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The oldest form of Djehuty's name
appears in Old Kingdom sources as
Djhwt
and in Middle Kingdom sources as
Djhwtj.
His name could be written either phonetically or symbolically as an ibis
on a perch (see above graphic). In the later periods the latter was the
more commonly occuring form.
In Sahidic Coptic His name
appears as
Thoowt
and from this is
ultimately derived the Greek form of His name, Thoth, by which He is
more commonly known today. Out of respect for my Father however, I
retain and use His original Kemetic name.
Many scholars feel that
Djhwtj
is a nisbe
form of
Dhwt,
meaning "He of
Dhwt"
or "Dweller in
Dhwt".
There is however no attested region, town or place name called
Dhwt.
So then, if one argues that
Dhwt
is perhaps not a place name one still runs into the fact that there is
no known Kemetic substantive
Dhwt
from which a nisbe form may be derived. Be that as it may, many
academics have tried their best to come up with a possible derivation of
the name Djehuty.
Naiville saw
Djhwtj
as an adjectival form derived from
dhw
or stork. Loret put forth a similar view claiming that the name means
"le dieu en forme d'ibis" and postulates the existance of a word
dhw
(with ibis det.). Piehel assumed that
Djhwtj meant "crane-headed"
and was derived also from a word
dhw,
meaning crane or ibis. Maspero assumed the existence of a word
djh
(with heron det.), which he felt would prove to be the name of some sort
of bird. He was never able to prove the existence of the word however
and so his theory has little to offer. Goodwin felt His name derived
from
dhw
and that the -tj
ending was an intensifying dual and that the resulting form
Djhwtj
would therefore mean "Great Ibis". Earlier Goodwin had felt the name to
possibly be derived from
thw,
artisan or craftsman, again with a 'dual of excellence' ending added.
Leaving the avian world of
possiblities we find Lieblein pursued Djehuty's lunar connections in
search of his name derivation. The word
tjhw
is connected to
tjh, meaning either jasper or yellow topaz, and at any rate refering more to the pale yellow color of both stones. With -tj acting as an adjectival ending Djhwtj could mean, he felt, Yellow or Pale Yellow God. This would be in reference to the color of the moon. He also noted that Djehuty was often portrayed with a yellow head when His lunar aspects were being emphasized.
The great problem with most of
the above explanations is that the words being used cannot be attested
to. Djehuty's name, therefore, remains something of a mystery. It may
not be wrong to assume its ultimate derivation is lost. It may also show
that Djehuty is among the oldest of the Kemetic Names worshiped.
(information largely taken from Boylan's "Thoth, the Hermes of Egypt") |
