Egyptian Names in the Book of Mormon
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dr. Hugh Nibley devotes the second chapter of his book Lehi in the Desert to comparing names in the Book of Mormon with ancient Egyptian names from Upper Egypt, mostly from the area in Thebes and south of it. Dr. Nibley's main source is Hermann Ranke's Die Agyptischen Personennamen' ("The Egyptian Personal Names"), published in 1935 (Gluckstadt; Augustin). Other sources are Dictionnaire de noms hieroglyphiques ("Dictionary of Hieroglyphic Names"), by Jens D. C. Lieblein (Christiania: Broger & Christie, 1871), and the Amarna Letters.
- Aha in the Book of Mormon is the name of a military commander, son of the Nephite commander-in-chief.
- Aha is a common Egyptian word for "warrior" and one of the names of Egypt's first king.
- Aminadab, a Hebrew name meaning "My People are generous" or "My divine kinsman is generous." It appears in the Book of Mormon as the name of a Nephite missionary.
- Amanathabi was the name of the "chief of a Canaanite city under Egyptian domination. The name is 'reformed' Egyptian." Presumably this means it was an Egyptianized Semitic name.
- Ammon is the most common name in the Book of Mormon.
- Ammon (also Amon, Amun, Amen) is the most common name in ancient Egypt. It is the name of "the great universal God of the Empire." (It means "concealed", "secret.")
- Ammonihah is a city and land in the Book of Mormon.
- Ammuni-Ra was a prince of the Phoenician city of Beyrut, a vassal of the Egyptian Empire. Interestingly, the root Amun was the Egyptian god of air, also called "the hidden one." It is unknown if it has any correlation with the Hebrew derived "Amen" and other transliterations.
- Camenihah is the name of a Nephite General in the Book of Mormon.
- Khamuni-Ra is a personal name in the Amarna Letters. (See Knudtzon's Die El-Amarna Tafeln 2:1561.)
- Cezoram is a Nephite Judge in the Book of Mormon.
- Chiziri was the Egyptian governor of a Syrian city.
- Gidgiddonah is the name of a Nephite general in the Book of Mormon. The name probably means "Thoth has said we shall live."
- Djed-djhwti-iw-s-ankh is an Egyptian personal name meaning "Thoth has said she shall live."
- Gigiddoni is the name of a Nephite general in the Book of Mormon. The name probably means "Thoth has said I shall live."
- Djed-djhwt-iw-f-ankh is an Egyptian personal name meaning "Thoth has said he shall live."
- Giddianhi is the commander of a band of brigands in the Book of Mormon.
- Djhwti-ankhi is an Egyptian name meaning "Thoth is my life."
- Giddonah is the name of two people in the Book of Mormon, one of them the high priest who judged Korihor.
- Djidwna is the ancient Egyptian name for the Phoenician city of Sidon.
- Gimgimno is a city mentioned in 3 Nephi 9:8 in the Book of Mormon.
- Kenkeme is the name of an ancient Egyptian city.
- Hem in the Book of Mormon (Mosiah 7:6) is a brother, and missionary companion, of Ammon.
- Hem in the Egyptian language means "servant" - specifically, a servant of the God Ammon.
- Helaman is the name of three people in the Book of Mormon, including a major Nephite prophet.
- Her-Amon is Egyptian for "in the presence of Amon." (Dr. Nibley goes on to point out that L and R are not distinguished from each other in the ancient Egyptian language. The Egyptian character "R" in Egyptian is often equivalent to L in Semitic, and vice-versa.)
- Himni is another brother of Ammon, son of King Mosiah, in the Book of Mormon (from Mosiah 27:8 to Alma 31:6).
- Hmn is "a name of the Egyptian hawk-god, symbol of the emperor."
- Korihor in the Book of Mormon was an agitator, arrested by the people of Ammon.
- Kherihor "(also written Khurhor,etc.)" was the High Priest of the god Ammon "who seized the throne of Egypt at Thebes," ca. 1085 BCE.
- Manti is a Nephite soldier mentioned in Alma 2:22 in the Book of Mormon. It is also the name of a hill in Alma 1:15. The land and city of Manti are mentioned several times from Alma 16:6-7 to 59:6.
- Manti is the "Semitic form of an Egyptian proper name, e.g. Manti-mankhi, a prince in Upper Egypt cir. 650 BC. It is a late form of Month, god of Hermonthis."
- Mathoni (Hebrew for "my gift") is a Nephite disciple of Jesus mentioned in 3 Nephi 19:4.
- Maitena and Mattenos are two judges of the Phoenician city of Tyre. Both of them at different times became kings, "possibly under Egyptian auspices."
- Morianton is the name of a Nephite, apparently of Jaredite ancestry, and of the city he founded (Alma 50: 28-35).
- Meriaton ("Beloved of Aton) is an Egyptian prince.
- Mormon - not in Dr. Nibley's list, but his student Benjamin Urrutia demonstrated that this name consists of the Egyptian-derived prefix Mor meaning "Love," and the suffix mon, "firmly established."
- Nephi is one of the pricipal authors of the Book of Mormon, and the founder of the Nephite nation.
- Nihpi is the "original name of the god Pa-nepi, which may even have been Nephi." (See 1926 article by Wilhelm Spiegelberg in the Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 12:35. "The god Panepi.")
- Paanchi in the Book of Mormon is a son of Chief Judge Pahoran.
- Paanchi or Paankhi is the name both of a son of Kherihor, High Priest of the god Amon, and of a Nubian king who conquered Egypt.
- Pahoran is the name of a Chief Judge of the Nephites, and of one of his sons.
- Pa-her-an, also known as Pahura and Pahery ("the Syrian," "the Asiatic") was an Egyptian ambassador in Canaan.
- Pacumeni (Helaman 1:3-21 in the Book of Mormon) was another son of Chief Judge Pahoran.
- Pakamen is an Egyptian name meaning "the blind one."
- Pachus (Alma 62:6,7,8) was a Nephite pretender to the throne.
- Pa-ks and Pach-qs are ancient Egyptian personal names. "Compare Pa-ches-i, 'he is praised.'"
- Sam is the brother of Nephi. (1 Nephi 2:5 through 2 Nephi 5:6).
- Sam Tawi - "Uniter of the Two Lands" in ancient Egyptian - was the name assumed by the brother of Nehri upon taking the throne.
- Seezoram is a criminal conspirator who becomes the Chief Judge, subsequently (see Helaman 8:27 to 9:37).
- Zeezrom is a corrupt lawyer in Ammonihah who repents and becomes a missionary.
- Zoser or Zeser is one of the great rulers of Egypt, a Pharaoh of the Third Dynasty.
- Zemnarihah is the captain of a band of brigands in 3 Nephi 4:16-28 in the Book of Mormon.
- Zmn-ha-re is an Egyptian proper name. Such metathesis is "a common Egyptian practice." (Note that the theophoric element "Re" appears as ria in Akkadian and Hittite transcriptions of Egyptian names.)
- Zeniff was a prominent Nephite who founded a new city.
- Znb and Snb, according to Dr. Nibley, are "very common elements in Egyptian proper names, cf. Senep-ta."
- Zenoch is an ancient prophet mentioned in the Book of Mormon.
- Zenekh is an ancient Egyptian personal name, and the name of a serpent deity, perhaps the Egyptian god Nehebkau, often represented as a two-headed snake.
Sources: Lehi in the Desert (1988), ISBN 0875791328 (See also sources listed above at the beginning of the article)
See also:
