Pa (Ancient Egypt)
| Pa in hieroglyphics | ||||
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Pa p3 der, die, das |
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The ancient Egyptian article term Pa had in the Egyptian language the meaning of, die, das .
Originally, the use of Pa in the Old Kingdom was considered a sign of lower origin, which is why the article was neither used by the royal family nor by the upper classes of the population. In German usage, for example, the word tut experiences a similar valuation when it is said in colloquial language: You don't do that . In the Old Kingdom, Pa was seen as a devaluation of a person or thing and amounted to an insult.
In the Middle Kingdom , however, the term Pa slowly began to establish itself in normal language usage, which led a gentleman to the following statement: In my life I was free from this Pa-saga .
From the early New Kingdom onwards , the use of Pa made its way into the everyday language of the Egyptians. Even the kings now used the previously reviled word. In Egyptology , due to the use or non-use of the Pa term, a dating can be made that allows a chronological assignment of ancient Egyptian texts.
literature
- Alexandra von Lieven : Floor plan of the course of the stars - the so-called groove book. The Carsten Niebuhr Institute of Ancient Eastern Studies (among others), Copenhagen 2007, ISBN 978-87-635-0406-5 .