LET THE ANCESTORS SPEAK Removing the Veil of Mysticism from Medu Netcher Cae Nee ce Cee Grammar 36 Of KEMET Sa TBLET THE ANCESTORS SPEAK Removing the Veil of Mysticism from Medu Netcher BY ANKH MIRA A Guide to the Grammar of the Language of Kemetes TT TT ABOUT THE COVER i Te 2% %°C2R3) Ni-Maat -Ra Amem-em-het Heru Great Spirit, King of Upper and Lower Kemet, The Truth of Ra, Son of Ra, Amon is Foremost Amememhet III, Dynasty XII, As King of Kemet, he was Supreme Pontiff, The Intercessor between man and God. By virtue of his divine birth he was in actuality a god himself. He wears the leopard skin cloak that was worn by the SNF sm, overseer or director of the IS smu (the deified priest of Ptah) (yg, 1) and that in itself expresses the sacerdotal function of his kingship. Although there is considerable damage to the statue his exquisite African features are clearly evident under his heavy dreadlock wig.ie Let The Ancestors Speak Removing The Veil Of Mysticism From Medu Netcher VOLUME I A Guide To The Grammar Of The Language Of Kemet By Ankh Mi Ra Published by JOM International Inc. P.O. Box 289 ‘Temple Hills Maryland 20757 Fax 301 449-5250 Copyright 1995 By JOM International Ine. All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Convention. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any other information storage and retrieval system without prior permission in writing from the author. Cover Design: GRAPHTECH International Ine. P.O. Box 4066 Upper Marlboro, MD 20772 James E. Laws III, Proprietor Publication Design: Corey Bey and Anthony Browder Editors: Diane M. Laws & Gilberta Grimball Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 94-96047 ISBN: 0-9640661-1-4 Paperback - $19.95 Ist printing 1995 Printing: International Graphies/ Beltsville, MarylandDEDICATION HE WHO IS WISE WILL REMAIN FAITHFUL TO LEARNING, AND WILL PRAY DJHUTY THE NETCHER OF LEARNING TO GIVE HIM UNDERSTANDING AND ASSISTANCE. DJHUTY IS THE “BABOON WITH SHINING HAIR AND AN AMIABLE FACE, THE SCRIBE OF THE NETCHERU,” HE WILL NOT FORSAKE HIS EARTHLY COLLEAGUES IF THEY CALL UPON HIM AND SPEAK THUS TO HIM: “COME TO ME AND GUIDE ME, AND MAKE ME TO ACT JUSTLY IN YOUR OFFICE. YOUR OFFICE IS MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN ALL OFFICES... COME TO ME, GUIDE ME! I AM & SERVANT IN YOUR HOUSE. LET THE WORLD TELL OF YOUR MIGHT, THAT ALL MEN MAY SAY: ‘GREAT IS THAT WHICH DJHUTY HAS DONE. LET THEM COME WITH THEIR CHILDREN, TO CAUSE THEM TO BE MARKED AS SCRIBES. YOUR OFFICE IS A BEAUTIFUL OFFICE, YOU ARE A STRONG PROTECTOR. IT REJOICES THOSE WHO ARE INVESTED WITH IT.” umcseno THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO THE AFRICAN SESHU (SCRIBES) BOTH ANCIENT AND CONTEMPORARY, AND NO ONE PERSONIFIES THAT TRADITION MORE THAN BROTHER LISTERVELT MIDDLETON. AS STATED BY THE HONORED ELDER SEBA AND SCRIBE, DR. JOHN H. CLARKE, "ABOVE ALL, LISTERVELT MIDDLETON KEPT THE RECORD.”6 Let The Ancestors Speak Preface The wise person feeds the Ka with what endures, so that it is happy with that person on earth. ‘The wise is known by his or her good actions. The heart of the wise matches his or her tongue, and his or her lips are straight when speaking. The wise have eyes that are made to see and ears that are made to hear what will profit the offspring. The wise person who acts with MAAT is free of falsehood and disorder. Useful is hearing to 2 son who hears. If hearing enters the hhearer, then the hearer becomes a listener. Hearing well is speaking well. Useful is hearing to one who hears. Hearing is better than anything else. It creates good will. How good it is for a son to understand his father’s words. That son will reach old age because of those words. He who hears is beloved of God. He whom God hates does not hear. The heart makes of its owner a hearer or non hearer. Man’s heart is his life, prosperity and health... He who loves to hear is ‘one who acts on what is said. (Dja Ptahhotep, 2350 B.C.E., Menefer, KMT) Ankh Mi Ra is a Great Royal Scribe, mswt sé wr, in the truest sense of that designation. He is one of but a handful of Africans in the United States who have the fluency in the language of Ancient Kemet (Egypt) to produce such a work of scholarship and beauty as Let The Ancestors Speak. The hard, patient sacrificial work of this brilliant scholar has born sweet fruit. African scholars have been interested in Kemet for many years, and almost to the person, those who have studied about KMT have concluded that the Ancient Kemites were indigenous (“racially” and culturally) Afticans, or black people, and, as such, are a part of the great continental cultural tradition of Africa. ; Most of these scholars, studied European literature, ancient and modem, to reach their conclusions. They were restricted to viewing Kemet through the European filter, reading books on KMT written almost exclusively by European writers. Although some European scholars agreed with mainstream African scholarly opinion about the origin of the Kemites, they too were forced to rely in many cases on filtered information, or worse still fabricated information. » The late great Dr. Cheikh Anta Diop, his brilliant colleague, Dr. Theophile Obenga, Dr. Jacob Carruthers, Dr. Maulana Karenga, Sister Rekhty Wimby, and Dr. Joseph ben Jochannan are but a few of a small number of African American scholars whoPreface 1 have facility with the MDW NTR, the “Hieroglyphic” writing system of KMT. Even now, however, the numbers are growing rapidly. Yet we know that a full grasp of the meaning of the text and the fullest grasp of the culture of KMT requires fluency in the MDW NTR. This is because we must let the ‘Ancient people of KMT speak for themselves. It is also because many of the translations of Egyptologists are distorted at best and in some cases are completely at variance with the truth. Systematic study of the falsification process has been done and reported by Diop 3 and nearly 10 years later by Bernal. , We have seen the “political science” of Egyptology in operation, emerging at the height of the European slave society, with the brilliant work of Champollion after the initiative by Napoleon Bonaparte. Egyptology continued to develop during the colonial period and during segregation/apartheid years. Operating without scholars from Africa in the mainstream dialogue about Africa, self-serving world history was written, history that could not stand the light of free inquiry. s, In awe of the revelations about the high African culture of KMT, the emerging white supremacy ideology in European nations was threatened. The white supremacist European thinkers simply could not accommodate to a sophisticated black Africa that was prior to and an influence on classical Europe. The myth of the barbaric, pagan, savage, part human, depraved African which had served to justify slavery and colonization was coming unraveled. Kemet had to be explained anew, or as Bemal (1987) has put it in chapter four of Black Athena, the European scholars went to war on Ancient Kemet, changing without new data, their earlier views that come from the Greeks themselves. White supremacy scholars started a new story, either Kemet was low culture with either a white or black population, or it was high culture and white, especially if it was shown to be influential to European civilization. Therefore, the great rewrite of African history and the process of the falsification of history of both Europe and Africa was begun. It could be maintained more easily if access to the primary sources was not available to Africans. (e.g., Dr. Diop was discouraged from studying Egyptology at the Sorbonne in Paris, where he later earned his Ph.D.) For example, we have seen “negroes” transported through millennia and thousands of miles, and placed in the Hapi (Nile) Valley, discretely from Yebu (Elephantine) to the south as “Nubians,” not as Kemites. This placement left an imaginary line or border between the black Nubians and the white Kemites. These “negroes” were invented during the slavery petiod for political purposes through a partnership between slave society scientists and politicians and slave owners.8 Let The Ancestors Speak The “negro” category was never defined in any valid scientific way. Flexible biological science, to put it kindly, allowed European slave society to classify and name Afticans as. needed by the slave society. Hapi Valley ethnic/cultural groups were designated as different races, with a particular Nubian group referred to in the authentic Kemetic text as. Nahas, an ethnic designation. But Nahas was translated by Egyptologists as “Negroes.” 7 What scholarship could yield such a gross mismatch between what was in the text and what was reported by the scholarly Egyptologists? Neither the name “negro” nor the concept appear in the Kemetic texts in the European sense of that word. This simple and subtle translation “error” has profound meaning for all translations. In this case it obscures the truth of African “racial” and cultural reality and constructs a “virtual reality” more appealing to the European scholars. Of course, the question then arises, “What else do we have to reexamine?” The answer is, everything! We are winning the battle for KMT, the battle to restore to Aftica its birthright, its culture, its creativeness. Those who argue that KMT was a white civilization or any other non African civilization are reduced to using propaganda tactics. They use newspaper and popular magazine editorial writers to respond to academic challenges They do this to try to win with money and political power, and the power of the media, what they were never able to win in open scholarly debate. ¢ Since the Cairo Symposium where 20 of the world’s Egyptologists met to debate the race of the Ancient Egyptians, and since the European scholars opposing Diop and Obenga were embarrassed at that meeting by the absence of documentation to support their claims for a white KMT, there has been a grand silence and absence of academic documentation and dialogue on these questions. Where are the technical papers to respond to the eleven categories of empirical data supplied by Dr. Diop in Cairo in 1974? It is this examination of everything by careful study that has already born fruit Theophile Obenga and Cheikh Anta Diop, among other things have turned Greenberg’s language classification system for the “Middle East,” upside down. (No scholar can show that the term “Middle East” has any validity whatsoever when applied to the Ancient world) The great construction of the “Afro-Asiatic” family of languages disappeared under the relentless scholarship of Obenga and Diop. Applying the defining comparative linguistics rule of sound correspondences as the measure of genetic relationships among languages, Obenga was able to rule out all Asiatic languages from the family of African languages to which the Kemetic languages belong. » The only non-African continental language that can be genetically classified with Kemetic is Arabic. And actually, there is as much reason to call Arabic an African continental language as there is to call it Asiatic, since the Saudi Arabian peninsula is asPreface 9 much African as Asian. But clearly, the Indo-European and Asian family of languages are in no way genetically related to African languages. 1» So MAAT prevails in the work of many of our African Scholars. Ankh Mi Ra is one of those. ‘Ankh Mi Ra is the first African scholar to tackle the demanding task of writing a grammar of MDW NIR. This is audacious. In his work, we can see that he is precise Heis clear. He manifests the MDW NER, the “Good Speech” or “Beautifull Speech” that Jacob Carruthers. has elevated to an operative concept. This moves Ankh Mi Ra to the front ranks of scholarship and leadership for the study of KMT. Already his students are imitating the discipline and the unwavering search for truth and its expression through MDW NFR, “Good Speech.” I am proud to count myself among the many who will learn from him. As significant as this work is, it is only the beginning. There will be much more from Ankh Mi Ra. There are thousands upon thousands of inscriptions to read, to synthesize. There are translations to critique. There is information to be shared and students to be taught. Because of this brilliant work, thousands of Africans and others will be even more attracted to the study of the language of Kemet and the broader culture to which it provides access. Once that language door has been opened, thousands of multidisciplinary ‘Affican and other scholars will have unfiltered access to the texts, to the primary sources, to the actual divine words of the Kemetic people. ‘The Kemetic scribes will speak across the millennia to the sons and daughters of Africa. Indeed, they did build for eternity. Let The Ancestors Speak is a call to labor, a window on the rich culture of Africa, a vision of the future. The ever popular, friendly and emotionally satisfying greeting, “Hiotep,” is the beginning, not the end. What do we say after we say “Hotep!?” Rigorous and demanding hours, days, weeks, months, and years of intensive study is required of all of us. Those of us who have access to technology, libraries, funds, communications, and transportation have an obligation to our people to invest heavily in the rescue and reconstruction of our cultural heritage. We will certainly gain energy and direction from Ankh Mi Ra. The standard of excellence has been illuminated. Asa G.Hilliard IIT10 Preface Hilliard, Asa G. III (1994) Forthcoming) “Bringing MAAT, Destroying Isfet: African American Scholars in the study of Ancient KMT,” In Ivan Van Sertima Egypt Revisited. Special issue of The Journal of African Civilizations Hilliard, Asa G. III (1995) The Maroon Within Us. Baltimore: Black Classic Press (See especially the chapter on “Fabrication: the politics and sociology of knowledge in the study of Ancient Kemet) Diop, Cheikh Anta (1974) The African Origin Of Civilization: Myth or Reality Bemal, Martin (1987) Black Athena Diop, Cheikh Anta (1991) Civilization or Barbarism: Toward An Authentic Anthropology Obenga, Theophile _Atican Philosophy Of The Pharonic Period Budge, E.A. Wallis (1967) The Egyptian Book Of The Dead. (1974) The Peopling of United Nations Educational and Cultural Organization, Ancient Egypt and The D: Meroitic Script: a report of th ‘Symposium Obenga, Theophile (1992) Ancient Egypt and Black Africa, Obenga, Theophile (forthcoming) Essays in Ancient Egyptian Studies.Let The Ancestors Speak uw Acknowledgements I would like to express my heart felt thanks to my family, for without them this book ‘would never have been completed. would also like to extend a sincere thanks to: Bro. Nana Bkow Butwiku (Harold Dicks), my first Medu Netcher teacher. Mam Fatou Sek, for the love and encouragement she gave me during some difficult times. Bro, Theophile Obenga, who's close friendship, insight and constant guidance made my task ‘much easier. He has the clarity and vision of the ancestors. Bro. Corey Bey, his vast knowledge of the computer and publication design greatly enhanced the progress of this project, indeed his dedication was a demonstration of what true brotherhood realy means. Bro, Abdullah Yusuf, my first Medu Netcher study partner and true brother who edited the final draft, his right eye has become his left and his left has become his right, he has truly citiqued with the #6 FS Bro. Tony Browder, who was always there not only as a friend to help guide me through this process, but also as a brother that reflected light to another brother. Sis, Nzinga Ratabishi Heru, for her constant support for this project. Bro. Asa G. Hilliard II a true seba, for his terrible Medu Netcher penmanship which was responsible for launching this project. Also Brother Asa provided the inspiration forthe title ‘Lot The Ancestors Speak. Sis, Sckmet Djhuty (Patricia Newton), a true sister who was always available to help with this project. Bro, Jacob H. Carruthers, who always gave constructive and wise counsel, (especially over a good meal). To the elders Dr. John Henrik Clark, and Dr. Josef Ben Jochannan who lit the way, for without them this book would not exist. ‘The New Horizons Brotherhood of Columbia Park Elementary School, and two of their exellent educators, Dr. Annette Blake and Ms. Arlene Taylor WE tne two Ladies. Sis. Gilberta Grimball, who spent so much time editing the draft, she is the personification of sisterhood, IP, Above all to “The One” who has no second } © !R Let The Ancestors Speak Introduction Medu Netcher is by far the most beautifill language ever devised by man, and all others pale by comparison. It is ageless because its method of expression is ageless. People, plants, animals, reptiles, even insects became important participants in a never ending expression played out against the vastness of an endless universe. No other language devised outside of the Affican continent can even begin to approach its philosophical thought or its technical sophistication, “Pharaonic philosophy is inseparable from its native, continental context, ie, the Black African world; there is no one single fundamental notion of Pharaonic philosophy which is not to be found in Black Africa.” 1 This gives rise to the concepts posited in “The Cultural Unity of Black Afica” by Dr.Cheikh Anta Diop. At this point, it must be realized that mastery of the grammar alone, though important, will only lead to a superficial interpretation of this great language. As is now so evident, cultural baggage, and in many instances sheer arrogance renders many “egyptologists” incapable of objective scholarship. “No matter how academically erudite and analytically brilliant, can somebody who believes that Ancient Egypt ‘was a primitive society, incapable of abstract thought, transmit to the modem reader its wisdom? Like a surgeon, who, searching for the soul of his patient with the help of scalpel, declares there is no soul in man, the analytical mind, bent over a papyrus, with the scalpel of grammar, cries out, ‘there is no philosophy in Egypt!” To such a mentality, the voyage of the Barque of the sun is merely a pagan dream. Yet their objective reality would be a dream to the wise men of Egypt. Itis as ifa sleepwalker were placed as judge over the awake.” » Realization of the above only intensifies the desire to move on to the next level of understanding which can only be reached through intense study, real African spiritual development, and sacrifice; all three elements are absolutely necessary. The great number and many types of symbols contained in this volume make it imperative that the leamers develop a keen memory. Each part of speech contained herein must be committed to memory, and the section on syntax must be studied intensely. ‘The section “Of Gods And Kings,” offers the leamer a deeper understanding of Monumental Inscriptions. There is quite a lot of material that might beIntroduction 13 considered an oversimplification by intermediate or advanced Medu ‘Netcherist. This volume is intended for leamers with a very basic knowledge of the language of Kemet (Re en Kemei). 1 have not avoided complex grammatical structures nor the complexities of linguistic science for the sake of simplicity. This would only increase the possibility of presenting a distorted picture. Every effort has been made to include those basic grammatical forms needed to bring learners to a level which will facilitate translation of any average text without difficulty. ‘Those who are interested in a more thorough investigation of the Medu Netcher, or the historical progression from the pre- dynastic ancient African languages should consult the standard texts on this subject written by African-centered scholars. Ankh Mi Ra Temple Hills MD. February, 1994Brazzaville, 1st April 1994 Professor Theophile Obenga Université Marien Ngouabi Brazzaville (Congo) Mon Cher Frere Ankh Mi Ra (Dear Brother Ankh Mi Ra) I did receive your manuscript dealing with Egyptian Grammar. My heartfelt thanks to you. I read your book from cover to cover and Iwill send you some of my remarks and suggestions in a different mail. In this correspondence I would like to indicate the significance your work holds in the field of Egyptology, since the 1974 UNESCO International Colloquium in Cairo. Indeed, Dr. Cheikh Anta Diop himself considered his work entitled s Négro~ Afficaines Modernes 1977 (“Genetic Relationships Between ‘Ancient Egyptian and Modern Black African Languages”) as a direct consequence of the Cairo Colloquium. The Ankh Review of Egyptology and African Civilizations (Khepra Association: Paris since 1992) has assembled our brilliant young African Egyptologists. The worthy works of Senegalese Egyptologists AM. Lam end B. Sall honor to the highest point the African School of Egyptology, founded by Dr. Cheikh Anta Diop. Therefore, the African School of Egyptology does exist. Dr. Cheikh Anta Diop’s most urgent dream has become a reality. We have been anticipating a scientific work on the part of African Americans in the field of Egyptology. Now that dream is fulfilled with the work of groups in the Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Washington Metropolitan areas. ‘The competency of the Washington DC group is brilliant proof of the scholarly and dynamic research of African Americans.It is not easy to write a grammar of Pharaonic language. It is more of a risk to undertake such work in the context of the so-called “Hamito-Semitic” or “Afro-Asiatic” which is a linguistic hoax. Indeed the “Afro-Asiatic” family does not exist in linguistic reality. ‘Now is the time for Afticans to understand clearly what is at stake historically and culturally concerning the Pharaonic world. In this context your grammar is an intellectual masterpiece that highly enhances research and culture. I strongly recommend the use of this work in the practical application and learning of Pharaonic civilization, Your unwavering faith is also, my dear friend, Ankh Mi Ra, Ours. It is imperative that we create an International African Association of Egyptology (IAAE). The future of the research on Egyptology depends on the creation of such a scientific association. This is my sincere desire and let’s start now! Your Brother, Professor Theophile Obenga, Ph.D.16 Let The Ancestors Speak Removing the Veil of Mysticism from Medu Netcher By Ankh MiRa A Guide To The Grammar Of Kemet CONTENTS Dedication. Preface: Professor Asa G Hilliard 1, PRD. ‘Acknowledgements. Introduction, Letter from Professor Theophile Obes, PAD. Table OF Contents. List OF Abbrevi List Of Plates. PART ONE § 1. A Case For African Origins. § 2. Evolution of The Language. § 3. Divisions of The Language........ § 4, Leaming The Formal Language of Kemet. § 5. Beauty and Symmetry. . § 6. Orientation of The Script § 7. Phonogramn..... § 8 Types of Phonograms.. Monoliteral Sign List (Formal, Cursive, Popular) § 9. The Biliteral. Excursus A. (Amery Of The Bilteral) § 10. Biliteral Sign List w § 11. The Triliteral..... : ‘The Triliteral Sign List... § 12. The Phonetic Complement. § 13. The Biliterals in Group Writing. § 14, Determinatives. § 15. Ideograms & the Stroke Determinative.. - Exeursus B (Signs and African Symbolism) Offering Table From the Temple of Amon. Personal Eye Make-up Container of the Seribe Ahmose. Alabaster Vase - Tomb of Tutankhamon, Determinative and Ideogram List... § 16. The Artcie. , § 17. Orthographic Anomalies § 18. Abbreviations. § 19. Graphic Transposition. '§20. Transposition with Honorific Intent §21. Basie Word Order. §22. The M Of Predication....Contents 17 PART TWO The Noun § 23. Definition Of The Noun. § 24. Gender & Number... § 25. Expression Of The Genitive. § 26. To Express The Objective and Subjective... § 27. To Express Coordination nm § 28. To Express The Dative... § 29. To Express The Vocative... The Adjective § 30. Definition Of The Adjective... § 31. Gender & Number. § 32. AsModifier.. § 33. The Adjective As Predicate. §34. As Noun. : § 35. Degrees Of Comparison. §36. With Y Endings... The Numeral §.37. Powers Of Ten. § 38. Numerical Constru § 39. The Phonetic Construction Of Numbers. § 40. Use & Construction Of Cardinal Numbers. § 41. Functions Of The Number One. § 42. One Thousand & One Million § 43. Definition Of Ordinal Numbers § 44. Construction & Use... § 45. As An Adjective In Later Text. § 46. Ordinals Ten & Above... § 47. The Fraction Defined.. § 48. Construction § 49. Grain Measurement... §50. The Hekat Measure... § 51. Construction Of The ro-measure.. § 52. Dividing With The Hera Series. z § 53. The Amhose Mathematical Shefedu in Cop - § 54, Problem NumberFour § 55. Measurement Of Length, § 56, Arca Measurement. § 57. Weight Measurement. § 58. Division Of Time... § 59. The Kemet Method Of Dating, § 60. Summary Of The Year.18 Let The Ancestors Speak CONT. PART TWO The Pronoun § 61. The Three Forms Of The Personal Pronoun. § 62. The Suffix Pronoun. § 63. Conjugation Of The Suffix Pronoun... § 64. The Dual... § 65. Uses. § 66, Reflexive Use Of The Sux Pronom (Conjugion §71. The Independent Pronoun.. § 72. Conjugation Of The Independent $73. Usage... § 74. Use Of The Pronoun ¢w. § 75. Construction Of The Passive sdem.f Form. § 76. Definition OF Demonstratives. § 77, Construction urn : § 78, As Demonstrative Adjectives § 79. As Demonstrative Pronouns.. § 80. Morphological Properties Of § 81. Noun + pw+ Noun. § 82. Definition OF The Relative Form.. § 83. Usage. The Verb § 84. Definition Of The Verb. § 85. Classification... § 86. Geminating Verbs. § 87. Formation Of The Inegular Verb. § 88. Syntactic Elements Of The Emphatic or ( § 89. The Reduplicating Vert... § 90. The Causative, § 91. The Auxiliary Verbal Element § 92. Usage. §93. The Auxiliary Element 27 § 94. The Auxiliary Element wan, § 95. The Auxiliary Element wa with in § 96, Mood, Tense, &ASPECt nn § 97. Participles & Relative Forms. 2 i seis Relais ears OCs seresie § 99, Resumptive Words.Contents 19 CONT. PART TWO ‘The Adverb § 100, Definition 184 § 101. Construction, 184 § 102, Usage... 187 The Preposition § 103. Definition Of The Preposition.. 187 § 104. Construction. § 105. Usage.enrn 5 § 106. The Compound Preposition § 107, Usege. § 108. The Preposition In Summary... The Conjunction § 109. Definition Of The Conjunction § 110. Construction. : The Particle § IIL. Definition OF The Parti 199 § 112. Initial or Non-Enclitc Particles. 200 § 113. Non Initial or Enclitic Particles... 203 PART THREE Syntax § 114, The Sentence... § 115. The Verbal Sentence... § 116. The Non- Verbal Sentence... § 117. The Interrogative Sentence. § 118. The Sentence Of Negation... § 119. The Negation Of The Non-verbal Sentence § 120, Negation Of The Adjectival Predicate... Of Gods And Kings Excursus C (Of Gods And Kings) § 121. The Titulary Of The King an 228 § 122. The Nebety Name oe os20 § 123. The Golden Heru Name. § 124. The Pre-Nomen.. § 125. The Nomen, § 126. In Association With Residence/Fortifications. § 127. The Fall Titulary.. § 128. The Mystique Of The Kings Name. § 129. A Selected Kings List (Dynasty 11 thra 25). § 130. Selected Netchers.. § 131. Selected Word List. Reading Monumental Insetiptions Reading I- The Tomb Of Khay, Waset... Reading II - The Great Hypostyle Hall, Offering Scene faint Reading III - The Hotep Di Nisut Formula. Reading 1V~AsetOn Gold Sg. Conclusion nn References. BibliographyLet The Ancestors Speak 2 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Ak Author abbrev. abbreviation Ag. Zeitschrift fur agyptischeSprache und Altertumskunde, 78 vols, Leipzig 1863-1934 ‘Adm, A.H Gardiner, The Admonitions of an Egyptian Sage, Leipsig, 1909. Ann. Anastasi, V 9, 2-10, 2: 444 (Selected Papyri Of ‘The British Museum) With damaged text amended by Adolf Erman. Berl, AI. Agyptische Inschriften aus den Koniglichen Museen zur Berlin, 2 vols. Leipzig, 1913-24 Bersh. PE, Newberry, E. Bersheh, in Archaeological Survey of Egypt, 2 vols. London (Egypt Exploration Fund), 1893-4. BH. PE. Newberry [and F. Ll, Griffith}, Beni Hasan, in Archaeological Survey of Egyp, 4 vols. London (Egypt Exploration Fund), 1893-1900. B.of D. Book of the Dead Brit. Mus. Stelae, statues, &c., quoted by their old registration nos,, not by the new exibition nos. Mostly published in Hieroglyphic Texts from Egyptian Stelae, &c., in the British Museum, 8 parts. london, 1911-39. Bud. E.A Wallis Budge, An Egyptian Hieroglyphic Dictionary In Two Volumes. Buds E.A Wallis Budge, Egyptian Language Easy Lessons in Egyptian Hieroglyphics Cairo Inscriptions in the Cairo Museum in the Catalogue ‘general des antiquites egyptiennes du musee du Cai Cen. H, Frankfort, The Cenotaph of Seti I at Abydos, 2 vols. London (Egyptian Exploration Society), 1933, cf. confer = compare CMA. Coffin of Meshet, Assiut cr Coffin Text Destr. E, Naville, La Destruction des Hommes par les Dieux, in Transactions of the Society of Biblical Archaeology, iv. (1876), 1-19: vii. (1885), 412-20. ‘New edition by Ch. Maystre, Bull. 40, 53-115.Eb. Falk. Gar. HB. Harh. Hearst Kopt. Kuban Lac. TR. Leb. Louvre Meir Mill. M.u.K. Let The Ancestors Speak G. Ebers, Papyros Ebers, das hermetische Buch ubr die Arzeneimittel der alten Agypter, 2 vols Leipzig, 1875 R.O. Faulkner A Concise Dictionary Of Middle Egyptian Griffith Institute Ashmolean Museum Oxford 1986 Sir Alan Gardiner, Egyptian Grammar, Being An Introduction To The Study Of Hieroglyphs. Third Edition, Revised Hellmut Brunner, An Outline Of Middle Egptian Grammar. For Use In Academic Instructions. Tomb and Sarcophagus of Harhotep G.A Reisner, The Hearst medical Papyrus, in University of California publications, Egyptian Archaeology, vol. i. Leipzig, 1905 WME. Pettie, Koptos. London (Egyptian Research Account), 1896. P. Tresson, La Stele de Kouban, in Bibiotheque a’ etude de I Institute Francias d' Arcjeologie Orientale, Cairo, 1922. P. Lacau, Textes Religicux Egyptiens, Premiere Partie. Paris, 1910. ‘A. Erman, Gesprach eines Lebensmuden mit seiner seele. Berlin, 1896 Objects in Leyden, published in P.A. Boeser, Beschreibung der agyptischen Sammiung...in Leiden, 12 vols., the Hague, 1908-25. Stelae quoted by registration nos,, e.g. Louvre C I AMBlackman, The Rock Tombs of Meir, 4 vols, in Archaeological Survey of Egypt. London (Esypt Exploration Fund), 1994-24. S.AB. Mercer, Egyptian Hieroglyphic Grammar London 1926. Convenient transcription of the Milligen papyrus in AZ. 34, 38-49 A. Erman, Zauber spruche fur Mutter und Kind, Berlin 1901Abbreviations Nu. P. Kah. Rhind Sall. Sh. S. sim, Si Suit. Sonnenlit Urk, Weste. The papyrus of Nu, containing an XVIIth Dyn. version of the Book of the Dead. Published in E.A WBudge, The Book the Dead. Facsimiles of the Papyri of Hunefer, Anhai, Kerasher and ‘Netchemet, with supplementary text from the papyrus of Nu. London, 1899. The Story of the Eloquent Peasant, published by F. Vogelsang and A.H. Gardiner. E, Devaund, Les Maximes De Ptahhotep, Texte. Fibourge (suisse), 1916. Quoted by the numbers in the right-hand margin of Devauds transcription, (Pyramid Text) The religious text found in the tombs of five kings of Dyn. V-VI at Sakarah, F. LI Griffith, Hieratic Papyri from Kahun and Gurob, 2 vols., London, 1898. TLE. Peet, The Rhind Mathematical Papyrus. London, 1923. Sallier ‘The Story of the Shipwrecked Sailor. similary The Story of Sinuhe, published by A.H.Gardiner. ‘Tombs of Asyut, quoted by tomb-number and line, as published in F.LI, Griffith, The Inscription of Siut and Der Rifeh. London 1889. Urkunden P.E, Newberry [and F. Ll. Griffith], Beni Hasan, in Archaeological Survey of Egypt, 4 vols. London (Egypt Exploration Fund), 1893-1900. AE, Erman, Die Marchen des Papyrus Wescar, in Mittheilungen aus den Orientalischen Sammlungen, Heft, v. vi. Berlin, 1800.24 Plate PeNS ea xh 12. 13. 14. 15) 16. as 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24, 25. 26. Let The Ancestors Speak List Of Plates Page Amememhet IIT, Dynasty XII. “ ‘The Baboon Of Djhuty and Scribe. From Amama, late Dynasty XVII Conference in Kemet, at Cairo Museum, (library) 1992... Heart-shaped jar of Maatkara Hatshepsut. Dynasty XVIII Also symbol for biliteral Offering Table from the temple of Amon, Ipet-Isut Personal eye make-up container of The Scribe Ahmose, Dynasty XVIII. Alabaster Vase from the tomb of King Tutankhamon, Dynasty XVII. Het-Heru Offering The Ankh to King Amonhotep Shefedu of the scribe Ani Ipet-Resyt (Southern Ipet) Luxor Temple A Scribes Tools, Dynasty XVII... Pectoral Falcon of King Tutankhamon, Waset, Dynasty XVIII. A365 1/4 day calendar, Reign of Men-Kheper-Ra Djhuty-Mes III, Dynasty XVIII Ka Statue Of King Au-ib-Ra, Dynasty XI Limestone Stela of Sen-res, Dynasty XVIL... Wooden writing palette of Neb-iry, Dynasty XVII. Sesostris I Dynasty XII Private Lecture... King Sahure wearing loin girdle and lions tail, Dynasty V Monumental Inscription No. 1 Germination Wisir, Dynasty XVI Monumental Inscription No. Monumental Inscription No. 3. Monumental Inscription No. 4. Men-Kau-Ra... ‘Amon Hotep Son Of HapuPART ONE26 Let The Ancestors Speak AN AFRICAN SCRIPT THE SCRIPT OF KEMET § 1. A CASE FOR AFRICAN ORIGINS - There is a persistent penchant among certain “Egyptologists” to question whether writing was an autochthonous invention of Kemet or influenced by mysterious invaders. Two such examples cited below will give an indication of this obtuse thinking that persist even today against all historical precedence. “It is hardly probable that the hieroglyphic system of writing was invented in Egypt, and the evidence on this point now accumulating indicates that it was brought there by certain invaders who came from north-east or central Asia; they settled down in the valley of the Nile at some place between Memphis on the north and Thebes on the south, and gradually established their civilization and religion in their new home.” ; “The Egyptian language is related, not only to the Semitic tongues (Hebrew, Arabic, Aramaic, Babylonian é&c.), but also to the East African languages alla, Somali, &c.) and the Berber idioms of North Africa. Its connexion jg) with the latter groups, together known as the Hamitic family, is a very thomey subject, but the relationship to the Semitic tongues can be fairly accurately defined.” In addition the author cites a few superficial similarities which in all probability were Western Asian borrowings from the African script. He goes on further to state: “In spite of these resemblances, Egyptian differs from all the Semitic tongues a good deal more than any one of them differs from any other, and at least until its relationship to African languages is more clearly defined, Egyptian must certainly be classified as standing outside the Semitic group.” ; Regardless of the cacophony of shrill, and unbridled disingenuousness of most “Egyptologists” owing to some ridiculous premise of intellectual and/or racial inferiority of the Aftican, the persistent political hoax of grouping this language into some mythical “Hamito-Semitic” family has been and continues to be debunked. This writing system was the Africans method of encapsulating and preserving the living dynamic communication process of speaking by breaking it down into written form. The written words of Ancient Kemet were those linguistic forms that were produced by combining the natural flora and fauna with man made objects of the Nile Valley Corridor. A closer examination of the plants and animals used to construct this writing system revealsAn African Script 27 that they specifically came from the neighborhood of the frigid heights of the Ruwenzori Range in Uganda and from the sides of the active volcanoes of the Mufumbrio in Ruanda, Muanza Nianza and Kilimanjaro in Northern Tanzania near the border of Kenya. A more rigorous scientific method of investigating the affinities of this language than the one used by the two previously cited “Bgyptologists” has been postulated by Dr. Theophile Obenga in his, chapter “Genetic Linguistic Connections.” He posits the question, “Which scientific discipline does this matter concern?” Then he proceeds with absolute clarity: “It concems historical linguistics, also referred to as comparative or evolutionary linguistics. By this fact, itis also a matter of cultural linguistics.” He further makes the point that not one scholar in the world has ever established direct, links of a historical order between German, English, etc., speaking people and the Ancient Greeks. But these people consider Ancient Greece as their own cultural base because of the Indo-European linguistic and genetic link. He further explains that German, Slav, Latin, Greek, Hittite, etc., derived from a common predialectal ancestor, the “Indo-European” as a result of historical linguistic reconstruction. Dr. Obenga eloquently makes the point that “In the same manner, on the African side, one should not hesitate to draw all the consequences of the genetic and linguistic link of Ancient Egyptian, Coptic, and modem African languages.” The main axioms of comparative historical or evolutionary linguistics that he delineated were: a) Diachronic linguistics - which precisely examines successive modification of language and its evolution, ) The slow evolutionary rhythm of language and its development even though the language is not written. (The independence of the oral tradition to that of writing), c) Synchronic linguistics which studies the system of a language as it operates at a given point in time (diachronic and synchronic linguistics in reality interlock), and d) Last, the comparative method which restores the main outlines of the predialectal language, by comparing and examining sounds (phonetics), the form of the words and of grammar (morphology, syntax), the lexicological facts (vocabulary), common to the words and grammar, the Iexicological facts common to the different attested languages which are, in fact, different forms taken during the course of time by a unique original language. Obviously, in an elementary grammar of this nature neither time nor space will permit further investigation of this subject. I would only suggest that the serious student investigate Dr. Obenga’s compelling28 Let The Ancestors Speak work which makes a very strong case for the African origins and affinities of the language and exposes the “Affo-Asiatio,” ot “Hamito-Semitic” linguistic family group as a “mere myth” and the “intellectual swindle” that it is. Not only is it an intellectual swindle to place this language in the mythical “Hamito-Semitic” or “Afro- Asiatic” family instead of the Black African family where it rightly belongs, it is equally deceptive to continue calling it hieroglyphic writing. The term hieroglyph was first introduced around 300 B.CE. when some Greeks entered Kemet and saw the Medu Netcher carved on the temple walls. In the Greek language hieros means “sacred” inscriptions and glupho means “sculptured” on monuments, Like the Greeks, the term hieroglyph is foreign to Kemet and its people, and have no place in the language. Mastery of the writing system of Kemet was the domain of an initiated cast of scribes who exercised the power to specify the degree to which the speech of the ordinary people would or could i debauch “The Words Of God” Wea! imdw nt. These Ancient Africans called their language Medu Netcher owing to the fact that Djhuty the Netcher of wisdom created writing and taught it to man. ‘The term Medu Netcher must not be bandied about indiscriminately, it should be used only when referring to sacred text such as Reu nu pert em hru “Chapters of coming forth by day,” other sacred papyri, and certain monumental inscriptions. For such writings as “Webaoner's Wife And The Townsman" « to be called Medu ‘Netcher would border on heresy, §2. EVOLUTION OF THE LANGUAGE ALONG THE NILE VALLEY CORRIDOR The written documents spanning many hundreds of centuries of Afican civilization in the Nile Valley Corridor has shed considerable light on the evolution of the script at various points in time § 3. DIVISIONS OF THE LANGUAGE - To demonstrate the progression and evolution of the language, I have combined the “Working Chronology of the Royal Kemetic Dynasties” of Rashidi and Brunson with Menetho's chronology, and Petrie's King List. 7An African Script 29 Dynasties of ey B-st(i) Ta - Seti Qustul) 6200 - 4200 B.C.E. ‘The writing of this period included names and titles, labels on storage jars, and inscriptions concerning historical and spiritual events. Dynasties of =e 8 mry, Ta Merry or ONG sent Kemet The Old Language of Kemet Dynasties 1-6 ca. 4200 - 3400 B.C.E. King Narmer (Menes) rules over a united Kemet. Writing included books written on anatomy, The Instruction of Prince Hardjedef recorded, The Royal Annals of the so-called Palermo Stone inscribed, ‘The Admonitions of The Vizier Kagemni recorded, The Maxims of Piah Hotep recorded, King Unas inscribes his tomb with the earliest known Pyramid Text. “The remarkable’ descriptions of social disorganization and anarchy, addressed to an aged king in the... Papyrus of Ipuwer and known as The Admonitions of an Egyptian Sage, are, according to Erman, to be associated with the end of this reign.” * SCRIPTS: Formal Medu Netcher-Cursive (hieratic) The Middle Language Of Kemet Dynasties 9 -18 ca, 3253 - 1350 B.C.E. This was one of the greatest periods in African history and the wv a purpose was Iepl oh his smiwy km wr, “To renew the great Black race.” This period is known as the classical stage of the language and it is on the grammar of this period that we shall focus. The flowery, metaphorical style which was in vogue, and the plethora of literary tales and didactic treatises achieved great acclaim and were imitated by aspiring scribes throughout the educational system. The wide variety of text preserved from this period affords us the opportunity of examining mathematical, historical, medical, spiritual and legal documents in great abundance and detail *SCRIPTS Formal Medu Netcher-Cursive (hieratic)30 Let The Ancestors Speak The Late Language Of Kemet Dynasties 19 -24 ca. 1352 - 700 BCE. This is the period in which foreign words began to contaminate the language. The Popular or Indigenous Language of Kemet (Demotic) Dynasty 25 through Greek and Roman invasions ca. 715 B.C. - 470 ACE. This popular or indigenous form of writing was a very fast cursive style used for mundane, commercial and legal documents. Here new vernacular elements were inextricably fused with classical idiomatic expressions of old. For the royal and spiritual inscriptions the Ethiopians used classical Middle Language - Medu Netcher. By deliberately using this archaistic style of writing it can be said that these Ethiopian and Saite scribes reverted to kind. “Note: Note the Greek term hieroglyph has been replaced with the African term - Medu Netcher. ‘The term demotic was derived from the Greek word demotikos meaning "popular." Another term used to describe this style of writing that made its first appearance about the time of the 25th Ethiopian Dynasty was enchorial, from the Greek enkhorios meaning "native." The Coptic ca. 400 - 640 A.C.E. This form is just the spoken language of Kemet written with the Greek alphabet supplemented with seven symbols from the indigenous language of Kemet. Example: Bon lof K Ses) Bec e eyAn African Script 3 Vin «© © ET gonty in Boharic dialect 2 es h "2 (in Akminic has the same meaning) Bia cE 7 -le oreo eioctbrea Ta eS ait ‘There are approximately nine dialects of Coptic of which the following are most significant: a. Akhminic - The old dialect of Upper Kemet which was rapidly supplanted by Sa‘idic. b. Sa‘idic- This was the dialect of Waset that eventually came to be used for literary purposes throughout the whole of Upper Kemet. ¢. Boharic- This dialect came to fruition in the Westem Delta, afier the eleventh century it was adopted as the idiom for all of Kemet, ‘This was the most vulgar form of the language of Kemet. It was used for everyday writing, legal documents, letters, religious compositions, graffiti, etc. It was used ftom the late Roman period until the Arab invasion, when the Arabic language was forced upon the people. Observation: ‘An interesting fact to consider, is that a significant portion of the Latin alphabet that we use today derived from the language of ancient Kemet via the Greek alphabet. The much touted Greeks adapted their alphabet from the Phoenicians, who were in tum influenced by the ‘Afticans of Kemet. The Phoenicians began to develop their “alphabet”32 Let The Ancestors Speak while they were slaves working in the turquoise mines in what is now the Sinai, At first their alphabet consisted of crude prayers and inscriptions to the Aftican Netcher Het-Heru, who they called Baalat and the Greeks later called Hathor. From these crude beginnings the Phoenician alphabet was born. Another fact worth considering is that the very people who today cast aspersions upon so called Third World Nations for allegedly not developing scripts, never invented a script themselves. The British, French, Spanish, Germans, etc,, all use the Roman script. § 4. LEARNING THE FORMAL LANGUAGE OF KEMET Learning the writing system of ancient Kemet is not an easy task, but one that yields rewards every step of the way. Within a short periad of intense study the student will be able to read most basic short ‘monumental inscriptions, The writing system of the Classical Period of Kemet contained approximately seven hundred signs and many of them had more than one meaning, as opposed to our twenty- six character system, This fact alone makes it clear that an adequate knowledge of the language cannot be obtained without a considerable amount of memorization. § 5. BEAUTY AND SYMMETRY The beauty and symmetry of the individual symbols that made up a ‘monumental inscription is a testament not only to the sacredness of the language but also to the care with which the scribes considered their arrangement and order. It was an inviolable law that this writing take a quadrangular form, ‘This inviolable law is called by some scholars, the square principle; the symbols are placed in imaginary squares and the upper ones take precedence over the lower. Example: a mom NPs 8 Sra ink iwtr Kmt “return to Kemet” (lt. make for yourself coming) to Kemet Nor > wm ZN Pas lagAn African Script 3 Beauty was so important that ia word did not form a quadrangle the seribe misspelled it rather than crete an unsighly grouping For instance, the preposition "= 42, meaning, "in accordance with," “in front of" etc, is usually written for better grouping. The scribe es inl a tien of setucing eolargien a en - 8, Dete conform tothe square principle. Some signs were placed vertically 4, or horizontally “* , to maintain symmetrical correctness. The scribes adhered to the quadrangle shape not only for the beauty, it also had significance for the initiate. § 6. ORIENTATION OF THE SCRIPT The Kemetu wrote from right to left, and occasionally for specific purposes, they wrote from left to right. The direction in which the plants and animals faced determined the direction in which an inscription was read. Example: > | a PITTONZES siobereu from left to right Br ALO eS ae aoe from right to left An example of a specific purpose that would influence the direction of the characters is when they are used around a door way. This placement is a good example of an advanced culture marked by refinement and social grace, owing to the fact that no symbol had the temerity to tum its back upon any one walking through the door. This arrangement also makes reading the inscription much easier for the person walking through the door.As the African-American Classical Music of Jazz treats the ear and soul to a veritable feast, the multiple simultaneous meanings on many levels of Medu Netcher treat the eve and soul to a feast as well § 7. PHONOGRAMS - Phonograms can be described as those elements in nature used to represent a phoneme, syllable, or a whole word. The elements used to express the language of Kemet are well suited for this purpose primarily because of their pictorial quality. This "picture script" has led some people to the false conclusion that it is picture writing. In picture vatiting the object depicted (picture) and the meaning are always the same, However, in this language, the object depicted can represent a - totally different and often abstract concept. One example of this is the “~ homed viper,” it does not usually represent a “homed viper” but an “£” In some instances the “horned viper” signifies the 3rd person ‘masculine suffix pronoun, “he,” “him,” “his,” or even the neuter, “it” or “its” Only if accompanied by a short stroke “' ” called a stroke determinative 1 does it represent a “horned viper.” The stroke determinative will be discussed in more detail in § 15.An African Script 35 ‘THREE TYPES OF PHONOGRAMS - § 8.THE MONOLITERAL - The monoliteral is a symbol that represents one letter. There are twenty-five monoliterals and to render the individual phonograms of Kemet into English with comprehensible sounds, the appropriate (LP.A.), Intemational Phonetic Association symbols are used in this text. Linguists have developed the LP.A. alphabet system to as far as possible, represent all of the consonantal sounds used in the various languages of man. These symbols can be found in the fourth column of the chart on the following page. CONFERENCE IN THE CAIRO MUSEUM. Author () discussing International Phonetic Association symbols as they relate to the consonantal sounds used in the various languages of man with librarian of The Cairo Museum and his assistant during study tour in 1992 conducted by Brother Tony Browder (0). Photo courtesy of Bro. Mossi Chamberlain36 Let The Ancestors Speak PHONOGRAMS OF KEMET ‘THE MONOLITERAL SIGN LIST ‘Kemetu Symbol IPA Symbol Object Depicted Sound Value Formal Cursive Popular ha # 3 Affican Vulture "ita 4 4g ) i Flowering Reed Singita sy” Y fh on y Two Flowering ssi te” F Reeds aCe . Forearm & Hand "i sien English “Tangon do it” Se ler ee tet a JL * , TCE oremsand on oee ama ee Foot Stool eh ng mee fly ated Seas f Horned Viper “Paring fa Nae ) Honied Ow “kia naa oclve fone ee fatale ate n Ripple OF “mae spice na Water i =a ° 3 aa “Poo she itn o OF SS , Reed Shelter “avin te gah Hae, In Field , { f 5 hb Twisted Flax ‘Emphatic “h” e 6 4 b ae “rated nglan aaa 4 iz b Animals Belly peated a in) With Teats owe 3@ Door Bolt “vain the English soe ' 7 7 s Folded Cloth ional =a g Pool Of Water hakamainaiail comer sin the” ah k Hill Slope rio a =A oa k Basket 1 ed dsoAn African Seript Kemetu Symbol IPA Symbol Object Depicted Formal Cursive Popular Bat he é Stand For Jar © 4 Zc t Loaf ea Bb £Z t Tethering Rope ale i a Hand im nace aa dq Snake LATER FORMS Dag ‘Observation: A few symbols represent whole words - Example 37 Sound Value “g" sinBrglh po “ain gli ale "a" sin Eng choose “easing door “aac in gla dg p= 15t person sing (6) 1, me, my, (rarely inscriptions), I Kon. 2.by means of with; 3. from, out of = 2nd person sing. (m)- you, your, yours, 1= 2nd person sing. (f)- you, your, yours. n= 1. to, for (in the sense of dative); 2. to (direction, only to persons). = 1. to, into, towards (direction of things); 2. in respect of38 Let The Ancestors Speak § 9. THE BILITERAL - Biliterals are those phonograms that represent two consonantal signs. The language contains approximately one hundred and twenty one of these phonograms of which the most frequently used must be memorized. EXCURSUS A ANTERIORITY OF THE BILITERAL A perplexing phenomenon surrounding multiconsonantal signs stems from the fact that they continued to be used, since the twenty-five monoliterals developed later were capable of expressing all of the sounds needed to give form to the language. One contributing factor supporting their longevity is that the Kemetu considered their language to be a gift from the Netcher (God) Djhuty, see § 130. For the Africans to discard these multi-consonantal signs would to them be a sacrilege, and it would render the older text meaningless. Given the fact that Kemet for the majority of its long existence was a “sacred society” that adhered to very strict rules, the language remained virtually changeless until the country was overrun by savage hoards from Asia and Europe. A heart-shaped jar, ib of Queen Hatshepsut as evidenced by the inscription bearing her Royal Shenu. The biliteral 1 was a very important biliteral to the Kemetu. They viewed the heart as the place of thought, emotion, and even ones very life itself. When a person died it was said that the heart had “departed” because the heart was seen as a person’s very being, It ‘was therefore a practice during mummification to remove all organs from the body except the heart, (see lines 10, 11, 12, and 13 translation of Monumental Inscription #1 page 248.) § 10. THE BILITERAL SIGN LIST - The one hundred and twenty one biliterals mentioned above are represented in the chart on the following page and should also be committed to memory.An African Script 39 PHONOGRAMS OF KEMET THE BILITERAL SIGN LIST BILITERAL IPASYMBOL OBJECT DEPICTED SOUND VALUE 1 P 3 Wooden column Aa $\ Ww Lasso Wa e Be Jabiru bird or Ba wood Ibis OK Bp Pintail duck Pa 2 ww Sickle Ma t B Cluster of papyrus Ha I B Leaf, stalk & root of Kha®” lotus fal B Hall of columns Kha @® oy 43 Oxyrhynchus fish Kha S 8 Pin tail duck ( bird) Sa a4 3 Back of quiver (?) sa ates 8 Hobble for cattle Sa a & Claw Sha = 3 Pool with lotus flowers Sha u wB Arms extended Ka 8 8 Potters Kiln Ta apa} B Flat alluvial land Ta Is B Duckling Cha t @ Fire Drill Dja 8 mi Milk jug Me Py mi Forearm & hand Me holding a loaf40 Let The Ancestors Speak THE BILITERAL SIGN LIST BILITERAL IPASYMBOL — OBJECT DEPICTED — SOUND VALUE J di Pestle Tee A d Conical loaf Dee = di Forearm and hand Dee holding a conical loaf cd we One barbed harpoon Wa i= ae ‘Sun rays appearing kha” over a hill A aw Backbone & spinal cord Au sa iw ‘New bom hartebeest Eu a mw Three ripples of water Mu ° aw Bowl Nu N 3} aw Adze and bowl Nu cs Ww Resting lion Ru (also used to render “L’ in foreign words) Sat wor bh Tusk of elephant Hu or Bh a iw Forearm & hand holding Khw © awhip + sw Plant of Upper Kemet Su 6 sw Feather Shu mM dw Sand covered mountain Dju { 3bor mr Chisel Ab or Mer Sa ib Kid Ib Ye v2 Hom AbAn African Script BILITERAL IPASYMBOL h~mey © ocrwrw 41 — a zB b o ¥ 3 ab hb ab 2b db THE BILITERAL SIGN LIST OBJECT DEPICTED Wicker basket Basin of alabaster as used in purifications White-fronted goose sandal Hoopoe Homs of ox Part of the steering gear of ships Round thrashing floor with grain Centron for fumigation Man's profile Dagger Doubtful Butcher's knife Well full of water Reeds growing side by side Charcoal Black ibis Sledge Fish SOUND VALUE ‘Neb Heb Geb Cheb Djeb Wep Hep Sep Kep Tep 42 Let The Ancestors Speak THE BILITERAL SIGN LIST BILITERAL IPA SYMBOL OBJECT DEPICTED SOUND VALUE & wn Desert hare Wen + wn Flower Wen + wn Cross formed by two Wen joined planks, cursive (hieratic) identified with oe mn Game board Men H mm Two rushes with shoots Nen uv in Herb Hen f fn Receptacle Hen ¥ in Pintail duck alighting Khen replaces 2 in cursive, & sometimes in formal wa hn Skin of a goat Ken"? x in arms rowing Khen 9 4 sn ‘Two barbed arrow head Sen A sn Looped cord Shen a ka Irrigation runnels Qen a it Eye Ir = wr ‘Swallow or martin Wer ce) pr House Per SS mr Hoe Mer a mr Channel filled with water Mer t amror 3b Chisel Mer or AbAn African Script 43 THE BILITERAL SIGN LIST BILITERAL IPA SYMBOL OBJECT DEPICTED SOUND VALUE ° ir Face Her a pt Sky Pet rm br Man falling Kher“ A br Butcher's block Kher { ra Palm-branch stripped of Ter leaves + <> mouth ci dr Bundle of flax Djer c chor ih Fishing net Ahorlh ar bhor hw Elephant's tusk Beh or Hu Ss ph Hind quarters of lion Peh or leopard am mh Whip Meh EN nh Sennar guinea-foul Neh w bh Netcher with armsraised Heh the sky m sh Booth supported by pole Sch > 4h Crested ibis Akh me th Band of string or linen Fekh { is Bundle of reeds Is fh ms Foxtails @7Alorecuns, Mes Hoidem, & Sti) = ns Tongue of ox Nes } 6 Pieces of wood joined & Res lashed together at the joint4 Let The Ancestors Speak THE BILITERAL SIGN LIST BILITERAL IPASYMBOL = OBJECT DEPICTED SOUND VALUE i bs Tall water pot Hes 8 is Cord Shes q ks Harpoon-head of bone Qes = gs Unknown Ges & ‘k Cormorant Aq J sk Swab made from fiber Sek a 3t Head of hippopotamus At ai mt Phallus Met b amtor mwt African vulture Mut at at Wood Khet “° J st Seat Set Ft st Cow's skin pierced by Set arrow m st Shoulder knot Setch | md(w) Walking stick Med(u) ~ sd Tail Sed a id Water skin Shed { kd Bricklayers tool (?) Qed f dd Column resembling a Djed bundle of stalks bound together ina d Netting needle filled Adj with twine { wd Cord wound on stick WedjAn African Script 45 ‘THE BILITERAL SIGN LIST BILITERAL IPASYMBOL OBJECT DEPICTED SOUND VALUE eae pd Bow Pedj t nd Doubtful Nedj { Ad Mace with pear-shaped Hedj head Observation - ‘As with the monoliterals some biliterals represent complete words. Example ir “make, do” Poon: “great” “house” “love” “on account of, upon” “son” cee (Ade 1 p wr or mr ab “every, any, all” ie a Bb “soul, sprit, personality” § 11. THE TRILITERAL - Triliterals are those phonograms that represent three consonantal signs. The language contains approximately seventy-five triiterals of which the most frequently used must be memorized, The seventy-five triliterals mentioned above are represented on the following chart.46 Let The Ancestors Speak PHONOGRAMS OF KEMET THE TRILITERAL SIGN LIST TRILITERAL IPA SYMBOL OBJECT DEPICTED SOUND VALUE j ab Finger Djeba 4 hnt Nose, eye & cheek Khent ©) A Arms holding shield Abii and batile axe % is Head of bubalis Shesit 1 wsr Head & neck of Weser canine animal @ sd /idn Ear of ox Sedjem / Iden | whm Leg & hoof of an ass Wehem t att Heart & windpipe Nefer $ sm Lung & windpipe Semi = spr Rib Seper = phr Intestine PekherAn African Script 47 THE TRILITERAL SIGN LIST TRILITERAL IPASYMBOL OBJECT DEPICTED SOUND VALUE i don Varient of = Deben & ow ‘The longlegged buzzard Tyw bh mwt The African vulture Mut ai baw Heron Benu > sd Egret Seda e sod Trussed goose or duck Senedj Tr wim Head of crested bird Weshem A pk Head of spoonbill Pig a co Lizard Ashii Q bin Tadpole Hefen 8 pr Dung beetle Khepra °°” & bit Bee Bit ) Bm Tree Jam aan mp Palm-branch Renp48 TRILITERAL IPA SYMBOL J } + { (ie) ~ ‘THE TRILITERAL SIGNS LIST Psd who sb3, dae OBJECT DEPICTED Stem of papyrus Rush with shoots Sedge growing from sign for land Pod from a sweet-smelling tree Flower Moon with lower half obscured ‘Sunshine Star Tongue of land Column with tendon on top Fence Mast Oar Let The Ancestors Speak SOUND VALUE Wad Nekheb Shema Nedjem Pesedi Weben Sebi , Dua Wedjen Tun Shesep Aba KheruAn African Script 49 THE TRILITERAL SIGN LIST TRILITERAL IPASYMBOL OBJECTDEPICTED SOUND VALUE = hip Loaf on a reed mat Hetep 4 ntr Cloth on a pole, Netcher emblem of divinity ct mdh band of cloth as fillet Medjeh ° wsh Collar of beads with Wesch falcon terminals thn Pectoral of beads chehen OK. from last var. ql & = @ sm Sickle with folded cloth Sema et sit Piece of cloth with fringe Sia t “oh Tie or sandal strap Ankh I be Crook Hega ] wt Peasant's crook Awet 1 was Straight shaft sceptre Was & head of Seth-animal { dm Septre with wavy shaft Djim & head of Seth-animal50 Let The Ancestors Speak ‘THE TRILITERAL SIGN LIST TRILITERAL IPASYMBOL OBJECTDEPICTED SOUND VALUE t nf “beautiful, good, happy” 8 fei the tilteral which is complemented (completed) by the monoliterals “= fand < 1, These also only specify the triliteral and are not pronounced. FS =F cag nt © G isread ‘obnot ‘obnb BB - ys Op + B port & risread dprnot php Observation - A graphic example of the importance of the phonetic complement is demonstrated by the biliteral t “a chisel” which has more than one meaning and spelling. {JS saw “Avaju” (Abydus) F388. sr “which isthe comect word for pyramid” Inthe two examples above the biliteral | is expressed as sb and mrrespectvely.54 Let The Ancestors Speak § 13, THE BILITERALS IN GROUP-WRITING Group vriting was a unique method of writing whereby biliterals were used instead of monoliterals in order to write etymologically ambiguous or foreign words, In this instance the biliteral did not stand for two consonants but rather the first consonant only. Example: Oii1 =¢ and Th 2 for hk Group writing was especially used to render foreign words or names. Example 25 BI tobe read sin “Sardinia” not Byrd? ABHOR} 9 to be read “Ihinot "Bhwiw aa} tobe read bus “majesty” Foe gh ie mpg” age Fem fee 4 pon? See Cee sere cee ‘You can discern which meaning the scribe intended by the context of the text.An African Script 37 EXCURSUS B SIGNS AND AFRICAN SYMBOLISM Kw Many ideograms like “star” are easily recognized by the novice not familiar with African art and culture. Whereas many ideograms like the one representing ~~ hip “offering” can be comprehended only after delving deeper into their inner African origins. From the earliest times the Kemetu performed offering ceremonies to the Netchers on small mats of plaited reeds. The ideograph that representes “= Afp depicts such an offering. It depicts a reed mat “which is seen from a top view and a loaf of bread ® which is seen from the side view. This technique was adopted by the Kemetu in order to give the viewer of the symbol the best visual angle possible, “At best, a symbol is recognized as a subconcious representation of archetypal concepts, perhaps as experienced in dreams. At the common worst, symbols are regarded as arbitrary devices invented by aggrandizing priesthoods to cloak their activities in secrecy and buffalo the masses. ‘The symbol, in (KMT) Egypt, is neither. It is a scrupulously chosen pictorial device designed to evoke an idea or concept in its entirety. It is a means of bypassing the intellect and talking straight to the intelligence of the heart, the understanding. ‘The heart synthesises, the mind analyses.” to The offering formulae used by the funerary cult often begins with hip di nsw, “an offering that the king gives.” The fipideograph can also signify “to be at rest,” “peace” or “satisfaction,” and it was also incised on jewelry, household items and other such personal effects intended to convey this concept. Even after the Kemetu constructed more elaborate alters of stone, they were often carved in the shape of the fp ideograph, or it was carved on its top. See plates 5 and 6. Plate. Offering table from the temple of Amon, pet Isut.58 Let The Ancestors Speak Plate 6, Personal eye make-up container of the overseer of works and seribe, Ahmose, Dynasty XVIIL, under the Majesty of Hatshepsut to Djhuty-mes III. The inscription is referred to as. The tp di NswtFormulae, which reads: . — PME TAF Transliteration: tp di nswt ‘Imn - R« di.f bt nb nff.t wb n ke n imy-r Kowt s§ ‘Thms m3*-brw Translation: An offering which the king gives to Amon-Ra. That He may give everything good and pure for the soul of the overseer of works and scribe, Ahmose, true of voice. *Notice the orientation of the Medu Netcher. In this instance it is to be read from right to left.An African Script 59 Amore cryptic example of African symbolism can be discerned in plate # 7. This intricately sculptured omate vase is more than just a beautiful abstraction. To the trained “Minds Eye” it reveals a not so subtle message which can only be uncovered through meticulous examination. It is fashioned entirely of Medu Netcher “God’s Words” which is characteristic of this sacred society. These symbols, “Medu Netcher,” cannot be understood without understanding African spirituality and African spirituality cannot be understood without understanding Medu Netcher. Therefore to fully ‘comprehend or appreciate this complex African art form, one must study and learn the specific symbols embodied in its structure. At this point the question ‘that begs an answer is “how can one understand an entire culture if one is baffled by a single vase? ” Identified Signs - ‘Top Section: ig $ sms A difficult sign to explain, but probably representing in a conventional way some internal portion of mammalian anatomy - such as the two lungs attached to the trachea, an anatomical unit which suggest the union of two equal parts. UR om “Jung.” (ep, 99,113) Phon. in UM sa “Unite” and derivatives. qyg.y4s) Sema conceptually represented in the vase, § provides an excellent symbol to express the union of Upper and Lower Kemet. af impt This sign represents a date palm branch (Phoenix Dactylifera) which has been stripped of its leaves and notched yearly. From the very distant pre-dynastic past this appears to have been the accepted method of recording years. Not uncommonly, a special form (esac inner, symbolic representations, apparently indicating the succession of years by an artificial multiplication of the buds upon the shoot. The Netcher W fof ahh, personification of forever and ever was depicted with the palm branch (zapt symbol) on his head and in many instances in both hands. =f spe “year” (rv-965, a5 designation of Sepedey, This representation of time ‘can be found in such enigmatic works as “The Book Of That Which Is In The Underworld.” Three Deities appear rushing to acclaim Ra (and by extension the king) with renpet signs in their hands. They are identified as “The Opener Of Time,” “The Guardian Of Time,” and “The Cartier.”Plate 7An African Script 61 Be + m‘w This symbol growing out of a land sign is probably a flowering specimen of +. Itis the Heraldic plant for Upper Kemet and appears in VP nw “Upper Kemet.” ak mbhw Clump of shefedu (papyrus), determinative in I> R pmbw “Lower Kemet.” The Shefedu was associated with several deities, such as Het-Heru, Baset, and Net. Other Netcherets also carried a shefedu-form staff as an attribute. Het-Heru, as Netcheret of heaven and the necropolis, at times appear as a cow with a shefedu umbel between her horns as a symbol of Ra or the shefedu marshes of the West, and the Ukh staff - a shefedu stem crowned with two feathers. This was an important symbol associated with the worship of this deity. 5. The King’s Name: =Ca#l)>° (Stebel = Nb-B.wy “Lord Of The Two Lands” oS Nb.bpr.w-R© “Nebkheperure” %2 RE “Son Of Ra” i Topol t tut- ga var. SE gar “be stable,” “enduring.” yr. 1075) Viewed together with the above information, the exquisitely fashioned alabaster vase reveals an intelligible symbolic statement that bestows in “God’s Words,” etemal life, dominion, and stability upon The United Two Lands Of The Black Country (Kemet), and the king, Tutankhamon, who is protected from above by the cosmic presence of the Cow-eared Netcheret, Het-Heru. (see § 130) Observation: Personified symbols, such as the ankh to which the scribe has added arms, represents a clear example of the secondary or circuitous way in which signs were used in monumental inscriptions. The intermediate or advanced Medu Netcherist, who is at this level of understanding can easily see that things not actually represented in the symbol are made to comply with the essential appearance of the symbol in order to communicate the same symbolic meaning or add their own essence to that of the sign being inferred. The beginning student is cautioned against making interpretations on the secondary level until he has mastered the primary meaning of the signs. Further, in the name of Tutankhamon, he is referred to as Nb-Bwy “Lord of The Two Lands.” The phonogram for land ~~" & must be distinguished from the determinative ©, which is the symbol for city, town, or country, and can be found in ONG Kemet, the Black Country. Hence the “Black Country” Kemet was made up of —= 8wy “The Two Lands.”64 1b ef = wef Yep Bw DPvaSm we 2 Let The Ancestors Speak DETERMINATIVE & IDEOGRAM LIST DET.IDEO. OBJECT/CONCEPT DETJIDEO, OBJECT/CONCEPT ‘man woman people eat, drink, think feel, speak weak, weary lift, cary prisoner, capture, foreigner, enemy enemy, death child, infant, young great one, chief official, prince old, aged, senior strong, strength effort, foree pregnant woman give birth king Netcher, king see nose, breath, rejoice, anger flesh, limb =a A a if oO wy jmecrs ax yr Ft hair,mourn walk, run go back, turn around offer phallus, beget, urinate tumors, odors, disease leg, stride foot negation cattle hide, mammal bird, insect small, weak, evil flutter, alight fish, snake, worm ‘tree plant, flower vine, fruit wood, tree sky, heavenAn African script 65 DET/IDEO. OBJECT/CONCEPT DET/IDEO. OBJECI/CONCEPT T night Te { shefedu (papyrus) rolled up, abstract, e sun, day, time thought * star ta liquid issuing from lips aa road, travel, 4 breast locality = land i) arms enclosing at or embracing fa water C2 arm holding wand os desert, foreign Sp ass country ) foreign Ba animal of Seth (country, or person recumbent 8 town, city, country Fa lion. (not land) El house ed panther Sal door, open Gra hippopotamus Ee box, coffin a elephant = boat, ship, h giraffe navigation BS oryx: ‘ak sacred bark ‘a gazelle Tr clothes, linen Sa ibex ~ bind aR sacred baboon 8 ropetcord rd monkey = knife, cut ca ear of ox (2) — hoe, cultivate 4 head of leopard break, divide, cross A falcon66 Let The Ancestors Speak DET/IDEO. OBJECT DEPICTED DET/IDEO. OBJECT DEPICTED > ostrich S vessel, anoint = crocodile 8 bread, cake i) lotus bud. = loaf, offering > lotus flower ww festival { ‘mace with pear a royal name shaped head aaa bow : one; stroke determinative EE tual = aes 000 : - sickle substitute for a fire - difficult to draw signs, or things xs calculate, break magically dangerous SI cup i two diagonal strokes (Guality) Plate No. 9 Shefedu Of AniAn African script 67 §16. THE ARTICLE - ‘The definite article “the” and the indefinite articles “a” and “an” were as a rule omitted by the scribes of Kemet during the Old and Middle Periods. Therefore ¥ a snt, can be rendered as “a sister,” “the sister,” or simply “sister.” It is the context that determines which translation is most appropriate. Example: F2GSeo nsw mnh “the perfect king” cok 1015) SR sismsw “the eldest son” oxt2610 Joe swwrt “the great seat, throne” cukav3e219 8 a ens podt 9t “The Great Ennead” wuw305 of sp tpy “the first time” cuxav 152) 1A wdyt tpt “the first campaign” cw) § 17. ORTHOGRAPHIC ANOMALIES - Although the Kemetu adhered to a very strict orthography they did, on limited occasions, deviate from the common rule, This can be very perplexing for the novice. When these deviations occurred the resulting anomalies did not happen randomly, on the contrary, they too usually followed very strict rules.68 Let The Ancestors Speak Example: 1, Weak Consonants and semi vowels: 2) Theconsonants | jjand 3 wy in some instances ‘were viewed as semi vowels and as such were frequently omitted from words altogether. This happened with great regularity in word endings, but only rarely at the beginning of words. b) The symbols SN 3 and <= 7, are considered weak consonants, and frequently they are omitted from the text or changed altogether. The weak consonant IX occasionally is changed to In unique cases, <> 1, changes into the vowel i, and is then replaced with § i, or not written at all § 18. ABBREVIATIONS - The abbreviated form is not a new phenomenon in linguistics. It can be found in the Ancient Kemetu language thousands of years ago, where it appeared most frequently on monumental inscriptions, in titles and in sacred formulae. Example: 4B nht “victorious bull” - Abbreviated form: Epithet ascribed to the king. FSRLT at wae snd “May he live, be prosperous, and be healthy” - Abbreviated form: Fl , Wishes appended to the name of the king and bestowed upon honored persons by the Netchers.An African Script 69 SOD ee tetra Abbreviated form: — , This epithet was introduced when Wisi was vindicated before the divine tribunal of Yaw after his regal rights were called into question by Set. ‘Then it was used as an appellation of the dead. ty whm ‘nb “repeating life” Epithet given to the dead. Bity-© “local chief,” “foremost in position” ean eer, ryt imy-r “overseer nswt-bity “he who belongs to the sedge of Upper Kemet and the bee of Lower Kemet” (The king of Upper and Lower Kemet). § 19. GRAPHIC TRANSPOSITION - ‘As discussed previously, beauty was very important to the Africans, and they sometimes transposed symbols specifically for aesthetic reasons. Therefore, to create and maintain harmony and beauty a tall sign might be placed in front of a bird when the proper reading calls for itto follow, ie, LY wep instead of BLINKS A in “pyramid” instead of SMA . space conservation is another reason, ie. J instead of VS 4p star” A short or small symbol like © , ¢ is often placed before a bird when it should follow, te. © instead of B® we These anomalies will usually occur within the word, or at the end but seldom at the beginning. Another example is IN for N& sz, AN isthe feminine definite70 Let The Ancestors Speak article that occurs in the Late Period mentioned earlier. Again, context and position will determine meaning. §20. TRANSPOSITION WITH HONORIFIC INTENT - The names of Netchers, kings or the words Netcher or king are written before other words that are closely connected with one another. This is done in order to show honor to the Netcher or king. Example: (2aNy ary ‘Imn “beloved of Amon” oy ami RE “like Ra” + 8 nswt “son of the king” Bt - 3 - R© “Maat ka Ra” (bt- Spot “Hatshepsut” o ows Wer-M3t-R¢-stp-n-Ré “Usirmaatra-Setepenra” f= AhlL Rems-s-(w)-mr-"Imn “Ramesses II” Observation: * The prenomen (first name) of Ramesses Wsr-ms<.-Rstp-n-R° is a compound name and can be translated “the Maat of Ra is strong, (which is the sdm.f form of Wsr, the chosen (which is the adjectival form of the verb stp; of Ra. “ The nomen or (last name) Re-ms-s(w)-mnr-'Tmn “Ra has given birth to him - beloved of Amon.” Not to be overlooked are the symbols ‘nb, and was held by Ra and Amon, these attributes in all probability are shared by the king in whose name they appear. The Kemetu believed that these words had theAn African Script 7 spiritual power to bless or curse in this life and on into the next. Notice the transposition with honorific intent, the symbol arrangement was never without purpose or meaning. § 21. BASIC WORD ORDER - ‘The basic word order of the Kemetu sentence is - verb, subject, object. Example: PRWOBD sdm shty bru “Hears (the) peasant (a) voice” verb subject object § 22. THE An, OF PREDICATION - In this instance the preposition DS “ni” expresses a state, or a designation of something, or someone to a specific class. The language of Kemet does not construct sentences such that they say Aw.fskdi (oN ohh “he isa sailor,” but rather QB—SNYS ED sy.rm stat “he is [as] a sailor.” This construction recognized that the position of sailor was just an acquired attribute and not necessarily a permanent condition. Today one is recognized for what job they perform, and not for who they are. A more detailed discussion of the sentence follows in part three. Plate 10 Ipet- Resyt (Southern Ipet) Luxor Templen Let The Ancestors Speak Plate 11. A Scribes tools: Ink container, reed holder, and mixing palette. Dynasty 25, late period, approximately 715 BCE.PART TWOTHE NOUN DEFINITION GENDER AND NUMBER GENDER Masculine Feminine NUMBER Singular Dual Plural USES. 1, TO EXPRESS THE GENITIVE Direct And Indirect 2. TO EXPRESS THE ACCUSATIVE AND. THE NOMINATIVE 3. TO EXPRESS THE APPOSITIVE 4, IN COORDINATION 5. TO EXPRESS THE DATIVE 6. TO EXPRESS THE VOCATIVEPARTS OF SPEECH The ancient Africans devised a very sophisticated and rather complex grammatical system which had clearly defined and inviolable rules. These ageless grammatical rules are so dependable that the degree to which they are mastered will determine the readers ability to decipher the Kemetu text. The stringent requirements of the sentence structure rigorously adhered to a precise norm. These stringent requirements make it possible to identify specific words and to determine their function by their position in the sentence. Modern grammarians have grouped words into eight classes according to their form, meaning, position and usage in the sentence: nouns, adjectives, pronouns, verbs, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections. These same parts of speech were first used in antiquity by the Kemetu, and will be explained individually in the following chapters.16 Let The Ancestors Speak THE NOUN §23. DEFINITION: The noun is a word that designates a person, a place, a thing, an animal, or an abstraction. example: ‘oy “Piankhi” (a person) OKs Kmt “Kemet” (a place) Uxni 888 “Door” (athing) af 3 “Donkey” (an animal) ie sth mrwt “love” (an abstraction) Its form will be modified to construct the plural, the dual and to express gender. §24. GENDER AND NUMBER Gender: In Medu Netcher nouns have only two genders, masculine and feminine, to express the neuter the feminine form is generally used. There is no designated ending to express the masculine form of the noun. Feminine nouns end in © t which is always intercalated before the determinative, Syntactically the names of countries, towns, and to some degree districts or provinces are treated as feminine, Example: [es aE fox ole ‘BE var, ol, 21 sp@)t district/province; Referred to as nome by the Greeks. Many feminine nouns also are written with the stroke determinative “|” Number: The ont Amt(Africans) ,; identified three distinct numbers.The Noun 7 Singular: masc. No specific ending 138 —sn“trother” fem. Endsin ° ¢ Yoo sot sister Dual: \ \ ase. eadsin DY yyy LBS YSB sony “a pair of brothers” 2 2 fem ee Sy BRDD saay “apni of sisters” Plural: ase. endsin © ww FORB, saw “brothers” o o fem, i Be LOT, sae sisters” 1. The Singular: Again there is no specific ending assigned to the ‘masculine singular noun, although the feminine takes the & See above § 24. 2, The Dual: The dual is used only to express pairs or duality. The identifying characteristic of the masculine form of the dual is w and the feminine is’ y, which is suffixed to the feminine ending wt The dual can be written by: a. Repeating the ideogram example 7 co ca pryw “the two houses”78 Let The Ancestors Speak Ti nrwy “the two aspects of God” b. This can also be accomplished by spelling the word and appending the two appropiate ideograms which then become determinatives. Example °e ad I thawy “the two tekhens? I rah srw “the two officials” . The words that are written phonetically at times are repeated Example: cele rawy “the two names” eye Bay “the two magie spells” d. The dual can also be expressed by the addition of two diagonal strokes (\) Example la smty “the two sisters” After nouns in the dual: 1, The sign for the suffix Ist per. sing. is ‘occasionally preceded by {4 y, Example 19) 7} ‘Ye emy.d “ay two hands” «a. se) SIIB rans my two fet” eosThe Noun 9 2. The suffixes 2nd and 3rd m. sing. and 31d f. sing. ° aa ay sometimes show an ending’ y.Exx. 1 2 \ ¢ after the w, thereby rendering it “wt” Example: Fall bakewt “the female servants” NB. Nouns expressing abstract thought, although singular are often written as plurals and some of them are considered collectives. example: ae amnmnt “herd” = mw “water”80 Let The Ancestors Speak dona ip “wine” bern bw “splendor” Sho wsrw “power” agg aliw “perfection”, “beauty” satin pw “peace” Although at times the plural strokes are conspicuously absent, the collective can still be treated as though they are plurals. Example: a aii SRS ALS ines tnd “mymi (streams) they enter you”, (Mc: pg19) Man is written =. =3 =f amt, men or mankind s="") rmpw (rarely written "> mmft), Grammatically, this is a feminine collective noun. The plural of a noun can be written by: a. repeating the entire word three times. ow “names” b. repeating the ideogram three times 7m Nir-w “the aspects of God” rl oo pow “the houses”The Noun 81 c. repeating the determinative three times IND per yore “chief 00) te “sycamores” 4. appending plural strokes QED 8H av “fatners” PMT gmhwt “the candles” ‘The Kemetu nouns in their expression have no means of indicating the various cases. This phenomenon is evident in many Indo-European languages which is a strong indication of Kemetu influence. §25. TO EXPRESS THE GENITIVE: To express the genitive directly or indirectly, the following methods should be used. a. Direct Method: the direct genitive is accomplished by the juxtaposition of the two nouns without the intercalation of a connecting link. Example: F223 gsnswt “son of the king” (prince) ci KS imy-r pr “overseer of the house” i.e. (steward) She 3s “the son of aman” compare with King’s son.82 Let The Ancestors Speak r= ab wy “The lord of the two lands” I hm-Nir “servant of God” (priest) Te AWt-Nir “house of God” (temple) Boo 82 od ast R© “Ra’s throne” en moni pruswt “house of the king” (palace) Observation: Because of honorific reasons the word order is changed when the titles 1 Nir and tmn4l Neweare used; they are always written first. b. Indirect Method: The indirect method is accomplished by placing the genitive adjective (derived from the preposition "1 “to,” “for") between the noun of possession (nomen regens) and the noun of the possessor (nomen rectum). The adjectival must agree with the preceding noun in gender and number. Example: Singular Plural masc. ~ Dn oO nw fem, = at = at DUAL —p® mase. awyThe Noun 3 ° om Observation: Theform 7 nwgavewayto "2 inthe Middle Kingdom which inftequently also is used for <= mf, The dual form during this period was very rare. Example: BAS sn wort “aman ofstrength” Wa7s t= ‘At-Ner n.t wanfr “the temple of Wennefer” 1) ORS ra Kmt “the language of Kemet” ony ‘foawt at wrw“the wives of the princes” OF! mr has raw nu Nirw“the names of the aspects of God” Se WES a stey pa “The asses of this peasant” Observation: If the first noun is separated from the second noun by an. adjective or another word then the indirect genitival form is used. Example: oy JASTin st wrt nt d'm “The great throne of gold” §26 THE OBJECTIVE AND THE SUBJECTIVE - To express the Objective and Subjective the following methods should be used, a. absolutely84 Let The Ancestors Speak Example: say =! nf hr “beautiful in appearance” (beautiful as to face). ol = rnb “daily” (each day) b. appositively Definition: Nouns or pronouns placed next to or very close to other nouns or pronouns to identify, explain, or supplement their meaning. An appositive has the same case as the word to which it refers. Example: GSIZINS inetd fas “white stone, a sarcophagus” (a sarcophagus of white stone). qyer 19) + A method peculiar to Medu Netcher of expressing words in apposition is as follows: 1. To indicate the substance of a thing - Example: [TS INES An< «§ bey(t) wrt “together with the great alter of cedar,” lit. (together with cedar, the great alter). cue € 11,3) 2. With measures and numbers - Example: fea= an oo ‘hnkt ds “2 beer, two jugs, ic. (two jugs of beer).” (reas BI, 84) * See explanation on page 264The Noun 85 3.10 specify geographical sites ~ Example: e gs2 Ue B-wr Sbdw “Abydus in the Thinite province,” lit. The Thinite province, Abydus, (Leyd. v3,4.8) §27. TO EXPRESS COORDINATION - a. The coordination of nouns is accomplished by direct juxtaposition. Example: Hi Mb 3, Amwt byw “women (and) men” PRESBRIM (RS FUN gm.n.i @bw irrt im “1 found figs (and) grapes there” (GhS. 47.8, Weis. 929) e x gelt+4s3 Bifrsy mbty “Its southern (and) northern boundary” (ani. 8,20) “Another method of expressing coordination is to repeat a preposition, a suffix, or an adjective. Example: moon Bwt.tn prw.tn “your offices (and) your houses” (Cairo 20093,3)Let The Ancestors Speak SBS NONE, a3 abemsem ait “All my possessions in country (and) in city” b. Closely connected words may be coupled by means of 7 ‘rit. “upon.” Example: STS 4 be byt “wind (and) rain” @ kab. 12.4) 1 ff “together with” is often used, especially when the coordination is not as closely connected. Example: APETV SD suet ane sani “my children (and) my brothers.” (¢, s.128) Observation: Occasionally, “or, “like”, “and” may be left unexpressed. Example: sel TT2> tsw nb psty-* nb “any commander or any Prince.” (Kore 9) Here the repetition of nb clarifies the meaning; a repeated preposition or suffix may have the same effect, as was seen in the case of “and” above. A special word for “or” is 1 OB pp, which is placed after the last of the alternatives,The Noun 87 Example: ROBNMERSING ETS im nb msn m bnms r-pw “as lord, as brother, ot 8, fiend.” 39,7) Observation: In example (c), 2 fans “and” “with,” “together with,” exactly as in other modern African languages such as Lingala spoken in the Congo and Zaire where fin“ has become na. Example: Ngai na bino “J and you” or “I together with you.” ‘Ngai na pongi “Me and sleep” or “Iam sleep” InIsi Zulu nS has become no and has the same meaning. §28. TO EXPRESS THE DATIVE - The dative is expressed by the preposition “" , 2 Example: nnswt “to the king.” §29. THE VOCATIVE - Definition - a grammatical case marking the one addressed < Tia Meri in “Tia Meri, come you are beautiful” is expressing the vocative case> The vocative may begin or end a sentence, but it rarely appears in the middle. It must never be inserted between words that grammatically belong together. Example of ordinary language: opste ‘sdm rkn.i iety-* “you listen to me, O prince’ (Shs. 12)88 Let The Ancestors Speak Red c hs fa UO mk wi r nim 9.k shty hr wam.fSm Jaw widw “sturdy oxen.” ")392 Let The Ancestors Speak In Medu Netcher adjectives have a much broader application than they do in English. Most follow their nouns and agree with them in gender and number although there are exceptions, =\\ ky another,” a “other” masc. © At“another,” “other,” fem. Example: SSB iy mnt “snotter man” They both precede their noun. USAGE: § 32. AS MODIFIER - Adjectives are used as; (a) modifiers of nouns or other substantives, (b) as predicates or (c) as nouns themselves. Whereas in English they are used strictly to modify nouns or other substantives. (a) As a Modifier, invariably it follows its noun. Example: JQP pnt nit “sweet beer” (Mer. 21) SED sums “the eldest son” (B.HL 26.102) age SEI" sere “tne great seat” (ik 342.11) STTTES post st “The Great Ennead” (Usk v343.8) 1. When the noun being modified has a direct genitive in the form of a sulix pronoun 23 4 “my bread,” the adjective always comes after it. It is grammatically incorrect to place anything between a noun and its suffix pronoun.The Adjective 93 Example: SBBES sath “my good bread” SHEP oramsw “his eldest son” (Sin, R12) a es 111 Gass pra aff “our happy home” Observation: The genitive is sometimes repeated after the adjective. Example: ' SL 8 .fwr.f “his eldest son” (it his son, his great one). ” z= o ° 2. Words like nb“every.” “any,” and —» pa, and — in “this” or other epithets as a demonstrative have primacy of position after the noun in a series of adjectives. Example: e o be(Je bt nbt nfzt w“bt “every good and pure thing” (vie iv 303) Vat enon ike “every excellent great and beautiful aspect of God” oS RU exert! Nir pf rnb “that perfect aspect of God” sin.n 4 SLUPRIPR ASAT awit em dwe swt m ott “this sad city empty of people”94 Let The Ancestors Speak Observation: The adjective 7 Each, Every, All -nb is placed behind the noun to which it is related. a. If the noun, besides 6, is also qualified by a suffix pronoun, the suffix-pronoun is placed between the noun and 2b. b. If the noun, besides 6, is also qualified by an adjective, ab is placed between the noun and the adjective. ¢. Nbearly became an invariable word which has the following forms: Singular Plural masc. 7 nb “each, any, every” — mase.! 1 | nbw “all” > = fem. nbt fem. abt Example: 1 Sie sb “cach son” eae * saw n6(¥) “all sons” 3. Abstract thoughts are expressed with the feminine form of the adjective, either in the singular, dual or plural. An alternative method of Pereeeing et cbeteree is tepretieiee Gere hee (lt. place) to the adjective. Example: a Ae SYS bw bin “tine evi” @T. 18) IPS bint “the evil?” (Peas.B 1.152) MAROM git “ihe evil” (Peas.B 159) — Jeb swat “the good” (Sin.B 74) IZe — anfft “the good” (Peas.B 1.52)The Adjective 95 933, THE ADJECTIVE AS A PREDICATE - ‘As predicate the adjective remains constant in both gender and number. In this frequent construction itis followed by a dependent pronoun or noun and not a suffix pronoun (adjective + dependent pronoun or noun), In this formation the predicate adjective has also been referred to as an independent adjective. Example’ SBLEBA GE, wctstimsp-s “My praise was great in the palace” grit 26.153) SS08 new tamtappy’ SASS bingy “sheis ba” 1. A less common form of predicate adjective is seen in the sdim.f construction which has a restricted range of usage. ‘Example: aie 3 “Lam great” a= 3k “You are great” aI 9. “leis great” ‘In both of the above forms the adjective can be conjugated like the verb. \ @ 2. When the adjective is followed by the particle } var, \ rarely 3 then it becomes exclamatory. Example: BO! 3X . wr.wy bow.k “How great is your glory” (uaivs07196 Let The Ancestors Speak twt.wy ns st “How like to her itis” cicivs6es) 3.w(y) nswt “How great is the king” Observation: a. Noun + Adjective = Modifier b. Adjective + Noun or Pronoun = Predicate «. Adjective + 3 wy-+ Noun or Dependent Pronoun = Exclamatory. §34, THE ADJECTIVE AS A NOUN - As previously stated, adjectives are identical to nouns in structure, and can themselves be nominalized. They can appear; a.) ‘with no special ending, b.) with the feminine & ending, or c.) with the plural wending. They are normally followed by an appropriate determinative. Example: No special ending - ee dom “fine gold” wr aft “beautiful woman’ Sib ads “citizens, humble man” (paid bly “wise man” SH wr “great one” ‘The Plural Ending ''' yw, As stated in previous sections the abstract can be expressed by appending the plural ending to specific words. The words generally used to accomplish this are the adjectives. Example: Is adew nds “poor, small” yields “WAS, “poverty”The Adjective 97 = Sy Go nbt“strong” yields Sadi abtw “strength,victory” SHA war “wey” yielis STAM wea “weariness” ‘The feminine * ¢ is the most common way of nominalizing an adjective, Example: SZ bar “sweet” yrds SEU tare “sweetness” Sg creat” yields = == 2 “great” yields at “greatness” OM dan “biack” yields ONT emt “blackness, completeness, intactness” §35. DEGREES OF COMPARISON - a. The comparative - ‘The genius of the Medw Netcher expresses comparison as follows: The preposition — 7, which can be defined as “more than,” is positioned behind the adjectival predicate to express this idea, This exact construction can be found in many other modem African, languages. Example: ener S40 S22 wrafi—praw “Hehas more wine than water” (lit. “great to him wine than water”). ;sin.p 2) Biii a affstrbtabt “Itwas more beautiful than anything”98 Let The Ancestors Speak b. The Superlative: The superlative is expressed - 1) By an otdinary adjective following its noun: Example: BSP ar his eldest son” (it “his son his great one”) = 2) By | w® “one” before an adjective: Example: =~ Aa AYE weiter “most excellent” (it. “the one excellent”) 3) By an adjective in the dual: Example: s=p* or u nfiwy “most beautiful” (lit. “twice beautiful”) § 36. THE SO-CALLED NISBE ADJECTIVES OR ADJECTIVES ENDING IN "Y". Definition: This is a term coined by Arab grammarians because the same pattern later developed in their own language, probably because of the African influence. These are adjectives formed from nouns or prepositions by means of the suffix Wor ye Example: Adjective From Noun @ 8 tet “town” | niwty “urban,” “local” el niwt “town’ 124 + = 1 Ney“divine” Nir “Aspect, of God”The Adjective 9 Adjective From \ Stay “upper? “above” % te “upox” (AS gay “foremost” NS tne in front of” Gender: The masculine form ends with “ , y which is not always visually expressed. The feminine form ends with \\ , fy, with the y often being suppressed. The masculine plural form is expressed with s} yw, again the 2 worthe ''' plural strokes are often not expressed. Another ‘way the feminine plural is expressed is by ue of the sign > yw. Observation: “The y of the m. sing. is often, but by no means always, written out and as regards the m_ plur. the latent presence of that vowel is betrayed by the use of the sound-sign 3S tiv (ty) in derivatives from f. nouns or from mase. words ending in § ex." biytw ‘opponents,’ ‘enemies,’ an adjective used as a noun and derived from the preposition © A ‘before,’ ‘opposite’ ” 14 Example: From. +7 sw “south wind” m. \ sing, m. $301 or $ say “southem" " £ 45 fe rsyt(zsw), “southern” = Pum. £261 or £3 syw(ssw). “southern” © ¢ ER or ES ssywteswts). ” \ xe sy “south”100 Let The Ancestors Speak From a" ambyt “north wind,” £ 3 ON a mpyty bo) “northern.” fp ed™, 54 mbiye(miey —” i" “a sing. m. a plonm a Sir, 2D Gatym 3 = fad, ad mbytywe mbt, mbt, From the preposition fr “on, upon” sing. m. oa A Ay “upper, high, who is upon” Fs Bo nos » eo by) yim m 23,23 pg > > + urn brit” 1 There are some adjectives in y derived from prepositions that have particular distinction. These adjectives exhibit a special form before suffixes. Example: @ a) Form <3 Ary “upper, high, who is upon” From ir “upon” (form with sufix) © fr ty Form VOM var 1S icy “whois relating to" From <= r “to” (form with suffix) Sr occasionally 1 irThe Adjective 101 orm MEIN var, HESS Vin “whois there/in/among ” From KK am “in” (form with suffix) in, im ‘The adjectives in y formed from prepositions govern the following noun ot suffix as do the prepositions. Further examination of the above adjectives reveal that they are commonly used in titles. Example: a) b) 2 ay “one wo is over.” “foreman” Asin: ZRF pnyeese(y) “those who are upon the sand,” “Western Asiatics” ZB iy. “one who is upon the earth” “an earthly being” \ &e@ Ary-tp “who is upon,” “having authority over,” “chief” WY iry “one who belongs to” Asin: NM ip-tae “por WEA sip-e “overseer, administrator” y Was iry-s}. “keeper of cattle-pens” Whe ity-nff-fst “keeper of the diadem”102 Let The Ancestors Speak imy “who, whichis there/in/among” 9 Asin GHEY sanyo “Sevost, dacing” var. TST TIES, nye “ist ofnames” +h mew <=>! imy-hrw.f “who is on duty for the day” FMP QL ime tice “she who is ontis fron,” “the royal uraeus” Am altemative construction of UES smyis the abbreviated form R= va NT or 7 , “one who isin the mouth of his subordinates, or overseer,” which is indistinguishable from the prepositions from which they were formed, Example: ad \ imy-r pr “overseer of the house” Wa, imy-r kaw.t “overseer of works” (architect) THB imy-r ms “overser of the amy” (general) ‘Observation: \\_ay “who belongs to,” \\_nyis sometimes used with dependent pronouns of the 3rd person singular masculineThe Adjective 103 \ a s YB andteminine EY gy, unitten VEY as, SPY nsy hhe who belongs to, she who belongs to. Some specific adjectives ending in y, because of their similarity in sound to duals may, be written as dual nouns with a double ideogram: Example: 8 ee i 8 nity Al niwt BS amy “local” “town” “local Netcher” Qa Qa Say St ape NS pap “being of “horizon” “Heru of the ‘the horizon” horizon” As with other adjectives the adjective ending in y can also be nominalized. Example: Ms shty “field” MM. sty “belonging to the field” QN0SY8 sey “feta person,” (someone who lives by hunting and gathering). ‘Observation: ‘As demonstrated earlier in § 25, the genitive can be conveyed by appending suffix-pronouns to their nouns. Example: SRASAB prawns “my chien”104 Let The Ancestors Speak SYS pont ‘your wit” The genitive adjectives are constructed from the demonstratives, 73, Band 23. Example PRU yt “my” used with sing. masc. noun ; oN By.i used with sing. fem. noun RUE yin used with plural noun ES pay. “your” used with sing. mase, noun ONS oye used with sing em noun RUS ny.k a. used with plural nounTHE NUMERAL Background Powers Of Ten NUMERICAL CONSTRUCTION Cardinal Numbers Definition - Use And Construction Ordinal Numbers Definition - Use And Construction Fractions Definition - Use And Construction Measurement Of Grain (Heru series) ‘Measurement Of Length Measurement Of Area Measurement Of Weight DIVISION OF TIME ‘The Year ‘The Month The Dekan The Day Other Divisions THE KEMETU METHOD OF DATING The Regnal Year106 Let The Ancestors Speak NUMERALS One of the most significant artifacts to be uncovered in recent years is a carved bone which was found at a fishing sight in Ishongo, Zaire, Central Aftica. This bone tool handle which has been dated approximately 6,500 to 9,000 B.CE,, had notches sequentially arranged in definite patterns with a bit of quartz placed in a narrow cavity in the head. ‘The mathematical markings have been characterized as follows. “There are three separate columns, each consisting of sets of notches arranged in distinct pattems. One column has four groups composed of eleven, thirteen, seven and nineteen notches; these are the prime numbers between ten and twenty. In another column the groups consist of eleven, twenty-one, nineteen and nine notches, in that order. The pattern here may be 10+1, 20+1, 20-1, and 10-1. The third column has the notches arranged in eight groups, in the following order: 3,6,4,8,10,5,5,7. The 3 and the 6 are close together, followed by a space, then the 4 and the 8, also close together, then another space, followed by 10 and two S's. This arrangement seems to be related to the operation of doubling. De Heinzelin concludes that the bone may have been the artifact of a people who used a number system. based on ten, and who were also familiar with prime numbers and the operation of duplication.” 15 One striking similarity between the Ishango and the Kemetu mathematical system is that the numbering system of the Afticans of Kemet, which in all probability was founded upon the Ishongo, was also a decimal system based upon units of ten. It is also probably safe to assume, as some scholars have suggested, that this phenomenon developed because of the anatomical structure of man (ie., 10 fingers). “The Egyptians multiplied whole numbers in steps. At its most basic, the strategy consisted of successive doubling and adding, which avoided the need to lea multiplication tables. Doubling was carried out by adding a number to itself. With large numbers it was convenient to reduce the number of operations by using 10 as well as 2 as an intermediate multiplier,The Numeral 107 Thus, if the purpose was to multiply 47 by 33, the sum might be written: 4 47 or 11 47 2 94 M0 470 4 188 20 940 8 376 ot 16 752 B2 1504 Total 33 1551 Total33 1551 Slashes were placed against the appropriate intermediate multipliers, as shown, in order to indicate which products should be added to give the required total. ‘This can always be obtained as in the first calculation, since any whole number is expressible as the sum of terms selected fiom the geometrical progression 1,3,4,8,16,32,(64) etc. In effect, the multiplier 33 in the sum 47x33 can be regarded as being partitioned into numbers (32+1) taken from this series. In the second calculation, it is partitioned into a different set of numbers (20+10+2+1). The second calculation saves two steps, and the multiplications are simpler.” 16 § 37. POWERS OF TEN- ‘These Ancient Afficans further developed seven powers of ten which ‘were designated by seven specific symbols. The units were represented by vertical strokes "' " and the remaining powers were distinguished by six other symbols, Example: Symbol exponential English equivalent equivalent iy 10° units (1) fa 10° tens (10) 8 10 hundreds (100) 1 10° thousands (1,000) 10° ten thousands (10,000) \ 10° hundred thousands 100,000) w 10° millions 1,000,000)108 Let The Ancestors Speak §38. NUMERICAL CONSTRUCTION- ‘When virtten, the greater values of ten always precedes the lesser, To indicate numbers that fall between I and 10, and any value between the next higher power of the designated series, the symbol in use is repeated until the desired quantity is reached. Example: Units Tens Hundreds 1 A 10 © 100 Hoy an WY ag moos ann 30 Ree 300 " an sg noo4 an 40 88 400 MW ann gee nos an 50 8& soo Mm ann ges m6 ann 60 888 600 ML nan Sys m7 ann 70 S88 700 uM fen SERE im 8 anan 80 8888800 mt peer 9 ml 9 fanan 90 RRRE_ 900The Numeral 109 Example The following amounts of various kinds of geese were compiled and totaled up in the (shefedu) papyrus of Ramesses IIL TUT & Ow =6,820 88 qa =1,410 ge J ee 00 IH 1534 ann San = 150 Core 4960 fi Til Oo) =25,020 $000 THI ae Co =57,810 il L®& 21,300 on ara = 1,240 TM & » =6510 ee totals (10,000x9)+(1,000x32}+(100x40)+(10x25)+4= 126,254” rn110 Let The Ancestors Speak $39. THE PHONETIC CONSTRUCTION OF NUMBERS- During the Middle Period of Kemet the scribes wrote out only a few numerical signs. These are some exceptions which have been cited- oO a saw “0" sf imt “three” is ifdt “a four,” “a quartet’ mo MOPS pny “The City OF Eight” Now El-Ashmunen in Upper Kemet (this is the city where Djhuty is lord). At the present stage of knowledge there is little agreement among scholars as to how the numbering system should be written out. There is some agreement that the student be made aware of the sound values, but he is encouraged to use only so-called “Indo-Arabic” numerals in his translations. Beginning on page 111 there is a proposed chart consisting of phonetic values and translations. ‘The 365 1/4 day calendar of Abdu (Elephantine), Lourve E 3910. Reign of Men-Kheper-Ra Djhuty-Mes III, Dynasty XVIII.The Numeral MATHEMATICAL NOTATION Notation Written Form ul mt M1 Mm mM we 1 BP see HT a Sait lll *RS (Msi Ven eon" unt ati ‘Transliteration Cursive w* (yu) sau (y) mnt (w) fdu diu sisu ot srsu sth (u) man (u) psd (u) i} ult Ui] we i \ Ube 1 Sum112 Notation a an ann ann ann anna ann anna Annn annann Anan ~~ we Ore Y Written Form YQ (ise = Il aR ae IK QJ) [XS Ny Od Let The Ancestors Speak ‘Transliteration Cursive Sum and (u) absty(duty) mb bm(u) diy(w) sr(syrn) stow) bmn psd (yw) B dbor db< Anfaw bh Sonu 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 IB Ew Ad » 1,000 Yi 00 GY. 0000 We 000 GG »,000,000The Numeral 113 * ‘Numerical abstractions:- 1 vesheist eee Su four footed; Wie four sided; ne of five; awit an eight, the eight seyence, OWL og TT TTT 11 ge company ote Netchers; = <= = the nine nations of the Sudan who fought with bows and arrows.” 1s Observation: In Medu Netcher the zero was expressed as & (az. 57 5, tot sim Fa. 132). § 40, THE USE AND CONSTRUCTION OF CARDINAL NUMBERS Definition - a number (as 1,5,15) that is used in simple counting and that indicates how many elements there are in an assemblage. The way in which the Kemetu used their numerals greatly influenced many other nations that would subsequently follow. Even today in the English numeral system the so-called “Indo-Arabic” numbers, the greater precedes the lesser as they did in Ancient Kemet. Example: NUMERALS OF KEMET — ENGLISH EQUIVALENT tigen REA 2,557 CCH R81 1,406 When the cardinal number functions with a noun the noun precedes that number and is usually expressed in the singular case regardless of how many items are mani Example; anu 7D Aai aby 41 “47 leopards” LIS RRR sows 53 elephants”14 Let The Ancestors Speak = Qo “KO dpt 10 “10 boats” TS smp.t104 “104 years” Tn some cases, however, the noun may be expressed in the plural form. Example: odoinn st-hmwt4) “40 women’ aeeie spw0 10 occasions" PR ihw732 “732 (head of) cattle” When the cardinal number and noun are expressed together with a demonstrative or possessive adjective, the adjective agrees with the noun in gender. Even if the noun shows plural form the adjective is expressed in the singular. Example, Bn hw 100 pn “these 100 days” Bithkt 6 “the 6 hekat of com” Pears The adjective is masculine and singular when it functions alone with the ‘numeral (in this case the cardinal number is used as a singular ‘masculine noun capable of standing on its own). Example: uo 1 9pn “these 9” ¥An pis “the 14”The Numeral us § 41. FUNCTIONS OF THE NUMBER ONE- ‘The number “one,” can be expressed numerically asa vertical stroke «" » orit can be spelled out phonetically —1! wé as previously demonstrated. When expressed as. —a! wsi it can either precede or follow its noun, When the noun follows —a! wé, it is connected to its number by means of the genetival adjective“. The number in this instance agrees with its noun in gender. Example: Written Numerically = Oo dptl “one boat” LaWea Sndyt 1 “one apron” Sit ads 1 “one citizen” Written Phonetically (noun preceding w*) =r — dmi w° “one city” quiv1069) BS Stl BiG) w* “one vizier” ‘Written Phonetically (noun following w*) ~ = Shes wnmtn “one road” (masc.) (iin. 650) rn ao Med wtatsty.t “one leader of female rowers" (fem. Observation: During the later developmental stages ofthe language, the above construction - phonetical form Sy e+ genetival adjective ““" evolved into the indefinite article.116 Let The Ancestors Speak Example: a Se4 RAR pea pserw “abou” (Wate 23) mee ‘When one in many is to be expressed the phonetic si w<+ the preposition 28 m( aS ) construction is employed before the noun, Example ae TS RA—A49 vem 9 “one ofthese asses” (Peas 1,9) MATINEE, ycmaansmne “one of these Z Aiea companions” «sis255 = AME, w 5, above the number which was to function as the denominator. In this context 1, stands for part. For the Kemetu the number under the >, signified the ordinal meaning, 9 1-10, meaning “part 10” or the tenth part in a series of equal parts constituting a single set of ten. Although the fractions had ordinal ‘meaning, only cardinal numbers were used to construct them. Example’ ‘Medu Netcher English Equivalent Cursive aii 28 t an 2 -120 Let The Ancestors Speak Medu Netcher English Equivalent Cursive un 1/4 Xx — £ 1 tt vs ) oe » i us Zz ee. v i : 2. = . im — Wt Vs — Wy 9 Wm = 5 a 0 A Observation: From the way these fractions are constructed, for the Kemetu to write r-8 7 for 7/8 would seem selfrefutatory, since in any series of eight, only one part could be the eighth, namely the part that ‘occupied the eighth spot in the row of eight. N.B. There were some fractions that were in a special category. Example 8S, (lit. “side”) 2 Twy “the two parts out of three” 28The Numeral 121 WT 1-3 (bmt rw) “the three parts out of four” 3/4 hsb (in cursive only. standard => Mdw Nir- \\N) 1-4 V4 ‘Normally fractions were written with a numerator of "one", which Fonte lh a eee tee els a der indicate fractions such as 5/6 or 4/7 they were broken down into component fractions, all with a numerator of one, which when added together again produced the desired value. This technique was developed to ensure greater accuracy. Example: em e503 1/24 13=5/6 al 2 Fou es, 114 12+ 4= 4/7 3, TIN ann wy, 25, 2-30 28 + US + 1/30=9/10 Observation: (proof) 2/3 = 2/3 x 10/10 = 20/30 15=15x6/6 = 6/30 1/30 = 1/30 x 1/1 = 1/30 total 27/30-3/3=9/10 § 49, GRAIN MEASUREMENT - —e —_— > ANS122 Let The Ancestors Speak The Heru Eye eres can be found in chapter XVII of the famous PAD ESY? rau prt m hw, "Chapters Of Coming Forth By Day, which was compiled during the XVIII dynasty and referred to as the Book Of The Dead by the uninitiated and the profane, the following is stated: IFS TAS IZ iw mh,ni Wsir s§ 301 a< hrw ni I made whole the scribe Ani, true of voice, for you MA BHe ah JYn—ZPPah Uy Meee after (it een on that day See BROT edo a cae battle of the renee at then is PRE SoM HRCA y ! im. it? The day it is of fighting of Hera who is in it [Tram PX MAMAS ins st m wd sw im bri brw imf together with Set, throwing excrement in the face of Heru, and carried off RA SSo~ oe LSoFdo- Heh n 3t in rt dhuty iff on m ton fet testicles of Set. For Djhuty did this with Ml-S=—1-B ARS He db ro-measure (7) of 1/10 ~*= 1/10.x 1/32 = 1/320 Akt. §51. CONSTRUCTION OF RO-MEASURE - To avoid confusion with the ordinary fractions as. 1 1/3 or = uw lt 1/6, the multipliers of ro-measure were written as <> , and ‘i Observation: The multipliers of the hekat in cursive (hieratic) - 18D ND indicate respectively 100 and 200 single, double, or quadruple bist. Example: With ' as abasis 10x 1/2 = 50 hekat is written SPE | BX 199 5 1/4225The Numeral hekat while“! ang“! and 20 hekat respectively. The units are represented by dots - represent 10 hekat 20000, =9 Akt =5 hit ‘THE SERIES WOULD APPEAR AS FOLLOWS- 125 Medu Netcher English Equivalent Cursive < 1D je ic vA a mat 18 S$ a vie 4 ~~ 132 3 { 64 + a tO ? a aa 1 uu - ” Wi ” = 410126 Let The Ancestors Speak § 52. DIVIDING WITH THE HERU EYE SERIES - The process of division used by the Kemetu was closely allied to that of tutiplicaion. Hthe F& _g(sribe) decd to divide 195 by 5, he vwould decide by what must he multiply 5 to reach 195 Example: 1 5 2 10 4 20 8 40 16 80 32 160 Atthis point the 2 5 (sribe) would stop the doubling process because ifhe doubled 160 he would exceed 195, At this stage he would begin his mental gymnastics to find which numbers would equal 195, place a check beside them then add: Example: Vv s/ a 10/ 4 20/ 40 16 80 32/ 160/ Totals 39% 195 Then add the corresponding Heru Series | +2 +4+32=39 whichis the answer. This same process would be followed to compute fractions, Although you must remember that the method of writing fractions preclude the writing of simple fractions as 5/7 or 6/9 because all fractions had to have unity for their numerators (see above for exceptions) §53. THE AMHOSE MATHEMATICAL S327 stv (PAPYRUS) Inthe Amhose mathematical shefedu (papyrus) 2, the fraction 1/5 is explicitly multiplied by 10.The Numeral 127 1.1 Do it thus 1 us 12 \2 \ 13 5 13) 4 28 1/10 1/30 14 \8 \LV3 V5 1S 15 Totals 10 123 1/5 WS 1s 16 *2 §54. Problem Number Four - “Seribes (writers, accountants) were also employed to document the activities of the day. At the pyramid site they devised mathematical scenarios to determine how much food was needed - especially bread to feed the ‘gangs’. Problem number four (below) written by the scribe Ahmose comes from the original Amhose Mathematical Papyrus. It is written in Mdw Nir (hieroglyphs) and then translated to English. ’ mk. be Je | BAS BS-8. cae eh Tet 7 yest bee 10 sp 30 3 ables aw Sr. l i : | me? im Le %128 Let The Ancestors Speak PROBLEM 4 “Divide 7 loaves among 10 men. Each man receives 2/3 1/3. PROOF - multiply 2/3 1/10 by 10; the result is 7. Doit thus: 1 28 130 R 113 15 4 22/3 1/10 1/30 CI 51/2 1/10 10 (1 12/30 + 5 18730=7) Total 7, loaves, which is correct.” 39 §55. MEASUREMENT OF LENGTH - ‘Measurement Transliteration Translation Equivalent f abe digit 0.73 inch A ssp 4 digits or palm-breath 2.98 inches a mh 28 digits or 1 cubit 20.64 inches = ; . mh Tpalms or | cubit 20.64 inches al it 100 cubits or I rod 171.6 feet St == “river measure” 20,000 cubits 6.5 miles ‘A much less popular linear measureis the 144 nov “nebiu’, (lit. ‘pole’), probably equal to 1 1/4 or 1 1/3 cubit.The Numeral 129 § 56. AREA MEASUREMENT - Se The basic unit of area measure was the 1 var. ac , st which was equal to 2735 square meters which is approximately 2/3 acre. The Heru eye series again appears when this unit was divided. Example o fe m= “1 12st bs fsb = nt V4 st3r > - mt gs = Hil ese Tm T xxI b= "10 st3¢ The — anh “cubit” was a narrow strip of land 100 cubits long and a width of 1 cubit which was equal to 1/1000 1 st Example: GST, araseee 3 “thinty-tce sethat of field.” §57. WEIGHT MEASUREMENT - = ‘The unit of measure used for weights Was =m °, beginning in = =| Dynasty XVII sm dba (phonetically J= ) about 91 = a grams, The ~-.'— dbn was subdivided into the kdt le P which ‘was equal in weight to © m7 ,1/10dbn. For divisions smaller than the df the basic fractions were used.130 Let The Ancestors Speak §58. DIVISION OF TIME - “The word for year {1 var. of apt, in Medu Netcher depicted the first spout from a root or seed with a bud attached to its side. The harvest in ancient Kemet depended greatly upon the annual a imundation of {G's == Acpy, api (The Nile), which played a significant role in the development of the calendar year. A significant pare ce ts te Ma sg i te ete Hazon of 2X var A spat the Dog Star ax Siu. _This event occurred once every Solar year and was called BA x prt spdt “Coming forth of Sepedet” New Years Day was ushered in onthe fist day SO rw, ofthe fist month ©. abd of =° Jmw, the season of mandation i the old calendar). Day one ofthe year was cated SALT wptempe “The Opening OF The Year,” and was celebrated with a major religious festival called 11 spy-maps, “the first of the year” UW va UH There is now a body of evidence that strongly suggest that the Kemetu of the so-called pre-dynastic period only identified two seasons, summer and winter. This custom persisted among many African people in the Sudan until comparatively recent times. But the Dynastic Kemetu divided their year into three seasons. Example: ‘Season - = = snw “the hot, watery period of inundation” a 2,60 prt “the season of coming 7" forth” OE “the season of spouting, or bursting forth, of crops (winter) the idea of harvest” Some scholars identify 4ht, as the season of inundation, with _prtand smw, following in that order. I have chosen the chronology of E. A Wallis Budge which is the earlier method of dating.The Numeral Month - 131 As Each season was divided into four months © bd, which yielded a twelve month year. Conventionally the months were referred to by their numbers only and the season in which they fell, see chart pg. 125. But later, in religious text, each month was given aname - SEASON = =O smw Month Translation Coptic a " 1 filSAlod “The birth or Ra” MESORE mswt-R° ~ 2 it Th ! “Personification of | THOTH dhuty Divine intellect” ~~ oo wit IS “The One Of Ipet” — PAIPI P» ipt ~~ nn GShf “The House Of Heru” HET-HERU thw SEASON a 2d ae . Month Translation Coptic ~ 1» UPU “The Ka Over The Ka” KHOIAK brs A 2 56 tr BR “The Offering” TOBI B- haw, which yields thirty days per month and 360 days per year. The Kemetu soonThe Numeral 133 discovered in the Dynastic period that their year was short. To compensate they added five days to the end of their year which they a named {in®3> Shryw mpt “5-Hleryu renpet” (The five days over the year), which yielded a total of 365 days. Example: ONT Rems Wsir “Birthday of Wisit” CAN MR emsttrw “Birthday of Hera” milly Rems St “Birthday of Set” iM” emesis ® nth I a WT R« ms.tNbt-hyt “Birthday of Nebet-het” og Fach day consisted of 24 hours S29. wnnwt which began with the rising of the sun at dawn. The day was divided equally into 12 hours of day and 12 hours of night. Other divisions - TING pr second” = Oat “moment, attack (of cobra) striking power.”” ¥ ‘hh“1,000,000 years” a dt “eternity” § 59. The Kemetu Method Of Dating - ‘The scholars of Kemet did not use a perpetual system of chronicling years. Time was calculated from a kings ascension to the throne. This ‘method is referred to as the regnal year. As with most everything else this method of dating was copied by other societies that came in contact with Kemet. There are six divisions encompassed in “dating formula;” first, the year, second, the month, third, the season, fourth, the day, fifth, the royal titulary and sixth, the name of the king or (the month, season and day.134 Let The Ancestors Speak Example: {50752 RENE CZ)S-° Shae feu Jat-sp2, “regnal year 2” aus 11 @a sbd2 abt, “second month of Harvest” i Bits 15, “day 15" Jpt-sp2 sbd2 sbt sw 15 brnb awy nbty nb wy nswt-bity nb-Bwy- Rest Re Matw-htp “ab dt “Regnal year 2, second month of Harvest, day 15 (of) Heru, the Lord of 2 Lands, the 2 Ladies, the Lord of the 2 Lands the King of Upper and Lower Kemet, Neb-tawy-Ra, the Son of Ra, Menthu-hetep, who lives eternally.” Observation: “The two words that we translate ‘forever’ or ‘etemity’ do not have exactly the same meaning, =! gt which has a land determinative, means infinite in space (just as we might say we could “see forever” from the top of a mountain), while lel ohh with the sun determinative means infinite in time. The translation ‘forever and ever’ thus somewhat simplifies the real meaning.” >, §60. SUMMARY OF THE YEAR- Although the 365 day civil year was in use, the 360 day year was used for calculating the daily temple income i.e., 1/360 of the yearly revenue. Also, the fact that the Kemetu used a civil year of 365 days, while the astronomical year consisted of approximately 365 1/4 days, was not without significant effect. The consequence of this was, four years after the concurrence of the beginning of the astronomical year with the beginning of the civil year, New Year's Day of the civil calendar would have already occurred one day earlier than the event which marked the beginning of the astronomical year. The astronomical year would be one month ahead of the civil year in about 120 years, and would not coincide again for approximately 1,460 years. During that amount of time, any given annual astronomical event would have fallen in tum on every different day of the civil calendar,THE PRONOUN DEFINITION PERSONAL PRONOUNS 1. SUFFIX PRONOUNS The reflexive use of the suffix-pronoun 2. DEPENDENT PRONOUNS 3. INDEPENDENT PRONOUNS & THE PROPERTIES OF TW DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS MORPHOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF PV RELATIVE PRONOUNS136 Let The Ancestors Speak THE PERSONAL PRONOUN § 61. THREE FORMS OF THE PERSONAL-PRONOUN The personal pronoun is divided into three distinct categories, each of which is restricted to a specific grammatical construction, Two interesting characteristics of personal pronouns are that: 1. their usage is always uniform and consistent, 2. one form can never be substituted for another. The uniformity and consistency of usage are the major influencing factors in correctly deciphering ambiguous text. These specialized forms of the personal pronoun are: The Suffix pronoun, the Dependent pronoun and the Independent pronoun. § 62. THE SUFFIX PRONOUN - Suffix pronouns are pronouns that must be suffixed (attached) to the rear of other words, such as verbs, prepositions nouns, and particles. They must always lean on other words, that is, they can never stand alone. Although the suffix pronoun can be thought of as becoming part of the preceding word, it must never alter the spelling by being intercalated, but must always be suffixed after the last determinative. This type of pronoun is never found in the first position of a sentence. §63. CONJUGATION OF THE SUFFIX PRONO' Singular Ist pers. c. a I, me, my var. f fem., not occuring before Dyn.XIX; ¥ sometimes in inscriptions. Nefer; BMD Pings 2nd pers.m.—* .k You, your, yours oie Et cara? ole var ac 3rdpers.m. “~ .f — He,him, his, it, its ne .§ She, her, hers, “ “var, Plural Istpers.c. 111 .2 — We,us, our ond? 7 PP fm — You, your aa ts They, them, their var. 111The Pronoun 137 ‘Observation: The Kemet 20784 ot only delineated the singular and plural, but also identified the dual form: This dual form became obsolete in the so-called Middle Kingdom except in archaistic text; they were usually replaced by the plural suffixes. §64. DUAL - Istper.c. \\ .2y We two, us two, our = 2nd" " “WX tay You two, your ard" "TC say They two, them two, their §65. USAGE - 1. As subject of the finite verb form of the sdm.f conjugation: ea ine hed 1 stand up te abe Youlive SHS pate He answers ol wil rds She gives es RAT age Youdepart ay SAM: psa They go forth 2. Asa direct genitive after nouns, expressing posession: as vine pen Out house SAl Aird.s Her child Sab wr His dog COS ty My bread138 Let The Ancestors Speak 3. As object of prepositions: = nk “to you" 20 ts “upon her” GIN tm “tom tem” Observation: When the preposition IN mis followed by the suffix remain, icici dings te the forme Pai: 4, As the subject of an adverbial sentence beginning with 4% fy, (KE Wets iw.fm mnfyt “He is a soldier” QRISNC ST sv.s mobi “She is a dancer” (@SNIZSB fick m wb “Youre aprics” Observation: ‘The suffix pronoun is used in an adverbial sentence beginning with isto indicate a main clause. In the grammatical structure cm (BNE UE sx. mati “He is a soldier,” the sutix pronoun is always the subject. Ifthe suffix pronoun follows fwvin the middle of a sentence, fw functions only as a crutch upon which the suffix pronoun must ean. In this instance 4 + suffix pronoun + adverbial phrase becomes a subordinate clause. When §% ja-+ pronominal subject + adverbial phrase appears in the middle of the text, the context will indicate whether it is a subordinate clause or a main clause. The determining factor is whether it starts a new thought or whether it continues or clarifies an idea that is relevant to a point under discussion.The Pronoun 139 § 66, THE REFLEXIVE USE OF THE SUFFIX PRONOUN ‘The pronoun TY dsmeans “self” of “own.” Reflexively itis fused together with the suffix pronoun to give it intensity. Conjugation: Singular ispen(n) = TUR dsi Myself »eg Te Fe . and pers.(m) dok Yourself sg T= ast . 3rd pers. (m) th dst Himself (6) nl dss Herself Plural ak Ist pers. (c) Tait dsn Ourselves 2nd pers. (c) im ds.tn Yourselves 3rd pers. (c) ni ds.sn ‘Themselves § 67, USAGE: 1, After nouns: Sian Pth ds.f “Ptah himself, in person” 2. To intensify a suffix when used as a genitive led rot brids.i “My own voice”140 The Ancestors Speak 3. Adverbially, to express the idea “because of one’s own action.” Si Sea nt ‘Ink Nor 3 hpr ds.f “I (am) the great Netcher (God) who creates himself” oye, 31) §68. THE DEPENDENT PRONOUN The dependent pronoun is not attached to the preceding word like the suffix pronoun, but like the suffix pronoun, it cannot occupy the first position of a sentence, Although it is a complete word unto itself, this pronoun must still depend upon a preceding word upon which it leans. This eared it the designation of dependent pronoun. ‘The dependent pronoun has specific forms which correspond to the ‘number, gender, and person to which it relates. § 69, CONJUGATION OF THE DEPENDENT PRONOUN: Singular Ist pers. ¢. Sw Ime var. ob bE Dal 2nd pers. m. =} iw ‘You, your, yours var, 2} ,@ no fe sn va 3rd pers.m. +2 sw He, him, his,it var, ¥° wea Is sy She, her, hers, it var. \ , a Plural Istpes. 111 m We,us, our 2nd pers. you, your, yours sn they, them, theirThe Pronoun 141 The usages of the dependent pronouns like the suffix pronouns are clear and quite concise. §70. USAGE - 1. As the direct object of any form of the verb except the infinitive. Example: DRIZBB — worwi “Yousend me” beth anfsw “He ferried him over” (RTD msn wi “they seeme" wi= “me” Ist per. sing. (masc /fem.) \e (pop JZIds, iw bib f sy rniwt “He sends her to the city” sy="“*her” 3rd sing. (fem.) Sg=n= SBS Nase iw rats in m dpt “placed you (f) in the boat.” t= “you” 2nd sing. (fem) 2. As the subject after specialized particles in adverbial sentences. Basically these particles are primarily used for exclamation, emphasis, negation, etc. Example: ow a. SND mk exclamation that can be translated as, “behold!” or “see!.” It also functions as a marker for the beginning of a new paragraph. RSQBINTB mi wi ittovi “Behold t have come.” (weste 812) 38 9 KRSed mk tw iw.t (1) “See you have returned.” snn2s7 SST IAN RST SR TAN mk a ch.wyn sas “See we are knowledgeable about childbirth.” (Wests. 105)12 Let The Ancestors Speak RSULTHEL! ak av ivrsprnibes “Behold he has come to appeal to me about it.” (peas. 176) RS=PREHS acm bei “Behold you are my servant, lit. as my servant.” ‘Observation: The \ im of predication is employed in this sentence. b= server. = 5g This patct signifies thatthe ection of the sentence is coeval with the action of the sentence which precedes it. MFI ists tae nswe le} NEF am ...St sy m hint “...while she is his wife.” mof predication c. == mn This isa particle of negation ZNans-eat an s(y) m dpt.i “It was not in my boat.” PRED anew m vei “Youate not my servant” WN motpredication d. 2%, 20 aty(m), att (£) relative adjective, “who” , “which”, and “that”. Flo pe ona holt -finw tn ntt.n kd “...this city that we build”The Pronoun 143 Observation: As siated previously the suffix pronoun functions as the subject of an adverbial sentence when it follows directly after 43 iw, This type of sentence isa simple declarative sentence, one of the most common types in Medu Netcher. ‘The dependent pronoun however is employed with specialized particles other than 432 fay wien it fanetions asthe subject. SENTENCE DISCLOSURE MOTIF SPECIALIZED DEPENDENT PARTICLE PRONOUN ADVERBIAL PHRASE Reflexive Use Of The Dependent Pronoun The dependent pronouns are also used reflexively like the suffix pronouns. Example: = a SBT TD inp wi brit “{placed myself upon my abdomen.” (ys, 161) §71. THE INDEPENDENT PRONOUN Definition: The independent pronoun is a pronoun which is sufficient unto itself. It is emphatic in meaning and it is not attached to any other word. Unlike the suffix pronoun, (it is not attached to) or depended upon previous words. It can occupy the first position of a sentence which is its most frequent function.144 Let the Ancestors Speak § 72. CONJUGATION OF THE INDEPENDENT PRONOUN Singular: Inpesc int var ISS 2nd pers.m. atk You, Your, Yours atl, 2 Srdpemm = att He, Him, It | rts She, er,It var, = Plural Ist pers, c. fan We,Us,Our var. (EFT 2nd pers.c. aT atm You, Your, Yous var, a aedpers.c “ait nist They, Them, Theit var, “aii Observation: Except for the Ist person singular and the Ist person plural, the independent pronouns are formed by placing a _nfbefore the suffix pronouns. §73. USAGE: Like the other personal pronouns the independent pronoun also has a specific grammatical function, and that function is always as the subject of a sentence. 1. As the subject ofa nominal predicate In sentences that describe equality between two ideas (i.e: He is an Aftican or His mother is a Nubian) the words are simply juxtaposed. There is no word in Medu Netcher corresponding to the copulative verbs is/are, they only exist in theory. INDEPENDENT PRONOUN + NOUN . Saha ink pth “Lam Ptah” (anceThe Pronoun 145 oe ae ink itt “Lam your father” ox. ivsi6a) a) (LEV RoaRS ink mnfyt m kit “Lam a soldier of Kemet” Lit, “I am a soldier of The Black Country” ‘Observation: An alternative method of constructing the above sentence is: {3 i+ suc pronoun + SS mot predicaton, direct object, preposition, and indirect object. 3a PEREUCHERONG nim mnfyt m kt “Lama soldier of Kemet.” Sentence #3 implies a permanent condition or it emphasizes the independent pronoun I, in the sentence, “I am a soldier of Kemet. “ad ‘Whereas sentence 3a may imply that I am not always a soldier, or else it may highlight what Iam. It must be remembered that the difference is only implied and should in no way affect your translation. The text must be translated as it is written without theorizing about any implied meanings. Observation: “In certain cases, especially in religious text, one finds sentences expressing the identity between two pronouns (type: I am You). In that case both are independent pronouns. Example: ons nfj-of SBE hy R* ink ntk == “OhRalam You.” Gomes 109" 22 2. As the subject of an adjectival predicate: - Another function of the independent pronoun is as the subject of a sentence with an adjectival predicate (a predicate which contains an adjective). In this grammatical form the sentence structure will appear as follows:146 Let The Ancestors Speak INDEPENDENT PRONOUN + ADJECTIVE Example: el-NY atfsimy “He isa leader.” SAB NANA tne w<0 m put ‘in “J am pure in the temple of Amon.” ENS nts nds “She is a citizen.” Observation: Adjectival sentences can also be formed as follows: ADJECTIVE + DEPENDENT PRONOUN SIS ads sy “She is a citizen” Remember that the difference in interpretation of these two forms is only implied. Whether the characteristic or condition is permanent or not, where the emphasis is placed will determine the sentence structure. Example: a. Permanent condition or characteristic - Independent pronoun + Adjective, (emphasis on who). . Condition or characteristic not permanent or emphasis on adjective (citizen) - Adjective + Dependent Pronoun. NB. As Gardiner states, itis incorrect to use the independent pronoun. when the predicate is adverbial; “You are in the house” may be rendered vyiRSNh7 1 or by AS =eK7 1, butnot by S 3. Ina participle statement - The form that the participle assumes in Medu Netcher must never be confused with what is identified as English Participles. The following participles are nouns which were formed from verbs. PARTICIPLE, FROM VERB one cone who hears 2D tonear smn sdmThe Pronoun 147 PARTICIPLE FROM VERB Sak one who loves SA wiove mr mr ass cone who fears CBB to fear sng sad INae one who reports JB woreport whm whm SB one who opens So wa wa to open To construct a participle statement the independent pronoun is juxtaposed before the participle. INDEPENDENT PRONOUN + PARTICIPLE, Fone—fld tfsdm n Pth “It is he who listens to ENB 42.9) atria aswe “He is one who reports to the king” Se Nm nt wn Swyn pr mn “You are one who opens the two doors of the temple of Amon,” (lit. house of Amon). 4. Before sdm.f construction - In order to add force or intensity that gives special impressiveness or importance to the subject of a sentence, the independent pronoun is placed before the sdm.f form. In this construction the independent pronoun must agree with the subject in both number and gender. To convert this type of sentence to English, we translate it as a cleft sentence: ie., “It is N who will perform...”148 Let The Ancestors Speak INDEPENDENT PRONOUN + sdm.fFORM = FUTURE TENSE | ate nae SO WS = pert ok ater itrw “(tis) the ‘good servant (who) will go down to the river.” ‘You don't actually translate the independent pronoun in this sentence, since itis already referring to the subject. Leave it untranslated. a PRSe cs oRe— 2a, antsn sqm rmtt nt kmt n hmw.t.sn (It is) the “men of Kemet” (who) will listen to their wives. THEPRONOUN tw *, @ §74. USAGE - a/ As an indefinite pronoun it is used like the suffix in the sdm.f form and can also be used after certain specialized non-enelitic particles. Example: Bed —gatw “one says” Seba} mk tw dd.tw “Observe, one says,” lit. “Observe, one says one.” (iy, 1090) b/_ Asa dependent pronoun after certain specialized non-eneclitic particles. NON - ENCLITIC PARTICLE + DEPENDENT PRONOUN ata = at NS mk awe “(Observe) you are here.” sin 77) 2220 A FO RSETA MLS imk twr spr “(Observe) you will arrive home.” (ys, 167)The Pronoun 149 §75. CONSTRUCTION OF THE PASSIVE sda.f FORM- ‘sdm.f+tw+ Suffix Pronoun The construction of the passive sdmm.fYorm is accomplished by inserting oh tw, var. t(w) directly behind the verb stem, ie. IXOd7 samm. pn “This utterance is heard,” ISPD H va, PROM edmows “Tis heard.” The element w, functions like the English indefinite pronoun “one.” Example: (eB Aed bat iw st.tw.f hn‘ nsyw “He is ushered in together with the kings of Upper Kemet.” DEMONSTRATIVES §76. DEFINITION Demonstrative pronouns can be defined as those pronouns identifying that which is referred to; thereby distinguishing it from other things of the same class. They are, as in English, “this,” “that,” “these” and “those.” There are two formations of these demonstratives, and the ones selected will determine the meaning of the sentence. §77. CONSTRUCTION - 1 Singular (m) of pw this, var. apf pwy, obsolete od ipw @ 28 ww © va CPi NEB pnw Plural © CO} aw these150 Singular (a) ee OQ mm Plural o 4 o H Singular ox 4. Singular (m) @ oh Plural ok Let The Ancestors Speak . 2, pn this obsolete Ye fon ne rae Pe haan nn these Pa o£ o pttht = var. © ph, NE py el var, —_ DS 3, — A ip of” va ON op, ON op pittis,the var, 244 py, KN pyThe Pronoun 151 Observations: 1. Inthe Old Kingdom the demonstrative pronoun “this” was expressed with the combinations pw, twand nn. These forms survived well into the Middle Kingdom and were used mainly in religious texts. Whereas the combinations pn, tand nn were used regularly in secular writing during this same period 2. The paand én combinations always followed the noun that they qualified, but the plural mm form preceded its noun. The YY mn form was often used as a pronoun to express the neuter. 3. The pf, tfand nf combinations in some instances can denote either good or evil. The context of the sentence will determine the meaning. 4. The pi, Band 2F series originally meant “this,” but because they were the weakest demonstrative forms, they evolved into the definite article ie Usage: ‘The demonstratives can be used in two ways. a. Attributively as adjectives (“demonstrative adjectives”) b. Independently as pronouns (“demonstrative pronouns”) § 78. AS DEMONSTRATIVE ADJECTIVES - a8 0 QO 2 shty pa “this peasant” es psi mo 2 base ast tn “this country” (sin8 32) 0 re B pf “that land” sane) = 6 Da dpt tf “that boat” aus.1s5 VATA 4 2 i A =e smrw ipn “these friends” qx 1652) = prnw “the water” qi. ivas) 1 Wi God Ninw ipa “the Netchers” wo 25 Cob nw 1 Nerw “these Netchers” us.v392152 Let The Ancestors Speak H-tdeda, nn n smrw “these friends” gin, 2s6) PRIN Tha! pI Nerw 42 “these 42 Netchers” (BD ch. 125) es jo a 4 Lw.f ipn “these his appearances in glory” (vac 11614) met WT anwetentew “That (g00d) mother of the Netchers” (ay e oO Rae ae br pf “that (vile) enemy” (x § 79. AS DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS - SW oo dd.in shty pn n bmt.ftn “Then this peasant said this to this his wife” ach iw dd.n.fan “te seid this” CH n= *tis?) Sia pirm “what is this” (AN ns=“this”) §80. THE MORPHOLOGICAL PROPERTIES OF % pw ‘The demonstrative pronoun py, “this” or “that” developed over a period of time to the point of being used to construct a nominal sentence. However when it appears in this grammatical form it no longer means “this” or “that” but takes on the meaning of “he,” “she,” “it,” or “they” depending upon the context. The two main uses follow: a. As subject after predicates consisting of a noun (nominal predicate). b. As a means of connecting a predicate consisting of a noun with a subject ( to connect a nominal predicate to a subject).The Pronoun 153 SENTENCE DISCLOSURE + MOTIE Noun or Independent Pronoun Pw Noun + Pw = fod Ré pw “It is Ra” or “He is Ra” (uk. 10) SAod Dhwty pw “Itis Djhuty” or “He is Dihy” casa) \ {Spa Bop fwrw pw “They are wretches” (ger A1ip258) Observation: If the predicate of a sentence with pw (je. the first element in the sentence) consist of several words, pw comes as close to the beginning as possible, but never the first word in the sentence. It can never be inserted between a direct genitive, but it can break up an indirect genitive and is intercalated before the “1. Also it can divide a noun and its adjective. Otherwise, pw follows the first full word, excluding particles, which precede it. Example: 23G=0o—T8 Amt wb pwn Re “She is the wife of a priest Of Ra.” (este 9.9) N.B. hut w-bis a direct genitive. therefore, pwmay not be intercalated between Amtand wb, On the other hand, w*b 2 Reis anindirect genitive, and pwmay be intercalated. Independent pronoun + Pw = —t, Sop he o | ntf pw m mt “Itishe,in truth” or “It is he, truly.” (sin 268)154 Let The Ancestors Speak Demonstrative Pronoun + Pw (when the demonstrative is the subject). ao Pipw “Thisis it.” enindso) Neer ee eho RAASS Bitipwn3 m wn mi “This is my character in reality.” (ae 90710) Pw does not always appear where one might expect it; on these occasions itis difficult to determine whether the omission occured to be brief of for some other reason. An alternative construction without pw is yi 1 Bwar “Itis the breath of the mouth.” qx i. 125 § 81. NOUN + Pw+NOUN- The function of pw when the subject and predicate both are nouns: ‘There are also what has been described as tri-membral nominal sentences constructed with pw. These sentences consist of a noun+ pw +a noun. The original method of expressing sentences where both subject and predicate are nouns was by direct juxtaposition; but long before the Middle Kingdom that method had become obsolete and had given place to the pw expression. In these tri-membral nominal sentences pw seems to function. asa link, as a copula, “is” or “are.” Observation: You must remain cognizant of the fact that pwis not in reality a copula. Na NA Ist noun, 2nd nounThe Pronoun 155 Example: 2 om ee, th pw ns.k “Your tongue is the plummet.” eas B 1.165) ae =f 1 Op ta dmi pw imnt “A landing place is ‘the west” or “The west is a haven.” a) “The substitution of this construction for the method of direct juxtaposition ‘was evidently due to the desire to indicate the logical predicate more clearly than could be done by that method, in connection with which inversions were frequent. Now a demonstrative word like ‘this’ is a far ‘more often logical subject than logical predicate: we are more prone to say that ‘this’ is so-and-so than so-and -so is ‘this’. Hence the intercalation of a demonstrative in a sentence in which both subject and predicate are nouns is apt to mark the preceding noun as the real logical predicate. ‘Thus whereas in the old method of direct juxtaposition the first word could be almost as easily logical predicate as logical subject (though. the latter was of course its proper function), in the sentence with o} intercalated the first word is, in the vast majority of cases, not the logical subject, but the logical predicate. The tragedy of language is, however, that it is constantly perverting the constructions which it creates to purposes for which were not primarily invented.” 25 § 82. RELATIVE PRONOUNS Definition: A relative pronoun is one that introduces a subordinate clause qualifying an expressed or implied antecedent. Construction: Singular Plural nn ae | (m) a aty who © «4 SS nty.w who © 20 a156 Let The Ancestors Speak § 83. USAGE- 1, Relatives are used to introduce relative sentences, 2. Relatives are used to introduce subordinate clauses (substantively). Example: a. To introduce a relative sentence BovOs s nty tp 8 “Aman who is on the an ONAN daw tte nyu m bp “Listen you who are coming into being.” cui ivess13) b. To introduce a subordinate clause Example: AIS praty bm. ym “The place in which his majesty is.” = = we em frbe (2a—ba Tae S heat br i8.0 ms" aty m dpt in “[ called out to the troops who were in this ship.” gus. 129THE VERB DEFINITION CLASSIFICATION NUMBER OF CONSONANTS LAST RADICAL CONSONANT WEAK / STRONG TRANSITIVE & INTRANSITIVE GEMINATING VERBS REDUPLICATING VERBS THE CAUSATIVE AUXILIARY VERB ELEMENTS TENSE MOOD AND ASPECT PARTICIPLES AND RELATIVE FORMS RESUMPTIVE WORDS158 ‘Let The Ancestors Speak THE VERB § 84, DEFINITION: A patt of speech denoting action, occurrence, or existence (state of being). Inflections indicate tense (and sometimes person and number) and mood of a verb. 24 “a word expressing action or state, and that can, by means of addition, be made to express tense, aspect, voice, and mood.” 25 § 85. CLASSIFICATION: In Medu Netcher verbs can be clustered into specific categories depending upon structural and/or semantic criteria. 1, Number of Components - The number of components in the stem of.a verb is a determining factor in its classification. A verb can be made up of two, three, four, five, or even six radical consonants. The most numerous are those verbs formed with three radical consonants, (that is Medu Netcher has more verbs formed with three radical consonants). Verbs with five or six radical consonants are rare. Example: a bilteral - 2 radical consonants = (2-lit) Se a ds Ae b. Triliteral - 3 radical consonants = (3-lit) oS dm “hear” 3M wu prosper”The Verb 159 c. Quadriliteral - 4 radical consonants = (4-lit.) yrs 3) wstn “stride, move, or travel freely” 4. Quinquiliteral - 5 radical consonants = (5-lit.) LIE DIB pose “wadate ¢, Sextiliteral - 6 radical consonants = (6-lit.) (unattested) 2. ‘The Last Radical Consonant The last radical consonant of a verb, in most cases, determines whether the verb is classified as weak or strong. a. Weak Verbs, are those verbs that have asa lst radical consonant 4 j or 3 sw. They pose a particular problem because these consonants or semi-vowels are often omitted. Another characteristic of weak verbs with three radical consonants and certain other weak verbs is that the infinitive ending is expressed inthe feminine * £ ‘An infinitive is a nonfinite verb which is used as a noun, it can also be used as an adverb or an adjective. It s also referred to as the substantival form of the verb and may be employed together with a preposition to form an adverbial phrase. 5 1. Before the infinitive the preposition firis used to express “while” oon” 2. To express motion the preposition BS isused in place of Fe 3. To.express the future tense the preposition ris used. 4, mm n+ the infinitive is used to express without Example: oa —=—|x (eS Basti infrit eww “He shall vanquish the southlands.” sa 7160 Let The Ancestors Speak Observation: ‘The preposition _r is used to express future tense and , a itt is the infinitive form of the weak verb. re GB=TRA init 4 shall go” wets x12) §SPNAVAT TS i pm oo br kl F “Many craftsmen had built it” gass5 The following is alist of frequently encountered weak verb stems which have been extracted from a much more extensive list. These weak verbs stems are considered to be the most important. «PD suiextena” 1 paidestroy, damage” TJ serwisnr SA 4-7appearin _ Z alory” VSS werthiese” LEA gn “atighe, stop” > iti “make, do” So paisa down ‘stream northward’ ZY iti“take, seize” BX ni “row i Me wpi “divide, —® ani “ve feeble, open, judge.” vile” ae pti “go forth, MAD sow “guard, prevent go up” BB ai vcamy, iit” PF st “shoot, pour, kindle” = 7 Rep eee cree => umri “love, wish” ~ma—t Sni “encircle, surround”The Verb ald AS Kr =o8 DRA is 161 msi“bear, give Bh sai “ake, birth” withdraw” a mki “protect” cm kat “be brave” mi “weep,ey” PNB sar“devise, think out” rw “rejoice” STA est “bow down” Bi “go down, BARS gw" be narrow” fall” tate content” — “FS gmt “find” a = hwy, hif“strike” WW dgf “see, look” ho “rejoice” SD ay “disobey, violate” ist “praise, favour” — LIN gar “cross the river) ferry across” > The author strongly advises that the serious student committ these 36 ‘weak verb forms to memory. Observation Notall t-consonantal verbs that end in 4 date classified as weak: Example: b. BUA py “seek, took for” ANB at “grow ota” var are those verbs whose last and penultimate (second to the last) radical consonant are different. Another characteristic162 Let The Ancestors Speak of mrong vesbe is tht they do not end wih the weak vonsotiaats 4 for Ww Example: fe ligase tee aaa te ‘ab “ive? DS dm “hear” NB. In Medu Netcher as with other languages there are special cases (see observation above) c. Irregular Verbs, are verbs that are not inflected in the usual way, and show a feminine infinitive > ‘ending. = a :! var. <> iri “make” 2 DY ww and $A “comer They may complement one another and share some common usage. 3. 5- ini “bring” 4, The irregular verb —s rai, “give, place, put” is of particular interest in Medu Netcher. It manifests several distinct forms and has various grammatical functions. depending upon its use in the sentence. Forms: 1. A var, ca jrare 2 writtenwiththe r= rdi Used with intial \% — i, expresses indicative mood (a declarative statement or question), Example: (SORE 2d tev nd sy bit a bt “The husband gave honey to his wife”The Verb 163 2. A var, * sare —* the ris omitted = di In this form the ‘verb expresses the subjunctive mood (as a supposition, hypothesis, recommendation, or condition contrary to fact, Example: a ‘ma. oD (POW heb TS iw rdi.n.sbly di. tw itm Sowt “The fowler caused that barley be placed in the granary” 3. var. A rare — ;the ris omitted from rdf rendering it di when it is used circumstantially (indicating manner, time, or conditions of the main statement) as a subordinate clause. Example: SS DeMAT SWS ae mwedins sts meet “The mother is happy when her son gives to her his love” ws 4, AA var. 4—! The nominal forms of rdf are never written with = randare tobe read dd According to the pattern of the adverbial sentence, the initial bare nominal scm. for sdm.n, Fserves as the subject followed an adverbial phrase as a comment. Example: wa ae SSSA date iokmsi ssw “You shall put your heart behind the papyrus rolls” gai.2) Functions: = 1, When the verb «2 rdf functions in a “normal” sentence containing a subject, an object and an indirect object its meaning is “give,” “place,” or “put.” Example: SC y}eT2 rdi.n.f'sw r rp‘t ity “He placed him as (lit. into, ie. so as to be) prince and chief”164 Let The Ancestors Speak SF 2e—| SG sv edt mkt m1 bent “T give to the thirsty woman” 2. When «» rdfis followed directly by another sdm.f form of the verb, the meaning changes to “cause that,” “allow to,” “let,” or “permit.” Example: = upo he di.isdm.n “I cause you to hear, (lit. I give [that] you hear)” cei TF pZctii SMITH Sif! dit in bmf pr kn nb n ms. “Then His Majesty caused (lit. causing by His Majesty) every brave of his army to go forth.” (ya. iv. 894) § 86. THE GEMINATING VERBS This verb form is constructed by the repetition of the penultimate radical consonant which results in a verb form where the second and last radical consonants are identical. These geminating verbs may or may not appear in the geminating form. Example: NON GEMINATINGFORM_ = GEMINATING FORM = a ii =.= ir “do, make” fa ta BA BD om “wo — = = mi = mur “love” ON wi ON te “godown”The Verb 165 § 87. IRREGULAR VERBS ‘The irregular verbs are formed in the following manner: I= inn “bring” ad “sive” AED wom | PRN mw ee ¢ “exist” = wan “exist Observation: The emphatic form also called “that forms” appears in the weak and duplicating verbs, in that they repeat the penultimate consonant of the root in the sdfm.fform to secure added emphasis for that special member around which the predication turns, Example: “SS > umf “he certainly loves” or “may he love” rather than <> 44"~ mry.f “he loves.” It is used in sentences expressing a wish, a question, or a consequence. ‘The emphatic form can be expressed with the irregular verb forms as wel. Example: AA carte certainty gives” or “may he give” Sa ter “he certainly makes” or “may he make” § 88. DISTINCTIVE SYNTACTIC ELEMENTS OF THE EMPHATIC OR THE “THAT FORM” OF THE VERB. ‘As stated previously these forms of the verb are substantival and are found inall of the places where nouns function, primarily the intial and/or non- initial positions. 1. The beginning or initial position: Inthis position the “bare nominal (substantival)” sdlm. for sdm.n.f functions as the subject followed by an expression of fact_or opinion in the form of an adverbial phrase or circumstantial clause.166 Subject + Example: €>(Te a 2. The non-initial position: Let The Ancestors Speak Expression Of Fact Or Opinion wan.k hn iw pohreel—ar ATE iwhisipns ~~ dd By “This seribe goes down to the lake, when the vizier speaks” ‘b. fw + nominal subject + adverbial phrase = main clause/ sentence designator. [> Flo po Nah Jw haw m sgr “The residence was in silence” > 4w specifies the start of a new sentence or main clause when the subject is a noun. The above constructioin fw + noun will not appear in the middle of a sentence as a subordinate clause, (only the subject + the adverbial phrase). (pMobe NS He, KERB ‘iw baw m ser ibw m gmw “The residence was in silence, while the hearts were in mourning” jing ¢. Fahd Sy ft prenisetnal eubjector ed vertal pirere'can decionats efter a main clause or a subordinate clause appearing in the middle of the sentence. iw appears in the subordinate clause only to provide something on which the suffix pronoun can “lean” (to be suffixed to). In this construction hs iw does not function as a “sentence designator.”The Verb 171 ‘A.main clause designated by 43 jv + subordinate clause with (3 providing support for the suffix pronoun WERATS “ANPP KS PAI iw mB 5 sit.f m pr.fiw.fm rswt “The man sees his daughter in his house, and he is in joy” when {3 fy+ pronominal subject + adverbial phrase appears in the middle of the text the context will be the determining factor as to wether it is a main clause or a subordinate clause. N.B. Suffix pronouns are used when the subject is pronoun, and must be attached (suffixed to a preceding word). - § 93, THE AUXILIARY ELEMENT oe AD ‘The differentiation to be discemed between a sentence introduced by ay Q% jarand one introduced by 4 hemi a temporal one iw + sdm.n.f= present perfect, whereas So 2Rolo ar kaa n.k rod 1b.K mb. kni.k m brdw.k sn.k bot. k me.k pk “If you are strong and control your heart, you shall embrace your children, you shall kiss your concubine, you shall see your home.” (45, 132-134) The subjunctive form can be expressed after certain particles 4, Ar, ih (see example ‘b’).The Verb 177 IL. TENSE - A function of verbs in Medu Netcher is to express time, In order to do this they change their form to show the time of their action or of the idea expresed. The time indicated by the verb can be expressed as past, present or future, which is its tense. If the time expressed (past, present or future) is with regards to the time of the speaker, some scholars refer to this “absolute time.” Absolute Time - Example: Presenttense "J Jaf kbbi “Lam cool” pasttense “JAE ‘kbb.n.i “Lwas cool” Fuuretense “449238 kbb.hr.i “T shall be cool” ‘When the verbal action is anterior, concurrent or posterior to another action regardless to the speakers time, this is said to be “relative time.” ‘Medu Netcher had reached a level of sophistication sufficient enough to express these different time relationships. eae Example: Ipsos Wore bo(JoF UN di.sn prt-brw t hnkt k3w Jpdw ht nb nfit w‘bt ‘abt Ner im “They give invocation - offerings consisting of bread, beer, oxen, and fowl, and all things good and pure on which a Netcher lives.” (ux. iv 762) IIL ASPECT - The nature of the action of a verb as to its beginning, duration, completion, or repetition and without reference to its position, in time. In Medu Netcher verbs can also express aspect, that is they can specify whether an action is completed (perfective) ot incomplete (imperfective). § 97. PARTICIPLES AND RELATIVE FORMS Medu Netcher has the capacity to transform the verb into a verbal form that functions as an adjective and simultaneously exhibit such verbal features as tense and voice and has the capacity to take an object. These verbal forms can be identified as the relative form and the participle.178 Let The Ancestors Speak In order to construct the relative form and the participle, the indicative form has to be “relativized,” that is the indicative form must be transformed: Example: INDICATIVE FORM PARTICIPLE FORM RELATIVE FORM 1. She loves it (She) who loves it (that) which she loves 2. She loved it (She) who loved it (That) which she loved 3. She willlove (She) who will love (That) which she it it will love 1. iw(s) mrs mur mrrts 2. iwmrns ir mts 3. mrs sr ty.sy amut.s 1. SI S all 2 Rea S Sil 2 Sv ase NB. In the participle form, “she” becomes the point of concentration, whereas in the relative form “it” becomes the point of concentration. Observation: The weak, geminating and irregular verbs are expressed in their geminated forms. ‘The participle must also be in accordance in gender and number with the governing noun or pronoun to which they are attached. The number and gender is not always explicit, therefore the student must discern what is implied, Participles also take the same marks (i.e. plural strokes, feminine = ‘tetc.) as regular adjectives.The Verb 179 Example: 14> PT Oh tperprt mint “The speech which had come forth from the mouth” = 19 ee NRE PST A— Wins SUH th.kwi rn n Nor 42 wonyw ha‘k “{ know the name of the 42 Netchers who are together with you” myst? = 99 RIAL Wat Taisen ‘m rdyt ‘ntiw rSny.sn, sate wad r bttwtsn “(Women) upon whose hair myrth, and on whose shoulders fresh incense has been placed.” eux 35.6 ‘The following are forms of the sifm.ty. f which have a prospective ‘meaning and must be in accordance with its antecedents in number and gender. Singular: 2 msc. Tye fem, \!, , yy = ayo plur. c. nN intel skins gs § 98, THE RELATIVE FORM OF THE PROSPECTIVE: In the relative form of the prospective, the masculine ending is represented by the yending and by W oc din the feminine Example: ox iie4, sdmyw “those who listen (local judiciary)” geass 199) gy enbw “...hose who live” qj. 12016180 Let The Ancestors Speak si wanyw “those who exist” ue 1016) ges Sha pit nbt “all that comes out” tv 8136) SAAT ink 3 hpr ds.F “Lam the Great One who came into being of himself” qu v0 Soke DS 83 simw m sms br “A son who hears is a follower of Heru” rss DP Rhel coo Reaff rhyt me3s({y].so maw.4 mi-ft mpwt ‘people who will see my monument after years” cut i365) Gah Aprify]sy “what will happen” us. »2%03) sa sw3t[y].57 “...be who will pass” ¢us.ivis29) § 99, RESUMPTIVE WORDS - In Medu Netcher resumptive words are employed together with the participles and relative forms for the purpose of modification. In such cases where modification is necessary the resumptive form is used to refer back to the antecedent to which the participle relates. Resumptive words include suffix pronouns, adverbs or adverbial phrases, Example: og stone 'l hunt rdit md3t n 3.5 “The woman to whose son the book was given” orp.26) Womans the antecedent of whose and | 5(she), isthe resumptive suffix pronounThe Verb 181 JeSho7 IW bw wesw ib.i im “The place where my heart lingers” gx, 37 Place is the antecedent of where and LN im is the resumptive adverb Jet Sos AY weir ely n.f wart swtib “Wisir to whom the white crown and joy have been given” coe e012) ft nbs nftt webt otal every good and pure thing on which the Netcher lives” (Uk iv 167) Plate 14 Ka Statue of King Hor Auibre, Dynasty 12. a oO Dro ik * The evidence in his tomb at Dahshur suggest that he may be the brother of Amenemhet III and thus possibility Manetho’s Ameres. However, Au-ib-Ra must have died first thus another son Amenhetep IV became the next king. He may however be the Au-ib-Ra placed in the 13th Dynasty by the Turin Canon.182 Let The Ancestors Speak Plate 15 - Limestone Stela Of Sen-res. He is seated before an offering table with his wife. The text invokes the ffp di nsw formula (an offering which the king gives.) In line three the text envokes offerings of everything good and pure on which a God lives for the Ka of Sen-tes. The stela is dated early Dynasty Eighteen.THE ADVERB DEFINITION CONSTRUCTION USAGE THE PREPOSITION DEFINITION SIMPLE PREPOSITIONS CONSTRUCTION USAGE COMPOUND PREPOSITIONS USAGE. THE PREPOSITION IN SUMMARY THE CONJUNCTION DEFINITION CONSTRUCTION THE PARTICLE DEFINITION INITIAL PARTICLES USAGE NON-INITIAL PARTICLES USAGE184 Let The Ancestors Speak THE ADVERB § 100, DEFINITION - The adverb in English can be defined as “/ a part of speech regularly used to modify (describe, limit, or qualify) a verb, an adjective, or another verb.” 2» “An adverb may also modify a verbal, a phrase or clause, or the rest of the sentence.” 35 Medu Netcher has few words if any, that can specifically be defined as adverbs, To fill this void the Africans devised ingenious methods of expressing this grammatical concept. ‘The following grammatical structures conform to the above defiition. § 101. CONSTRUCTION - 1. An adjective to which the preposition — 7, has been prefixed is called an “adjectival adverb.” Construction: ome, > a rmals “excellently,” “thoroughly” jx 2,13 ae ht nb.t“above all,” “more than anything” a amy = oi Lt “very,” “greatly” garb a8) ae (2h r-ikr “exceedingly” cxsina9) =~ wr “exceedingly” eux 01a) es ells ramwyt “immediately” gus 56 = wid “Vigorous” eure dle: eet IC be Its" ses not wert m3 r bt nbt “Very good to see more than anything” gexki 144) * To make sense in English, the order can be reversed, “More than anything, it was very good to see,”The Adverb 185 2, Occasionally adverbs are constructed from an adjectival or verbal dementing wih © wart Construction: Sel ene SS) afw “war ge “eternalty” AM ow “greatly” PRB mrw “painfully” LINRS bnmw “in friendly fashion” Example: ALofa aw ib.k mi R° dt “Your heart is glad like Ra eternally” gan.) Observation: The above constructions do not occur as regularly as the following forms without the P wor * tendings. 8 ante “happily,” “we” Ww minty A 38. “quickly” BD wat “tardy” a <8 “often” Ww ver “much”186 Let The Ancestors Speak 3. “Other adverbs correspond to the compound prepositions, many originating, like the latter, in the combination of a preposition with a noun. Only a few examples need be quoted: Ae m-bih “formerly,” “infront;”"—=>"S1 br fet (before) “formerly,” a mbt “afterwards” TO pr ss“subsequently,” & sinter” PUN im “peviously.” 31 4. As with the compound prepositional structures above, adverbs formed from adjectives connected with simple prepositions also exist. Example: (S im, or KK mm vat. AR “therein,” “there” 8 yg var, 8M xo S22 paw var. 2 50 “accordingly” Nay. “therefore,” “for” = Ans var. { | “therewith,” “together with” (them) SSM gotm, va. ANS ae “pio,” “before” “eater” aA’ Sa hry “beneath,” “under” e <= = dr “at the limit,” “at the end of” 5. An adverbial phrase is composed of a preposition + a noun, Example: = ‘th St lot rhntw “out” (lit, outside) 2 nwa mi “in reality,” “for real”The Preposition “ve &xho NA No NYS 77} ea Aix ay § 102, USAGE - 187 np “at once,” “together” mdw3(w) “tomorrow” m mitt “likewise” msf “yesterday” mmin “today” gs “beside” hr np? in var ID ie TED ty st” “ony” C. Conjunctions that linguistically express a comparative degree or form: nin san, 1 n-ib-n “so that” om She ees => n-inrwt “so that’ D. Conjunctions that express or indicate cause: n “because of” dir “because” EI ten “because” o Sten “because” Foo brent “because” R22 matt “because” ee bfentt “because” oy a-ntt “because” oo“ Soa drat “because”