Ancient Egypt: The Real Ancient Deity Names And Place Names

Most people know locations in Egypt by the Greek names or Arabic names not the original names. Here are some of the original names:

Ancient Names of deities (the neteru):

Ausar is the ancient Egyptian name of Osiris; ancestor of Egyptian souls and spirit of death and resurrection associated with reptiles, grain, trees, animals, birds etc. related to the cycle of moons. Moon is related to women’s menstrual cycle and fertility. Osiris is the Greek form of the word that was pronounced by the Egyptians and others as Usiri, Usri, User, Asar, Ausar, or Asari.

Auset is the ancient Egypt name of Isis.

Het-Heru is the original ancient Egypt name of Hathor, the mother of the Pharaohs and “Lady of Ta-Seti”,

Thoth - his real ancient name was “Tehuti”. Thoth was the Egyptian God of writing, wisdom and magic. He was associated with order and justice and was an advisor and mediator to the Gods. Patron of the scribes, his female counterpart was Seshat, Goddess of writing and keeper of books, Thoth created language and Seshat gave his words to the People.

Bes - the ancient Egyptian dwarf god (neter), helper of women in childbirth, control over spiritual and physical environment.

"Hotep" is a term that originates from ancient Egyptian culture and means "peace" or "to be at peace."

Ancient Place Names within Egypt:

Memphis was called “Men-nefer”

Napa-Ta: May mean holy land.

Aswan was called “Sunt”

Thebes had two names. It was called Ta Apet; meaning The Fertile/ Good Land. It was also called “Waset”, meaning the seat (of the king/leader).

Semna near the third cataract built by King Senwasret III

Hermopolis was called “Khmunu”

Heliopolis was called “Onnu”

Nekhen, also known as Hierakonpolis, was one of the earliest and most important cities in ancient Egypt. In ancient Egyptian, "Nekhen" is often associated with the deity Horus. It was a significant religious and political center, and the name "Nekhen" is sometimes translated as "City of the Hawk" or "City of the Falcon," linking it symbolically to the falcon god Horus. The city played a crucial role in early Egyptian history, and it was associated with the worship of Horus, particularly in his form as Horus of Nekhen.

Upper Egypt was called Ta Shemau (the land of reeds) not Lower Nubia by the ancient Egyptians. Lower Egypt was called Ta Mehu (the land of papyrus).

The ancient Egyptians had up to 40 names for places within Africa, due to trade and diplomatic contacts with the rest of Africa.

Chad was called Ta-akhetiu (land of the horizon), Ta-Seti (Upper Nubia), Libya was “Meshwesh”, Shekelesh was either Algeria or Morocco, Punt (Tigray/ Eritrea), Irjet and Ta-Netjer were locations in North Sudan.

Although, these examples provide valuable insights into ancient Egyptian culture and nomenclature, also do your own research.