ḥnmmt

Egyptian

Etymology

Possibly ultimately from nmj (“to traverse, to travel”).

Pronunciation

• (modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /hɛnmɛmɛt/
  • Conventional anglicization: henmemet

Noun

 f

1. (collective) a group of people or celestial beings of unclear, possibly originally religious, significance; conventionally rendered sun-folk. The meaning of this term is uncertain. Possibilities include:
   1. the king’s inner circle of personal attendants
   2. the priesthood of Heliopolis
   3. a group of divine beings associated with the north polar and eastern regions of the sky
2. (collective) the people of a given place, especially Egypt
   • c. 1550 BCE – 1295 BCE, Great Hymn to Osiris (Stela of Amenmose, Louvre C 286) line 19:

     swḏ n.f rmt rḫyt pꜥt ḥnmmt tꜣ-mrj ḥꜣ(w)-nbw(t)

     Humankind was bequeathed to him, the commoners and patricians, the sunfolk of the Beloved Land (Egypt) and the Aegean islanders.

3. (collective) humankind

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of ḥnmmt  

ḥnmmt	ḥnmmt	ḥnmmt	ḥnmmt	ḥmmt	ḥnmmt
[Pyramid Texts]		[Middle Kingdom]	[Middle Kingdom]		[New Kingdom]

Descendants

• Old Coptic: ϩⲁⲙⲉⲩ (hameu)

References

• Erman, Adolf, Grapow, Hermann (1929) Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache‎^[1], volume 3, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, →ISBN, pages 114.6–114.13
• Faulkner, Raymond Oliver (1962) A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian, Oxford: Griffith Institute, →ISBN, page 172
• Wilson, Penelope (1991) A Lexicographical Study of the Ptolemaic Texts in the Temple of Edfu, Liverpool: University of Liverpool, pages 1173–1174
• Serrano, Jose M. (1999) “Origin and Basic Meaning of the Word ḥnmmt (The So-Called ‘Sun-Folk’)” in Studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur, volume 27, pages 353–368