bjꜣt

Egyptian

FWOTD – 15 March 2020

Etymology

bjꜣ (“example, model”) +‎ -t.

Pronunciation

• (modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /biɑt/
  • Conventional anglicization: biat

Noun

 f

1. character, disposition [since the Middle Kingdom]
   • Reign of Senusret I, c. 1971–1926 BCE, Stela of Mentuhotep (London UC 14333), line 16:

     mnw pw n(j) z nfrw.f smḫ pw bjn bj(ꜣt)

     The monument of a man is his goodness; one who is evil of character is forgotten.

   • c. 1900 BCE, The Instructions of Kagemni (pPrisse/pBN 183) lines 2.3–2.4:

     rdj.jn ṯꜣt(j) njs.t(w) nꜣy.f n(j) ẖrdw m ḫt ꜥrq.f sḫr r(m)ṯw bjꜣt.sn m jjt ḥr.f

     So the vizier let his children be summoned after he understood the conduct of people, their character being what had come upon him.

2. mood
3. a good attribute of a person for which he or she is well-liked

Inflection

Declension of bjꜣt (feminine)

singular	bjꜣt
dual	bjꜣtj
plural	bjꜣwt

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of bjꜣt  

bjt	bjꜣt	bjꜣt	bjꜣt	bjt	bjꜣt	bjꜣt	bjꜣt	bj

References

• Erman, Adolf, Grapow, Hermann (1926) Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache‎^[1], volume 1, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, →ISBN, pages 441.16–441.19
• Faulkner, Raymond Oliver (1962) A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian, Oxford: Griffith Institute, →ISBN, page 80
• James P[eter] Allen (2010) Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs, 2nd edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 273.