nswt

Traditionally (since Sethe 1911) derived from n(j) (“of, belonging”) +‎ swt (“sedge”) in a direct genitive construction with n(j) used as a noun, literally ‘the belonging one of the sedge’, i.e. ‘the one to whom Upper Egypt belongs’, the sedge being an emblem of Upper Egypt. The odd glyph order in the written form is probably due to a preference for forming compact groups of hieroglyphs.

However, this interpretation has been challenged, as Helck, Schenkel, and others have argued that the plant represented by swt is not the emblem of Upper Egypt at all; Schenkel also suggests the reconstructed vocalization of the word does not support such an etymology. Peust goes so far as to say the word has no special connection with Upper Egypt, and derives it as borrowed from Sumerian 𒉺𒋼𒋛 (ensi₂) with the Egyptian noun-forming suffix -w.

• (modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /nɛsuːt/
  • Conventional anglicization: nesut

 m

1. king of Upper Egypt
2. king of (Upper and Lower) Egypt, especially as a divine power (as opposed to ḥm, which refers to a particular incarnation that holds that power)
   • Stela of Ity, British Museum, Egyptian Antiquities, 586:

     jw wḥm.n(.j) ḥzt ḫr nswt […]

     I repeated favour before the king […]

Only Egyptian kings were considered nswt and ḥm; foreign kings were regarded as merely ḥqꜣ or wr.

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of nswt  

nswt	nswt	nswt	nswt	nswt	nswt	nzw	nswt	nswt	nswt
					[Pyramid Texts]		[since the Middle Kingdom]	[since the Middle Kingdom]	[since the Middle Kingdom]
		abbreviation

Much debate centers around the apparent variant form nzw, attested from very early times, and its relation to nswt. Some authors see it as a dialectal variant of the latter; others treat it as an entirely separate word. Schenkel instead reads nswt in a different order as ntsw and considers it a variant spelling of nzw, hypothesizing that the Egyptian z is an affricate equivalent to ts; a number of authors have adopted this suggestion.

In some outdated publications, nswt was read as stn, stnj, or swtn, but these readings are now generally rejected.

Sometimes, based on the traditional etymology, a fuller reading as njswt or nj-swt is given.

• James P[eter] Allen (2010) Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs, 2nd edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN.
• Erman, Adolf; Grapow, Hermann (1926–1961) Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, →ISBN
• Faulkner, Raymond (1962) A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian, Oxford: Griffith Institute, →ISBN
• Gardiner, Alan (1957) Egyptian Grammar: Being an Introduction to the Study of Hieroglyphs, third edition, Oxford: Griffith Institute, →ISBN, § 54, 72
• Peust, Carsten (2007) “Zur Bedeutung und Etymologie von nzw ‘König’” in Göttinger Miszellen, 213, pp. 59-62
• Schenkel, Wolfgang (1986) “Das Wort für König (von Oberägypten)” in Göttinger Miszellen, 94, pp. 57-73
• Sethe, Kurt (1911) “Das Wort für König von Oberägypten” in Zeitschrift für Ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde, vol. 42, issue 1-2
• Windus-Staginsky, Elka (2006) Der ägyptische König im Alten Reich: Terminologie und Phraseologie, p. 16