wp-rnpt

Egyptian

Etymology

wp (“opening”) +‎ rnpt (“year”) in a direct genitive construction, thus literally ‘opening of the year’.

Pronunciation

• (modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /wɛp rɛnpɛt/
  • Conventional anglicization: wep-renpet

Proper noun

 m

1. ‘New Year’s Day’: a festival day at the start of the Egyptian year, the first day of the first month of ꜣḫt, originally aligned to the heliacal rising of Sirius in summer
2. the festival day of the king’s birthday
3. a month of the year, apparently the last, corresponding to Mesore, the fourth month of šmw

Usage notes

There is some debate over the exact nature of the various calendars used in ancient Egypt. While wp-rnpt was synonymous with the last month according to the later ‘civil calendar’, some Egyptologists argue that it was the first month in earlier calendrical systems. Various hypotheses, generally involving the interplay between multiple calendars, have been put forward to explain why the festival of wp-rnpt occurs after the month of the same name instead of during it, but conclusions remain uncertain.

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of wp-rnpt  

[Old Kingdom]	[Old Kingdom]	[Old Kingdom]	[Middle Kingdom]	[Greco-Roman Period]	[Greco-Roman Period]

See also

• (Middle Kingdom (Memphite) Egyptian calendar months) tḫj, mnḫt, ẖnt-ḥwt-ḥr, nḥb-kꜣw, šf-bdt, rkḥ-ꜥꜣ, rkḥ-nḏs, rnn-wtt, ḫnsw, ḫnt-ẖty-prtj, jpt-ḥmt, wp-rnpt

• (New Kingdom (Theban) Egyptian calendar months) ḏḥwtj, pꜣ-n-jpt, ḥwt-ḥr, kꜣ-ḥr-kꜣ, tꜣ-ꜥꜣbt, pꜣ-n-pꜣ-mḫrw, pꜣ-n-jmn-ḥtp, pꜣ-n-rnn-wtt, pꜣ-n-ḫnsw, pꜣ-n-jnt, jpj-jpj, mswt-rꜥ ^{(Category: egy:Egyptian calendar months)}
• (hieroglyphs) 𓄎, 𓄍

References

• Erman, Adolf, Grapow, Hermann (1926–1961) Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, →ISBN
• James P[eter] Allen (2010) Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs, 2nd edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, pages 107, 109.