A Lesson in Egyptian Determinatives:

The Case of KMT

By Asar Imhotep (May 16, 2014)

The MOCHA-Versity Institute of Philosophy and Research

luntu/lumtu/muntu

The following paper is a response article to a discussion that is ongoing in the popular EgyptSearch.com
website, particularly in the Egyptology forum. The particular thread title is ―Black land or black people.‖
Since the 1970‘s, there has been an ongoing debate as to whether the meaning of the ancient Egyptian
name for their country, km.t, means ―black land‖ or ―black people.‖ The controversy stems from
varying interpretations of the O49 determinative, with the pronunciation value of nj.wt ―city, town.‖
Some argue that the word km.t refers to the color of the ―soil‖ (mainly from Eurocentric scholars) and
others (mainly in the Afrocentric community) assert it pertains to the ―people‖ as it regards phenotype:
i.e., ―black (skinned) people.‖ In this essay I take the position that both camps are incorrect in their
assessments. This is due to a number of factors: 1) not paying attention to the determinatives, 2)
exclusively applying the meaning ―black‖ to the k-m root while totally ignoring the determinatives which
clarify its meaning, 3) not verifying the term in related African languages, and 4) not verifying one‘s
interpretation by contextual use in primary Egyptian documents. It is my contention that the word km.t
means ―farm, country, nation‖ or simply ―livable land‖ and that the meaning ―black‖ has nothing to do
with this particular term.
This debate is ongoing precisely because many people viewing the mdw nTr symbols for km.t
cannot actually read hieroglyphs and they attempt to add their own meaning and use their own reading
methods to decipher the glyphs. They totally ignore known fundamentals in reading the ancient Egyptian
language. However, there are experienced researchers who have made these same mistakes. This essay
will be a brief lesson in how to read the determinatives, while using the word km.t as our focal point. In

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order for us to move forward on this question, we have to go back to the basics so that we may set the
record straight on this fundamental issue of ancient Egyptian philology.

The ancient Egyptian writing system is called mdw nTr ―Divine words‖ and originated in Egypt at around
3100 BC at the birth of the first dynasty. From its inception, the writing system was equipped with an
array of intellectual resources: phonograms, ideograms, writing mediums and scribal instruments. It was
the Greeks who called the writing system hieroglyphs, meaning ―sacred writings.‖ By the 2 nd millennium
BC, the mdw nTr writing system comprised of no fewer than 700 signs. This number increased to around
5000 signs during the Greek and Roman occupations.
Some signs represent ideas. These types of signs are called ideograms. Ideograms are signs that
represent directly an idea or concept: e.g., a fish, a house, a boat or a cow. The Egyptians would use
actual symbols that resembled these themes in their writing. This is common with many early human
writing scripts. But there are limitations to this type of writing. How do you convey abstract ideas such as
feelings, professional and family linkages, grammatical relationships, etc.? The Egyptians solved this
problem by creating signs that represented sounds called phonograms. From the beginning, Egyptian
writing possessed signs representing single consonants: e.g., represents the [m] sound. Other
hieroglyphs represented two consonant sounds in sequence: e.g., represents the consonant sound
sequence k-m. And finally, other hieroglyphic signs represent three consonant sounds in sequence: e.g.,
represents a-n-x.
The Egyptian writing system did not employ vowel sounds (or so it is believed). Each hieroglyph
represents consonant values only. This is important to note because this is at the heart of our discussion.
The question becomes, then, how did the Egyptians account for homonyms and/or homographs? To see
the inherent problem of not employing vowels, we will use English words as an example to demonstrate
the fundamental problem. The consonant sequence h-t, for example, in English can represent many
words: i.e., h-t could stand for ―hot,‖ ―hit,‖ ―hat,‖ or ―hut.‖ If English writing only employed consonants,
how could we tell what word is being used: i.e., hit, hat, hot, or hut? Just looking at each term, when
written as h-t, they all look the same because they all utilize the same phonographs <h> and <t>. The
Egyptians ran into this problem and solved it by inserting additional ideographic mute signs at the end of
nouns and verbs that Egyptologists call determinatives. This will be the focus of our next section.

The late Ankh Mi Ra, in his book Let the Ancestors Speak: Removing the Veil of Mysticism from Medu
Netcher (A Guide to the Grammar of the Language of KEMET), informs us that determinatives are:

[P]icture signs that have no sound value and are appended to the end of a word. They serve to
indicate the range of definitions that are applicable to a particular word. (Ra, 1995: 54) 1

The great Egyptologist and linguist, Dr. Rkhty Amen, in her work The Writing System of Medu Neter
(Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs), provides us with the following insights:

All nouns have determinatives. A determinative is a picture sign that gives a visual meaning or a
category of meaning to a word. Even if one does not know the exact meaning of a noun the
category of meaning can be determined from the picture determinative. There are 26 general

1
There are a few exceptions where the determinative is placed towards the beginning of the word.

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 categories of meaning of words in Mdw Ntr. Determinatives are not pronounced, 2 they are a
purely visual component of a word. Determinatives normally occur at the end of a word where
they indicate where one word ends and the next word begins. There are no spaces between words
in Mdw Ntr, and no punctuation marks such as periods and commas. (Amen, 2010: 28)

Orly Goldwasser, in his essay "A Comparison between Classifier Languages and Classifier Script: The
Case of Ancient Egyptian" (2006), rightfully redefines the Egyptological term ―determinatives‖ as
―classifiers‖ and the mdw nTr script as a ―classifier system‖ analogous to such systems in oral languages.3
For the sake of simplicity, we will use the term determinative in this essay for consistency.
An example of a determinative in action can be seen in the word wj ―mummy.‖4 Here the
word consists of two phonemes: w (bird) + j (reed leaf). The third image in the above set of glyphs is the
determinative. It is an ideogram of a standing mummy. The determinative lets us know that the root has to
deal with a mummy and/or the category of death.
Dr. Amen goes on to discuss something very important as it pertains to the usage of the
determinative in Egyptian writing.

Determinatives also distinguish between homophones, namely, words that are spelled alike and
sound alike, but have different meanings. English examples of homophones are Mary, marry, and
merry, no and know. Since vowels are not written in Mdw Ntr, it is the determinatives that
distinguish between words that possibly sound the same. (Amen, ibid.) (emphasis mine)

The determinative in the above example is what separates the word wj ―mummy‖ from the personal
pronoun wj ―I, me, my.‖ As you can see, the determinative helps to distinguish between homophones
and homographs. Another example can be seen in the word km.t [Krankheit] (disease) [Wb V
122]; Kalenjiin (Nilo-Saharan) kimityeet ―Cattle disease.‖ The Aa2 glyph—with the pronunciation
values of gA, Hsb, wHA, and Xpw—is used to represent the category of ―disease‖ in the Egyptian writing
script. The Aa2 glyph distinguishes between km.t ―disease‖ and km.t ―pupil,‖
which employs the D5 ―eye‖ determinative. Without the determinative, we would not be able to tell
what meaning is being conveyed and we could not properly read Egyptian sentences.
On the Egyptsearch.com website forum, there are many users who have entered this debate not
knowing what a determinative is and as a result, they continue to read the words incorrectly. Maybe by
understanding what the word determinative actually means will help them to see the importance of this
visual aid in the writing of ancient Egyptian words.
The root of the word determinative is the word determine. The Online Etymological Dictionary
(OED)5 provides the following etymology:

determine (v.) mid-14c., "to come to an end," also "to settle, decide" (late 14c.), from Old French
determiner (12c.) or directly from Latin determinare "to enclose, bound, set limits to," from de-

2
These words are not pronounced, but many of the pronunciation values are known for these determinatives because
many of these ideographic signs are used to spell out words phonetically. We will see a few examples of this later on
in our discourse.
3
See also Orly Goldwasser & Grinevald Colette. (2012). "What are 'Determinatives' Good For?" In: E. Grossman,
S. Polis & J. Winand (Eds.). Lexical Semantics in Ancient Egyptian. Widmaier Verlag | Hamburg. pp. 17-53.
4
This word is still found in African languages today. For example: Tunen (S.W.Cameroon) ù-we, bú-wá ―death,‖ –
we ―to die‖; Fang (S.Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon) e-wú ―to die,‖ a-wú ―death‖; Bwiti initiatory language,
awu, a-wú ―death,‖ the rite of the coming out of the spirit from the dead body; Mbochi (Congo) i-wá ―to die,‖ a-wé
―the dead person‖; Kuba (W.Kasai/Congo) a-wá, i-wá ―to die‖; Ngwi (Bandundu, Congo) wá ―death‖; Lega,
Maniema, Kivu (Congo), uh-wá, uhwá ―to die‖; Ngabandi (Eqauteur/Congo) kp-wî, kpwî ―to die,‖ k-wá ―death‖
(Obenga, 2004: 238).
5
www.etymonline.com

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 "off" (see de-) + terminare "to mark the end or boundary," from terminus "end, limit" (see
terminus). Sense of "coming to a firm decision" (to do something) is from mid-15c. Related:
Determined; determining; determiner.

From this we note that to determine is to set the limit or range of something. It is also to ―settle‖ and
―decide‖ what ought to be. Therefore, a determinative, according to the OED, is:

determinative (adj.) 1650s, from French déterminatif (15c.), from Latin determinat-, past
participle stem of determinare (see determine). As a noun from 1832.

A past participle is a word formed from a verb. In this case, to determine is the verb, and a determinative
is the past participle form. This means that the action was completed and is often used as an adjective. As
it regards the ancient Egyptian mdw nTr script, the determinative determines the meaning of the word.
Without the determinatives, the vast majority of ancient Egyptian (written) words would mean absolutely
nothing, because one cannot distinguish one word from another that is written with the same grapheme(s)
as in our example of wj ―mummy‖ and wj ―I, me, my.‖ Thus, the determinatives are very important for
the understanding of ancient Egyptian words. These concepts will be critical as we discuss the meaning of
km.t, and the methodological errors researchers undergo when reading the mdw nTr script.

Space will not allow us to fully explore the etymology and other implications and usages of the word
km.t. I will more fully explore these themes, and more, in an upcoming publication entitled Aaluja:
Rescue, Reinterpretation and the Restoration of Major Ancient Egyptian Themes, Vol. IV (KM.T,
Ethiopia, & Punt). Our aim here is to simply point out the methodological flaws that prevent many
researchers from properly interpreting this word, i.e., km.t ―Egypt,‖ which keeps fueling the ongoing
debate.
The word km.t is one of the many names used to represent the state of ancient Egypt. The name
consists of a root k-m, with a terminal suffix that many believe is a feminine -t. As discussed earlier, the
two competing hypotheses are: 1) that the word km.t means ―black land/soil,‖ and 2) that km.t means
―black people/nation,‖ specifically addressing phenotype. If the former is correct, then the word would
essentially be an adjective to describe the physical characteristic of the ground. Many argue that it refers
to the rich alluvial soil that is deposited on the banks after the Nile River floods. The problem with this
hypothesis is that not all areas of Egypt flooded with rich alluvial soil, and we doubt that enough black
soil was left to cover the entire state, enough to inspire the name of the whole country which was mainly
brown desert land. The latter argument suffers from the fact that the ancient Egyptians were indeed Black
by our modern Western standards, but the Egyptians were indeed surrounded by other Black African
people; many who were much darker than them in many respects. Why would the Egyptians need to call
themselves ―Black‖ while living in a continent full of ―Black‖ people? What distinguished them from the
other Black people their color? Also, did they have the same racialized thinking and categorization
schema that we have today in the West? My argument is that they did not, although they did recognize the
difference in skin tones (as evidenced in the Great Hymn to Aten, 18th Dynasty), there is no evidence that
they knew of such a thing as human races (as there is no vocabulary term in Egyptian for race). So, it is
highly unlikely that the name implies something racial.
My argument is that both positions are incorrect because they are both based on a faulty premise:
that the k-m root means ―black‖ in the first place. We mentioned earlier the phenomenon of homonymy. A
homonym is a word that sounds like another word that has a different etymology and has a different
meaning. Remember that Egyptian doesn‘t employ vowels in written form. Using our initial example, wj
―mummy‖ and wj ―I, me, my,‖ these words may have totally different vowels in between the consonants.
Therefore, it would not be accurate to call them homonyms in the truest sense, but better yet homographs,
because they employ the same phonographs in sequence to convey the word under examination.

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 With that said, the root of the word km.t ―Egypt‖ uses primarily three graphemes to
represent the sound values: (I6), a bi-literal with the pronunciation value of [k-m] + (G17), a
monoliteral with the sound value [m] + a terminal suffix , a monoliteral with the sound value of [t].
The G17 sign is a phonetic complement.6 It is used to clarify the final consonant in the biliteral or triliteral
glyph that preceded it (or trails it), as these glyphs can often have multiple and differing sound values. In
this example, the determinative is the O49 glyph with the pronunciation value of nj.wt, which means
―city, town.‖
The I6 phonograph is used in a number of Egyptian words, including the word km ―black.‖7
However, not every instance of I6 indicates ―blackness.‖ In other words, it would erroneous to render
every word in Egyptian that employs this sign to mean ―black.‖ We will see why this is the case further
down in our discussion. The phonograph is only used to represent the bi-syllabary root k-m. The meaning
―black‖ is only ONE out of many words that carry this sound value. We provide a few examples below.
When we look into the Erman & Grapow Egyptian Dictionary for the consonant cluster k-m, we
get the following entries:

km Beiwort des Gottes von Athribis (epithet of the god of Athribis ) Wb V 125
km Dienst (service , duty) Wb V 130
km Haufen brennender Holzkohlen (piles of burning charcoal, kiln), Meiler Wb V 122
km Pupille (pupil) Wb V 124
km Schwarzes (black) Wb V 124
km Serapeum in Memphis Wb V 125
km [Krone von Unterägypten] [crown of Lower Egypt] Wb V 122
km klagen (complain) Wb V 130
km schwarzes Leder (black leather) Wb V 124
km Schwarz (black) Wb V 122
km vollenden (accomplish) Wb V 128
km wie (as) Wb V 122

As we can see, the k-m consonant sequence can mean an array of things beyond ―black.‖ So how can we
tell the difference between km ―black‖ and say km ―service, duty?‖ As you may have guessed by now, it
is by the determinative. We are going to deal with km ―black‖ in just a bit. But before we go there, let‘s
look at another hieroglyphic example that will help clarify the importance of the determinative in the
ancient Egyptian writing script.
When the Egyptians wanted to convey things like ―color,‖ they would often employ images of
things that in real life would embody that color. For instance, the word dSr can mean ―red,
reddening.‖ As we can see here, the word consists of three consonants d-S-r + the determinative for
―flamingo.‖ This consonant root also means ―flamingo.‖ The following image below will
help the reader to visualize why the word flamingo is used to convey the color ―red‖ in English.

6
A phonetic complement can be defined as ―something that fills up, completes, or makes perfect: one of two
mutually completing parts.‖ Phonetic complements are monoliterals which are placed either in the front of and/or
behind multi-consonantal signs in order to provide clarity. They are redundant and in this context they have no
separate sound value.
7
Compare Egyptian km ―black‖ to these cognates in the Cushitic languages: Ma'a: hamo, Gawwada: kummer
―dark,‖ Gidole: k'aamani, Dullay: *Kumm, kuma, ―black‖ and Omotic: k'amma, k'aama ―night‖ (source: A.
Dolgopolsky, 1973) and proto-Southern Cushitic * -ham ―black,‖ proto-Eastern Cushitic: - ham – ―Night,‖ proto-
Somali: *hammeen (C. Ehret, 1987). See also Yaaku kumpu "black"; Vai kembu "black coal"; Dogon gêm~gyêm
"black"; Mandjakou kematou "completely burnt"; Pulaar kembou "charcoal"; Mossi kim "burnt"; Bambara kami
"burnt"; Mandjakou kemi "burnt"; Mbochi i-kama "blackend"; Malenke kami "charcoal."

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We can also see why the word for ―flamingo‖ is used for the word ―blood‖ in Egyptian:
dSr.t ―blood.‖ In our last example, there are some added determinatives (three pellets) to help distinguish
between the word for ―flamingo‖ ―red,‖ and the word for ―blood.‖ While the Western reader would
assume d-S-r is actually a word for red, and was applied to things like ―blood‖ and ―flamingo,‖ it is my
argument that it is in fact the word for ―flamingo‖ itself, and that it became the word for ―red‖ and
―blood.‖ Using animal names to convey colors is common in African languages. I will give a few
examples below.
In the book Divinity and Experience: The Religion of the Dinka (1961), Godfrey Lienhardt
informs us of how the Dinka of Sudan, a semi-pastoralist group, uses the names of animals to convey
colors. The Dinka do not have words for ―colors‖ unto themselves as we do in English.8 The names for
―colors‖ are just features of certain animals in which the ―colors‖ are associated with, or the actual name
of another animal. In the example below, Lienhardt discusses the naming convention for cattle among the
Dinka.

Cattle are described by many composite terms, each indicating by a prefix or suffix the sex and
stage of maturity of a beast, combined with a term for its particular kind of colour-configuration.
(Lienhardt, 1961: 11)

The author then proceeds to describe a basic descriptive term for bulls that the Dinka call ma kuei, which
are bulls that are black with white stripes on their heads.

The basic term for this configuration is kuei, the word for the fish-eagle, a striking bird of similar
black and white marking. A bull of this configuration is ma kuei(n) thon; an ox, ma kuei(n) bwoc
or merely ma kuei; a bull-calf, manh ma kuei; and a cow-calf or heifer, nya(n) kuei. . . In most
cases the term which denotes the colour-configuration has also another meaning, as the name of
something of similar configuration in nature or Dinka culture, and the Dinka explicitly connect
the basic colour-terms for their beasts with the source from which they derive. So in the
example above, the connexion between the kui colouring in cattle and the kuei, the fish-eagle, is
consciously made. (Lienhardt, 1961: 11-12) (bolded emphasis mine)

As further noted by the author: ―Almost the whole extensive colour vocabulary of the Dinka is one of
cattle-colours.‖ A particular pattern or color in newly imported cloth, for example, or beads is thus
necessarily referred to by the name of the configuration of colour in cattle which it is thought most to
resemble. Thus:

8
With the exception of ―orange,‖ which is associated with a fruit by the same name.

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 A black and white spotted cloth, for example, would be alath(-nh) ma kuac, ma kuac being the
term for a spotted bull or ox, which is itself connected explicitly with the spots of a leopard, kuac.
A striped cloth would be alath(-nh) ma nyang, ma nyang being the term for a brindled bull, which
is connected with the brindled of the crocodile, nyang. I think that the only Western Dinka words
for colours, other than terms connected also with colour-configurations for cattle, are toc, green,
which also means rawness and freshness in vegetables, and thith, red, which means also the
redness of raw meat. (ibid., 12)

A few colors in relation to other animals can be gleamed from pp. 14 and 15 of this work, and they are
worth mentioning here.

mabior (white ox): ‗bull of the women‘ (muor diar), because the women are anxious to get white
European salt.

malual (red-brown ox): ‗the game rest at midday‘ (col lai piny), after the antelope of this colour.

anhiar kol ‗it loves the pool‘, after the hippopotamus which is of this colour

malou (grey ox; lou is the bustard): ‗big game‘ (landit), after the elephant which is of this colour.

malith (grey ox; lith – the chanting goshawk) colour: ‗it finishes the cultivations‘ (athol dom),
referring to the baboon which raids the gardens and is said to be of this colour.

As we can see here, a white ox is named after European salt, the red-brown ox is named after the antelope
that has the same color, the grey ox is named after the elephant, and also after a baboon which shares the
same color. Thus, the colors are names of actual animals, not the ―color‖ itself associated with the animal.
This is why I argue that in the Egyptian case, dSr ―red‖ is not really ―red‖ but the name of the
―flamingo,‖ , that happens to be red in the same tradition that we find among the Nilotic
Dinka.
The important point here is that the determinative is used to reinforce the meaning behind the
word. The word dSr means ―red‖ and we have a determinative that is ―red‖ in color to reinforce the
association. The word km ―black‖ follows the same path as we see with the word dSr above. Instead of
using an animal to convey the color ―black,‖ the glyph uses strands of hair which is black in color:
(D3), with the sound values of Sni, Sny, wS, and Sn. In Kalenjiin it is pronounced as suumei, suumeiyot
―locks of hair‖ (S>s; n>m). The Kalenjiin form may also be a variant of M-E sbt ―a lock of hair‖; smk
―long lock of hair‖; It is used as the sole ideogram for the word iwn ―complexion, color, nature,
disposition‖ (Vygus, 2012: 72).
For example, we have the variations km ―black‖ and kmw ―to be in the dark.‖
The first variant is also used to convey the word km ―to be blind,‖ as to be blind is to be in a
continual state of darkness/blackness. Another variant is given as km ―to be black.‖ These
examples are taken from Vygus (2012), but one can look at Budge (787b) for even more examples of this
determinative for words meaning ―black.‖ We note, then, that the D3 glyph is used to convey color.
In each of these variants, the word is followed by the D3 hair determinative. The word km
―black‖ can be written without the determinative for hair, as can be seen in this variant km ―black,‖
but this omission is still rooted in the variants above. In other words, we have the variant with D3
determinative as representative of the more fuller sense and it gives us a point in which to cross-check if
the scribe decided to omit a glyph, which is very common in Egyptian writing. The syntax and context of
the sentence allows for us to make the distinction.

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 The question now becomes, if blackness was conveyed using the D3 hair determinative, why do
we not see this determinative on any variants of the word km.t ―Egypt?‖ If the Egyptians wanted to speak
to the color of the land or the people, why didn‘t they use a glyph that they associated with blackness to
reaffirm that the root deals with color? We should see this in at least one example, but there are no such
cases. They did employ this determinative, however, to a number of other vocabulary terms. For example,
the D3 determinative is present in a name for Isis, km.t ―the black woman Isis‖ [Wb V 492]. It
is clear that ―blackness‖ is meant here because of the hair determinative. We see this determinative in the
following term kmy ―black‖ [Wb 5, 130.8-9; LGG VII, 284].9 We know it is referring to a
goddess because of the woman determinative behind the D3 glyph. But at the same time, since the D3
determinative is also used to ―nature‖ and ―disposition,‖ there may be more to this glyph than what meets
the eye. An example of its usage in primary text will clarify for us its true meaning.
The Egyptians did not employ the D3 determinative in the name km wr [Beiname
des Osiris] (epithet of Osiris) [Wb V 126]. Many Egyptologists render this word to mean ―the great
black,‖ but I do not think this is the meaning. If anything, it is a variant of:

gn wr ―the Great Ruler‖

The word gn here means ―ruler‖ [Wb V 173]. I would say that even this is a dialectical variation of:

qmA-wr ―God‖ [Wb V 37]

Compare with the following:

gn wr ―a god who presided over offerings‖ (Budge 809a)

gm wr [a variant of gn wr above]

The /n/ and /m/ sounds are common alternations of each other. The words gn and gm are variants of each
and mean the following:

9
Some of the mdw nTr words in this essay will be written from right to left. These hieroglyphs I did not create in the
JSesh software, but retrieved them from the Thesaurus Linguae Aegyptiae http://aaew.bbaw.de/ website. All of the
glyph examples from this website are written from right to left.

Page 8 of 42
 gn = powerful, respected wr, kA wr, hm wr ―cow, ox, bull.‖

gn = bull gm = strength, power, might

The bull is a metaphor for that which is big and strong (or it could be the other way around). This is why I
interpret km wr to mean ―great power, great bull‖ and not ―the great black‖ given the fact that there are no
color determinatives given for this term. The notion that km may deal with ―power, strength‖ (C.f.
Tshiluba buKomu, ciKomu "power"), as a variant of gm, may find support in the following phrase from
Budge.

The determinative of this phrase, km wr, is that of a fortified wall. There is no indication here that color is
involved and the word must be interpreted to have something to do with strength or fortification: i.e., the
ability to stop or halt something. We observe in Egyptian km ―put to an end, to terminate, to
close.‖ An alternate spelling in Egyptian is xm ―to bring to an end.‖ We note in Egyptian the word sHm
"to put a stop to, discourage (enemy), repel." Compare with Kiswahili koma ―bring to an end, a close‖;
Tshiluba kama ―burthen, end, stop.‖ The purpose of a fort is to stop on coming threats. As it regards a
possible association with ―strength,‖ we have in Tshiluba (Niger-Congo) nkama ―force, might, power,
strength,‖ -kànana "resist, to be difficult"; Yorùbá (Niger-Congo) okun "strength"; Kalenjiin (Nilo-
Saharan) kiim "strong, hard," kimkim "strong, stiff, firm, fundamental," kiimnoteet "strength, power."10
These are all characteristics of a fort.
This notion of strength may also be a factor, in the Egyptian term km ―shield,‖ also
written as jkm ―shield.‖ Notice that each form is written with the I6 glyph. There is nothing to
indicate that these are ―black shields‖ and shouldn‘t be interpreted as so. The Tshiluba word ngabu
―shield‖ may be related [k>g, m >b]. A fort is a stronghold against opposing forces that seek to do a
people harm. The Egyptian word for ―shield‖ could be a play on words, as the shields were made out of
cowhide and a word for cattle is kmyt ―herd of cattle‖; Bobe (Equatorial Guinea) nkopo "cow";
Bobangi ngombo "cow"; Kikuyu (Kenya) ngombe "cow"; Swahili ng'ombe "cow"; Amazulu inkomazi
"cow," nguni "cattle," inkomo ―head of cattle.‖

10
For a semantic comparison, see nxt "protector, protection." It also carries the meanings of "strong, mighty, stiff,
hard, support, strength, force, power."

Page 9 of 42
 A model showing Egyptian soldiers with their shields, from Egypt's Middle Kingdom. 11

The phrase km wr, gm wr, gn wr is reflected in the Yorùbá language as Ologun (wr gn) ―great ruler,
warrior king, owner of power.‖ The word km can also mean ―god‖ and is seen in the following terms: rkm
"god" [Meeks: AL 772436], tkm "divinity" [Wb V 333] (not spelled with I6 glyph), kmy.t "a
goddess" [Wb 5, 130.10].12
We go here to demonstrate, once again, that not every instance of a k-m root should be considered
an instance of the word ―black.‖ If every instance of km meant black, then how would we explain the
following Egyptian terms?

Table 1: Instances of km that do not mean ―black.‖

km kA.t ―perform work‖ (kA.t = work) [Wb 5,
128.14]

kmtyw Inhabitants of Athribis [ noun - title

] I6 - G4 (Vygus, 2012: 692)

km ―complain‖ [Wb 5, 130.5; vgl. Leitz,

Tagewählerei, 57, Anm. k]

km (pH.wj) Ende bilden (tail end) [Wb 5,

129.4]

km ―make full‖ [Wb 5, 128.3-130.2;

FCD 286]

km(.t) Serapeum (temple) in Memphis

[Wb 5, 125.10; GDG V, 199 f.]

kmn.w ―eine Personenbez‖ (inscribed

people?) [Wb 5, 131.2; vgl. Vernus,
Or 48, 1979, 179, Anm. f]
kmy.t ―a book of wisdom‖ Wb 5, 130.12;
FCD 286

11
Image courtesy of: http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/defense.htm
12
A god in African languages can refer to, all at once, the Infinite Creator, the unseen powers of nature, the
ancestors or the extraordinary and powerful living human beings.

Page 10 of 42
 km-n-A.t ―Moment‖; Augenblick Laisney,
Aménémopé, 75; vgl. [Wb 5, 130.1]

It is obvious that by analyzing the terms above that one cannot logically assume that ―black‖ is the
exclusive meaning of the I6 grapheme. The grapheme or phonograph does NOT determine the
meaning of the word, unless it is an ideogram unto itself, which is often followed by a single stroke
determinative: . The determinative tells us the meaning of the term and/or in what category the word
should be interpreted. One would have a hard time trying to convince the world that there is a such thing
as a km(w) ―black complaint.‖ How do you km ―black perform work?‖ Is ―time‖ (km-n-A.t ―moment‖)
measured in ―blackness?‖ Are the inhabitants of Athribis, kmtyw, ―blacker‖ than everyone else in ―black‖
km.t? The logic doesn‘t make any sense, and thus we must dispense with the faulty methodology that
assumes that if the I6 glyph is used in an Egyptian word, that it must first and foremost mean ―black.‖
Thus, the assumption that km.t ―Egypt‖ either means ―black land‖ or ―black people‖ suffers from
epistemological issues rooted in faulty logic. The determinatives ALWAYS have priority. They are what
LITERALLY determines the meaning of the word, and our understanding of km.t ―Egypt‖ must be
grounded in a correct understanding of its determinatives.

Finding the meaning to the place-name km.t can only be ascertained by: 1) examining the determinatives
assigned to the variations of the place-name, 2) by examining the earliest usages of the term in the
Egyptian records in order to establish its historical application within the primary documentation, and 3)
by confirming its meaning with cognates in related African languages. In other words, we should find
cognate terms that support the proposed meaning for km.t based on its determinatives.
The earliest forms of the word km.t have the Alan Gardiner sign N23 as the determinative (see
Gardiner, 1957: 33). It is a sign of ―irrigated or cultivated land.‖ Ogden Goelet, in his seminal essay
―Kemet and Other Egyptian Terms for Their Land‖ (Goelet, 1999: 23-42) notes that km.t made its first
appearance, as a name designation for Egypt, in Dynasty XI during the rule of the monarch Nebhepetre
Menthuhotep (II). A matter of fact, both km.t and tA-mry make their debut during this
time period. Prior to the middle kingdom, Egypt was simply known as Xnw ―the residence,‖
literally, ―the interior.‖13 The words km.t and tA-mry are considerably more common in literary texts. The
first nonliterary sources mentioning km.t seldom employ the O49 nj.wt determinative associated with
cities and settlements. Most of these early examples of km.t are written with no determinative at all or else
with the ―cultivated land‖ N23 (pronounced tA) sign and frequently has km.t in parallelism with the
word dSr.t (allegedly meaning) ―red land.‖ This parallelism set a pattern of comparison that was followed
throughout Egyptian history. Goelet argues that this contrast is between the ―black fertile soil‖ of the Nile
Valley versus the ―red-yellow sand‖ of the upland deserts. We will see later on that this is not a valid
comparison. But he is correct in stating that many of the earlier examples of km.t appear to refer to a type
of land rather than to the political and geographic entity we call Egypt (Goelet, 1999: 30). However, this
―type‖ of land refers to land ―with water‖ and not its color. Space will not allow us to go through each of

13
[Goelet footnote #17] For example, Herkhuf, apparently while still in Nubia, receives a letter from the young Pepi
II, exhorting him: ―come north immediately to the Xnw‖ (K.Sethe, Urkunden des agyptischen Altertums, vol. I:
Urkunden des Alten Reiches [2nd ed.; Leipzig; Hinrichs, 1933] 129, I; henceforth Urk. I). Similarly, when another
Dynasty VI official named Pepinakht is in Nubia, he states that he sent people back ―to the Xnw‖ (Urk. I 133, 14).
This recalls the somewhat ambiguous passage in the Middle Kingdom literary work, The Tale of the Shipwrecked
Sailor, which speaks of returning r Xnw, which can be interpreted either as ‗(back) home‘ or ‗to the Residence‘; see
A. de Buck, Egyptian Readingbook (Leiden: Nederlandsch Archaeologish-Philologisch Instituut voor het Nabije
Oosten, 1948) 03, 105).

Page 11 of 42
the primary source examples to demonstrate this point as our focus is on the determinatives used to write
the word km.t. This will be dealt with in full in the upcoming publication.
For now, one of the earliest examples of km.t with the N23 determinative appears in the Wadi
Hammamat graffito of an early Dynasty XII official Antef, which referred primarily to the Nile Valley as
the place people dwelled (Hammamat 199, temp. Amenemhat I).14

As we can see in the citation above, the word km.t is written with the N23 ―cultivated land‖
determinative. This informs us that the word km.t, in this instance, has to deal with land that is
cultivatable: in other words, land that is suitable for life. This would entail that this is a type of land in
which human beings and other life can thrive because it has properties that are conducive for life: i.e.,
water, vegetation, building materials, minerals, medicines, etc. There is no way one could interpret this
hieroglyph as ―black land‖ because there is no determinative indicating color. We notice that all of the
general words for black in Egyptian also never employ the N23 glyph as a determinative either. Thus, the
N23 and D3 determinatives do not interchange.
The N23 glyph is a later variation of the N36 ―water channel‖ glyph, with the
pronunciation values of mj and mr. Both N23 and N36 are categorized, by Alan Gardiner (1957: 485)
under N: ―Sky, Earth, Water.‖ Thus, any time we see these signs as determinatives, we know right off the
back that these signs deal exclusively with the sky, earth or water. We see the N23 determinative used in
the word for ―land‖ written as tA (Gardiner, 1957: 488), for example. It is used as a determinative in
the word sAt ―ground, floor‖ (Vygus, 2012: 2172).15 The fact that we see the word km.t written
with the N23 and the O49 determinatives indicates to us that these glyphs are
interchangeable. This can be demonstrated in other words with similar connotations. For example:

spA.t ―district, nome, necropolis‖ spA.t ―district, nome‖16

As we can see here, both N23 and O49 interchange, and when employed, connotes a ―place‖ and not a
―color.‖ We noted earlier that the N23 sign is a later variation of the N36 ―water channel‖ glyph.
It is no surprise, then, that the word km.t is also written with the N36 hieroglyph.

14
J. Couyat and P. Montet, Les inscriptions hieroglyphiques et hieratiques du Quadi Hammamat, (MIFAO 34;
Cairo: Institut Francais d‘Archeologie Orientale, 1912), pp. 100-102. See also H. Goedicke, ―Some Remarks on
Stone Quarrying in the Egyptian Middle Kingdom,‖ JARCE 3 (1964) 43-45.
15
Compare with Yorùbá ìsàlè ―downstairs, down‖ and Hebrew sheol ―the place to which all dead go, the grave.‖
16
Vygus (2012: 801).

Page 12 of 42
 km.t with N36 determinative17

jmr km.t nb dSr.t nb [WB V 126]

―The king of all the cultivatable and desert lands‖

km.t written with N23 determinative

jmr km.t nb dSr.t nb [Wb V 494]

We note that these two separate entries are the exact same phrase, but both variations of km.t are written
with two different determinatives, the N36 and N23 respectively. This means that N23, N36 and O49 are
interchangeable. This fact is documented in the Erman & Grapow WB in Book V p.125:

Thus, when we see a word, such as km.t, represented in various forms that utilize determinatives that are
known to interchange, we know that each attestation of the term indirectly refers to the other variations.
With that in mind, we will now introduce another determinative that also interchanges with N23, N36 and
O49.
Henry G. Fischer, in his text Ancient Egyptian Calligraphy: A Beginners Guide to Writing
Hieroglyphs (1999: 35), notes the following concerning the N23 irrigated land hieroglyph.

17
Adolf Erman, Hermann Grapow (1953). Das Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache. Zur Geschichte eines großen
wissenschaftlichen Unternehmens der Akademie. Berlin.

Page 13 of 42
We learn here that the Old Kingdom determinatives N20 (jdb, wDb), N21 (jdb, wDb), and
N22 (jdb, sxt, wDb) are what became the N36 glyph in Dyn. VIII and N23 in Dyn. XI (the
time when km.t first appears as a name designation for the country). Allen Gardiner, in his Egyptian
Grammar (1957: 488), provides us with additional insights into the interchanging and evolution of these
signs.

This bit of information is very important for us to note because many researchers who are the proponents
of the theory that km.t means ―black people/nation‖ often argue that km.t cannot refer to ―land‖ because
there is no ―land‖ hieroglyph attached to the word km.t as a determinative. As we have seen above, that
argument is baseless given that N23 and N36 refer to a type of ―land‖ (irrigated land).
Knowing the evolution of N20 to N23, we see why the N23 determinative was used in the word
sAt ―ground, floor.‖ We also find the N23 and N21 glyphs used together to represent a name for Egypt:
tAwy ―Two Lands.‖ N23 is used exclusively in the words jdb ―riverbank, riparian land, shore
(of flood),‖ and sxt ―country districts, burial ground‖ (Vygus, 2012: 1124).
The N20 (jdb, wDb) hieroglyph is very important for our discussion. We will see that this
word is just another variant of km.t, probably introduced by a related language that evolved separately but
whose culture converged in the Nile Valley during pharaonic times.
The consonant sequence jdb refers to a myriad of terms that refer to land and water: e.g.,
jdb ―field, meadow, bank‖; jdb ―riverbank, riparian land,18 shore (of flood)‖; jdbw
―shore lands, (foreign) countries‖; jdbwy ―the two riverbanks, the two shores‖;
jdbw ―bank.‖ As we can see here, the N20 and N21 determinatives are interchangeable with N23 and
N36. We even see them used together jdbw ―riverbanks, fields, meadows.‖ The /j/, /w/

18
A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper
nomenclature for one of the fifteen terrestrial biomes of the earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river
margins and banks are called riparian vegetation, characterized by hydrophilic plants. Riparian zones are significant
in ecology, environmental management, and civil engineering because of their role in soil conservation, their habitat
biodiversity, and the influence they have on fauna and aquatic ecosystems, including grassland, woodland, wetland
or even non-vegetative. In some regions the terms riparian woodland, riparian forest, riparian buffer zone, or
riparian strip are used to characterize a riparian zone. The word "riparian" is derived from Latin ripa, meaning river
bank.

Page 14 of 42
and /A/ phonemes also interchange in Egyptian (Allen, 2013: 43). The interchange between /t/ and /d/
provide us with the following variants: Atb ―land, region‖; jtb ―territory, estate, land‖
(Vygus, 2012: 1053); Atb/itb ―a town in the Thebaid.‖19
The common thread running through each of these terms is that it refers to ―land‖ by which there
is an abundance of ―water.‖ As this region was not known for rainfall, the level of water was determined
by whether a ―river‖ reached the land. This connotation is supported by the entries jdbw and
jdb ―land which the waters of the Nile can reach‖ (Vygus, 2012: 631). We can see why the N20
(jdb, wDb) hieroglyph became N36 and N23 signs because the underlying theme was
―water‖ and the glyphs specifically spoke to land in which there was an abundance of water, specifically
for farming.
In relation to farming, land and its activities, Egyptian jdb is reflected in Tshiluba as the following:
cidimè(à) "agriculturer, cultivator, farmer," < -dima "cultivating, plowing, tilling the soil"; mudimi
"farmer"; budimi "field, plantation, culture, agriculture"; mudimu "work, field work"; madimi "fields,
plantations"; cibidi "field, piece of land‖; shindame(a)20 ―farm, established, ground, estate, trust,
farmhouse.‖ In Nilo-Saharan we have:

Proto-Saharo-Sahalian *ɔḍomp ‗cultivated field‘

Saharan: Kanuri dəmbà ‗bed for sweet potatoes, small irrigation dike‘
Sahelian: Temein ɔjɔm, pl. kɔjɔm ‗cultivated field‘
Nilotic: Jyang dom, pl. dum ‗cultivated field‘(Heine and Nurse, 2000: 282)

As we stated earlier, jdb is a variant km.t. We know this because of a known sound change in Egyptian.
The Old Kingdom pronunciation of jdb is wDb. We mentioned earlier that the /j/ and /w/ sounds
interchange. We note here also that /D/ later merged into /d/. Historically the /D/ sound in Egyptian
derives from a /g/ sound (Loprieno 1995: 31, Anselin 2001, Bernal 2006: 194).21 In other words, wDb was
historically wgb. The Law of Belova22 informs us that this root should actually be written #gwb, which
would make jdb > #djb. This is reflected in Tshiluba as ma-dimi ―fields‖ (b>m). Given that the N21 (jdb,
wDb) and O49 (nj.wt) determinatives interchange, the usage of N21 in the word dmj ―town‖ (Gardiner,
1957: 488) should not be seen as a coincidence. Remember that nj.wt means ―town, city‖ and we argue
that km.t is a dialectical variant of jdb/wDb/jtb.
The reflex of wDb survives in Egyptian as the word gbb ―earth‖ and gb ―The earth god.‖ We find
this variant in other African languages. For example, in the Massai language, the name for the Divine is
Naiteru (Egyptian nTr ―God‖), who is also known as Naiteru Kop "The creator" (of earth) and/or "the

19
See Budge A Hieroglyphic Dictionary pg 966a. The Thebaid or Thebais (Greek: Θηβαΐδα, Thēbaïda or Θηβαΐς,
Thēbaïs) is the region of ancient Egypt containing the thirteen southernmost nomes of Upper Egypt, from Abydos
to Aswan. It acquired its name from its proximity to the ancient Egyptian capital of Thebes.
20
As an adjective this same word is used to mean ―firm, steady, solid, steadfast, and definite.‖
21
For example, Egyptian nDs < *ngs /n-/, cad : n + *gs, C.Chadic: Proto-Higi : *gwus- "short"; Higi-Gali: gusi, Fali-
Kiria: gusu, Fali-Jilbu, Gude: gwus, Nzangi: gus, "short"; E.Cushitic: Gidole: guusi "small." Compare to Egyptian
kt ―short (moment), childhood, pettiness, little one‖ (*gs < kt); Haddiaya: k'aass-, Bayso: kicere. Omotic vocabulary
developed a root *k'ut'-, *-k'uc: Dache: guc "small", Dokko: gucee, Dorze: guuc, Gofa: guucco, Kulla: guuca,
Sheko: Koota, Wolamo: guttaa, Gidicho: gussi "small." Aaron Dolgopolsky (1973: 83) has come to similar
conclusions but adds to the data the Semitic tri-consonantal form where the prefix is suffixed: *ktn "small" (<*kt +
n). In ciLuba-Bantu we have -nci ―small, insignificant,‖ (banci, binci, bunci, cinci, dinci, kanci, lunci, manci, munci,
ncidi; -ncinci "minuscule, infinitesimal"; panci, tunci), -nte "small, menu"; -kesè(à) "small"; bikesè(à) "bit by bit".
(Imhotep, 2013: 149).
22
"According to this rule, the first w- and j- in Eg. triconsonantal roots cannot always be treated as morphological
prefixes, but in many cases rather reflect the original PAA [Proto-Afro-Asiatic] internal root vocalism *-u-, *-i- (i.e.
Eg. wC1C2 and jC1C2< AA *C1uC2- and *C1iC2- respectively). As for PAA (C1aC2, it may eventually yield Eg.
jC1C2, but AC1C2 as well though the examples for it are of very limited number." Takacs in (Rocznik, 1998: 115)

Page 15 of 42
beginner" (of all things). The word Kop or EnKop (with feminine en- prefix) is the word for "earth." In
the Basaa language of Cameroon, a name for the Divine is Koba. In part it is related to: (Basaa, Duala,
Ewondo) koba "formally, ancient times"; ndee Koba "Koba time" or "ancient"; mBok Koba "old world"
(mbok, koba in reverse?). In Egyptian texts, Geb is also associated with an "ancient time." We see such
expressions as "the god of time," "since the time of Re", "years of Geb," which is why among the Basaa,
Koba is also the God of "time."23
In other parts of West Africa we have the following variants: Epie àgbà ―farm‖; Engenni àgbà
―farm‖; Ewe/Aja/Ge agbe ―life‖; Fon gbè ―world, life (of plants, of men)‖; Yorùbá gbé ―live, dwell,‖ igbé
―bush‖ (Hebrew yegeb), àgbè ―farmer‖ (Hebrew yagab ―till the earth‖); Ewe gbèé ―bush,‖ gbé ―be alive,‖
Hogbe ―the people of the land‖; Urhobo akpo ―world of the living, life, society‖; (East Africa) Oromo
gomdji "land which grows warm and is healthy cultivated." Compare with M-E Agbj ―flood, inundation,
inundate.‖ It should be noted as well that in Yorùbá, the word igbo means ―forest.‖ Mboli (2010: 382)
reconstructs this root as such: C.2i *kə̆buʀ̃a- « terre, sol » (M-E gb(b) « terre », sango gbè « sous, à terre
»).
The k-m root even finds itself able to represent vegetation in the Egyptian records. The following
terms support a farming aspect to k-m: kmw ―seeds or fruit of km plant‖; km.t
―grain or plant‖ (Budge, 788a). The determinatives support an association of km with agriculture and
cannot be interpreted any other way. The k-m root, in other African languages, is also associated with the
activity of ―planting.‖ This may be a feature of Egyptian as well. If km kA.t means "to perform work," and
kA.t is the word for "work," then km here is a verb meaning to "perform." This is supported by the entry
km ―Verb‖ [CT IV, 67k].24 With that said, in Tshiluba we have kuama "to bear, to yield, or bring forth or
produce fruit (only used for trees, shrubs and plants),‖25 kuna "to sow, to plant (corn)‖; cikùnyiibwa
(noun) "plant" (<-kùna (transitive verb)"to plant, investing, investment"). For the connection between
―till/plant‖ and ―life, world, earth,‖ compare Edo Bini agbọ̀n (i) ―earth, this world,‖ (ii) ―district‖ with
Yoruba gbin/gbẹ̀n ―plant,‖ ọ̀gbin/ọ̀gbẹ̀n ―planting, agriculture.‖
The word km.t, ultimately, refers to cultivatable/irrigable land and we have African cognates
that reaffirm this definition: Basa kaam "farm"; Doai kaam "farm"; Esitako ekaam "farm"; Ngodzin kam
"farm"; Runda kumadin "farm" (Imhotep, 2009: 59).
Given that we are associating km.t with a place of water and/or farm, it wouldn‘t be out of place
to suggest that, on some level, it could be translated to mean ―place of food,‖ which a farm would literally
be. Although the following terms have different initial consonants, they ultimately derive from the same
consonant sound. It is quite common in African languages for words to have slight semantic shades of
meaning based on common sound alternations within the language: e.g., voicing/devoicing (g/k), de-
aspiration/aspiration (k/kh), etc. In Egyptian we have the words am ―swallow‖ (Am "to
swallow" (Budge, 6a)); xmw ―devour, eat, swallow‖; amAw ―a plant, a fruit,

grain‖; amt ―piece of meat‖; xmt ―a drink‖ [Wb 3, 285.1; AEO II, 233*]. Compare
with Kalenjiin am "eat," amit "food"; Coptic ou-woam "to eat." Egyptian /H/ and /x/ sounds tend to be
dropped in Kalenjiin for cognate terms. For example, Kalenjiin ooma "heat"; Coptic humm "heat"; M-E
xm "warm." As noted earlier, the Egyptian /a/ was a /k/ or /h/ sound.
Mboli‘s reconstruction of Negro-Egyptienne (N-E) *kə̆buʀ̃a- « terre, sol » may help to explain the
formation of the Egyptian word for ―garden,‖ kAm. We‘d argue that the Negro-Egyptienne k-b-ʀ̃ root went

23
See the works of Oum Ndigi, 1996, 1997: 383; ‗Gb/K.b/Gbgb/Kòbá/ Kòbákòbá: Ou le nom du Dieu de la Terre et
de l ‗oiseau créateur mythologique chez les Égyptiens et les Basaá du Comeroun‘, Bulletin: Société d‘Égyptologie
(Genève), 20, 1996: 49-70.
24
Thesaurus Linguae Aegyptiae: http://aaew.bbaw.de/tla/servlet/BwlBrowser?f=0&l=0&off=0&csz=-
1&lcd=km&tcd=&scd=&pn0=1&db=Egyptian&bc=Start.
25
Compare with Egyptian qmA "throw, create, produce, carry out."

Page 16 of 42
through a process of metathesis and became k-A-m in M-E (A = ʀ̃). Bernal26 offers some useful
commentary regarding this term:

K3m. A cluster of early Egyptian words – k3nw (later k3m), ―garden, vineyard, flowers,‖ and k3ny
(later k3mw) ―vintner, gardener, wines, fruits and vegetables‖ offers an example of phonetic changes
having different results in loans. (Bernal, 2006:196)

Notice that in the earliest attestations of the term k3m, the [m] was [n]. This is more in alignment with
Hebrew gan ―garden,‖ Hausa gona ―garden,‖ and Yorùbá egàn ―virgin forest, black loamy soil/fertile
soil.‖ Compare with Tshiluba kuna "to sow, to plant (corn).”
Continuing on the sound change in Middle Egyptian to Coptic, Bernal also notes that:

The development in Egyptian seems to have been *karm > *ka>m > *kām, and with the shift ā>ō,
*kōm. In Coptic it is palatalized to čōm, ―vineyard, field, garden‖ and čme ―vintner, gardener,
someone who prepares wine or oil.

The loss of / ʀ̃ / (=A) in this root for cultivatable land may also have happened in, what I would consider, a
dialectical variant of kAn/kAm, the Egyptian word p3a.t "irrigable land." The loss of /A/ gives us the
word pa.t ―a kind of farm‖ (=km.t by sound mutation and metathesis). We observe metathesis on the
tri-consonantal root in African languages below:

P-N-E *kə̆buʀ̃a- k-b-ʀ̃ « terre, sol »

Sumerian kalam k-l-m ―land‖
Bangi, Poto mokili m-k-l ―dry land‖
Lolo bokidi b-k-d ―dry land‖
Edo Bini agbọ̀n g-b-n ―earth, this world,‖ ―district‖
M-E kAm k-A-m ―garden, vineyard, field‖
M-E pAa.t p-A-a ―irrigable land‖27
M-E pa.t p-a ―kind of farm‖

I believe, ultimately, that km.t and kAm/kAn are related, in the same way that pa.t and pAa.t are related: just
different forms of each other. I believe as well that the word pa.t ―a kind of farm‖ has found its way
into Indo-European as the word pagan. This word has a negative connotation today due to the ideology
and spread of Christianity and Islam. The OED provides the following etymology:

pagan (n.): late 14c., from Late Latin paganus "pagan," in classical Latin "villager, rustic;
civilian, non-combatant" noun use of adjective meaning "of the country, of a village," from pagus
"country people; province, rural district," originally "district limited by markers," thus related to
pangere "to fix, fasten," from PIE root *pag- "to fix" (see pact). As an adjective from early 15c.

I am not in agreement with the assertion that the name pagan is from PIE *pag- ―to fix.‖ I think this is a
borrowing into I-E by Negro-Egyptienne speakers who were in the area of Mesopotamia in historic times.
The I-E‘s were not farmers, but nomads and all terms dealing with farming settlements and the like in
early times are borrowings. My argument is that pagan ―villager, rustic, civilian; of the country, of a
village‖ has a reflex in ancient Egyptian as the word pa.t ―a kind of farm.‖ The consonant root p-a is

26
Martin Bernal (2006). Black Athena: The Afroasiatic Roots of Classical Civilization Volume III the Linguistic
Evidence. Rutgers University Press. New Brunswick, New Jersey.
27
Other cognates of these words include Ewe agble ―farm (land),‖ Hebrew gebuwl, Igbo ikpele ―territorial border,‖
Yoruba igbèrí in igbèrí-ko ―country, district,‖ àgbàlá ―court yard.‖

Page 17 of 42
really p-k. The /a/ sound value derives from /k/ (Imhotep, 2013). Mboli (2010: 260) argues it is an /h/ (or
/i/) sound. The word pa.t is simply gb, wDb (<*gwb), kop, àgbà, etc., by way of metathesis on the bi-
syllabic root. Given the OED‘s definition of pag-an ―villager, civilian,‖ we note the following in
Egyptian: pa.t ―men and women, mortals, mankind, people, a class of people or spirits‖
(Tshiluba apa ―life‖).
As it regards the O49 determinative, it is primary used to denote ―inhabited places.‖ When
km.t is used with this determinative, it refers to a ―country‖ or ―nation,‖ or better yet ―a population
center.‖ The African languages support this contention as well: e.g., Balue kom "country, region"; Okam
ekoma "city"; Ndzem kom "rural area"; Bateteka komwa "country, region"; Bakweri kumi "country"; Zulu
khumbi "nation"; Pende guma "country, region"; Dewoi gumo "village, city"; Caga gumi "rural area";
Lingala gumba "city"; Tshiluba kumue "at the same place, at one place, together." It is present in the
Kalenjiin (Nilo-Saharan) language as eem ―country,‖ eemeet ―country, world, earth, land mass‖ with loss
of initial k- (km.t > m.t). However, the Pokoot, a northern branch of Kalenjiin, pronounces the word for
―nation‖ as hem (Sambu, 2011: 32). The ―nation of Pokoot‖ is stylized as Hem-pa-Pokoot.28 We note as
well the dictionary entry AmAy.t (or Amy.t) ―island, land‖ (Budge, 6a). This is very close in
pronunciation to the Kalenjiin word eemeet ―country, world, earth, land mass.‖We also have the entry
Amy.t ―the interior.‖ If we recall from our discussion earlier, Egypt was first called Xnw ―the
interior, the residence‖ and this may have been a dialectical variation of Amy.t (=km.t?). The Kalenjiin
language lost the Egyptian /A/ (ʀ̃) sound. With the loss of the /k/ and /A/ sounds in the word km.t, in
Kalenjiin language, we hypothesize an original or alternate form k-r-m, which would be along the lines of
Egyptian kAn/kAm ―garden, vineyard, field.‖
We note the following sound series across black African languages pertaining to cultivatable
land: k-r-m, k-m, k-mb, k-b, k-p, k-b-r, g-b-r, g-m, g-mb, g-b, D-b, d-b, t-b, t-p; p-r-k, p-k. These are all
common and expected sound mutations. The fact that we have many of these variations in the Egyptian
lexicon is evidence of the convergence of many African ethnic groups in the land of Egypt. This is one of
a few ways by which doublets can enter a language.

It is my contention that km.t ―farm, irrigable land‖ and ―nation, country‖ consists of two
morphemes: a root *ka + -m suffix denoting either ―water‖ or ―a place.‖ The first morpheme is PWS
(Proto-Western-Sudanic) *kà, *kàl ―to remain, to sit‖; PWN (Proto-Western-Negritic) KÀL ―to sit.‖ Km.t
meaning ―nation‖ is based on *ka + m meaning ―to sit/dwell/rest in a place.‖29 In Tshiluba this is reflected
as ciKomo, nkum, nKam, muKam "to sit, location"; shi-Kama "sit, be seated"; "wait, be quiet"; –iikala ―to
sit, to remain, be still.‖ A synonym in Tshiluba is somba ―sit, live, reside, conduct, sit down to chat, retire,
relax;‖ sòmba-> el-Badil ⇒ cisòmbelu ≋ cisòmbedi "living room, lounge, residence;" lusòmbèlà ≋
cisòmbedi "where one sits, shelter." These variations, in fact, may actually be doublets. See also, Yorùbá
gun ‗le ―to settle‖; Arabic aqama ―to settle, to stay in place.‖ The *kà morpheme of ―place‖ can be found
in Kalenjiin as the word kaa-/kaah- ―home, homeland, earth, place‖ (Egyptian Hw.t ―foundation,
administration, district, estate, palace, tomb chapel‖). It is present in Kalenjiin words such as
Kaabsisiweet (=Kaab, place. Sisiweet, ―kind of a tree‖); Kaabkurees (=Kaab, place. Kurees, ―candalabra

28
M.W. Beech (1911). The Suk, their Language and Folklore. Oxford at the Claredon Press. London. p. 109.
29
This affix is present in the Twi word mọgya ―blood.‖ The morpheme gya is cognate with Hausa ja ―red‖ (the
redness of fire in Twi o-gya ―fire‖) and the mọ- is a reflex of the ―formation of Coptic substantives which consists in
putting the vocal ma ―place‖ before a verb‖ (see Theophile Obenga, ―Egyptian Language and Negro-African
Languages‖ in Volume 1 of Colloquium on Black Civilizations and Education, 1977, p. 98). See also Adegbola
(1983: 291). The m- prefix for place-names is found in Nigeria for the names Muṣin/Imuṣin (-uṣin), Mọsàn/Imọsàn
(-ọsan), Màgbọn/Imàgbọn (-àgbọn), Mògún (-Ògún).

Page 18 of 42
tree‖). The -b- or -p- morpheme is the word ―of,‖ therefore kaab/kaap means ―place of.‖ Other examples
in Kalenjiin include kaapkoros ―place of prayer‖ (a shrine), and kaapsoguut ―the place of leaves‖ (Sambu,
2007: 263).
It is because of this common conceptualization in African languages (to sit, rest = place) that the
Egyptians also spelled km.t with two sitting people as the determinative: km.t. Many researchers
have interpreted this word along the same lines as one would say ―Houstonians,‖ but a look into how it is
used in the actual texts shows this is just another variant of the place-name without specific reference to
the people. For example, in the literary Hymns to Sesotris III (Dyn. XII), we find the following passage
(pl. III, 3-5):30

jj.n.f n.n HkA.n.f Km.t rdj.n.f dSr.t m ab.f jj.n.f n.n mkj.n.f tAwy sgrH.n.f jdbwy jj.n.f n.n
sanx.n.f Km.t xsr.n.f Snww.s

―It was (after) he had ruled Egypt, and (after) he had put the Desert in his company, that he came
to us. It was (after) he had protected the Two Lands, and (after) he had pacified the Two Banks,
that he came to us. It was (after) he had caused Egypt to live and (after) he had removed its needs,
that he came to us.‖

The way this passage is worded lets us know that it is talking about the state as a political entity, and not
the nisbe-adjective form Kmtyw ―those of Kemet.‖ This is supported by the fact that km.t is used in the
same manner as all of the other political locations in the text. The names dSr.t, tAwy and jdbwy in the
original text do not employ personal determinatives. Furthermore, after the second sentence containing
the word km.t, it refers back to the word km.t by means of a third-person singular feminine suffix pronoun
.s ―its.‖ If it spoke about the people, we would expect .sn ―their, they, them,‖ not ―its.‖
While the usage of the sitting man and woman determinative in the word km.t—without the
glyphs directly conveying the notion of the people in the country—may not make sense to Egyptologists,
it makes perfect sense when we understand the Egyptian language and writing script within its greater
African context. To ―live‖ or ―dwell‖ in a place is to ―sit, lie‖ or ―rest, relax.‖ It is how the people in
ancient times used to reference the ―ground.‖31 Even the notion of standing can connote a ―place.‖ Where
ever you can place your ―feet‖ conveys the notion of ―place‖ and ―existence‖ in African languages. For
example, the PWS *ka(l) root is used to mean ―to stand‖ or to ―be.‖ This can be seen in Sumerian gal ―to
stand, to be‖; Bantu kana (<kala; l > n), gala ―stand, be‖ (Wagner, 1935: xl-xli). This notion of
―standing‖ and ―place‖ is reflected in the ancient Egyptian script and it is why the rmTw used the foot/leg
as an ideogram for ―place.‖

Variations of the word bw ―place‖32

30
F.L. Griffith, The Petrie Papyri: Hieratic Papyri from Kahun and Gruob (Principally of the Middle Kingdom),
vol. 2: Plates (London: Quaritch, 1898) pl. 3: a facsimile appears in G. Moller, Hieratische Lesetucke fur den
akademischen Gebrauch, vol. 1: Altund Mittelhieratische Texte (2d. ed.; Leipzing: Hinrichs, 1927) pl. 5;
conveniently transcribed in K. Sethe, Agyptische Lesestucke zum Gebrauch im akademischen Unterricht (Leipzing:
Hinrichs, 1928) 37.
31
C.f: PWS kà, kàl ―to remain, to sit,‖ Swahili kaa ―to sit,‖ PWN KÀL ―to sit,‖ PWN KA ―home,‖ Yoruba kalẹ̀ ―to
sit down, sit on the ground, deposit,‖ ES Kenuzi, Dongola ka ―house‖, Nandi ka ―house,‖ PWS là ―earth, below‖,
Avatime ká-la', Santrokofi ka-la ―under, below,‖ Mande M su-kala ―habitation.‖
32
Vygus (2012: 341).

Page 19 of 42
The single stroke behind the foot glyph informs the reader that this is an ideogram and should be taken
literally. So the word bw literally means ―to stand‖ as the sign is of a leg/foot standing. This
pronunciation may derive from an original labial-velar. Campbell-Dunn (2009b: 127) provides additional
support for this assumption.

STAND Sumerian gub ―to make stand‖

GU, KU “stand”
BA “place”

PWS guà ―scaffolding‖, (gba)

PWN GIM, (GIUM) ―stand‖
Bantu gi-am ―stand‖
PWS kua ―leg, foot‖, Igbo ó-kpà ―foot, leg‖
Bantu gudu ―foot‖
Mande gyu ―foot‖ (of tree or mountain)
Mande so,to ―to stand‖
Mangbetu éku ―to come‖
Khoisan : Hatsa //ka ―to stand‖
PCS *co, *ko ―motion‖

*G = g *U = u *B = b

The form that came down in Egyptian is close to the PWS variant *gba ―scaffolding‖;33 Igbo ó-kpà ―foot,
leg.‖ which is reflected in Sumerian as gub ―to make stand.‖ The Sumerian variant supports our earlier
contention, by way of the Law of Belova, that Egyptian wDb derives from *gwb ―earth, ground.‖ The
ground is the ―support‖ which ―lifts, upholds‖ things on earth. This is why we see the neter Geb
―supporting‖ his father Shu in Egyptian reliefs. He is literally the ―support of heaven.‖

On this picture, Geb is down, Shu holding Nut, and in barque is Sun god. 34

The examples given by Campbell-Dunn (2009b) supports also the correlation between gb and km.t as we
can see a variant of *gba as PWN GIM (GIUM) ―stand,‖ which is reflected in Bantu as gi-am ―stand,‖
Chadic *kam "lift" (Geji: kàmì, Buli: kǝmu); Berber *ḳaym 'sit'; Semitic (Aramaic ḳwm, Hebrew ḳwm,

33
Scaffold: "wooden framework used in building, etc., temporary structure for workmen to make walls.‖
34
Image courtesy of Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Index_of_Egyptian_mythology_articles

Page 20 of 42
Amharic ḳomä, Sod ḳomäm, Cha ḳʷämäm: 'rise, get up, stand up') (TOB). Again, the word for ―ground‖ is
the same word for ―stand, support, leg, foot‖ and even ―to sit‖ in African languages. The D58 hieroglyph
bw was originally pronounced gb(a) and it means ―to stand, lift, support, foot/leg.‖ The Egyptian /w/
sound corresponds to Niger-Congo /b/ (Imhotep, forthcoming); therefore the earlier sound change was
from b>w. The PWS form *gua ―scaffolding,‖ *kua ―leg, foot‖ is what became the Bantu locative noun-
class prefix *ko- ―outside‖ (Imhotep, 2013: 328-329); Egyptian HA ―outside.‖ As noted by Oduyoye
(Agdebola, 1983: 387), ―Outside is frequently a synonym for ‗earth, land‘.‖ We can see this in Egyptian
with the word xntw ―outside.‖ Notice the N23 ―irrigated land‖ determinative followed by the
single stroke sign. This informs us that the Egyptians consciously associated the ―outside‖ with ―land.‖
What better way to convey a ―place‖ or ―location‖ than to reference the very ―ground‖ that one
can stand on. One does not get a sense that one is in a ―place‖ if one is, let‘s say, in an ocean or in outer
space, because one doesn‘t have solid ground for which to ―place one‘s feet.‖ As Sylvanus Onyambu
Ogari, a Luo from Kenya, has stated regarding the matter: "Land is life. . . Every person must possess
land because nobody was born in the air" (Shipton, 2009: 223). Note also that one of the renderings above
of bw ―place‖ has the N23 ―irrigated land‖ determinative. This further supports our contention that it
refers to a ―place‖ and references the ―ground‖ for which one can stand given our correlation with km.t.

We better understand now that a km.t is a ―place‖ or ―location‖ where life flourishes. It is at once a place
with water, food and is a safe place to dwell; in other words, a place to ―sit‖ and ―settle,‖ in contrast to a
nomadic pastoral life where one is constantly on the move. Worded another way, a km.t is a place where
you can stop ―walking‖ (being a nomad) and settle for good. One does not have to travel to Africa to go to
km.t. Many of you will be reading this document in your own km.t. That is because the word km.t (k-m) is
present in the English language as the word ―home‖ (h-m). The OED provides the following etymology:

HOME: O.E. ham "dwelling, house, estate, village," from P.Gmc. *khaim- (cf. O.Fris. hem "home,
village," O.N. heimr "residence, world," heima "home," Ger. heim "home," Goth. haims "village"),
from PIE base *kei- "to lie, settle down" (cf. Gk. kome, Lith. kaimas "village;" O.C.S. semija
"domestic servants").

As we can see from the above citation, the root derives from PIE *kei ―to lie, settle down‖ and I add that
the terminal -m is a suffix of location (PB noun-class prefix 18: *mo- ―in‖ locative; Egyptian m ―in,
inside, on, at, by, with, by means of, from, out of, as, namely, when‖). The PIE root *kei is close to our
PWS reconstruction *kà, *kàl ―to remain, to sit‖; PWN KÀL ―to sit.‖ We saw earlier how the g-b/g-mb
forms became D-b/d-b respectively. With that said, I would argue as well that the following forms are
dialectical variations of these forms, and of km.t as well: Egyptian dmj "domicile, home, habitation,
residence, quarters "; Sango ndo "space"; Zande dimo "domicile"; Hausa zama "estate" (Mboli, 2010:
241).
We also note above the Old English rendering of the root ham ―dwelling, house, estate, village.‖
Compare with Berber (Tamazign) akham ―home.‖ This term is actually a common suffix for place-names
among I-E speakers. If you ever come across place-names such as,

Balling-ham, Billing-ham, Willing-ham, Elling-ham

Colding-ham, Holding-ham, Alding-ham

you are seeing the word km.t in action. It is present in the words Birming-ham, Alabama; Bucking-ham,
Palace; and Notting-ham castle. It is even present in the word Gotham, the famed city of the Batman
comics. The name actually comes from a village by the same name, Got-ham, in Notting-ham-shire,

Page 21 of 42
England. Ham (<km.t) is just a word to signify irrigable land, an estate or village. It is a land for which a
river runs through it, the ground is wet and is conducive for life.
This is more evidence to support the contention of GJK Campbell-Dunn (2006) that I-E derives
from Niger-Congo, or Jean-Claude Mboli (2010) who argues that I-E is the result of a contact situation in
which the PIE speakers were in long-term engagements with Negro-Egyptienne speakers. Nostratic
linguists, such as Bernal (2006), argue that I-E derives from Afro-Asiatic. Either way it goes, there are
many affinities between I-E and African languages and this is a result of either inheritance or contacts
with African people who lived in the Mediterranean at or around 4000-1000 BC (around the time PIE is
believed to have begun and spread, according to the Kurgan hypothesis).35

It is becoming clear to us that the word km.t in the ancient Egyptian language, in reference to the state of
Egypt, cannot be interpreted to mean ―black land‖ or ―black people.‖ The determinatives used for this
place-name do not support such a contention. If the root of km.t, with the I6 hieroglyph, means ―black,‖
how do we explain the following place-names INSIDE the land of km.t?

Table 2: km.t inside Km.t

km.t ―Athribis‖; Budge 1045b

kmy.t ―District of Ka Kam‖; Budge 1045b

tA km.t ―a town in the Eastern Delta‖; Budge 1054b

km ka ―The necropolis of Sakkarah‖; Budge 1047a

km wr "a town in the Nome Athribites"; Budge 1046a

kmsa.t "a district; situation unknown"; Budge 1046a

gm wr "a town in Egypt". Budge 1049b

35
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurgan_hypothesis. For those who are into video lectures, there is an interesting
discussion presented by Martin W. Lewis and Asya Pereltsvaig from Stanford University titled ―Mismodeling Indo-
European Origins: The Assault On Historical Origins: Science, the New York Times, and the Assault on Historical
Linguistics" (December 13, 2012) that I think would be of interest to the reader:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jHsy4xeuoQ. The lecturers ask a fundamental question: ―Can language spread
be modeled using computational techniques designed to trace the diffusion of viruses?‖ From there they discuss
Indo-European, its origins and spread. But most importantly, they discuss the nomadic foundation of I-E and how
we can date their origins based on the spread of the word for ―wheel‖ in their languages. The agricultural terms were
borrowings from Afro-Asiatic speakers, according to the lecturers. See also David W. Anthony (2010). The Horse,
the Wheel and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World. Princeton
University Press. Princeton, NJ.

Page 22 of 42
 gmyt "a name of Athribis" Budge 1049a (an alternative spelling of km.t, Budge
1045b)

gAm ―Athribis‖ 1049a

km wr " a sanctuary in the Fayyum"

km ka "10th nome of Lower Egypt"; Budge 1047a

Are we to believe that km wr ―a sanctuary in the Fayyum‖ is a ―Great Black Sanctuary?‖ If ka km is to be

a ―black‖ place within the greater ―Black country,‖ are the people in the kmy.t district of ka km ―even
blacker‖ than all of the rest of the ―black‖ people in Egypt, which is already in Black Africa? Does the
name km wr ―the bitter lakes region‖ [Wb 5, 126.3-6] refer to ―black lakes?‖ The fact that
km(t) is used for cities, nomes, and districts inside of Egypt should immediately discredit the
notion that the root of the term is referring to ―black people.‖ It should also discredit any interpretation
rending the word to mean ―black soil‖ as well. This should especially be the conviction given the fact that
when km.t is written as a place-name, there is not one example, to my knowledge, of km.t being written
with a D3 determinative: the determinative denoting color and complexion.
What we do see consistently is km.t written with determinatives indicating irrigated land: i.e.,
N23 , N36 . Even the O49 determinative is a sign of irrigated land. The common interpretation
of this sign is a ―city plan‖ or of a ―village with crossroads‖ (Ra, 1995: 65; Fischer, 1999: 37; Gardiner,
1957: 498). It is my contention that this sign, in reality, is simply a stylized variation of the N23 and N36
hieroglyphs. It is a sign of two irrigated channels crossing like the rows one would see at a farm. We find
support for this when examining the following hieroglyph determinatives.

Table 3: Irrigated land determinatives

N24C
N24D

N24G

N24 Hsp, spAt, tA-wr

With the exception of N24 above, the other variants have the lines in a kind of ―crossing‖ position. We
could even consider N24 as a crossroads if we look at the individuals sections at an angle. It is my belief
that O49 is simply a ―bounded‖ section of the irrigation channels crossing. When we think of a city or
town, these are ―bounded‖ territories, which in Africa are historically designed in circles. The underlying
concept behind the O49 glyph is that it is a territory inhabited by human beings. This habitat, however,
can only be livable if they have access to water. So the O49 glyph became the symbol for human-
occupied territories along the Nile River, within the larger territory of Egypt. The symbol indicates a
farming center; a place where one can grow food and find water.
As we have stated throughout this essay, the underlying concept for km.t is ―life‖ (C.f., Hebrew
chaim ―life‖; Tshiluba diikala ―existence, life, state,‖ –iikala ―to be, remain, continue,‖ iikalapù
―presence, existence‖ > cikanda "piece of land, field, part of a field being plowed in a day,‖ where
[n+l>nd]), where water, food, and vegetation are the symbols of life. Therefore, km.t is the ―land of/for
the living.‖ Goelet (1999: 42) provides some interesting commentary along these conceptual lines.

Page 23 of 42
 Perhaps the only other major addition to Middle Kingdom usage encountered in later sources are
instances in which Kmt appears as the land of the living. A typical example of this occurs in the
late Dynasty XVIII tomb of an individual named Neferhotep in a Harper‘s Song that praises the
land of Eternity: ―Those who shall be born to millions (of people) upon millions, they will all
come to it (the land of Eternity), for no one tarries in (tA n km.t) the land of Egypt.‖ This
expression may be simply a development of the often-made contrast between the fertile land of the
living and the sandy soil of the desert, the underlying sense of Kmt that seems to have been
retained throughout Egyptian history.

The above example doesn‘t seem to be talking about km.t in particular, because the word ―tarry‖ means
―to abide, dwell‖ (tarry = tA ―land‖?). When the citation states, ―for no one tarries in (tA n km.t) the land of
Egypt,‖ that means ―no one stays in Egypt,‖ thus all go to the ―land of eternity‖ (the netherworld).
However, if everything else is correlated correctly, then this would probably explain a rendering of km.t
with the seated nTr determinative in the raw nw pr.t m Hrw (the words for coming forth by day; the
―Book of the Dead‖):

km.t = Egypt
Budge (BoD) (1898: 340)

The nTrw are the eternal forces that power creation. On the same page Budge also has the entry
km.t ―lasting, enduring‖ (Tshiluba -kùla "endure, prolong"; -iikala "be, remain, stay"; Kalenjiin yab
―extend, continue, make longer‖ [g>y; m>b?]), which would seem to support the contention of Goelet
(1999). All things live because of the nTrw and it is probably this intimation that undergirds the
correlation between km.t and eternity as discussed by Goelet.
As we stated earlier, all of the names for Egypt seem to correlate with water, vegetation and
irrigation. This is reaffirmed by another name for Egypt: jdbwj-Hr Ägypten (Egypt) [Wb I 153], which we
know derives from the root jdb Acker (arable, field, farmland) [Wb I 153]. Given our research thus far,
we also argue that tA-mry ―the beloved land,‖ is not a wholly accurate interpretation. Like jdb
and km.t, mry should be interpreted as ―farmland, land, irrigable land, land with a river, a habitable
place.‖ The determinative in the word should say it all, but added support comes from African languages.
From the TOB database:

Western Chadic: *mar- 'farm' 1, 'field' 2 'to plough' 3, 'to ' 4, 'to hoe' 5
Mupun: máar 1 [FrM]
Sura: máar 1 [JgS]
Angas: mār 1, 4 [Fl]
Chip: már 2 [JgC]
Montol: mai 1 [Fp] , mái 2 [JgC]
Bolewa: mar- 3 [LkBol]
Galambu: màrá 1 [SchB]

Semitic: *mVrr- 'hoe', *myr ~ *mrmr 'to plow'

Central Chadic: *mur- 'native hoe'
East Chadic: *mir- 'hoe'
High East Cushitic: *mVrar- 'the hook of the plough'

Proto-Afro-Asiatic: *mar-
Meaning: earth, land
Semitic: *mar- 'earth'
Berber: *-mur- 'earth, land, soil'

Page 24 of 42
 Egyptian: mr 'pasture' (OK)
East Chadic: *mār- 'humid land'
Notes: Cf. Sem. *ʕumr- 'ashes'

In Proto-Cushitic we have *mar ―cultivated field.‖36 In the Kalenjiin (Nilo-Saharan) language, we have:

Mbar /mpar, mbar/ (=mbar,farm) Mbareet. ―Farm. Cultivated land. Land.Plantation‖

Mbareet /mpareeth, mparet, mbaret/ (=mbar, farm) ―Cultivated field. Land.‖
Bēr /ber/ (=Bēr, land) (noun) Mbarēēt. Mbar. (irrigate land) ―Land. Farm.‖37

Compare with Grebo bro ―earth,‖ Songhai bari ―market,‖ Aramaic bar ―field.‖ The m-r and b-r roots
would correlate with Egyptian pAa.t ―irrigable land,‖ with loss of /a/. As we know the Nile Valley
gets its water from the flooding of the Nile. In Kalenjiin we have maaran ―flood,‖ maaraneet ―flood,
deluge.‖ We argue, then, that mry and pAa.t are distant variants of each other, and that pAa.t is also a
variation of spA.t ―district, nome, necropolis.‖
Given what we‘ve been able to demonstrate, we can better understand why they called Egypt
Xnw ―the residence, interior, the land; abode, home‖ during the Old Kingdom. It is my contention
that it wasn‘t simply a reference for the ―inside,‖ but also to ―land with water.‖ It makes better sense
when we observe the following Egyptian homographs:

Table 4: Xnw
Xnmt / Xnw well, watering place

Xnw stream, water

(southern province of Upper Egypt)

Xnw nxn

Xnmt basin

Xnw food dishes, fayre

I do not think it is a stretch to say that there is a bit of paronymy going on between Xnw ―home,
residence‖ and Xnw ―water; food; watering place.‖ We keep running across the same theme as we
examine names for Egypt. The reference is water, and it is this fundamental element that distinguishes
km.t from dSr.t ―desert,‖ not ―black‖ vs. ―red.‖
The Tshiluba language helps us to define dSr.t. If we define km.t to mean ―life‖ (as
evidenced by water, vegetation, medicines, wild life, etc.), then dSr.t would be a place that is absent of
life. The root of dSr.t is -S-, which can be seen in Sr ―threaten.‖ This is reflected in Tshiluba as shuwula,
shiwula / jiwula (swhy-r) "endanger, death, exposing them to danger, run into danger, making perilous,"
suyila "to crush someone" and "irritate, annoy," Swai (< sw3i) "shake, scatter, sow disarray," shawula

36
Christopher Ehret (2000). In Heine, Bernd and Nurse, Derek (Eds.). African Languages: An Introduction.
Cambridge University Press. London, p.292.
37
http://www.africanlanguages.com/kalenjin/

Page 25 of 42
"stunted, to degenerate, stunted, to diminish, prevent the growth or development." It should be noted that
in many cultures, ―red‖ is the color of ―danger,‖ and is probably why the word dSr ―red‖ and dSr.t are
used as paronyms. At the same time, then, if red signifies danger, then I guess black would signify
fertility, and give credence to the proponents who argue km.t equals ―black soil.‖38 But if so, this would
be a tertiary association and one that is not clear in Egyptian texts through the actual hieroglyphic signs.
However, the association of ―black‖ and ―fertility‖ is a common one in Africa. Dr. Kimbwadende
kia Bunseki Fu-Kiau, in his seminal work African Cosmology of the Bantu Kongo (2001), informs us
about this color and life correlation among the Bantu-Kongo of Central Africa.

The Kala [on] and kalazima [off] concept itself is associated with blackness and is used as a
symbol of emergence of life, the physical world [ku nseke]. The ngunza, spiritual man, is
associated with the forces behind this concept and this process. (Fu-Kiau, 2001: 26) (emphasis
mine)

The word kala is the word for ―black‖ in Kikongo. It is also the word for ―to be, on/active; to remain,‖ the
same word where we get km.t from. This is an example of paronymy, and Fu-Kiau‘s 2001 work provides
us with many examples of these linguistic punnings among the Bantu-Kongo.
Getting back to the discussion on the word dSr.t, as far as the characteristics that are associated
with this term, we find a correlation between dSr.t and the god Seth in Egyptian lore. Seth is the
personification of ―danger‖ and jsft ―evil,‖ but he is also associated with the color ―red‖ and the desert
lands.39 It is no coincidence that he is the personification of jsft and destruction, and that we have the
word dSrw ―wrath.‖40 Seth is also personified as a SAj ―pig.‖41 This is reflected
in Tshiluba as bashenshi, basenshi (< SAj) or Ngulube-ya-Ditu "hog wild."
The underlying theme here is ―destruction‖ and ―danger‖ and a desert land is very dangerous if
one does not have ―water.‖ All of the negative characteristics of Seth are the same characteristics of the
desert. Seth is known for his infighting and oppressive behavior. He is that spirit which takes life away, or
makes it more difficult to bear. The aspects of danger and destruction are reflected in Tshiluba as diSuya
"oppression", "cries (distress)."
The fundamental aspect of ―desert‖ is given in Tshiluba as di-suya, di-osh (< Swj)
"desertification"; dishila (d-s-l) ―being burnt, desertification;‖ di-Shil ―parched land‖; Di-Shala ―to
remain behind, be underdeveloped.‖ The s-l root is present in the Yorùbá language as the word aṣàlẹ́
―barren and worn out land, desert.‖ Thus we have:

Egyptian Tshiluba
Sr ―threaten‖ shiwula "endanger death, exposing them to danger, run into danger, making perilous,"
shawula "stunted, to degenerate, stunted, to diminish, prevent the growth or
development."
SAj ―pig‖ bashenshi ―hog wild‖
dSrw ―wrath‖ diSuya ―oppression; cries (distress)‖
dSr.t ―desert‖ di-suya, di-osh (< Swi) "desertification";
dishila (d-s-l) ―being burnt, desertification;‖
di-Shil ―parched land‖;
Di-Shala ―to remain behind, be underdeveloped.‖

38
Compare Arabic hama‘ ―mud‖ with Yoruba amo ―clay‖ and Urhobo oma ―clayey soil‖; M-E amam
―clay, mud, mud flat.‖ However, there is no color connotation apparent in these words and it appears to be the same
in Egyptian.
39
Which is ironic given the fact that he is also associated with ―rain storms,‖ the total opposite of what we would
find in a desert.
40
We note also dSr jb and dSr Hr ―furious.‖
41
See discussion here: http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/pigs.htm

Page 26 of 42
Therefore, km.t is the land of ―life‖ and ―water,‖ and dSr.t is the land of ―death, danger,
underdevelopment, degeneration, oppression, and no water.‖ It is a land that is ―deprived‖ of life‘s
essentials; a ―harsh‖ environment; one that is not conducive for ―life.‖ The root of dSr.t is -S- and this root
is present in the words:

Table 5: -S- root

Egyptian Tshiluba
Sw ―sun, sunlight; nsêse(a) ―rays of the sun‖

Sw ―dry, dried.‖ nco ―dry‖;

Sw ―drought‖ [EDG
494; KoptHWb 335]
ciyòòle(a) "calamity, [Kalenjiin iicha "famine,
disaster, plague, poverty, drought"]
catastrophe"; ―famine‖
SwSy.t ―dryness;
drought‖ Meeks, AL
77.4132
Swjt dry spot‖ [Wb IV
430];
sSwj ―make dry‖ [Wb IV
281].
Sw ―emptiness, absence‖; disòsò(ù) ―hole‖; [Kalenjiin ach ―empty,
lusòsò(ù) ―pore, hole‖; without‖]
nsòsò(ù) ―a honeycomb
cell‖;
sSwj ―make empty‖ [Wb
IV 282];
Swjt lack‖ [Wb IV 428];
Sw ―be empty, be
lacking, be devoid (of),
be missing (from), to be
vacant, unload (ship)‖
tp Sw "ruin, neglect,
decay‖
wSr ―dry up, be barren, [Kalenjiin Sōōnēn "Be
be despoiled‖ barren. Get barren. Be
infertile. Sterile";
Sōōnēēt "barren animal
or woman"]
Swy ―(years of) absence‖

SwA ―to become nzala "hunger, famine,

impoverished‖ longing"
Sw ―needy man‖ [Wb 4, -swà(a) ―wanting‖ (also
427.20; FCD 263] ―love‖) wSr dry up, be
barren, be despoiled

Page 27 of 42
 Sw ―poor man‖ [Wb 4,
435.3-7; FCD 263;
Lesko, Dictionary III,
142];

SwA.w ―poverty‖
[Posener,
L'Enseignement
Loyaliste, 37, Anm. 9]
SwA.t ―impoverishment‖
[Wb 4, 435.9]
Sw ―wasteland, desert‖ di-suya, di-osh
[Wb 4, 430.5; Lesko, ―desertification"; dishila
Dictionary III, 140] (d-s-l) ―being burnt,
desertification;‖

All of these characteristics are associated with the god Seth, and by knowing the root to these terms, it is
not surprising, then, that one of Seth‘s symbols and personifications is that of a donkey: Sw
―donkey‖ [Wb 4, 433.16]. The -S- root is even present in the word SAjw ―worthy of death.‖
These are prime examples of how paronymy works in African languages in general, and the ancient
Egyptian language in particular. But we can prove paronymy here because of the actual usage in the texts.
As it regards km ―black‖ and km.t ―irrigable land,‖ there doesn‘t seem to be any texts that make this
correlation for us to assume a paronymic relationship.
As discussed in Imhotep (2013), the Egyptian language is monosyllabic and we can see here that
the monosyllabic root -S- signifies ―lacking, dryness, poverty, emptiness, absence, devoid of, depletion,
deprivation, disparity, deficiency, etc.,‖ and lets us know that dSr.t is a place that lacks ―life.‖ It is clear
that dSr.t is a different form of Sw ―desert, wasteland‖ and the Tshiluba language confirms this (Tshiluba
di-suya, di-osh "desertification"; dishila ―being burnt, desertification‖; di-Shil ―parched land‖). Therefore,
I cannot accept the notion that dSr.t is so because the land is allegedly ―red,‖ just as I can‘t accept km.t‘s
soil being ―black.‖ There is fertile red earth (C.f. Hebrew ada-m-ah ―earth,‖ da-m ―blood, life‖; Yoruba
ẹ̀jẹ̀ ―blood, life blood‖; jí ―wake up from sleep‖; Ọ̀jẹ̀ ―dead come back to life‖), and some of this red earth
is present in Egypt. Both dSr/dSr.t ―red/desert‖ and km/km.t ―black/irrigable land‖ are homographs. As we
do not know the vowels, we cannot argue that they are true homonyms. Therefore, the dichotomy between
km.t and dSr.t is ―water‖ versus ―dryness,‖ ―life‖ versus ―emptiness,‖ ―wealth‖ versus ―poverty,‖ and not
―black‖ versus ―red‖ land, soil or people.

We have demonstrated, beyond reasonable doubt, that the place-name km.t is not built on the root km
―black‖ and therefore, the term km.t does not convey the notions of either ―black soil‖ or ―black people.‖
The fundamental shortcoming of the historical arguments concerning this term is the total ignoring of the
determinatives in all of the early attestations of km.t and relatable terms. The determinatives are the key
to understanding Egyptian words. To ignore the determinatives is to do so at one‘s own peril. The
argument that km.t doesn‘t refer to land, because there is no ―land‖ determinative, is no longer tenable.
This argument is based on a misreading of the determinatives. The determinatives O49 (nj.wt), N20
(jdb, wDb), N36 (mr, mj) and N23 (tA) all refer to ―irrigable/cultivated land.‖ The addition of
these determinatives to place-names is equivalent to the suffixes found in Indo-European languages to
connote ―farms, estates, villages‖ and other habitable regions. Below are a few English place-name
examples:

Page 28 of 42
 Ballingham, Billingham, Willingham, Ellingham
Catforth, Chatworth, Hatford, Atworth.
Coldingham, Holdingham, Aldingham
Bellingdon, Wellington, Hallington, Allington, Ellington.
Benwick, Fenwick, Anwick
Marlow, Farlow, Harlow

The Egyptian word mry in tA-mry is found in I-E as the Norse suffix byr, which means ―farm, settlement.‖
This suffix, we know, is Egyptian s-pA.t ―district, nome, necropolis‖ and a variant survives in I-E as
the suffix ville [p-r > v-l] (Latin villa; Louisville, Greenville, etc.), signifying a ―town‖ or ―farm.‖42 Of
course, this term is also found in Egyptian as pr ―house, household, palace, temple, field,
sportsfield‖; pr mA ―villa, chateau, pleasure house,‖ as well as in other African languages: e.g.,
Tshiluba mbèlu(o) ―door, house‖; pala, hala, ci-palu; bula, pa-bula ―open space in front of the house,
unfenced yard,‖ ―inside the village‖ (Bilolo, 2011: 117); Zande kpɔrɔ "in, amongst"; Hausa fada "court";
Somali buulo "village" (Mboli, 2010: 220).
Every time we see either the O49 (nj.wt), N20 (jdb, wDb), N36 (mr, mj) or N23
(tA) determinatives, we should interpret them in the same way we see the suffixes in Indo-European
attached to place-names: i.e., km.t-tA, km.t-jdb, km.t-mr, km.t-nj.wt, etc. Egypt was a collective of initial
farming communities and they even hinted to this in one of their renderings of km.t: . Normally,
when there are three of the same determinatives, this indicates that the word is ―plural.‖ In this case it
would be rendered km.wt. Egyptologists would argue this is an incorrect reading. But, given the data
given throughout this text, and the discussion in Mboli (2010) on the nature of the plural in Negro-
African languages, I am motivated to interpret this term within its greater context. There are not ―many‖
(plural) km.t states, but there are multiple km.t ―farmlands, irrigable lands, population centers,‖ in the Nile
Valley as evidenced by the number of towns and districts named km.t.
Understanding that there are multiple km.tw allows us to better understand the term smA-
tAwy, which Egyptologists interpret as ―The uniting of the two-lands.‖ I, however, interpret this phrase to
mean ―the confederated lands.‖ The word smA can mean ―associate, ally, accomplice‖; smA
―unite, join (a company), associate (with); smA ―field on the edge of the desert‖; smA
―combinations.‖ From this root we have smAy ―confederate, companion‖ and smAw
―confederation, association.‖ Thus, smA-tAwy should be seen as the world‘s first historic ―United States of
Africa.‖ Egypt was a confederated state, consisting of the uniting of 42 nomes/villages/families/nj.wt. I
argue that the ―two lands‖ should be interpreted to mean ―on both ends‖ (the entirety of the land, from
end-to-end).43
While the word tA may be commonly understood to mean ―land, earth, ground,‖ it should be noted
that in Africa, the same word for ―land‖ is the same word given for ―people,‖ ―community,‖ or ―family.‖
We provide the following examples:

Tallensi ten earth, land, community

Igbo obodo community, homeland, family land
Dogon ginna (ginu + na) family, lineage (gáná ―land, country‖)
Tiv tar land, family
Bakongo kanda/kanga land, earth, family, community (<kala)
Kalenjiin kāpchi someone‘s home, family (=Kaa, home/sanctuary. Chii, person)

42
This could also be related to Egyptian br ―foodstuff‖;
43
Mubabinge Bilolo (personal communication). More on this aspect of the discussion will be reserved for the larger
publication forthcoming.

Page 29 of 42
We find this same tradition in Egyptian: e.g., dnwt "family"; dniw "share, portion, field, plots." We noted
earlier the Egyptian word pa.t ―a kind of farm.‖ Compare this with pa.t ―men and women,
mortals, mankind, people, a class of people or spirits.‖ We argue that Egyptian tA is cognate with Tiv tar
―land, family‖; Tallensi ten ―earth, land, community‖; Nago odun ―the land‖; Beni Edo edion ―soil‖;
Arabic duneyaa ―this world‖ (feminine of ‗adena ―lower‖; Hebrew ‗adan ―be under, be low, be inferior‖;
‗eden, ‗adan-iym ―pedestals of the earth on which its pillars were placed‖ –Job 38:6). The following
passage will help to explain the nature of tar among the Tiv people, which may add insights into our
Egyptian conceptualization of tA ―land.‖

Tiv tar is ―land, family‖: the tar is the complete world, it is the body and soul, the substance and
the essence, the past the present, the people with their customs, habits, built-in traditions of the
ancestors, all other forms of life and the land on which they live, and also the replica of this with
the spirits of ancestors and others with the whole of nature. 44

As noted by Oduyoye (Adegbola, 1983: 294), the benefit of doing comparative study of West African
societies is that what is vague in one society is clarified in another. I argue the same with Egyptian. West,
South and Central African societies provide much clarity for obscure concepts in ancient Egyptian texts.
It is with this that we note Tiv tar ―land, country, family‖ is cognate with Twi ntɔrɔ (Ewe trɔ) ―spirit of
patrilineage,‖ which itself is cognate with Egyptian nTr (erroneously defined as) ―god.‖ Like nTr in
Egyptian, ntɔrɔ is connected with ―water‖ and ―streams‖ and as we have seen earlier, the words for
―cultivatable land‖ are connected with ―water, streams, rivers, etc.,‖: e.g. jdb ―riverbank, riparian land,
shore, field, meadow, bank.‖ The nTrw are simply the ―spirits of the earth.‖ They are equivalent to the
Yoruba concept of irúnmalẹ̀: irún ―sacred‖ + m-alẹ̀ ―the earth‖ (alẹ̀/ilẹ̀ ―ground, earth‖45 + m- locative
prefix). The relationship of land with human life is so important to African people, that among the Igbo
the phrase omenàlà (o-me-n-ala) ―That which is done in the land,‖ is used to represent approved customs.
The word àlà means ―earth.‖ That which is a sin is known as nsọ àlà ―that which is abominable to Àlà‖
(and therefore prohibited) (Agdebola, 1983: 20). It is therefore a taboo.
In discussing the connection of tar to family, Downes continues in that:

To the Tiv his tar is his world and he looks out from his ityo (family group, his local tar) to the
larger ones of his clan and his tribe. pg. 24

The actual and visible tar is divided from the mystical and unseen part of it by a mysterious water
beyond which exists the vague, immaterial world of the mbatsav, the nether world where exist
good and evil, the garden of Eden perhaps, the guardian of which was a snake. It is the place from
which the tribe was driven by a mysterious enemy. pg. 22

This explains why the Akan and Ewe (and Egyptians) see rivers and lakes as the concrete manifestations
of ntoro and trɔ (nTr) respectively. The land and rivers are much more than physical objects to African
people: they are the origin point of family lineages as one‘s ancestors come through the rivers, and are
buried on those lands. The land is the ―abode of the ancestors‖ and therefore sacred (irún). As the Luo
proverb states, ―Home is where the placenta is.‖ In Africa, one is anchored where one‘s placenta is
buried.
Now we better understand the variation of km.t with the nTr (ntoro and trɔ)
determinative. We can reinterpret this variation to mean ―the ancestral land,‖ who just like the Akan
believes that the ntɔrɔ ―is inhering in a stream of pure water‖ (Agdebola, 1983: 294). We see why this
variant of km.t was present in the Book of the Dead, versus ordinary texts. The BoD is an ancestralization
manual and the reference to km.t as the ancestral land would make perfect sense in this context.

44
Ruport Major Downes. (1971). Tiv Religion. Ibadan University Press. Ibadan, Nigeria. p. 20.
45
From PWS là ―earth, below.‖

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 For the Egyptians, the ntɔrɔ (nTr) is found in the Nile River, also known as jtrw ―river,
watercourse, canal, basin, stream‖; nTry "purified, cleaned, clean, pure"; twr "cleanse, be clean, purify";
nTr "natron, soda, trona (sodium bicarbonate carbon). Moreover, the inclusion of the nTr determinative
could be a pun on the word for ―river‖ (jtrw), which would again hint to the association with km.t and
water.
When we understand the connection of ―land‖ to ―family,‖ we can better appreciate the place-
name tA-mry ―the beloved land.‖ We argue that it is not the ―beloved land,‖ but the ―Confederate Land‖ or
―Land of Family‖ (land of fraternity) by way of paronymy. The paronym would be built off Egyptian mrj
―friend‖; Yorùbá emèrè ―friend, playmate, companion‖; Hebrew mere ―friend, playmate, companion‖;
Acoli omera ―brother, son of mother‘s sister‖; Yorùbá omore ―relations‖; Ngas mwol ―brother.‖ Tshiluba-
Bantu takes us further with the following: Dya-Malelela, Cyamalela "land of righteousness, justice, and
truth;" Dya-Malela, Dya-Malanda "land of love, friendship and fraternity." We note also Tshiluba mulelà
"member of the extended family, parent" (< lela "give birth, bring forth, engender, bring into the world;
lead, cause, produce; a family, a home, to subject, to submit").
By understanding that ―land‖ and ―community, family‖ go together in African cultures, we can
better understand how the nj.wt ―town, city‖ (symbol of an irrigated land) is the root of the word
njw.tyw ―citizen, townsmen‖ (Tshiluba mu-ena/mw-ena "citizen"; mwenamwàbò(ù) ―citizen‖). The root
of nj.wt is -nj-, with -wt being the feminine plural suffix. This root is found as a suffix in PWS *-ni
"person, plural." It is found in the following ethonyms:

Fula-ni (Nigeria, Senegal, Mali)

Bir-ni (Nigeria)
Idua-ni (Nigeria)
Galdabu-ni (Niger),
Mai-ni (Niger)

and with reduction to -n:

Beni-n (Nigeria),
Iseyi-n (Nigeria),
Illori-n (Nigeria),
Mahi-n (Nigeria)

In Linear A (Greece) it occurs on the name KUDO-NI ―Cydonians‖ (see Campbell-Dunn 2006: 128). We
can imagine an ethnic group in Africa to be found with a name similar to kama-ni or kuma-ni (
km.t nj.wt).
We mentioned earlier the Tshiluba word –iikala ―to sit, to remain, be still.‖ Many of the words
for ―land‖ and ―location‖ (place) in Africa have to deal with ―sitting, standing, dwelling.‖ We mentioned
that –iikala and km.t are built off the PWS root kà, kàl ―to remain, to sit,‖ Swahili kaa ―to sit,‖ PWN KÀL
―to sit,‖ PWN KA ―home,‖ Yorùbá kalẹ̀ ―to sit down, sit on the ground, deposit,‖ ES (Eastern Sudanic):
Kenuzi, Dongola ka ―house‖, Nandi ka ―house,‖ PWS là ―earth, below‖, Avatime ká-la', Santrokofi ka-la
―under, below,‖ Mande M su-kala ―habitation.‖ By equating km.t with kala, we come to find support for
much of what we have proposed in this essay. The word kala is cognate with km.t (k=k, l=m). Like km.t,
kala means ―nation.‖ A variant of kala can be found in Kikongo as kânda ―community.‖ The variant
diKanda in Kikongo means ―extended family‖ (Tshiluba bulanda ―kinship, relationship, family
relationship).
This is a pun on the word kanda which means to ―stretch, lengthen, to bend straight‖ (<kala
―grow, mature, develop‖). The idea behind kânda as ―community‖ or ―country‖ is that it is a region where
the families ―stretch‖ or ―lengthen‖ out from its epicenter; it is an expanded family circle anchored in a
primordial founding ancestor. Remember our citation from Downes (1971: 24) concerning the Tiv: "To

Page 31 of 42
the Tiv his tar is his world and he looks out from his ityo (family group, his local tar) to the larger ones of
his clan and his tribe." The words km.t, kala/kânda and mrj represent a common theme.
The word Kânda in Kikongo is cognate with Egyptian Km.t (both contain a common root, with
different suffixes). As mentioned before, Egyptian /m/ (in k-m) often corresponds to Kikongo and
Tshiluba /l/ in the C2 position. A common sound rule in central Africa is [n+l>nd]. Therefore, kala
becomes kanda. This is the root of the country name Uganda (<Buganda, with loss of initial b
consonant). So Uganda is also cognate with km.t.
We can demonstrate this sound correspondence by examining some other terms with the root k-m in
Egyptian and comparing them with cognates in Tshiluba (Kikongo‘s neighbor).

Table 6: /m/ and /l/ [n+l>nd] correspondences in the C2 position

Egyptian ciLuba ciLuba
jkm "shield (protection Kanda Jika ―insure against,
device) (A) prevent, prohibit protect‖;
(B) refusing permission cijiKula ―curtain‖
(protective barrier)
Kandika
(A) defend, ban ngabu ―shield‖
(B) prevent
(C) censoring Kala/Kale ―violent,
robust, tough, stern,
Dikanda impenitent ‖ (that
(A) prohibit, ban which repels)

Mukandu Kalesha ―firm, hard,

(A) defense, ban harden‖
(B) prohibits
Kalesha mucima ―to
harden/strengthen
one‘s heart‖

Kosa ―stop, prevent‖

Bukale ―defeat‖
jkm "tear" (to rip jeans for Kànda Kala "cut off, chop
example) (A)Separate off, amputate, saw off,
sever, shear off"
Kandula
(A) untie Kosa ―cut, slice‖

Kangula (Kikongo) ―to

untie, to unfasten, undo,
liberate,
km "finish" Kanda ―complete, whole, Shilè(à) ―complete, be
km "complete" perfect, exact‖ used up‖;

nKum ―finished‖

Le-kela ―finished‖

Kala (Kikongo)
auxiliary verb to
express an absolute

Page 32 of 42
 perfect; bele kala ―they
have gone.‖

With this knowledge, we are justified in stating that km.t can also mean ―community‖ or ―extended
family.‖ In Kikongo, dikanda means ―extended family (<ekanda ―clan‖).‖ Km.t is a collection of nomes
or families (irrigated lands) and as we stated earlier, it is captured in one rendering of the word km.t.

kmt (diKanda) ―the extended family, collection of families‖ (reinterpretation)

Mubabinge Bilolo (2011: 62), in many respects, discusses the usage of paronymy as it regards the word
kala in Tshiluba.

Soit dit en passant, Kale signifie, en ciLuba, 1) "ancien temps, antiquite" et 2) "long, elance, de grande
taille, haut." Applique a une Nation, le nom Kale attire l'attention sur le fait que c'est la "Nation des
hommes minces, mais de grande taille." Kala signifie "antiquite, ancien," mais applique a une Nation,
il devient un nom qui sert a attirer l'attention sure le fait que c'est "nation a pigmentation noir-charbon
(= di-kala)" ou une "nation des empoisonneurs (<serpent di-kala) ou des coupeurs de tete (<kala)." Ce
nom peut aussi signifier "la cour, endroit habite (=diminutif de bula), le temple," le lieu ou habitaient
certaines Nations Ethiopiennes avant de traverser l'equateur, en direction de Monomotapa. Ajoutons
que Ngala ou Ngalula est aussi le nom d'une fille nee apres trois garcons. Le garcon ne apres trois
filles s'appellent: Ngala-Mulume. Ce nom indique que Ngala est necessairement membre d'une famille
d'au moins quatre enfants.

By the way, Kale means, in CiLuba, 1) "ancient time, antiquity" and 2) "long, slender, tall, high."
(When?) Applied to a nation, the name Kale draws attention to the fact that it is the "Nation of men
slim but large." Kala means "antiquity, old," but (also) applies to a nation; it is a name that is sure to
draw attention to the fact that this "nation has coal-black pigmentation (= di-kala)"46 or is a "nation of
poisoners (=di-kala ―snake‖) or head-hunters (<kala). The name can also mean "court (yard), where
one lives (= diminutive for bula47), the temple," [it is] the place where some Ethiopian Nations lived
before crossing the equator in the direction of Monomotapa. We should add that Ngala or Ngalula is
also the name of a girl born after three boys. The boy born after three daughters is called: Ngala-
Mulume. This name indicates that Ngala is necessarily a member of a family of at least four children.
(Bilolo, 2011: 62) (my translation)

What Bilolo informs us of here is that the ciLuba terms kala and kale are in association with a ―nation,
space.‖ It is our contention that kala is a reflex of km.t (Kikongo kânda). The Egyptian word km.t is just a
variation of the word kala/kale and this variation (a possible doublet) is also present in Egyptian as Akr
―the god Aker, the earth‖; Akrw ―the earth gods/spirits‖; Kalenjiin kōōrēēt "country, place, world, land"
(<kōōr "land, country"); Grebo kri ―farm‖; Nembe Ijo kiri ―earth‖ and Amakiri ―the earth god‖; Hebrew
‗ikker ―tiller of the soil‖; Greek Cer-es [ker-es] ―the earth god‖ (borrowing from Egyptian). As stated
previously, the /l/ sound in ciLuba (Kikongo, Lingala) corresponds with Egyptian /m/ in the secondary
position of this root. The following table will demonstrate the correspondences between the two
languages using lexemes highlighted from the citation of Bilolo above, with added support from the
Yorùbá language (where the Egyptian /m/ and ciLuba /l/ in C2 corresponds with Yorùbá /n/).

46
As Fu-Kiau (2001) points out, this association between man and charcoal is not one based on phenotypic color,
but is a philosophical association rooted in the concept that man is a living sun (which itself is metaphorically a
large burning coal) who possesses an internal fire. The burning coal is associated with this Bantu philosophy as
expressed in Imhotep (2009, 2013).
47
Egyptian pr ―house.‖

Page 33 of 42
 Table 7: k-m correspondences between Egyptian, Luba and Yorùbá
ciKam ciLuba Yorùbá
km ―piles of burning charcoal, di-kala ―coal black‖ Agin, ogan, egàn ―black‖
charcoal kiln‖ (Wb V 122) Ogunna ―charcoal‖
di-kala ―snake‖ Ògún ―in the form of a snake‖ (see
Barnes, 1997: 160, 271-275)
kmy48 = snake, a black desert cobra

Km 3tf 49 ―name of snake‖

kala ―head-hunters‖ Ògún ―god of war, iron and

hunting‖
qmAw ―soldiers,‖ [tmr gn ―warrior‖] Ìjagun ―warfare, combat‖
kale ―long, slender, tall, high‖ ga "to be high; rising much above
the ground, lofty, tall, elevated,
exalted, excellent.
qAi (A = l) ―exalted, high, be raised
on high, tall, long‖; gan, gangan "uprightly, straightly,
exactly" (Used with Osan to connote
kA ―exalted, kingship, fortune, will noon)
(of king)‖

r-km ―long‖ (Wb V 129)

kala(e) ―court, temple‖; kala ―court
(yard), where one lives‖
xm = shrine (holy of holies)

xm = shrine, holy of holies

These correspondences between Egyptian /m/ and ciLuba /l/ in the C2 position are regular and provide us
with the necessary grounds to equate ciLuba/Kikongo/Lingala kala(e) (Yorùbá egàn, ogún) with Egyptian
km.t (ciKam). Grounded firmly in the data, we note that kala ―nation‖ (Yorùbá egurè ―village, country
side‖; Arabic qura ―villages‖); kanda ―community,‖ ekanda ―clan,‖ diKanda ―extended family‖ provides
us with invaluable clues into the general meaning of the Egyptian word km.t nj.wt and supports the notion
that km.t, with no color connotation, simply means ―a place, location, nation, family of nomes, clan.‖
Given the above evidence, my new pronunciation of km.t nj.wt is CiKam-Cyena or better yet
CiKam Cyena-Ntu ―Land of the Bantu Family.‖ The word cyena derives from -ena "belonging to, the
family member of"; "owner, possessor, (s/he) who has"50; "one who takes care of, who manufactures,
sells"; "originating"; "characterized by having the quality of." See also -cyèna "to still be" (used instead of
"di-" or "-iikala"; -ena "owner, the family member of‖). The nj.wt symbol after a place-name indicates
the ―owners‖ of the land: i.e., the citizens, the families, etc. In traditional communities, the ―owners‖ of
the land were the founding families who made a covenant with the spirits of that particular locale. As time
goes on, some members of this original family move beyond the original borders to create new
settlements. This happens until there is a great number of villages in a large geographical space; all who

48
Egyptian also as qrr ―a snake.‖
49
See Worterbuch der Aegyptischen Sprache Bk V pg 130, Adolf Erman und Herman Grapow. (1971) Berlin,
Germany.
50
See Westermann (1927) PWS *-nu ―owner, agent‖ as found in the Nigerian ethnic names: Wur-nu, Bor-nu.

Page 34 of 42
are related fundamentally to the original settlers (the great ancestor/god) whom all of the royal lineages
trace their ancestry.51
Christopher Ehret, in his book The Civilizations of Africa (2002), reaffirms—in many ways—the
sentiments expressed above. In describing the Bantu conceptualization of community, Ehret notes that:

The people in such a village saw themselves as part of a mutually recognized wider grouping of
many villages, which they called *-lungu. This word derives from a proto-Bantu verb, *-lung-,
meaning ―to join by tying.‖ The metaphor encoded in the word shows that even though the earliest
Bantu people based their rights in the local village community on kinship, they saw their wider
society or ethnicity as a joining together of separate kin groups—as something mutually entered
rather than imposed by birth. (Ehret, 2002: 111-112)

As I noted in Imhotep (2013: 313), as it regards the citation from Ehret (2002):

The BLR352 database reaffirms the sentiments expressed in the excerpt above. We see reflexes in
Bantu such as: *-dùk- ―plait, braid,‖ *túng "put through, thread on string, plait, sew, tie up, build, close
(in); *tóngá "basket"; *túngá "country, village" (ciLuba musoko, diTunga "village"; ciMenga, ciHunda
"large collection of, metropolis"). We see these same associations in the ancient Egyptian language
with the word mr "to tie, to bind, fasten, be bound, join, collect, connect, bundle." It has a by-
form: mAa "rope" (at front of ship), mAa.t ―towing rope‖ (r > A). The same root is used for the
word ―mAa ―village.‖ A variation of this root could be Abt ―family‖ (metathesis;
m>b). This root is also found in the word smA ―unite, to join, associate (with), arrive (in), to sleep (with
female), combinations, assemble." It is also found in smAw "confederation, association." This allows us
to get a better meaning for the phrase smA tAwy ―the uniting of the two lands.‖ In essence, smA tAwy
or tA-mrj is really a word for ―confederation; the land of bounded families/villages; the
collective.‖ The same type of association between ―tying/binding‖ and ―family/village‖ that we see in
Bantu is present among the ancient Egyptians.

Therefore, I provide the following reinterpretations for the word km.t as written in the mdw nTr.

Table 8: Km.t nj.wt Reinterpretations

CiKam-Cyena CiKam-Cyena-MuKulu
DiKànda Dyena
―The Kemetic Family‖ ―Ancestral Land‖
―Confederacy of Extended Families‖
CiKam-Cyena-Ntu
―The United States of the Nile
―Land of the ancestral Bantu
River‖
Family‖

When we understand the fact that the O49 glyph was used exclusively to reference cities inside the
territory or tA-mry, and when we correlate nj.wt with Tshiluba -ena ―belonging to, family member of,
originating, etc.,‖ then we see clearly that smA-tAwy was a confederacy of differing African groups and
families, as evidenced by the doublets in the language of ciKam (Egyptian). Each nj.wt was a ―family
member of‖ the confederacy; each ―belonged to‖ the ―United States of the Nile Valley.‖ We are keeping
in mind that in Africa, land = family/people. The determinatives under examination speak specifically to

51
A very insightful and detailed account of this practice can be seen in the text by Dr. Anthony Ephirim-Donkor, a
traditional king of the Akan people, in his seminal work African Religion Defined: A Systematic Study of Ancestor
Worship Among the Akan, 2nd Edition. University Press of America. New York. 2013.
52
Bantu Lexical Reconstructions 3 database:
http://www.africamuseum.be/collections/browsecollections/humansciences/blr

Page 35 of 42
the ―land‖ first, and then it is symbolically associated with the people: the families who own (the people
who ―sit, rest, relax‖) on the land and maintain it.
We see an example of this among the Luo (Nilo-Saharan speakers) of Kenya. Parker Shipton, in
his text Mortgaging the Ancestors: Ideologies of Attachment in Africa (2009), speaks about a kind of
federation of clans/lineages (dhoudi; meaning ―doorways,‖ pl. of dhoot)53 called oganda; the plural form
being ogend-ni or ogendi-ni. It is similar in pronunciation and meaning to our Kikongo confederation
known as diKanda, which we argue is cognate with km.t nj.wt (ogend-ni?). Early ethnographers counted
more than thirty of these clans (Shipton, 2009: 88), and we are reminded of the 42 nomes (spA.wt) of tA-
mry. For the Luo, land is the anchor of one‘s identity. This is so because of the strong ties to ancestors
and the land for which they are buried on (the abode of the ancestors); especially since it is Luo tradition
to bury loved ones in their homesteads. In relation to land and identity, Shipton notes that:

The Luo people make it clear that they look upon graves and the old homestead sites of their
forebears as their anchors—in time, in space, and in culture and society. They do so in ways hard
for outsiders to appreciate, and to a degree not lessening over time, but indeed, if anything,
augmenting. (Shipton, 2009: 14)

The connection with land is so strong among the Luo that it is believed that the very name Luo (Lwo) is a
reflex of their word for ―land‖ or ―soil‖: lowo (pronounced like the English ‗low‘) (Ibid. 62).54
Throughout the text, we hear of land as ―mother‖ and land as ―life,‖ in political rhetoric with high stakes.
As stated in the text: ―There is nothing more serious in Luoland than someone snatching your land…Land
is life…It feeds the unborn, it feeds the living‖ (ibid. 176). A young woman from Karachuonyo and
Nairobi, once added this wry remark when explaining such Luo feelings about land and about ancestors:
―If you want to make an enemy for life, mess with a dead Luo‖ (ibid. 160). Again, these are themes we
have explored in relation to the word km.t and its usage across language families. A careful study of the
ogendni may provide insights to the structure of the kingdom of ancient tA-mry, albeit on a smaller scale.
The adoption of the names km.t and tA-mry came after the political unrest and civil war during the
first intermediate period. After the reunification of all the territories, and as the country began to pull
itself together, it had to reestablish a sense of camaraderie amongst its fellow citizens (build a sense of
family). There had to be an underlying philosophy to unify and maintain the relationships between the
nomes. It is our contention that the names tA mry and km.t were used as a north star to guide the reunited
confederacy towards its destiny. The names tA mry and km.t, we argue, in fact are the goals of the nation:
the spirit behind the unification. The names tA mry and km.t are the ontological binding agents that keep
the country together. This is the period in which we see a greater stress on the ideals and principles of
mAa.t: therefore, ―village, family.‖ It is also the time when we see the pejorative term Hsy ―wretched‖
being used to refer to foreign enemies.55 This was an act to distinguish ―us‖ form ―them.‖ In other words,
we are ―family,‖ they are ―not.‖
The leaders had to think among themselves as to what kind of spirit do we want to dwell in this
country, a country renewed in its purpose? The renewed state had to destroy the political power of the
nomarchies, while at the same time protect their cultural identities and reconcile political integration with
cultural autonomy. The renewed state then had to transform cultural autonomy and political centralism
into interlocking mutualities. The formula that was to be adopted had to be rooted in an ideal of co-
existence which recognized the simultaneous legitimacy of the cultural self-definitions developed by all

53
Dhoot ―doorway‖ can be further broken down into dho ―mouth‖ + ot ―house‖ = ―mouth of the house.‖ Compare
dho with Coptic ro ―mouth.‖
54
Compare with Yoruba alẹ̀/ilẹ̀ ―land, earth‖; Igbo alà/anì ―land, earth.‖
55
See the discussion titled ―Xsy (khesy)/"Wretched": Anatomy of a Foreign Relations Concept‖ by Dr. Mario
Beatty: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6KKsbNxrfk. Then my article on my website titled, ―New Insights into
the Egyptian Word Xsy ‗Wretched‘ Through the Yoruba Language‖:
https://www.asarimhotep.com/index.php/articles/63-new-insights-into-the-egyptian-word-xsy-wretched-through-
the-yoruba-language.

Page 36 of 42
of the nomes, as did the famous Tshaka-Zulu when he was faced with the unification of the Nguni tribes
in South Africa under a similar set of circumstances as in ancient Egypt during the First Intermediate
Period. This renewed state (km.t) had to develop a consensus based on interlocking reciprocities (mAa.t).
By forming the nation-state, it guaranteed the security and protected the identity of each nomarchic group.
By surrendering the individual nomarchic sovereignty, the state was able to maximize the collective
sovereignty (t.Km/Km.t = Tshiluba shikama (⇒badila) budishikamine(a) "independence, freedom,
sovereignty [political]‖; dishikamina "be autonomous, independent‖). This gave the larger state the ability
to create the conditions in which the citizen could be equipped, enabled and seen to realize the promise of
being human (mAa.t). The aim of translating this ideal into experience is what is responsible for the name
adoption of km.t and tA mry.

Ancestrally,

Asar Imhotep
Madu-Ndela Institute for the Advancement of Science and Culture
Email: info@asarimhotep.com

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Websites

Beinlich Egyptian Online Dictionary

http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/er/beinlich/beinlich.html (German)

Canaanite Dictionary
http://canaanite.org/

Dictionnaire ciLuba
http://www.ciyem.ugent.be/ (French)

Dogon Dictionaries
http://www.dogonlanguages.org

Kalenjiin Online Dictionary

http://africanlanguages.com/kalenjin/

Kinyarwanda Dictionary
http://www.freelang.net/dictionary/kinyarwanda.php

Kiswahili
http://africanlanguages.com/swahili/index.phpl=en

Luganda Dictionary
http://www.gandaancestry.com/dictionary/dictionary.php

Meeussen‘s Proto-Bantu Reconstructions

http://linguistics.berkeley.edu/CBOLD/Docs/Meeussen.html

Online Etymological Dictionary (OED)

http://www.etymonline.com

Proto-SBB (P. Boyeldieu, P. Nougayrol & P. Palayer 2004); La liste de Swadesh pour le proto-SBB (Sara-Bongo-
Bagirmi, branche Soudan Central des langues Nilo-Sahariennes)
http://sumale.vjf.cnrs.fr/NC/Public/pdf/swadesh_SBB.pdf

isiNdebele Dictionary
http://africanlanguages.com/ndebele/

Sesotho sa Leboa Dictionary

http://africanlanguages.com/sdp/

Setswana Dictionary
http://africanlanguages.com/setswana/

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Sheng-English Dictionary
http://africanlanguages.com/swahili/sheng/index.php?l=en

The General Shona Dictionary

http://www.dokpro.uio.no/allex/gsd.html

Tower of Babel (TOB)

http://starling.rinet.ru/

Wikipedia
http://www.wikipedia.com

Yorùbá Dictionary
http://www.Yorùbádictionary.com/

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