The term «Egypt» to designate the African country cradle of the pharaohs and the “Egyptian” civilization It has come to us through the Greeks. It derives from the word «Aygiptos» which according to the Ancient Greek historian Strabo means «beyond the Aegean.» However, The ancient Egyptians called their country KeMeT, not Egyptjoin us to discover the reason.
KeMeT, the country of the ancient Egyptians
KeMeT is the transliteration of KM.T. and this was the way ancient egyptians they called the land in which they lived. The hieroglyphs show this and we can find them in many places designating the country. exist two ways of writing in hieroglyph the name of KeMeT:
The translation of this hieroglyph aroused controversy among historians. It was evident to all of them that KeMet contains the word «black», but from then on some, specifically the so-called «Afrocentrists», translated the hieroglyph as «land of the blacks» and others saw a feminine ending and read «black earth». Currently, practically all linguists supports the second thesis. The origin of the name would be in the periodic floods that took place on the banks of the Nile and that They left the earth covered by a layer of blackish silt which enriched the soil and was the source of its agricultural prosperity.
This black color offered a great visual contrast with the desert lands which were reddish in color and whose name was DeSheReT (DSR.T) which means «Red land». Historians also believe that the correct translation is «Black Earth» because of the dualismtypically Egyptian, that KeMeT presents with respect to DeSheRet: black and red, fertility and aridity, Osiris -which is black, green and regeneration- versus seth -which is red and desolation or death-. Another argument that supports this thesis is that in the Ptolemaic era The Egyptians referred to themselves as «km.tauy» which Egyptologists interpret etymologically as «the inhabitants of the black earth».
As a curiosity we will add that the official Arabic name today to designate the country that we call Egypt is -using transliteration- «My r’s» (مصر). This word has a semitic origin and its translation is «strait», sharing the same etymological root as the Hebrew word «Mitzrayim» which means «two straits» and which referred to the ancient dynastic separation between Upper and Lower Egypt. This word also originally had a connotation close to «civilization», «metropolis», «country» or «borderland».
Did you know that KeMeT was the name the ancient Egyptians gave to their country? If you want to know more curiosities about that ancient and fascinating civilization, we invite you to read:
–15 fascinating facts about the religion of Ancient Egypt and its gods
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