English can say “the king’s house” or “the house of the king”. Egyptian has two ways too. The first and simplest is to put the two nouns side by side. You know the nouns from Masculine and Feminine.
Key idea
| Egyptian | Word by word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| pr nsw | house · king | the house of the king, the palace |
| zꜣ nsw | son · king | the son of the king, a prince |
| ḥmt nsw | wife · king | the wife of the king, the queen |
| nb tꜣwj | lord · Two Lands | the lord of the Two Lands |
| pr nṯr | house · god | the house of the god, a temple |
| ḥqꜣw ḫꜣswt | rulers · foreign lands | the rulers of foreign lands (the Hyksos) |
The two nouns form a tight unit. Usually nothing comes between them, and an adjective describing the first noun goes after the whole pair. The direct genitive is common in titles and fixed expressions; for looser connections Egyptian often uses the indirect genitive, the next lesson.
Why it works
Common mistake
Many direct genitives became fixed titles and names. zꜣ nsw “king’s son” was a rank at court; ḥmt nsw “king’s wife” is the usual title of a queen; pr-ꜥꜣ “the Great House”, the palace, came to mean the king himself, and through Hebrew and Greek it gave us the word “pharaoh”. Watch the first noun: when it is nb “lord” or nbt “lady”, the phrase means “lord of…” or “lady of…”, as in nbt pr “lady of the house”.
Worked example: Translate
- First noun: zꜣ “son”.
- Second noun: nsw “king”.
Answer: “the son of the king”
Worked example: Write it
- Possessed noun: pr “house”.
- Possessor: nṯr “god”.
Answer: pr nṯr