Prenomen (Ancient Egypt)
| Prenomen in hieroglyphs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
niswt He of the sedge |
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bjty He of the bee |
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Full form
niswt-bity He of the sedge and the bee (King of Upper- and Lower Egypt) |
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The prenomen (alternatively written praenomen) of Ancient Egyptian pharaohs was one of the "great five names" of Egyptian rulers. Other terms for this "great name" are Nswt-bity name and throne name.
It is thought by some Egyptologists and historians to be the birth name of the rulers, although they are not known to have used it in public inscriptions. Other Egyptologists believe that the prenomen was an independent name exclusively invented for the nswt-bity crest.
The prenomen is composed of four hieroglyphic signs arranged into two fixed groups: the first sign group comprises the picture of a four-leafed sedge over a bread loaf. It was read in Egyptian as Niswt and symbolised Upper Egypt. The second group is written with the sign for a honey bee over a bread loaf. It was read as Bity and symbolised Lower Egypt. The etymology and origin of each crest reading is still unknown.
During the first three dynasties, the prenomen was depicted either alone or in pair with the Nebty name, as the case of king Semerkhet shows. He was the first king who devoted his prenomen to the Two Ladies that clearly, although not every king after him followed that custom. From king Huni, the probably last king of third dynasty, onward, the prenomen was encircled by the so-called cartouche, the elongated form of the Shen ring ("ring of eternity").
The Niswt-Bity name is considered to be the least understood and most complex title of all five names that Egyptian pharaohs could adopt. Today it is commonly translated by "King of Upper and Lower Egypt" but in Ancient Egyptian times it was surely read as "he of the sedge and the bee" and understood as "the dual king". This is based on the traditional and religious beliefs of the Ancient Egyptians, in particular that a king, as the ruler of two realms, was likewise a ruler of all dualistic things. The king was therefore the ruler over things with contradicting yet complementary meanings, such as "good - evil", "light - darkness" and "harmony - chaos".
The reason for which the Ancient Egyptians chose the sedge as the symbol for Upper Egypt may lie in their view of the sedge as a symbol for fertility and harvest; thus naturally associated with the king who was thought to always be potent and fertile.Niswt, the "seal of the sprouting reed", reveals a rather maternal and protecting function as shown by early titles such as Mery-nesw ("being loved by the king") and heraldic crests such as Per-nesw ("house of the king").
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Wikipedia