Temple building on the Egyptian margins: the geopolitical issues behind Seti II and Ramesses IX’s activity at Amheida

Middle Eastern Studie

Personal Names: Structures and Patterns

The diversity and complexity of ancient Egyptian personal names points to a range of availablepatterns and options for name-giving. Alongside personal names that make direct reference tothe name-bearer and his or her family, there are numerous names that refer to a god, the ruling(or an earlier) king, or some venerated individual, with or without simultaneous reference to thename-bearer or his family. An individual could be designated, for example, as one beloved,given, or protected by a god or king, but a name could equally contain an objective statementabout god or king

Personal Names: Structures and Patterns

The diversity and complexity of ancient Egyptian personal names points to a range of availablepatterns and options for name-giving. Alongside personal names that make direct reference tothe name-bearer and his or her family, there are numerous names that refer to a god, the ruling(or an earlier) king, or some venerated individual, with or without simultaneous reference to thename-bearer or his family. An individual could be designated, for example, as one beloved,given, or protected by a god or king, but a name could equally contain an objective statementabout god or king

Personal Names: Function and Significance

In ancient Egypt, an individual’s name was of vital importance for defining his identity insociety and assuring his survival for posterity. A person might have two or even three names,one of them sometimes being a basilophorous name (a name that incorporates a king’s name)adopted by the individual at a certain stage of life. For foreigners, taking an Egyptian namewas frequently a means by which they integrated into Egyptian society. Grave crimes wouldentail damnatio memoriae, a process by which a person’s identity could essentially beerased by mutilation and obliteration of the name. Certain personal names also hadapotropaic potential, and the names of the sages of the past could even be used in magic