23][24]
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