Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Yigal Levin <leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il>]

Isaac,

The Egyptians themselves called their land KMT (vocalllization unclear), 
which means "black", referring to the dark earth of the fertile Nile valley, 
as compared with the "yellow" sands of the surrounding deserts (so I have 
been taught - I do not claim to be an expert on Egyptian). The Hebrew word 
seems to be Semitic. MCR does mean "streight" or "border", and is certainly 
related to CR, "narrow". As you mentioned, the Arabic "Misr" does not 
inlucde the dual ending. The Hebrew seems to be dual, which COULD be a 
reflection of the way the Egyptians spoke about their land, not the literal 
meaning of the Egyptian name.

Not all scholars agree, BTW, that the "ayim" ending of some place-names is 
really a dual form.

Yigal Levin


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Isaac Fried" <if AT math.bu.edu>
To: "Yigal Levin" <leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il>
Cc: "b-hebrew" <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Thursday, March 22, 2007 10:23 AM
Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Mis(.)rayim


> Yigal,
>
> OK, but what is then this Misr- part of Misrayim (as you prefer to  spell 
> it)? Is it Hebrew? Is it meaningful? Is it ancient Egyptian?  Does it mean 
> mistress?
>
> Isaac Fried, Boston University
>
> On Mar 22, 2007, at 3:40 AM, Yigal Levin wrote:
>
> > Isaac,
> >
> > The reason that the "double" ending of the biblical word Misrayim  is 
> > assumed
> > to reffer to upper and lower Egypt is because there is plenty of
> > documentation that the Egyptians themselves considered their  country to 
> > be a
> > union of "the two lands". The differences between the two are very  real:
> > Upper Egypt is a narrow strip of watered land on either sides of  the 
> > Nile,
> > cut off from the rest of the world by the great deserts to the east  and 
> > the
> > west, developing (pretty much) its culture in isolation. Lower  Egypt is 
> > the
> > flat, wide-open and expansive Nile Delta, open to the sea and to  the 
> > major
> > trade routes connecting it to Asia. The Egyptians realy did  consider 
> > these
> > to be two separate lands, united in the person on the Pharaoh,  "master 
> > of
> > the two mistresses". Think of England and Scotland.
> >
> > Yigal Levin
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Isaac Fried" <if AT math.bu.edu>
> > To: "Uri Hurwitz" <uhurwitz AT yahoo.com>
> > Cc: "b-hebrew" <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
> > Sent: Thursday, March 22, 2007 9:20 AM
> > Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Mis(.)rayim
> >
> >
> > > Uri,
> > >
> > > You are right---who knows. I am only suggesting an obvious
> > > possibility. Look at the map and you will see that Egypt is indeed
> > > just two narrow and long strips of land along the Nile. It is not
> > > clear to me why my etymology should be more "far fetched" than yours.
> > > It appears to me that the name of a country (in the ancient sense of
> > > the word, not in the modern geopolitical sense as drawn on a map),
> > > who knows how old,  is likelier  to be derived from a permanent and
> > > apparent geographical feature of the terrain rather than from a
> > > transient political system. Isn't the ancient Egyptian symbol for a
> > > foreign country a wavy landscape? I really do not know why the
> > > present Arabic name of Egypt---originally the land of the Copts =
> > > Egopts, is MISR.
> > >
> > > Isaac Fried, Boston University
> > >
> > > On Mar 21, 2007, at 8:27 PM, Uri Hurwitz wrote:
> > >
> > > > Isaac Fried if at math.bu.edu
> > > > Wed Mar 21 17:46:56 EST 2007
> > > > Previous message: [b-hebrew] Kush - and Mis(.)rayim
> > > >    Dear Isaac,
> > > >
> > > >   The fact of the two Egypts was well recgonized  by the ancient
> > > > Egyptian
> > > >  themselves, and marked in various ways.
> > > >
> > > >   As for your suggestion, do you mean the green, culivated strips
> > > > on the shores of the Nile?   A bit far fetched, - but who knows?
> > > > And besides, how does one explain the Arabic name, identical to the
> > > > Heb., but in the singular.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >   Uri,
> > > >
> > > > Or in reference to the two narrow (CARIM) strips along the Nile.
> > > >
> > > > Isaac Fried, Boston University
> > > >
> > > > Don't get soaked. Take a quick peek at the forecast
> > > > with theYahoo! Search weather shortcut.
> > >
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> > >
> > >
> > >
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