The offering formula

The "blessed dead" (those who passed the "weighing of the heart" in the halls of Maat) were thought to
live eternally in a paradise with the gods. However, they did not like to be unprepared and so their tombs
were equipped with clothing, games and furniture as well as food and drink. Offerings were presented to
the images of gods in order to nourish and sustain them, and the Egyptians also believed that the deceased
could derive sustenance from offerings presented to them. Offerings were brought into the chapel of the
tomb and presented in front of the false door.

The simplest style of offering table was a reed mat with a loaf of bread on it. This became the symbol
"htp" ("hotep" or "hetep") which represented either an altar or the offering itself and was used in words
such as "hotep" - to be pleased or satisfied. Even when the reed mat was replaced by a stone offering table
during the Old Kingdom the altar was often created in the shape of a reed mat and bread loaf or had the
symbol carved on its design. The offering tables were carved with images of typical offerings, such as
bread, beer, meat and ducks. If the family no longer made offerings at the table, it was thought that the
images of the offerings would sustain the deceased. Reciting the "offering formula" could also substitute
for a real offering.

The "offering formula" was the principal inscription on the False Door from the Early dynastic period and
was popular until the end of the Greco-Roman period. It was also applied to coffins, funerary stelae,
paintings, jewellery and amulets.

The formula
The first of the standard elements is the phrase "Htp Di nsw" (hotep di nisu), which is translated as "A gift
(offering) which the king gives". The offering was always described as being from the king even if it was
destined for a common burial. This was because the King was the spokesman for each person with the
gods, so every offering was made in his name.
 Htp Di nsw
a gift which the king gives

Next the formula confirms the name of the god who will receive the gift. The earliest examples (from
the fourth dynastyonly refer to Anubis, but Osiris (sometimes in the form of Khentiamentiu) soon became
a popular recipient of offerings. From the New Kingdom other gods such as Amun were occasionally
named in the formula. The name of the god is often followed by one of his (or her) epithets. For example,
"Osiris, Lord of Djedu" or "Anubis, who is on his mountain" (referring to the cliffs above the cemetery).

The next phrase is "Di-f prt-hrw". "Di-f" is a future form of the verb "to give" and is translated as "so that
he will give", while "prt-hrw" is translated as "a voice offering". The sign for the latter term includes the
symbols for bread and beer even if they are not amongst the offerings, and the whole symbol represents
any ritual offering.

Di-f prt-hrw
so that he will give a voice offering

This phrase confirms that speaking the offering formula will allow the deceased to gain access to the
offerings listed after it. Offerings are often listed by abbreviation as they tended to be fairly standardized.

Common offerings
Finally, the formula notes the name of the deceased who will receive the offerings. The deceased is
referred to as imAh(the revered one) and mA-hrw (true of voice, referring to the justified dead who have
passed the trials in the hall of Maat). From the Twelth Dynasty the epithet imAh was usually preceded by
the phrase n-kA-n (for the ka of)

n-ka-n-imAh
for the ka of the revered ...

Examples

Htp di nsw (n) Asir nb Ddw nTr 'A nb AbDw di=f prt-hrw t Hnqt kA Apd shs mnht ht nb(t) nfr(t) wb(t)
nht nTr im n kA imAh(y) ky

An offering which the King gives (to) Osiris, Lord of Djedu, great God, Lord of Abydos, so that he may
give a voice offering (in) bread, beer, ox, fowl, alabaster, linen, everything good and pure on which a god
lives for the Ka of the revered one Key

Htp di nsw (n) Asir nb imn.t tA-nTr nb AbDw pr.t-hrw 1000 kA.w Apd.w h.t nb(.t) nfr(.t) wab(.t) n
imAhj hr inpw tp(j) Dw=f sDAw.tj bi.tj smr wa.tj imjrA aXn.tjw s-n-wsr.t mAa-xrw

An offering that the king gives (to) Osiris, the Lord of the West of Ta-Netjer, the Lord of Abydos, 1000
voice offerings of bulls and birds and every good and pure thing, on behalf of the one who is venerable
with Anubis, who is upon his mountain, the royal seal-bearer, the sole friend (of the king), the overseer of
the royal audience room, Senuseret, true of voice.
 Names in Ancient Egypt
Names were chosen with care to represent an individual's personality, their devotion to a particular god or
location, or to reflect the times in which they lived. The simplest names were nouns or adjectives, such as
Neferet ("beautiful woman"), User ("strong") or Nedjem ("Sweet"). Others took the form of statements
such as Ptahhotep, ("Ptah is satisfied"), Tutankhamun ("the living image of Amun"), or Hatshepsut
("foremost of noble ladies"). Some names ran in the family (Djau, a sixth dynasty vizier, had at least five
brothers who shared his name). It was common to apply an epithet to help distinguish people with the
same name, such as Aa ("great" or eldest) Hery-ib (the one in the middle) and Nedjes ("small" or
youngest). Similarly, people often included the name of their father (the epithet Ir-en meant "of his body")
or mother (the epithet Mes-en meant "born of").

Nicknames and abbreviations were also common in ancient

Egypt. "Meryamun", "Merypath" and "Meryneith" were all
abbreviated to "Mery" while "Nefertiti" was often shortened
to Tiy. Nicknames such as Tahemet ("Queenie") were
common while others (such as "Kyky" meaning monkey)
seem to have been very personal. Ramesses' troops called
him by the nickname Sese, "the vanquisher".

The Egyptians believed that if you knew something's name,

you had power over it. If you wrote the name of a dangerous
animal or evil spirit on pottery and smashed it you were
symbolically killing the evil. So called "execration texts"
have been discovered all over Egypt particularly near burial
areas. All Egyptians were given a secret name at birth by the
gods which was never disclosed so that no-one could do
them harm.

A person's name could be changed under certain circumstances. For example Seti ("man of Seth")
changed his name to "man of Osiris" in his temple to that god to avoid causing offence (as Osiris was
murdered by Set). An excerpt from aNew Kingdom trial names the accused as Mesedsure ("Re hates
him"), Bim-em-Wase ("evil in Thebes") and Pa-neck ("the serpent"). Clearly these were not their birth
names; their names were corrupted because they were accused of a terrible crime, attempting to murder
the Pharaoh Ramesses 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.

The pharaohs of Ancient Egypt did not restrict themselves to simple names. Most Pharaohs are known to
us by their birth names but the kings lists use their throne names. For example, Ramesses the Great's birth
name was Ra-messes Mery-Amun ("born of Re, beloved of Amun"), but the kings lists record his throne
name User-Maat-Re Setep-en-Re ("the justice/truth of Re is powerful, Chosen by Re"). Until the Fourth
Dynasty Pharaohs only really used one name, but by the Middle Kingdom they had five including the
Nebty (Two Ladies) name, the Golden Horus Name, a Prenomen and Nomen (written in the cartouche)
and a birth name (written in a serekh).
 The Gods' Names
The gods names are listed according to their Egyptian spelling. For example, the god Amun is listed as
"imn" following the standard transliteration of the signs. For further information on this practice, check
out the tutorials on the mainHieroglyphs page, the pronunciation guide or Gardiners sign list.

Click on the letter to view the hieroglyphs, or click on the god's name to visit their page.

' and A i and y p

Akr (Aker) ikn (Aken) ptH (Ptah)
Asr (Osiris) imiut(Imiut)
Ast (Isis) imntt (Amentet)
imn (Amun)
mHh (Am-heh) imn-r (Amum-Re)
mmt (Ammit) inhr (Anhur or Onuris) r
ntit (Anat) inhrt (Anhur)
ndjti (Andjety) inhr (Anhur) rnnt (Renenutet)
App (Apep or Apothis) inpw (Anubis) rnnwtt (Renenutet)
inp (Anubis) rnpt (Renpet)
itn (Aten) rshpu (Reshep)
itm (Atum)

b
bAst (Bast) s and S(sh)
bAstt (Bast) k and K(q)
bAt (Bat) shmt (Sekhmet)
bAnbDd (Banebdjed) KbHut (Kebeshet) srqt (Serqet)
bs (Bes) SS-t (Sheshat)
Kdsh (Qadesh) st (Set)
kkw (Kuk) swt (Set)
kkw-t (Kuaket) sty (Set)
stkh (Set)
d and D(dj) stjit (Satet)
stt (Satet)
DHtwy (Thoth)
m
mAHs (Maahes)
mAHs (Maahes) t and T(tj)
g mA't (Ma'at)
mAAHAf (Maahaf) tAyt (Tayet)
gb (Geb) mn (Min) tfnwt (Tefnut)
mnhyt (Menhet) tjnnt (Tjenenet)
mntj (Montu)
mrtsgr (Meretseger)
mrsgr (Meretseger)
h, and H mshnt (Meskhenet)
mwt (Mut) w or u
hatmHyt (Hatmehyt) mwt (Mut)
hr (Horus) wD-t (Wadjet)
hwt-hr (Hathor) wpwAwt (Wepw
H'py (Hapi)
H'py (Hapi)
HsAt (Hesat) n
HsAt (Hesat)
nbthwt (Nephthys)
nbthwt (Nephthys)
nfrtm (Nefertum)
h nhbt (Nekhbet)
nnt (Naunet)
hnty-imntw (Khentiamentiu) nn (Nun)
hpri (Khepri) nt (Neith)
hrt (Kherty) nt (Neith)
hnm (Khnum) nwt (Nut)
hnmu (Khnum)
hnsw (Khonsu)