Pharaohs were the rulers, but what were their spouses called? Their children?

by VaporwaveVoyager
Bentresh

As a heads up, this is a great candidate for the Short Answers to Simple Questions thread since it's a pretty straightforward question.

The word for the ruler of Egypt was nswt (𓇓𓏏𓈖), usually translated as "king." The term Pharaoh comes from Egyptian pr-'ꜣ (literally "great house"), a term for the palace which was also used for the king by the late New Kingdom. We use similar figures of speech with government buildings today (e.g. "The White House announced...," "Downing Street will be doing...").

Virtually all other royal titles are relational and refer to the individual's relationship to the king. The most common terms:

  • ḥmt-nswt, "wife of the king" = ḥmt, "wife" (𓈞𓏏) + nswt

  • ḥmt-nswt wrt, "Great Royal Wife" = ḥmt + nswt + wrt, "great" (𓅨𓏏)

  • mwt-nswt, "mother of the king" = mwt, "mother" (𓅐𓏏) + nswt

  • sꜣ-nswt, "son of the king" = sꜣ, "son" (𓅭) + nswt

  • sꜣt-nswt, "daughter of the king" = sꜣt, "daughter" (𓅭𓏏) + nswt

  • snt-nswt, "sister of the king" = snt, "sister" (𓌢𓈖𓏏) + nswt

Curiously, it-nswt ("father of the king") and sn-nswt ("brother of the king") are virtually absent from the Egyptian textual record.