ḫw.f-wj

Egyptian

Etymology

ḫw (“shall protect”, subjunctive mood of ḫwj (“to protect”)) +‎ .f (“he”) +‎ wj (“me”), thus literally ’He shall protect me’; longer versions of the name reveal that ‘he’ is the god Khnum.

Pronunciation

(reconstructed) IPA^(key): /χawˈjafwij/ → /χawˈwafwij/ → /χəwˈwaf(w)/[1][2]

(modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /xuːʔɛf wi/, /xuːfuː/
- Conventional anglicization: khu.ef-wi, khufu

Proper noun

m

A throne name notably borne by Khufu, a pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of ḫw.f-wj

ḫ.f-w

ḫ.f-wf

ḫw.f-w

ḫw.f

Abydos King List

Saqqara King List

Derived terms

ꜣḫt-ḫw.f-wj

Descendants

→ English: Khufu
→ Ancient Greek: Χέοψ (Khéops), Σοῦφις (Soûphis), Σώϋφις (Sṓüphis), Σαῶφις (Saôphis), Σοφέ (Sophé)[3]
- → Latin: Cheops
  - → English: Cheops
  - → Italian: Cheope

References

von Beckerath, Jürgen (1984) Handbuch der ägyptischen Königsnamen, München: Deutscher Kunstverlag, →ISBN, page 52, 178

Loprieno, Antonio (1995) Ancient Egyptian: A Linguistic Introduction, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 82
Gundacker, Roman (2015) “The Chronology of the Third and Fourth Dynasties according to Manetho’s Aegyptiaca” in Towards a New History for the Egyptian Old Kingdom, page 114–115, provides the final vowel but disagrees with Loprieno in some details of the word’s subsequent development: where Loprieno considers the semivowels preceding the tonic /a/ to have ultimately reduced to glottal stops, Gundacker posits that /j/ assimilated to the preceding /w/, which was preserved.
Gundacker, Roman (2015) “The Chronology of the Third and Fourth Dynasties according to Manetho’s Aegyptiaca” in Towards a New History for the Egyptian Old Kingdom, page 114–115

[1] Loprieno, Antonio (1995) Ancient Egyptian: A Linguistic Introduction, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 82

[2] Gundacker, Roman (2015) “The Chronology of the Third and Fourth Dynasties according to Manetho’s Aegyptiaca” in Towards a New History for the Egyptian Old Kingdom, page 114–115, provides the final vowel but disagrees with Loprieno in some details of the word’s subsequent development: where Loprieno considers the semivowels preceding the tonic /a/ to have ultimately reduced to glottal stops, Gundacker posits that /j/ assimilated to the preceding /w/, which was preserved.

[3] Gundacker, Roman (2015) “The Chronology of the Third and Fourth Dynasties according to Manetho’s Aegyptiaca” in Towards a New History for the Egyptian Old Kingdom, page 114–115