Ren

Ren

The secret soul-name, the part which embodied the "spiritual essence" of the individual. A person's true name, a vital part to the person on their journey through life and the afterlife. It is a being's //Ren// that contains its uniqueness and distinction, setting it apart from all others. The goddess Renenutet was thought to give children their //Ren// with their mother’s milk. Naming ceremonies in Egypt were secret, and a child lived their whole life with a nickname to avoid anyone from learning their true name. Most people had only one or two names, but pharaohs had dozens of "king-names," each relating to a important event or religious function.

To the Egyptians naming a thing made it real, definable and part of the temporal world. To know the true name of a person, entity, or god was to have power over them, for the name contained its owner's complete identity and being. For this reason each god had a secret name which embodied their power and individuality. This is clearly implied in the legend of Isis and Ra, in which the goddess tricks Ra into revealing his real name to her - Isis gains the ability to stop the sun-god during his daily journey across the sky, and the power to have him grant any of her requests. As a result we find that many of the known deity names are titles more than actual names. For example, Hathor translates as "House of Horus," Nekhbet translates as "She of Nekhb," Isis as "Throne," and so on. Each of these give us a clue into the nature of the deity being referenced, yet in themselves they are not names so much as titles. Unfortunately we may never know their true names - this secret knowledge was reserved for the priesthood and was never written down.

Nicknames and abbreviations were common in ancient Egypt. Meryamun, Merypath, and Meryneith were all abbreviated to "Mery," while Nefertiti was often shortened to "Tiy." Ramses II's troops called him by the nickname //Sese//, "The Vanquisher." A person's name could be changed under certain circumstances. For example Seti ("Man of Set") changed his name to "Man of Osiris" in his temple to that god to avoid causing offense (as Osiris was murdered by Set). Many names could be used by both males and females, and in these instances, an identifier, such as a hieroglyphic man or woman, was appended to the name in order to make it masculine or feminine. However, "et" on the end of a name, or sometimes in the middle of it, appears to have been a feminine identifier, and "pa-sheri" (masculine) or "ta-sherit" (feminine) was somewhat similar to the equivalent of "Junior" today.

The Egyptians believed that the spirit of the deceased would live for as long as that name was spoken, which explains why efforts were made to protect it and the practice of placing it in numerous writings. Inscriptions on tombs and stela begged passerby to read the deceased's name aloud, so that they may live again. According to the Book of the Dead, "with thy Name thou shalt never perish, thou shalt never, never come to an end." A cartouche was often used to surround the name and protect it. In the case of the king lists inscribed on the walls of temples and tombs, the cult of the royal ancestor was celebrated by writing out the cartouches of past rulers. Conversely, the names of deceased enemies of the state, such as the hieratic pharaoh Akhenaten, were hacked out of monuments in attempts to obliterate their memory and soul.

An excerpt from a New Kingdom trial names the accused as Mesedsure ("Ra Hates Him"), Bim-em-Wase ("Evil in Thebes"), and Pa-neck ("The Viper.") Clearly these were not their birth names; their names were corrupted because they were accused of a terrible crime, attempting to murder the Pharaoh Ramses III. The king's son was also involved in the plot, and was re-named Pentware ("The Fugitive") suggesting that he left Egypt to avoid being charged with attempted patricide.

Parts of the Soul