a-
STUDIEN ZUR
ALTACYPTISCH
EN
KULTUR
aa
Herausgegeben
von
JochemKahl und
NicoleKloth
Band41 | 2012
HELMUT BUSKEVERLAG
HAMBI-IRG
TheMiddleKin gdomfunmsw
HelmutSatzinger
/ DanijelaStefanovi6
(raf. 34)
Abstract
An inscribedMiddle Kingdom stelain Cairq which featues thee ,tmsw, offers an occasionto rc-examinethis
tem. It is sholvnto be an extensionofthe root bnm,*'\o teat affectionately,lovingly". It canbe comparedwith
a Semiticroot that is at the baseof expressionsfor "lust" on the onehand,andfor 'loung person"on the other.
Rectangularlate Middle Kingdom limestoneslab Cairo CG 20208,1measuring19,5 by 29
cm, commemoratesmnlw-wsr, the membersof his family, ond mntjljn-hr(t)-futp.T\e depicted figuresareincisedin silhoueftestyle.
1) htp dj nswtwsjr nb ddtvnlr ,j nb Jbiw prt-brw t bnkt klw tpdw 2) n jmfu(w) finrns.f
mntrw-wsfir.n snf 3) hmt.f mrt.fjmw! 4'; sl.f mn1w-futps
5) stt.fmt"t.fbbj-.nb6
1) An offering which the king hasgiven and Osiris, lord of Busiris, $eat Go4 lord of Abydos, an invocationoffering of bread,beer,cattle,and fowl, 2) for tle reveredone,his ftnms
nntw-wsr,bom of snt;3) his wife, his beloved,Trzw;4)
his sonmnlw-ktp;5)his alaughter,
hisbeloved, bbj-'nfu;
6) prt-[rw t hnkt k]w tpdw 3smnbt n7) kl n jmlfu(w) fuwns8).f mn{ 9)jn-hr(t)-htp6rn3.-
fu"w
6) an invocationoffering ofbread, beer,cattle,fowl, alabaster,andlinen for 7) the fti ofthe
reveredone,-hislnms 8) mntj 9) jn-hr(t)-htp, tve of voice.
Both beneficiaries0f the offering formula are assignedas 'his ft.nms'.This indicatesthe
possibility that the slabwasan elementofa stela-chapelcommemoratinganotherperson.e
Many studieshave touchedupon the renderingof the lexeme!.nm(s).10
K. Piehl interpreted,finms(t) as a kinship term, suggesting,on a supposedgenealogyfiom the stelaCai-
I H.O, Lange/H.Schiifer,GIab- und Denksteine
desMittleren Reichesim Museumyon Kairo, No. 2000120780.I-II. Berlin 1902-1908.I 232133'zRanke,PN I, t 53/27.
3Ranke-PN I- 296121.
4Ranke-PN I. 2614.
5Ranke.PN I. 154/21.
6Ranke,PN I, 95/2t.
7Ranke,PN I, 155/7.
.
" Ranke,PN I, 35/18.
'See ANOC 57 (Hermitage1063;Hermitage1064;
Hermitage1075),ANOC 52 (Louwe C 16;LouvreC
17; Louvre C 18), and London, BM EA 1679(H. Satzinger/D.Stefanovid,Offerings for the kas of Six Ladies
@ritish Museumstelano. 1679),in: JoumalofClassical StudiesMatica Srpska11,2009 2714)
- wbul,294.t7-295;7
342
H. Satzinser/D.
Stefanovii
SAK 41
ro, CG 20457, a meaning 'son of the sister' for it.' ' His hypothesishas never been accepted
since it is basedon one ambiguousreferenceonly.
The term bnms(t) has been sometimesunderstoodas a notion for'in-law', basedon the
work of M. Matije.i2 Her argumentation was later followed by D. Meeks,rr and D.
Wildung.'According to O. Berlev, the basic meaningof bnms(t) was'friend'.r5 However,the
term also implied a social connotation in case of the lnmsw recordedon the stela Paris
Louvre C 17 the term must, as Berlev pointed out, be renderedas 'comrade' denoting that
they belong to the samesocial stratum (that of L1ry-pr).hnms in the plural form can refer to
p e o p l eo f e q u a ls l a l u su h o b e l o n gt o a s i n g l eg r o u p . ' o
For H. Willems, a renderinglike'friend'is the most suitable.He argued"that in a small
number oftexts a !nms(t) mentionedindeedappearsto be relatedto ego in someway. Nevertheless,there are also caseswhere this is impossibleor at least improbable.Caseswhere a
r7
relative appearsto be calleda !nms(/) need not contradictthis view."
D.. Franke's analysis of the sourcesrelevant for lnmsw has been the most comprehensive.'" Starting with the Old Kingdom attestationsof !1nmsw,when the term played the role
of a title,'' Franke arguesthat "Hieraus entwickelt sich dann rasch die Bedeutung"Freund"
frjlr funms,da diese Aufsichtspersoneben etwas fur den Henen Angenehmestut - zu kontrollieren; dies bedingt gleichzeiting eine besondereVertrauensstellungzum Herm".tn He
'finms-people' are 'granted'by
also notes that from the beginning of the Middle Kingdom,
eprlhetsnj st jb.f, andm|.f, previously restrictedto the family and householdmembers:
Solche Bezeichungentragen in der 13. Dynastie dann hdufig Untergebene,die sich als
j\*
bezeichneneines l/orgesetztenoder "Patrons". Ilie diese lreten auch fnnts-Personen als Stelenstifter auf und tragen hdufig einen niedrigeren Titel als der, fiir den sie die
Stele stifteten. Hdufig sind !,tnmsin der gleichen BeruJi;sparte tcitig wie die Bezugsperson.
In einigen Fdllen ldsst sich an den Titeln der lnms ablesen,dass sie mit der Grab- oder
Stelenherstellung befasst waren und den Totenkult ausiiben. Man hat !.tnmsin die Gruppe
der Verwandtschaftsbezeichungen
eingeordnet und behauptet,f;nms bedeute "Schwester"angeheirateter
sohn",
Verwandter (in doppelter Verwandtschaft)", "Schwager" und
"Schwdgerin". lnms(.t)-Personenkdnnen also die verschiedenstenVenuandtschaftsgrade
haben!''
j usqu'icimdconnu,in: Sphinx3, 1900,1-6.
" K. Piehl,Un mot deparentd
'' M. Matije,I4r rcropnlr ceMLxu poaaB
Errre, in: B.{tr449,1954,6246.
npeeuer'r
'i D. Meeks,Notesde lexicographie, 1, in: RdE26, 1974,56,n. 3.
$
'" D. Wildung,Zwei StelenausHatshepsuts
desBerBestehens
Friihzeit,in: Festschriftzum 150 jZihrigen
s.BerlinI 974.259.
lineriig)pti.chenVuseum
' O.D.Berlev,O6qecrBeHHble
orHolxeHure Erunreuoxu Cpegaerorqapcroa,
Moscow]978, 141.
'' Berlev,Obschestvenie
otnoschenia,
142.
" H. willems, EgyptianKinshipTerminologyof theMiddleKingdom,in: Bijdragentot de Taal-,Land-en
Volkerkunde
139.1983.153.
r3D. Franke,Alt?iglptische
Verwandtschaftsbezeichnungen
im MittlerenReich,Hamburg1983,355-362.
'' Cf. D. Jones,Al IndexofAncient EgyptianTitles,EpithetsandPhrases
ofthe Old Kingdom,BAR 866
(I II), London2000,nos2515 251.
20Franke,Altagyptische
Verwandtschaftsbezeichnungen,
355.
'' Franke,AltAgyptische
Velwandtschaftsbezeichnungen,
356.
2012
TheMiddleKinedomlrnmsle
343
Frankealsopointedout thatthe ter:rlbnmsexpresses
a form ofa psychological
andso_
cial (hierarchical)
relationship,
whichmayextendto relativesandnon-relatives.22
Anotherpossibleaspectof the meaningof the word,hnmshasbeenproposedby R.B.
Parkinson.In his article entitledBoasting about Hardness:constructionsof Middle KingdomMasculinity,Zs
Parkinsondiscusses
the questionsofthe statusof masculinityin ancient
Egypt,same-sex
admirations,
andsame-sex
friendship.As a possibleexampleof socialreality experienced
by individuals,Parkinsonquotesthe inscriptionfrom the stelaLeidenAp.
4424wherethe harpistNeferhotepwas commemorated
without his family members- the
stela having been commissionedby ftls friend whom he loved, the brick-carrierNebsumenu.Parkinsonnotesthat "we can not recoverhis sexualsubjectivity,and can only
wonderaboutwhetherNebsumenu
wasa 'friend-friendor a euphemism-friend,.,,25
As it hasbeenrecognized
by MatjeandFranke,therearethree.levels,ofattestations
of
the term lnms dving the Middle Kingdom: didacticliterature,coffin texts,and private
26
monuments.
Duringthe Middle Kingdomftnmsw(t)areattested,in mostcases,on stelae.Rarely,the
monuments
werecommissioned
or dedicated
by funmsw.
The mainpersonon the stelaFlorence2500is sn6.,foverseerofthe treasury,etc.,sonof nbtprjkj. The monumenthasbeen
dedicatedby lnms.f mry.f hsy.fn Qtjry.t wdpwp,-nbms.nnbtpr jb ir.n fiJB.Fwfliermore,
si-nb is performingthe invocationritualbeforesnb.l,who is seatedat thetable.Themodest
stelaLondon,UC 14554,commemorates
nht and wasprobablydedicatedby finms.fhBcnfi.The samefeatureis attestedon stelaeLeidenAp.44, Wien
KHM AS lg6, Cairo CC
70036,CG 20313.andCG 70036.
For someof the !3nmsw,
basedon their titles,as in the caseof the stelaparis,Louvre
Cl7, it may be suggested
thattheywerecolleagues
ofthe beneficeniofthe monuments.
On
the stelaCairo,GC 202'16commemorating
wdpwpn-h!1.f,his f;nmsu,asjrj-.t jbw. sl nb-nh(3wwasfinmsof theSmswrn-sb(stelaCairo,GC 20275).mr pr sbk-nfitjr.n hpy waslyms
of (?) mr funtjwrsnb (stelaCairo,CG 20296).27
Anotherfinms,rhw, recorded,
on the same
stela,is withouta title. Collegialrelationshipbetweenthe mainpersonon the stelaandhis
finmsmay be, perhaps,alsorecognizedon stelaCairo,CG 20426wherethejry-pQtrdj-npth jr.n nbt pr szl is namedasfunms.fmryf of the l ,.l n niwt s9-imn,sinceboth of their
titles belongto the samebranchof administration.
Another exampleof military lnmscolleaguesis recordedon the stelaLiverpoolWM M.13927where;4r, 3 n njwt nbw has
beenlabelledas a lnms of .n! n njwt sn.f-sn.j.On the stelaof fitmw nn-rn.f (Cairo,CG
20524),togetherwith his mother,brothersandseveralothercolleagues,
lnms.f ltmw B-pth
is mentioned.The sameobjectrecordsanotherlnms; his nameandtitle arenot preserved.
The ownerof the stelaHemitage 1063(ANOC 57ll) is btmwn t3tj sl-hlftr. The lowerregisterof the monumentcontainsfive fitmw,threeof whomareidentifiedas!nms.f:rn.f-snb,
Verwandtschaftsbezeichnungen,
360.
" Franke,Altegyptische
" R. Parkinson,
BoastingaboutHardness:
Constructions
of Middle KingdomMasculinity,in: C. Graves_
Brcwn (ed.),SexandGenderin AncientEgypt,"Don yourwig for ajoyful hour',,Swanse
a20Og,ll5-142.
'" W. Ward,
Neferhotep
andHis Friends:A Glimpseat theLivesofOrdinaryMen,in: JEA 63, 19./.7,63.
" Parkinson,
in: SexandGender,132.
" SeeFranke'slist ofattestations
(Franke,Alteg]?tischeVerwandtschaftsbezeichnungen
,360-362).
'' Cf. D. Franke,
Personendaten
ausdemMittlerenReich(20.-16.Jahrhundert
v. Chr.).Dossiersl_796,AA
41,Wiesbaden
1984.no 566.
344
H. Satzinser/D.
Stefanovi6
SAK41
ls-slb, and rn.f-snb.'"The main personon the stelaParis,LouvreC 173wasmr pr s3-jnfrrr.Two ofhis friendsarealsorecorded:f;nms.fmry.fsft3wdidit sl-jn-brt ir.n Ltpy:n!1,and
llnms.fnbl/l/.
of the main
On the otherhand,on a cerlainnumberof objectslnmsw arc not colleagues
person,astheir titlesreferto sectorsof administration
differentftom thoseheldby thebeneficiaries,or one of them is without title. For example,the ownerof the stelaHermitage
1078wasjmj-bt sl."'-pt'wnb-swmnw.His lnms is markedas wb" n (t jwf dif jr.n ddtSrmrlarly,the graffito of imy-r'funwtybrp Bt in-jt.f rccordslnms.f mr.f n st-jbJ
ftnmw.2e
h)ty-'inty-t' hmw-ntrhkl-ib:nh jr n ktrnkt.to The samepattemhasbeenattestedon stelae
London,BM 571,CairoCG 20022,CG 20026,CG 20027,CG 20245,CG 20266,CG
20281.CG 20298,CG 20323,CG 20397,LouvreE 20370,Petrie,Season,no 88, Stockthelnms
holmNME 29,P.io621[2419], Turin l626lCatI 534,Vatican22784.Sometimes,
andthe beneficiaryarebothwithouttitles(London,BM 213,Cairo,CG 20131,CG 20568I
Ex.Abydos,p. 40,f. 65).
ANOC39,CG 20713,Simpson,
(which
canalsolack the possessive
suffix pronoun),or just their
The imagesof lnmsw
'isolated'on
the monument:on the stelaFitzwilliamE.SS.21!1nms.f
names,aresometimes
gmjr.n rhty, is recordedunderthe chairof the mainpersonwhosenameand titles arenot
jn-jt.f, a beloNed
preserved.t'
friend of imy-rpr B-imn, wasdepictedasbeingseatedon the
ground,beneaththe offeringtable,in front of s.l-iiznandhis wife.
nu'.fmnlw-htpand
The lnms may alsohavea very prominentplaceon the stela:!1nms.f
his motherpwpw aredepictedon the right sideofthe stelaCairo,GC 20568(ANOC 39) as
sittingin front of an offeringtable.On the left, thereis the mainpersonizbu-n-pthtogether
with his mother.Two morehnmsw,mnlw-htpjr.n htpj, and s-n-)rsrt,arementionedin the
lowerregister.
The be someone'sfinmsor to havea funmswas of a certainimportance,enoughto b-e
self statement."
includedin a dedication(Cairo,GC 20057),or within the autobiographical
afriend
of thepoor.
Theownerofthe stelaLondon,BM 581states:lnk lnms n nQsw I am
line 5 of stelaRILN no. 73 specifies:I am a manenjoyingrespectamonghis
Furthermore,
jn-jl.s s) hnnw,the'owner'of the stelaeRILN nos.27and
(!nmsw).
The titleless
friends
28a-m,recordsjnj rn.f ltnmswj m snw nw mwt - list of namesof myfriends as well as oJ
(my)maternalbrothers-i3
lrnmsis alsoattestedas a personalname:Hammamatno 96,'* London,UC 14450,and
Cairo,CG 20547.
28SeeA. Bolshakov/S.
Quirke,TheMiddleKingdomstelaein the Hemitage,UtrechtParis1999,97,m.
2eBolshakov/Quirke
(Middle Kingdomstelae,8l) in the abovementionedcasetranslated
&nmsf as'his
is fromthe dilferentbranchofadministratiol].
colleague',butthe stelaownetAnribt sin -pt! nb-sh,mni,)
30L. Habachi.Graffitoof the Chamberlain
andControllerof WorksAntef at Sehcl,in: JEA 39, 1953,50
lV. The Sanctuary
ofHeqaib,AV 33, Mainz 1985,104,no 87.I 8 for !us.l
52, f. l; seealsoId., Elephantine
mryJ s!)-- tt QlqDtrn-srb(on the fragmentofthe stela;unknownowner).
'' G.T. Martin, Stelaefrom Egypt and Nubia in the Fitzwillian Museum,Cambridge,c. 3000 BC-AD
1150,Camb dge2005,no 21.
3'zFranke,Altagyptische
Verwandtschaftsbezeichnungen,
35G357.
" Z. Zriba,TheRockInscriptionsoflowerNubia, Prague1974,no 28a-m,p. 57.
Pade OuadiHammamat,
et hidratiques
" SeeM.M.J. Couyat/P.Montet,LesInscriptionshi6rogl)phiques
r i s1 9 1 2 .
2012
TheMiddleKinedomrzr?s)r
345
As a possiblekinshipdesignation,
as .sister,sson',35.cousinlnms hasbeenunderstood
'brother-inlaw'.37
inJaw',36
The five finmswrecordedon Cairo,CG 2045j (!nms.fslllll;
pr
hry-stB
m
nfr
lpms.f
ftry-l.tbthrytp m njwt.f st kdwt m pr nswtjr.n slt-snfrw;!,tnms.f
mry.f ftry*rt9 m hwt-nbwgnwtj rn.f-.nb;ftnmsf /lll/llllllll jr.n inn; lnms.f n!t-k3jjr.n lltpQdfs) wereperhapscousins-inlawof the llw n si ( n nswt nfitj, but noneof the recorded
snwtcanberecognized
ashiswife.to
A bnmstwas,accordingto Matje, a 'sister-in-law'.40
Her conclusionwasbasedon the
examplefrom the stelaCairo,CG 20025where!.nmstfmrt.f sbk-nbtmst.nhtpt canbe recognizedasa sister-inlawofthe mainperson,sincethe motherofhis wtfe (hmtfl snbt was
alsohtpt.On the otherhand,thelqmst record,ed
on the stelaFieldMuseum3f672(...his
andin Heqanakht
papyri(II 39 .... Don't keepafriend
friend (fen.)Neferhet,deceased...),
of Hetepetfrom her, withouther hairdresseror her domestic...),neitherbelongedto the
family or household.
Accordingto J. Allen, ihe term refersto subordinates
ratherthansocial equals,andprobablydoesnot denotea family relationship.a'
togetherwith family and houselnmsw wereimportantenoughto be commemorated
hold members.The extendedfamily and householdmembersrecordedon the stelaparis,
Louwe C 173arespecifiedwith the formulationhlw nb(w)snwnb(w)lnmsw nb(w)@tnbt
nt pr m iw(t) r bw ntj im.42Srmilarly,on the stelaDurhamN. 1942is recorded:
6 .nj btkwt.jblkw
7 nj. nb n Bw
8 pr jt pr mwt
j
9 funmsw
j nbt
10tmryt,
6 ... my maidservants
who worked
7for me,all (thosemembersofl thefamily
8 (ofl the houseof (my)father and the houseof (my) mother
9 myfriends
I0 all mypeople
tt Piehel,in:
Spinx3, 1900,1; cf. Franke,Altiigyptische
Verwandtschaftsbezeichnungen,
356.
'" lntroducad
by Matje,basedon assumption
thattelm srt, duringtheMiddle Kingdom,hasbeenusedasa
designation
of wife (in: VDI 1954,63 64), cf. Franke,Altiigyptische
Verwandtschaftsbezeichnungen,
357.
'' Possiblya brctherofthe wife
ofthe mein personon stelaCairo,CG 20713icf. Franke,Altagrutische
Verwandtschaft
sbezeichnunsen.
357.
38Probablyalsomentioned
in thelastregistetbut with thetitle }' %, a\d-ilotasAnms.
" Franke,Altegyptische
Verwandtschaff
sbezeichlungen,
357.
'" Perhaps
on Cairo,CG 20025;cf. Franke,Alta$/ptischeVerwandtschaftsbezeichnungen,
357
"' J. Allen, TheHeqanakht
papyri,New York 2002,44
-'
Franke,AlfigyptischeVerwandtschaftsbezeichnungen,
219--220,251262. Seealso the CT 746:As,
senbling thefanily, father, mother,fiends (!1nmsw),associates,children, women,cortcubines,servants.lrot kers,anythingbelongingto a ma for him in therealn ofthe dead.(A. de Buck,TheEglptianCoffinTexts,Vol.
2: TextsofSpells76-163,
OIP49,Chicago1938,180-205.)
346
H. Satzineer/D.
Stefanovi6
SAK41
StelaCairo,CG 20057mentionseverylnms with whomI eatand drint The lastpartofthe
is a sortof standardformulationfor friendship.a3
On theotherhandthis may imply
sentence
'ordinary'
that lnms is more than an
friend onewith whom a personusesto eatand drink
'fliend';
is a
in this casefunmsrs a friend by eatingand drinking;thusto be finmsperhaps
meanssomethingmore.
or
In the literarytexts,aa
the termbnmsusuallypointsto someoneofa noblecharacter,
is a metaphorfor a trustworthyperson,for someonewho is very often in the chain ofconfiThe lnms attestedin the tomb of Sebeknakht
was
dence,right after fatherand brother.a5
use.
termedassnfa6Ho*ever.sr is not only atlested
asa kinshipterm- its metapborical
when sn refersto someonewho is "equal",is alsorecognized.oT
None of the abovemenhowever,hasdealtextensivelywith the third and largestacceptation
of
tionedscholars,aS
theword,hnms,namelyits metaphodcal
one,e.g.with thetmnsferof a title/epithetliom its
literal senseinto a more abstractcontextin which this term takesits most figurativeand
symbolicmeaning- someoneproducingand giving ftnm.The term !1nms,in almostthe
sameway as Jn, may metaphoricallyconvey a wide range of meaningsinchfiing friend,
colleague,confrere,andperhapsevenlover.
The semanticsand etymologyof the lexemefunm(s)perhapscan provideits original
meaning.!1nms"friend" (attestedfrom the late Old Kingdom onward) has a dotblet finm
"fiiend" that is possiblyyounger(attested
from theNew Kingdomonward).The masculine
noln lnms has derivativeslike the noun finms "friendship" and the verb funms"to make
friends"(bothfrom the Middle Kingdomonwards).The femininenounbnmslmaybe both
a "femalefiiend" (MiddleKingdomandlater)or a "harlot" (NewKingdomandlater).
!1nm"friend" - without the -s canbe comparedwith severalwordswith the sameconsonantalskeleton,viz. verbsmeaning"to delight" and "to treatwith an ointment(med.)"
(bothfrom the Middle Kingdomon); "to attenda child" (from the New Kingdomon), with
a derivativerolul;'bnmt "wet nurse"(LatePeriod).Theselexemesmay all be assumedto
derivefrom the sameroot, with a basicmeaninglike "to treat affectionately,lovingly".
Thereis yet anotherverb lnm ftat may also be adduced,viz. that with the meaning"to
breathein (a pleasantsmell)",with a relatednounlnmw "smell (usuallypleasant)"(both
fiom the Middle Kingdom on). The wordbnm "kiss" (Late Egyptian,one aftestation)is
thoughtto originatein the sameroot.All thesemeaningsarenot too far liom that assumed
lovingly
asthe originaloneof thercot bnm,viz. "to treataffectionately,
FriendshipandFmstration:A Studyin Pap).riDeir el-MedinaIV-M, in: JEA 84, 1998,
" Cf D. Sweeney,
101,122.
aaFor the list of sourcesseeFmnke,Alteg)ptische Velwandtschaftsbezeichnungen,
361l-The Tale of Hay
shouldbe excluded.
a5The samehasbeenattestedin the TB 78 (E. Naville, DasAgyptischeTodtenbuch
der X\4IL bis XX.
also for
Dynastie,Bd. I, Berlin 1886,pl. 89; cl Franke,AltagyptischeVerwandtschaftsbezeichnungen,36l,
other examples):I{orus is myfather, Horus is my brcther, Hoi'us is my bnms.
"' Elkab tomb no I 0 (J. J. Tylor, Wall drawingsandmonumentsof El Kab. The tomb of SebeknekhlLonVerwandtschaftsbezeichnmgen,
357,n. 3).
don 1896,pl. VII; cf. Franke,Altegyptische
"' J. Revez,TheMetaphorical
Useofthe KinshipTeIms,?"Brother",in: JARCE40, 2003,123-131.
18For themostrecentdiscussion
seeD. Skjalm,TheNotionofFriendshipin Arcient E$?t, in: KMT 2211,
201r,4348.
l0l
e\l
ma
lor
.'pl
Ru
np
lor
-r:
-s I
-a
Ee
. .
ln4
hll
nA
a-e
dli
1\'u
fr.i
Thi
Han
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ZtE
bea
2012
The Middle Kinsdom hnmrw
747
Universally,the notion"friend" is not an aboriginalone,thereforenot onethat may be
expectedto be sharedby but distantlyrelatedlanguages.
(Latin andRoIn somelanguages
mance,Celtic, Greek,West Germanic)the word for "friend', is derivedfrom a verb ..to
love". In others(North Germanic,Slavic,like Ptussran
npuamenb,
etc.),the basicidea is
"pleasant."Anotherorigin is the semanticsof "comrade",or just "the other',(Slavic,like
RussianapJrz,
etc.).
The Egyptian"friend" finms conformsto the Scandinavian
viin, etc.,and the Slavic
nputmerb,etc.,insofarasit is obviouslyderivedfrom a root *xnm,,to treataffectionately,
lovingly",andit is not at all far from all the "friends"thataredefinedby a verb..tolove,,.
ftnmsmustbe analysedas ftnm plusa root extension-sae.However,this root extension
-s shouldnot be confounded
with anotherone,foundmainlyin DemoticandCoptic,that is
-s for femininenouns(whichreplaces,in a way, the remainderofthe old feminineending,
-a' < +-a|u), and-f for masculinenouns.5lHerearesomecandidates
for a root suffix -r in
Egyptian:
thegenderis norleminine.
jnh
brb,
bwn
dgl
dli
"to surround"(not attestedbeforedyn. l8), jnh(l)-ssz[genderindet.]..husk(oflotus
blossom)"(attestedfrom late dln. 18 onward):agent what surrounds;or more
generally,a nounderivedfrom a verb.
var. llm "to catchfish" (from OK on),!1Q)b-s[genderindet.],a bird (thatcatches
fish; onceattestedin Edfu Temple):agent- what catchesfish, or moregenerally,a
nounderivedfroma verL.
"to pierce"(from OK to ptol.),!nw-s (sic)(MK), id.: verbderivedfrom verb.
!1nw-sm., a stinginginsect(mosquito,gnat? MK)5r:agent whatstings;or more
generally,a nounderivedfrom a verb.
"to walk" (NK); dgdg " to walk over; to trampledown,':dg-s ,.to tread;to enter,,
(MK and Late Egn.):the same,thoughwith intensivemeaning;verb derivedfrom
verb.
dg-sm. "foot print" (ptol.):kind of abstractnoun,or moregenerally,a nounderived
from a verb;lateattestation.
"to extend(thearm);to turn to; to oppose",l3l-s "to negotiate,parley;to counsel":
semanticconnectionnot too obvious;verbderivedfrom verb.
As canbe seen,the wordsderivedwith -s aremostoftennouns,whereasthe basicroot
without-s is verbalin all cases.Therootsin -s arerarelyverbal,in conffastto the root prefix s-, whichyields,moreoftenthannot, verbswith a clearcausativeor factitivemeaning.
This cannot, however,be saidofthe suffix -s. in the casein question,therecannotbe dis1'E. Edel,Altiigyptische
crammatik,I-II, Rome1955-1964,g 444Anm.
" H. Satzinger,The Etymologyof Coptic 'Ashes': Chadicor Nostratic?,in: G. Takrics(ed.),Semito
HamiticFestschriftfor A. B. DolgopolsklandH. Jungraithmayr,
Berlin2008,265-271,in particular,p. 265.
' J.Osing.Die NominalbiJdung
desAgyptischen,
I-[, Mainz19't6,1,325132.
" The odginalroot is probablyhh, aspreserved
in CT IV 298b(T1Cb),V 32d (B1C,B2p), W 123k,for
derivativeJx&"eyebrow";by the MiddJeKingdomc avoidedthe vicinity of t by mutatingintoj (cf. J. Osing,
Zum Lautwertvon <i> und<D, in: SAK 24, 1997,223-229).
The I in theNew Kingdomspellingsofjzft-s may
be a featureofgroup-writing.
" Doubletlaazs(LateEgn.),g'orHc, ,,gnat,mosquito".
348
H. Satzineer/D.Stefanovid
SAK4I
cemedan essential
differencein meaningbetweenthe simplexroot,bnm,basically"to treaL
lovingly",andthederivedroot !nm-s,"friend".
Amongthe otherAfroasiaticlanguagefamilies,therearesomewhichusuallysuffix the
causative
morpheme*i, viz. Cushitic5a
lincludingOmotic)andChadic,in contrastto Egyptian, SemiticandBerber,who prefix it. As a root suffix ofnouns, *.i doesnot play a great
rolein Semitic.55
Whenresearching
the originalmeaningof the Egyptianroot bnm one shouldalsolook
for cognatesin relatedlanguages.Any geneticefmological comparisonmustbe basedon
established
soundlaws.Herewe meetwith certaindifficulties,as Egyptianis not, by and
large,a uniformlanguage.The mainstream
idiom hasobviouslyundergone
gravephonetic
changesin lateprehistorictimes.However,idiomshaveobviouslysurvivedthatpreserved
the originalsounds,as we can find substantial
lracesof this.56Of the threeradicalsof the
root in question,lz is the leastproblematic.
The matterofn is insofarcomplexasEgyptian
n may eithergo backto ancient*n or_toancient*1. Egyptianfz,however,is complexindeed.The & of the progressive
idiom" goesback to the voicedvelar sound+y, which is
itself a mergerof ancientvelar *y (like Arabic Ghayr)58and larymgeal*! (tike Arabic
'Ayn).5eIn wordstakenoverfrom the conservative
idiom,! may be an originallyunvoiced
velarfricative+x, this latterbeinga mergerof ancientvelar*x (like ArabicKhd)00andlaryngeal+h (like ArabicHA).6r
Thus, the phoneticpossibilitiesof Semiticcorrespondences
of Egyptianlrnm(s) are
these:
(3
si
Et
Ofr
sid
ben
rVI
-Qtl
ftm
thal
\eq
trie
tenl
cho
mei
'" M. Mous,Cushitictypology,in:
Z. Frajzyngier,E.
Shay(eds.),The AfroasiaticLanguages,
Cambridge
2012,55:28.1:"The causative
is markedby a suffix -s or -s/r preceded
by a vowel i which is sometimes
analvsed
- ttaseDenthetic..."
Cfl B. Lipiriski,SemiticLanguagesr
Outlineof a Comparative
Crammar,OLA 80, Leuven2000,395
(onlyHebrewevidenceis adduced).
t6 H. Satzinger,
The two Egyptianidiomsand the "emphatic"consonants,
in: Acts of "5000 JahreSemitohamitischeSprachenin Asien und Aftika," Berlin 20i0 (in printing).Also cf. id., What happened
to the
voicedconsonants
of Egyptian?,in: Acts of the X IntemationalCon$essof Egyptologists,
Rhodes2008 (in
printing.);id., Scratchysoundsgettingsmooth:the Egyptianvelar fricativesandtheir palatalization,
in: F.M.
Fales/G.G.Grassi(eds.),CAMSEMUD.Proceedings
of the 13thltalian Meetingof Afro-AsiaticLinguistics,
Padova
2010,239-245.
s?Cf. footnote56.
j3
O. Rdssler,DasAgyptischeals semitischeSprache,in: F. Altheinr,RuthStiehl(eds.),Ch stentumam
RotenMeerI, Berlir/ New York, 1971,263126,in particular,$21.
am RotenMeer I, 263 326,in particular,S 24; G. Tak6cs,EtymologicalDic" Rdssler,in: Christentum
tionaryofEgyptian,
Vol.I, HdO48/1,Leiden1998,305,326.
"'Tak6cs,EtymologicalDictionaryI, 157.
'' Takdcs,EtymologicalDictionaryI, 309.
obr
add
bas
mcs
araa
lar:.
Gr-
2012
TheMiddleKingdom hnmsw
Sem.*l
Sem.+y
Arabic en-m,sund- Arabic!-n-m
*gain-63
nes--
Sem.*x
h-n-m ?6a
Arabice-l-m(l) "to Arabicg-l-m (1)
Arabic!-l-m "to
leam";(2) "world"; "youngperson";(2) choose"- seebe(3) "to cover,hide"; "sexualheat";Heb., low.
Ararn. f-l-m
sim.Heb.,Aram.,
Eth.
349
Sem.*h
h-n-m 2
Arabicl.tJ-m(l)
"dream"(alsoHeb.
Aram.Eth.);(2)
"patience";(3)
"scurf'
Of thesesix Semiticstems,*yJ-m is the onethat obviouslyhassomesemanticagreement
with the Egn. RooI funm.The questionmay arisewhetherthere is an etymologicalrelation
betweenSemitic *y-l-m "lusf' (kabic lalima (a), inf. galam-,ptlmat-, and igtalama
(VIII), "to becomeexcitedby lust, or appetence")
and *yJ-m "youngmale/female
(Arabic
(filaymu,
fern. ftilaymi)ld; Hebrew Eltm < * aalm-,
rt dm-, feminine Euldmat-; Aramaic
feminine ealmah).Thereis someevidencethat glam-, etc.,is originally a humanbeing
that hasrecentlyreachedsexualmaturity. In Egyptian,however,a sexualconnotationis not
very conspicuous;"harlot" is most probably a rather late meaning of finmst, "female
friend".Actually,thegreatetymologicaldata-base
of SergeiStarostin(t),65in particularthe
"Afroasiatic etymology" by Alexandr Militarev and Olga Stolbova, knows of a ProtoAfloasiaticroot *gulum-"youngman,youngslave",with reflexionsin Semitic(our items),
Cenhal Chadic(*$ulum- "young man", "bridegroom","child"), and SouthCushitic(*kwalim-"little children","child").
As a Semiticcorrespondent
ofthe Egyptianroot!1nm,*yJ-m is rivaled,to a certainextent,by *xJ-m. Whereasthe meaningof Arabic ftannama(lI) andifitanama(VIII) is ,'to
choose",lanama (III) means"to bind oneselfin friendshipto someone".The original
meaningof this form of the "social stirps" (III) seemsto be "to chooseeachother".It is
obviouslyrelatedto an otherwiseisolated(andby now completelyobsolete)notmf;ilm-,
defrnedby Lisan al-'Arab66as as-sadqu l-lAtisu ("Ihe true friend"; this noun was already
adducedby A. Ember6T
as an etymologicalcorrespondence
to Egyptianlnms "fiend"). Its
basicmeaningis then"the chosenone",andthis is a strongargumentagainsta relationto
62To feedon plants;kind ofhee; sprout,
tendril,thom:verb 'a'nama(IV.), noun,aram(atF.- Red:adjectives'anami1ry, mu'annam-.- Toad:'a)m[m-.- Hereandin the following,the meaningofAtabic words
mostly after A. de BibemteinKMimorski, Qamiis al-lugataynal 'arabiyyahwa-l-farensawiJ0/ah.Dictionnairc
arabe-francais.
Paris1860.
63
llasy; gain, profit, success,booty: verb lanima (a), nounsganam-, gnn-, ganlm(at)-, ma!{mm-;
ganam-also"sheep"(collective).
oohanamat-' respiration
problems".
o) hftp://starling.dnet.nr,/cgibin
/main.cgi?root=config
(7.12.20I I ).
"' http://www.baheth.info.
" A. Embet Eg,?to-SemiticStudies,Leipzig 1930,g 10a.34; approvedand quotedby W. Vycichl,
Grundlagem
derAS/ptisch-semitischen
Wotvergleichung,
in: MD AIK 16,1958,36'7405,in particular3T5.
SAK 41
201
tlre Egyptian finm(s) words, as thesecompletelylack any suchconnotation.Hence,we are
left with Semitic*y-l-m, meaning"sexually mature,"and 'Voung person".
*Y
Here, a crosscheckmay be due: what Egyptianwords/stems/rootscould correspondto
Semitic*y-l-m?
yo
350
H. Satzinser/D- Stefanovi6
Thesearethe Egyptianphonemesthat may regularly correspondto thoseof the Semitic
root in question.
EqvDtian
Progressive phonetics68
Conservative ohonetics6e
Semitic*y
b'od' f'
a73
Semitic*l
lnri
5,n,r
Semitic*m
m
m
EuI
-1
sex
no!
roo
bic
PossibleEgyptiancombinationsare:
Mir
!)m "to bend(Ihe . dlm "yo\ths;
generation"
arm); to bow
down"
jin (1) "to bind (animals for sacrifice)"75;
. j3m (2)'\o&, ami-
c3m" Asiatic"
tior
aDle
. bnm +"to treat
lovinglv"
dnm-
hrm-
drm -
him-
dim-
jwn"skn"
asl
frun -
c721-
iim-
For semanticrcasons,$1m,clm,jlm (1), andjnm cennotbe considered.Howeve4j3m Q),
"to be amiable," frts to lnm t"to heat lovingly", as a phoneticdoublet;and d}n "youths"76
canbe comparedwith Semiticgtlam- I ffilaymuI fElerz,'loung person".
68Cf. footnote56.
ut Cf. footnot" 56,
70Rdssler,in: Chdstentumam RotenMeer 296f.
|
7r On tfre variation of& and cf H. Goedicke,Altemation of! and nBgyptian" in ZAS, 80, 1955,32sl
4
34; W. Vycichl, Uber der wechsel der Laute& und A im Agyptischen,in: zAs 82, I 957, 7 l-73 ; E.E. Knudsen,
Der Wechsel! : I im Agptischen, in: ZAS 88, 1962,3316.
'' R6ssler,in: Chdstentum
am RotenMeerI, 301,306.
" G. TalaicsEtymologicalDictionary ofEsptian, Vol. II, HdO 48/2,l-f-iderl 1999,270.
'" Tak6cs,EtlmologicalDictionaryII, 61, 132,140.
" Aftoasiatic *ylm - *'lm, accordingto Tak6cs,EtyrnologicalDictionary II, 62.
'' Cf. D. Stefanovic,
4lrmr in the Middle Kingdom, in: Lingua Ae$/ptia 15,200'7,217-229.
2012
*yrlum- "yormg man,
.
TheMiddleKinsdomftzzrsw
Semitic:
*y-l-m 'loung person"
351
Egptian:
*y-l-m:
4l?m"offspring; youths;generation'
young slave,child"
*y-l-m "sexually mature"
*y-l-m:
(1) bnnx*'\o teatlovmglt''
Q) jlrn'\o be Nrnable"
In this way we have gained an Egj.ptian dolblet Qlm with sema:rticsclose to Semitic
'6lem,')o'ng person',;
AilAm- / cfilaymfi/
{irthermore, a dortbletfim,,pleasant' for finm
"friendly"; their semanticscan be seenin relationshipto that of Semitio *y-l-m .,sexually
mature."
'-l What the Semitic evidenceaddsto the picture
of Egyptian bwn(s) ,,frtend",is a certain
sexual connotationwhich may also be presentin the Egyptian, althoughnot having been
notedtill now. on the otherhandit seemsconceivable-that
we haveto do with two different
roots; ong 'loung person"(like /im), the other, ,,lo.ve"(hke finm), ,,sexuallusf' (like Arabic ptlmat-). From ttis linguistic background,and basedon the level of attestationson the
Middle Kingdom privatemonuments,it may be suggestedthat the term !nzs(l) wasusedas
a socially acceptabledesignationfor intimate friendship, with or without sexualconnotation.
/'
. StefanoviC
I
StelaCairo, CG 20208
(@TheEglptianMuseum,Cairo/ AhmedMohamed-Elhami
Aly)