jnb-ḥḏ

Egyptian

Etymology

From jnb (“wall”) +‎ ḥḏ (“white”), literally “White Wall”.

Pronunciation

• (modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /inɛb hɛd͡ʒ/
  • Conventional anglicization: ineb-hedj

Proper noun

  m./f. topo.

1. Memphis [since the Old Kingdom]

   Synonyms: mn-nfr, ḥwt-kꜣ-ptḥ

   • 18th Dynasty, Great Hymn to Osiris, Stela of Amenmose (Louvre C 286), lines 1–2:

     špss kꜣ pw ḫnt(j) ḏdw wr ẖrt m ḫm nb hnw m ꜥnḏtj ḫnt(j) ḏf(ꜣ) m jwnw
     nb sḫꜣw m mꜣꜥtj bꜣ štꜣ nb qrrt ḏsr m jnb-ḥḏ bꜣ rꜥ ḏt.f ḏs.f

     He is noble of ka, this foremost one of Busiris, great of possessions in Letopolis, possessor of acclaim in (the nome of) Anedjti, foremost of provisions in Heliopolis, possessor of remembrance in the Two Truths (Hall of Judgement), the secret ba, lord of the Cavern, sacred in Memphis, the ba of Ra, his very body (literally, “his body/self of himself”), …

2. the main fortress of Memphis, located toward the north of the city and also functioning as a palace and ceremonial complex
3. the first nome of Lower Egypt, with its capital at Memphis

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of jnb-ḥḏ  

jnb-ḥḏ	jnbw-ḥḏ	jnb-ḥḏt
[Old Kingdom]	[Old Kingdom]	[New Kingdom]

Descendants

• Demotic: jnb-ḥḏ
• → Ancient Greek: Λευκὸν τεῖχος (Leukòn teîkhos) (calque)
  • → English: White Wall (calque)

References

• “Jnb.w-ḥḏ (lemma ID 27300)” and “Jnb.w-ḥḏ (lemma ID 800038)”, 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 95.6–95.7
• Faulkner, Raymond Oliver (1962) A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian, Oxford: Griffith Institute, →ISBN, page 23
• Danelon, Nevio and Zielinski, David J. (2023) “Mythological Landscapes and Real Places: Using Virtual Reality to Investigate the Perception of Sacred Space in the Ancient City of Memphis” in Ancient Egypt, New Technology, pages 85–117