rnpt-ḥsb

Egyptian

Etymology

From rnpt (“year”) +‎ ḥsb (“counting”) in a direct genitive construction, thus literally ‘year of counting’.

Pronunciation

 

• (reconstructed) IPA^(key): /ˌɾanpatˈħaːsab/ → /ˌɾanpaʔˈħaːsab/ → /ɾənpəˈħaːsəb/ → /ɾənpəˈħoːsəβ/

• (Old Egyptian, c. 2500 BCE) IPA^(key): /ˌɾanpatˈħaːsab/
• (Middle Egyptian, c. 1700 BCE) IPA^(key): /ˌɾanpaʔˈħaːsab/
• (Amarna-period Late Egyptian, c. 1350 BCE) IPA^(key): /ɾənpəˈħaːsəb/
• (latest Late Egyptian, c. 800 BCE) IPA^(key): /ɾənpəˈħoːsəβ/

• (modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /rɛnpɛt hɛsɛb/
  • Conventional anglicization: renpet-heseb

Noun

 f

1. regnal year

Usage notes

rnpt-ḥsb is used almost solely for dating years of a king’s reign. In the Old Kingdom it is followed by the ordinal of the year, while from the start of the Middle Kingdom it is instead followed by the feminine cardinal number of the year.

Allen interprets this term as rnpt-ḥsb, while von Beckerath reads it as ḥsbt; in either case it is a feminine derivative of ḥsb. The traditional earlier interpretations of this term as ḥꜣt-zp (literally “front of time”), following Kurt Sethe, or rnpt-zp, following Elmar Edel, are no longer regarded as correct.

Inflection

Theoretically thus, but in practice unlikely to occur in any form other than the singular:

Declension of rnpt-ḥsb (feminine)

singular	rnpt-ḥsb
dual	rnptj-ḥsb
plural	rnpwt-ḥsb

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of rnpt-ḥsb  

rnpt	rnpt-ḥsb	rnpt	ḥsb	ḥsb

Descendants

• *(rnpt)-ḥsb wꜥt
  • ⇒ Bohairic Coptic: ⲁⲥⲫⲟⲩⲓ (asphoui)

References

• James P[eter] Allen (2010) Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs, 2nd edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 108.
• von Beckerath, Jürgen (1969) “Die Lesung von „Regierungsjahr“: ein neuer Vorschlag” in Zeitschrift für ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde, volume 95, issue 1, page 88–91
• Erman, Adolf, Grapow, Hermann (1926–1961) Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, →ISBN
• Faulkner, Raymond Oliver (1962) A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian, Oxford: Griffith Institute, →ISBN