Nebty ("two ladies") name

The nebty name (lit. "two ladies") was associated with the so-called "heraldic" goddesses of Upper and Lower Egypt:

• Nekhbet, patron deity of Upper Egypt, represented by a vulture, and
• Wadjet, patron deity of Lower Egypt, represented by a cobra.

The name is first definitively used by the First Dynasty pharaoh Semerkhet, though it only became a fully independent title by the Twelfth Dynasty.

This particular name was not typically framed by a cartouche or serekh, but always begins with the hieroglyphs of a vulture and cobra resting upon two baskets, the dual noun "nebty".

Horus of Gold

Also known as the Golden Horus Name, this form of the pharaoh's name typically featured the image of a Horus falcon perched above or beside the hieroglyph for gold.

The meaning of this particular title has been disputed. One belief is that it represents the triumph of Horus over his uncle Seth, as the symbol for gold can be taken to mean that Horus was "superior to his foes". Gold was also strongly associated in the ancient Egyptian mind with eternity, so this may have been intended to convey the pharaoh's eternal Horus name.

Like the Nebty name, this particular name was not typically framed by a cartouche or serekh. It always begins with the depiction of the horus falcon perched above a representation of the sun.

Throne name (praenomen)

Praenomen of the Cartouche of Thutmose II preceded by Sedge and Bee symbols, Temple of Hatshepsut, Luxor

The pharaoh's throne name, the first of the two names written inside a cartouche, and usually accompanied the title nesu-bity, "King of Upper and Lower Egypt"; the epithet neb tawy, "Lord of the Two Lands", referring to valley and delta regions of Egypt, often occurs as well. In some literature it is often stated that nesu-bity literally means "He of the Sedge and Bee" (Allen 1999). Others think that the two words are related to other Afro-Asiatic words (in particular, Berber languages) meaning "strong man", "ruler", and the like (Schneider 1993).

This form of the name first came to prominence at the end of the Third Dynasty, and later would become the most important official title of the king.

Personal name (nomen)

This was the name given to the crown prince at birth. The name itself was preceded by the title "Son of Ra", written with the hieroglyph of a duck (za), a homonymza), adjacent to an image of the sun, a hieroglyph for the chief solar deity Ra. It was first introduced to the set of royal titles in the Fourth Dynasty and emphasizes the king's role as a representative of the solar god Ra. for the word meaning "son" (

Modern historians typically refer to the ancient kings of Egypt by this name, adding ordinals (e.g. "II", "III") to distinguish between different individuals bearing the same name.

Examples of the full titulary

In the Middle Kingdom, the full titulary was sometimes written in a single cartouche, as in this example from Senusret I, from Beni Hasan.

Thutmose III in hieroglyphs
serekh or Horus name
Nebty name
Golden Horus name
praenomen or throne name
nomen or birth name

The full titulary of Eighteenth Dynasty pharaoh Thutmose III, providing a guide to pronunciation and its equivalent meaning, is as follows

• Horus name: Kanakht Khaemwaset (Horus Mighty Bull, Arising in Thebes)
• nebty name: Wahnesytmireempet (He of the Two Ladies, Enduring in kingship like Re in heaven)
• Horus of Gold: Sekhempahtydsejerkhaw (Horus of Gold Powerful of strength, Sacred of appearance)
• praenomen: Menkheperre (He of the Sedge and the Bee, Enduring of form is Re)
• nomen: Thutmose Neferkheperu (Son of Ra, Thutmose, beautiful of forms)