Neni Writes a Letter


He has started out by writing a single column down the
right-hand
side of the page. This is the salutation. It was not always
written along the edge like this.
Vocabulary
I have written all the vocabulary items from left
to right, because that is the way the Egyptians usually wrote, and
horizontally,
because it fits more easily into the table. You should try
to
get used to recognizing words in various orientations.
|
|
bAk |
servant - More usually written
The feminine form was  |
|
|
pr Dt |
estate - Literally either "house of
eternity," or
"house of vast lands." |
|
|
nni |
Neni - The name of the man writing the
letter.
It is not a very complementary name, since it means "weak" or "lazy." |
|
|
Dd |
say / says |
|
|
imy-r
pr |
steward - This means literally "he who is
in the door
of the house." It is a common title. |
|
|
ii-ib |
Iy-ib |
|
|
anx(.w)
wDA(.w) snb(.w) |
Life! Prosperity! Health! |
Grammar
-
The salutation is the opening of the letter like
our "Dear
Name,"
at the beginning of a letter. In Egyptian, the salutation
includes
not only the name and titles of the person addressed, but also the name
and titles of the sender.
-
Normal word order for a sentence with a verb is [verb]-[subject]-[indirect
object]. The indirect object is introduced by the
preposition
n,
meaning "to" or "for." So the normal order for this salutation
would
be:
Dd nni
n ii-ib
Neni speaks to Iy-ib
However, in a salutation the emphasis is on the
person who
sent the letter, so the subject is moved in front of the verb for
emphasis.
So our actual greeting is:
nni Dd
n ii-ib
It is Neni who speaks to Iy-ib
-
The Egyptians always addressed each other (at least
in writing)
giving at least an abbreviated version of their titles. An
inferior
would certainly give the person addressed his full due of titles.
Neni, a mere "Servant of the Estate," is here writing to a superior,
the
"Steward." The term
imy-r
corresponds to "overseer," "foreman," or "boss." It is a common
part
of titles of common people with a certain amount of authority.
-
Whenever a superior was addressed or referred to,
the Egyptian
would automatically add
which is an abbreviated writing for anx.w
wDA.w snb.w, verb forms which express a wish. The meaning
is then, "May you (or he) live! May you (or he) be
prosperous!
May you (or he) be healthy!" Egyptologists frequently write it in
translations as "l.p.h."
So the whole of the salutation means:
It is the Servant of the Estate, Neni,
who
speaks to the Steward, Iy-ib, l.p.h.
And having got the salutation out of the way, Neni
can
now get on with the main part of the letter.