Egyptian word root √ḫpr

🏷  word root · etymology   —   by Gerry · Aug 2018 · 154 words

The Egyptian word root √ḫpr pronounced “kheper”, stands for creation.

Most notably, words derived from the √ḫpr root are always written with the scarab beetle phonetic 𓆣 ḫpr, because this beetle creates little balls of dung. The name of the beetle would thus have been “creator bug”, and its picture was then used as a phonetic to mark up words related to creation. Divine creation and the rising sun were even depicted as a lordly figure with a scarab for a head, not because anyone believed such a weird critter to exist, but simply because the word for “scarab” puns with “creation”.

𓐍𓊪𓂋𓂋𓆣𓏤 ḫprr : dung beetle, scarab — Egyptian (TLA)

𓆣𓂋𓇋𓀭 ḫprj : Khepri, sun god in the morning — Egyptian (TLA)

𓆣𓂋 ḫpr : to create, to bring about — Egyptian (TLA)

𓆣𓂋 ḫpr : to become, to come into being — Egyptian (TLA)

𓆣𓂋𓅱𓏛𓏥 ḫprw : form; transformation — Egyptian (TLA)

𓆣𓂋𓏏𓏛𓏥 ḫprt : event, that which comes into being — Egyptian (TLA)

🏷  word root · etymology