| Netjer - The One God of Ancient Egyptian Religion |
What's in a Name?
The Names of Netjer
by Her Holiness Tamara Siuda (AUS),
196th Nisut of the Kemetic Orthodox Faith
| Please Note: All contents of this
document as well as the glossary are copyright © Her Holiness, Tamara Siuda for The House of Netjer; no
quotations or copying shall be made in any form now known or to be invented without
the express written prior consent of the author and the temple. Interested parties
are invited to link to this page, provided they make a formal written request prior to
linking, and make no changes to titles or content. |
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"I know You, because I know Your Names."
from The Chapters of Coming Forth by Day, New Kingdom |
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Introduction
"Netjer," a Kemetic word meaning "divine power," is the One
Self-Created Deity which manifests in myriads of forms, which we call Names (Kemetic
Orthodoxy is a monolatry, a special form of polytheism - see the "What is Kemetic
Orthodoxy?" page for more information). The actual number of Names, sometimes
more simply called "gods" and "goddesses," figures
in the thousands. [Author Note: The spelling of Netjer in English with "tj,"
rather than "Neter" or "ntr" as sometimes written in Egyptology books,
has been adopted by the House of Netjer at my direction after research, as I believe it is
the most accurate way to phoneticize the Kemetic word in English. In Kemetic, the word is
written with the hieroglyphic symbol of a flag, after the ritual flags hung above temple
entrances. I have been very pleased to see the use of this more accurate Romanization in
many Websites since our spelling was forwarded - it has been known to the scholarly
community for some time and many books not in English already use it, but the spelling
"ntr" (neter) had been the standard in English.]
This glossary is a comprehensive description of Names of Netjer which enjoy moderate to
wide following throughout Kemetic history, past and present, and "base" Names
behind more obscure forms.
Several books included in the House of Netjer
bibliography were consulted to check
information. Should you have additional questions about the Names of Netjer, or would like
to suggest a Name for this list, feel free to contact us via
the temple's e-mail address.
How the Names are Presented
Presentation is by Kemetic name first, followed by alternate Kemetic and other names in
parentheses: "GR" denotes names used by the ancient Greeks and/or Romans,
commonly used by Egyptologists; and "WB" denotes names popularized by early 20th
Century author/archaeologist Sir E. A. Wallis Budge. Budge's translations have proven
faulty over the past half-century, or our advancing knowledge of the language have
rendered them inaccurate; however, as his books are more widely available than more
quality texts and are in the public domain, many are familiar with his syntax and I felt
it important to note these incorrect Names for clarification.
After each Kemetic name and its syncretisms, an English translation of the Kemetic name
is given in quotes, followed by a description of the Name and its provenance.
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