Several proposals have been made for the etymology and meaning of the original name; as Smith (2017) notes, none are fully convincing.[1] Most takewsjr as the accepted transliteration, following Adolf Erman:
Griffiths (1980), “bearing in mind Erman’s emphasis on the fact that the name must begin with an [sic]w”, proposes a derivation fromwsr with an original meaning of “The Mighty One”.[2]
Sethe (1930) proposes a compoundst-jrt, meaning “seat of the eye”, in a hypothetical earlier form*wst-jrt; this is rejected by Griffiths on phonetic grounds.[2]
Lorton (1985) takes up a similar compound but explainsst-jrt as signifying “product, something made”, from the verbjrj, with Osiris representing the product of the mummification process.[3]
Westendorf (1987) proposes an etymology fromwꜣst-jrt “she who bears the eye”.[4]
Zeidler (2000) reviews the common hypotheses and rejects the interpretation of the second element as eitherjrj(“to do, make”) orjrt(“eye”) on phonetic grounds, ultimately agreeing with Griffiths on the meaning and rendering the name(w)sr(w) with the assumption that the writing of the name reflects an archaic use of the throne and eye hieroglyphs as uniliteral signs.[5]
Smith (2017) makes no definitive proposals but asserts that the second element must be a form ofjrj(“to do, make”) (rather thanjrt(“eye”)), since the word is found complemented withr in writings of the Middle Kingdom.[1]
However, recently alternative transliterations have been proposed:
Muchiki (1990) reexamines Erman’s evidence that the throne hieroglyph in the word is to be readws and finds it unconvincing, suggesting instead that the name should be readꜣsjr on the basis of Aramaic, Phoenician, and Old South Arabian transcriptions, readings of the throne sign in other words, and comparison withꜣst(“Isis”).[6]
Allen (2010) reads the word asjsjrt but later revises the reading (2013) tojsjrj and derives it fromjs-jrj, meaning “engendering (male) principle”.[7]
As a designation for the deceased, this word has traditionally been interpreted as standing in apposition to the dead person’s name, identifying them with the god Osiris: ‘the OsirisN.N.’ However, a variant form of this construction with the wordn(j)(“of”) inserted between the two elements is attested since theCoffin Texts. This suggests the version where the two are juxtaposed is in fact a direct genitive construction meaning ‘the OsirisofN.N.’, not an apposition. Smith suggests that the meaning of ‘the Osiris of’ a dead person was ‘the form that an individual acquired as a result of the rites of mummification and justification’, at the end of which ‘they could be said to possess an Osiris-aspect’, an ‘Osirian form’ unique to each individual and not to be directly identified with the god Osiris.[1]
“Wsjr (lemma ID 49460)” and “Wsjr (lemma ID 49461)”, inThesaurus Linguae Aegyptiae[1], Corpus issue 18, Web app version 2.1.5, Tonio Sebastian Richter & Daniel A. Werning by order of the Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften and Hans-Werner Fischer-Elfert & Peter Dils by order of the Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig,2004–26 July 2023
James P[eter] Allen (2010),Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs, 2nd edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,→ISBN,pages148, 361.
↑1.01.11.2Smith, Mark (2017)Following Osiris: Perspectives on the Osirian Afterlife from Four Millennia, pages 124–126, 372–389
↑2.02.1Griffiths, John Gwyn (1980)The Origins of Osiris and His Cult
^Lorton, David (1985) inVaria Aegyptiaca I, pages 117–121
^Westendorf, Wolfhart (1987) “Zur Etymologie des Namens Osiris:*wꜣs.t-jr.t “die das Auge trägt”.” in J. Osing and G. Dreyer (editors),Form und Mass: Beiträge zur Literatur, Sprache und Kunst des alten Ägypten: Festschrift für Gerhard Fecht zum 65. Geburtstag am 6. Februar 1987, pages 456–461
^Zeidler, Jürgen (2000) “Zur Etymologie des Gottesnamens Osiris” inStudien zur Altägyptischen Kultur, volume 28, pages 309–316
^Muchiki, Yoshi (1990) “On the transliteration of the name Osiris” inThe Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, volume 76, pages 191–194
^Allen, James P. (2013) “The Name of Osiris (and Isis)” inLingua Aegyptia, volume 21, pages 9–14.
