Ptah has been the main god of the ancient Egyptian state since its unification. The unity of the pharaoh and the god is clearly manifested in one of the names of Ptah—“Ptah, south of his wall,” where the word “the walls” is the name of the royal fortress, which played the role of the first capital of the unified state. It is with this name of Ptah that the phrase “Ankhtawy” is associated. Many Egyptologists have arrived at the conclusion that the name Ankhtawy served as a designation of necropolis. However, this meaning does not explain many facts connected with the term’s use in texts. The author draws the conclusion that Ankhtawy is the poetic name of the First Nome of Lower Egypt, the domain of the god Ptah. In a more comprehensive sense, the term served as the poetic name of the area under dominion of the god Ptah.
Egypt; religious beliefs; gods; Ptah; Ankhtawy; administrative division; toponyms
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