jmꜣḫ

Egyptian

Pronunciation

• (modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /imɑx/
  • Conventional anglicization: imakh

Verb

 4-lit.

1. (intransitive) to be worthy of attention, care, respect, and remembrance; to be honored or revered (+ ḫr or n: by)
   • 6th Dynasty, Giza, Western Cemetery, Shaft G 2188 Y, Block of sunk relief inscription mentioning the dog Abutiu (35-10-22/Cairo JE 67573), lines 6–10:

     
     
     
     
     

     rḏj ḥm.f [s]fṯ ḫwz n[.f] jz jn jzwt nt (j)qdw jr.n n.f ḥm.f nw r (j)mꜣḫ.f

     His Majesty gave pine oil and (ordered) that a tomb be built for him by a gang of builders. His majesty has done this for him in order that he be honoured.

2. (transitive, hapax) The meaning of this term is uncertain. Possibilities include: [22nd Dynasty]
   1. to honor, to revere (someone)
      • c. 924–909 BCE (reign of Osorkon II), fragment of a block statue of Djedkhonsuiuefankh (Cairo CG 559), robe surface, line 8:

        jmꜣḫ.n wj nṯr ḥr qbḥ(w) šzp

        The god honored me because of the coolness of what was received.

Inflection

Conjugation of jmꜣḫ (quadriliteral / 4-lit. / 4rad.) — base stem: jmꜣḫ

infinitival forms imperative infinitive negatival complement complementary infinitive1 singular plural jmꜣḫ jmꜣḫw, jmꜣḫ jmꜣḫt jmꜣḫ jmꜣḫ ‘pseudoverbal’ forms stative stem periphrastic imperfective2 periphrastic prospective2 jmꜣḫ ḥr jmꜣḫ m jmꜣḫ r jmꜣḫ suffix conjugation aspect / mood active contingent aspect / mood active perfect jmꜣḫ.n consecutive jmꜣḫ.jn terminative jmꜣḫt perfective3 jmꜣḫ obligative1 jmꜣḫ.ḫr imperfective jmꜣḫ prospective3 jmꜣḫw, jmꜣḫ potentialis1 jmꜣḫ.kꜣ subjunctive jmꜣḫ verbal adjectives aspect / mood relative (incl. nominal / emphatic) forms participles active active passive perfect jmꜣḫ.n — — perfective jmꜣḫ jmꜣḫ jmꜣḫ, jmꜣḫw5, jmꜣḫy5 imperfective jmꜣḫ, jmꜣḫy, jmꜣḫw5 jmꜣḫ, jmꜣḫj6, jmꜣḫy6 jmꜣḫ, jmꜣḫw5 prospective jmꜣḫ, jmꜣḫtj7 jmꜣḫwtj1 4, jmꜣḫtj4, jmꜣḫt4 1 Used in Old Egyptian; archaic by Middle Egyptian. 2 Used mostly since Middle Egyptian. 3 Archaic or greatly restricted in usage by Middle Egyptian. The perfect has mostly taken over the functions of the perfective, and the subjunctive and periphrastic prospective have mostly replaced the prospective. 4 Declines using third-person suffix pronouns instead of adjectival endings: masculine .f/.fj, feminine .s/.sj, dual .sn/.snj, plural .sn. 5 Only in the masculine singular. 6 Only in the masculine. 7 Only in the feminine.

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of jmꜣḫ  

jmꜣḫ	jmꜣḫ	jmꜣḫ
		[22nd Dynasty]

Derived terms

• jmꜣḫw
• jmꜣḫt

Noun

 m

1. worthiness of attention, care, respect, and remembrance by future generations; roughly dignity, honor (+ r: due to (someone))
2. in particular, the state of dignity or honor attributed to one of the dead who have been judged righteous

   ― zbj r jmꜣḫ ― to attain blessedness (after death)

3. venerable age, old age

   (Old Kingdom) ― zbj jmꜣḫ ― to live to old age

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of jmꜣḫ  

jmꜣḫ	jmꜣḫ	jmꜣḫ	jmꜣḫ	jmꜣḫ	jmꜣḫ

Derived terms

• pḥ jmꜣḫ
• nb-jmꜣḫ
• nbt-jmꜣḫ
• ḥqꜣ-jmꜣḫ

Noun

 m

1. spinal column, backbone, including the spinal cord [Coffin Texts]
2. mythologically, the vertebral canal of the snake through which the sun is said to travel [Theban royal tombs]

Inflection

Declension of jmꜣḫ (masculine)

singular	jmꜣḫ
dual	jmꜣḫwj
plural	jmꜣḫw

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of jmꜣḫ  

jmꜣḫ	jmꜣḫ	jmꜣḫ	jmꜣḫ
[Coffin Texts]	[Coffin Texts]	[New Kingdom]	[New Kingdom]

References

• “jmꜣḫ (lemma ID 25050)”, “jmꜣḫ (lemma ID 25060)”, and “jmꜣḫ (lemma ID 25040)”, in Thesaurus Linguae Aegyptiae‎^[1], Corpus issue 18, Web app version 2.1.5, Tonio Sebastian Richter & Daniel A. Werning by order of the Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften and Hans-Werner Fischer-Elfert & Peter Dils by order of the Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig, 2004–26 July 2023
• Erman, Adolf, Grapow, Hermann (1926) Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache‎^[2], volume 1, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, →ISBN, pages 81.11–81.24
• Faulkner, Raymond Oliver (1962) A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian, Oxford: Griffith Institute, →ISBN, page 20
• James P[eter] Allen (2010) Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs, 2nd edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, pages 301–302, 364.