Talk:Nebra (pharaoh)

Untitled
His name actually came from the name of the god Ra, also sometimes written Re, thus giving his name a meaning 'The Son of Ra'. His name Raneb translates as "Ra is the Lord". What that means? What his name means? "The Son of Ra" or "Ra is the Lord"?--93.139.84.196 (talk) 17:34, 24 July 2009 (UTC)

I believe his name should be read Nebra (honorific transposition) which could mean 'Lord of the sun' or Raneb 'Ra is my Lord' / 'Ra is the Lord' but certainly not 'Son of Ra'. The debate is still open as to which translation is the correct one, since the sun is worshipped as a God from the early 3rd dynasty onward and not before. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.110.182.62 (talk) 19:42, 14 March 2012 (UTC)

For consistency with the latest readings, the pharaoh's name is now 'Nebra' throughout the page. The origin and differences between the readings Nebra and Raneb are explained in the page. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Iry-Hor (talk • contribs) 22:14, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

cartouche
I'm not exactly well versed on Egyptology, but the cartouche of Raneb looks remarkably like three erect penises. Does anyone know the story behind this depiction and why? This is a serious question. Dinky town  talk  10:55, 25 January 2014 (UTC)
 * The three phalli point to the sacred Apis-bull. Therefore, the cartouche name reads "Kakau" and means "Ka of the (Apis-)bull". Indeed, the name is problematic. Contemporary inscriptions from Raneb's lifetime never use any phallus-sign. Thus, it is unknown on which name or title the name "Kakau" was based. An idea of mine is that, that the weneg-flower, which is now connected to Raneb, might have had the reading "Kakau" and the ramesside cartouche was nothing but a onomatopoeic representation of the weneg-flower. Regards;--Nephiliskos (talk) 12:05, 25 January 2014 (UTC)
 * Thank you Nephiliskos for your response and answer. Your theory sounds plausible. I imagine that I'm making a common mistake that Egyptian hieroglyphs are translated word-for-word into any modern language and wondering how Raneb's cartouche could have been translated from that script. If you have any sources to cite your theory, it would go far in shedding light on that issue. Thank you. Dinky town  talk  05:57, 26 January 2014 (UTC)
 * Linguists investigating egyptian hieroglyphs of early times, including Ludwig David Morenz and Bernadette Menu, call for caution about the reading of ruler's names. Egyptologist Walter Bryan Emery also points out, that the reading of the weneg-flower is disputed. My theory is based on Morenz and Menu. We must always keep in mind that (like Morenz points out) the Egyptians of ramesside era wrote and read an advanced and worked-over form of Egyptian. The egyption hieroglyphs underwent several "spelling reforms" (as we of today would call it). A very good example of that is the ram-hieroglyph. From dynasty0 to dynasty3 it was read "ser", meaning "begetter", "ram" or "sheep". but in the 3rd dynasty its reading changed into "ba", meaning "soul". In case of the weneg-flower it might be the same. Since no real bull-depiction/-sign was ever involved in Raneb's names and titles, the ramesside cartouche name "kakau" may have nothing to do with the apis-bull - just being the onomatopoeic representation of the weneg-flower. Regards; --Nephiliskos (talk) 19:24, 26 January 2014 (UTC)