DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1167#0324
Appendix 9 Modern Egyptian toponyms of Pre-Arabic origin
A good number of modern Egyptian toponyms are of Pre-Arabic, i.e. Egypto-Coptic or
Greek origin. The following is a list of important towns of modern Egypt bearing Pre-
Arabic names. The towns are arranged from north to south. The Arabic script is tran-
scribed by the same conventions as in appendix 8. Most Coptic name forms are taken
from Timm (1984-1992).
spoken
Arabic
written
Arabic
Coptic
comment on the etymology
Damyat
J,Lo
TdJWdcf et
var.
This name is not attested prior to Coptic. The
etymology is uncertain, cf. Vycichl (ig83: 215).
Plskan-
dariyya
^-L/J T Vntr
From Greek ' AXdjoivSpEia, named after Alexander the
Great. The form of Classical Arabic is al(-)iskan-
dariyya, but al- was reanalyzed as a definite article and
is frequently omitted in the spoken language today. The
Coptic name of the town is different (p&KOT£).
Daman-
hnr
^>^J
20)p et var.
This certainly goes back to *p>-dmj-n-hrw, "the town of
Horus (god)". While this name does appear as a
toponym in Ptolemaic Egypt (Westendorf 1965/77:
479), its identification with the actual town TXTlAlri^P
is uncertain.
Saman-
rwd
jj^f
et var.
tb-ntr (since Dynasty 25), literally "... of the god", the
interpretation of tb being doubtful. The ancient Greeks
adopted this name as EepewuToq. It appears that the
Arabic form is based on this rather than on the Coptic
form (thus already Worrell 1934: 74f.). The name of
the surrounding nome, already attested in the Old
Kingdom, is written with a logogram that is perhaps to
be read tb-ntr as well. See Montet (1957-1961, 1: io3f.).
Faqtts
u^k
-
Not attested in Coptic, but found as OaKoixra in Anci-
ent Greek. I cannot propose an etymology of this name.
Minttf
ij9>^
n&no's-H
et var.
pr-nbw, literally "house of gold". This name is first
attested in Dynasty 25 (Piye stela 3 = Grimal 1981: 5*
and note 18 on p. 16). Identification with n&NOTTf by
Daressy (1912: 20df.).
Banhu
Irt
JI&N&20
et var.
Not attested before Coptic. The etymology is obscure.
The derivation from pr-nh.t cited by Czapkiewicz (1971:
44) is impossible (nh.t "sycamore" = Coptic NO'B'o.e).
Bilbes
y*l?
$e?vBHC et
var.
A further etymology is not known.
PAsmUn
O-J***'
eAOTTAI
A further etymology is not known.
Qalyub
*-JJ^
KdvMWne
et var.
From the Greek proper name KaXXiojtn. It is not un-
common for late Egyptian place names to be identical
to proper names. It is to be understood "the town of...".
324
A good number of modern Egyptian toponyms are of Pre-Arabic, i.e. Egypto-Coptic or
Greek origin. The following is a list of important towns of modern Egypt bearing Pre-
Arabic names. The towns are arranged from north to south. The Arabic script is tran-
scribed by the same conventions as in appendix 8. Most Coptic name forms are taken
from Timm (1984-1992).
spoken
Arabic
written
Arabic
Coptic
comment on the etymology
Damyat
J,Lo
TdJWdcf et
var.
This name is not attested prior to Coptic. The
etymology is uncertain, cf. Vycichl (ig83: 215).
Plskan-
dariyya
^-L/J T Vntr
From Greek ' AXdjoivSpEia, named after Alexander the
Great. The form of Classical Arabic is al(-)iskan-
dariyya, but al- was reanalyzed as a definite article and
is frequently omitted in the spoken language today. The
Coptic name of the town is different (p&KOT£).
Daman-
hnr
^>^J
20)p et var.
This certainly goes back to *p>-dmj-n-hrw, "the town of
Horus (god)". While this name does appear as a
toponym in Ptolemaic Egypt (Westendorf 1965/77:
479), its identification with the actual town TXTlAlri^P
is uncertain.
Saman-
rwd
jj^f
et var.
tb-ntr (since Dynasty 25), literally "... of the god", the
interpretation of tb being doubtful. The ancient Greeks
adopted this name as EepewuToq. It appears that the
Arabic form is based on this rather than on the Coptic
form (thus already Worrell 1934: 74f.). The name of
the surrounding nome, already attested in the Old
Kingdom, is written with a logogram that is perhaps to
be read tb-ntr as well. See Montet (1957-1961, 1: io3f.).
Faqtts
u^k
-
Not attested in Coptic, but found as OaKoixra in Anci-
ent Greek. I cannot propose an etymology of this name.
Minttf
ij9>^
n&no's-H
et var.
pr-nbw, literally "house of gold". This name is first
attested in Dynasty 25 (Piye stela 3 = Grimal 1981: 5*
and note 18 on p. 16). Identification with n&NOTTf by
Daressy (1912: 20df.).
Banhu
Irt
JI&N&20
et var.
Not attested before Coptic. The etymology is obscure.
The derivation from pr-nh.t cited by Czapkiewicz (1971:
44) is impossible (nh.t "sycamore" = Coptic NO'B'o.e).
Bilbes
y*l?
$e?vBHC et
var.
A further etymology is not known.
PAsmUn
O-J***'
eAOTTAI
A further etymology is not known.
Qalyub
*-JJ^
KdvMWne
et var.
From the Greek proper name KaXXiojtn. It is not un-
common for late Egyptian place names to be identical
to proper names. It is to be understood "the town of...".
324