ḫpš

See also: HPs and H&Ps

Egyptian

FWOTD – 19 February 2021

Other romanization schemes

Manuel de Codage	xpS
Gardiner 1927	ḫpš
Erman & Grapow 1926	ḫpš
Lepsius 1874 (obsolete)	χepeš

Pronunciation

 

• (reconstructed) IPA^(key): /ˈχaːpVʃ/ → /ˈχaːpVʃ/ → /ˈχaːpəʃ/ → /ˈχoːpəʃ/

• (Old Egyptian, c. 2500 BCE) IPA^(key): /ˈχaːpVʃ/

  where V represents an unknown short vowel.

• (Middle Egyptian, c. 1700 BCE) IPA^(key): /ˈχaːpVʃ/

  where V represents an unknown short vowel.

• (Amarna-period Late Egyptian, c. 1350 BCE) IPA^(key): /ˈχaːpəʃ/
• (latest Late Egyptian, c. 800 BCE) IPA^(key): /ˈχoːpəʃ/

• (modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /xɛpɛʃ/, /xopɛʃ/
  • Conventional anglicization: khepesh, khopesh

Noun

 m

1. foreleg of an animal
2. strong arm (of a human)
3. (figuratively) strength
   • c. 1900 BCE, The Instructions of Kagemni (pPrisse/pBN 183) lines 2.1–2.2:

     
     

     (j)m ꜥꜣ jb.k ḥr ḫpš m ḥr(j) jb ḏꜣmw.k zꜣw jtn.k

     Don’t grow arrogant (lit. don’t make your heart big) on account of (your) strength in the midst of your cohort, lest you be challenged.

Inflection

Declension of ḫpš (masculine)

singular	ḫpš
dual	ḫpšwj
plural	ḫpšw

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of ḫpš  

ḫpš

Descendants

• Bohairic Coptic: ϣⲱⲃϣ (šōbš), ϣⲱⲡϣ (šōpš)
• Sahidic Coptic: ϣⲱⲡϣ (šōpš)
• Akhmimic Coptic: ⳉⲱⲡϣ (xōpš)

Proper noun

 m

1. (astronomy) the Big Dipper (literally “the Foreleg”)

   Synonym: msḫtjw

Noun

 m

1. khopesh

Inflection

Declension of ḫpš (masculine)

singular	ḫpš
dual	ḫpšwj
plural	ḫpšw

References

• Erman, Adolf, Grapow, Hermann (1926–1961) Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, →ISBN
• James P[eter] Allen (2010) Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs, 2nd edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 335.