ywd-hmꜥrwk

Egyptian

Etymology

A compound of ywd (“hand, monument”) +‎ (h)mꜥrwk (“king”) in a direct genitive construction, thus literally ‘Monument of the King’. Both components are borrowings from Semitic, ultimately from Proto-Semitic *yad- and *malk-; it may be the entire place name was directly borrowed from Semitic. The h in the Egyptian form reflects a Semitic definite article: compare Hebrew הַ־.

Earlier hypotheses interpreting the word as ‘king of Judah’ are now largely rejected.

Pronunciation

• (modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /iːuːd hɛmɑːruːk/
  • Conventional anglicization: yud-hemaruk

Proper noun

  m./f. topo.

1. a place hypothesized to be near Megiddo

References

• Hoch, James E. (1994) Semitic Words in Egyptian Texts of the New Kingdom and Third Intermediate Period, Princeton: Princeton University Press, →ISBN