# Θῆβαι
## Ancient Greek
### Etymology 1

From Ionic-Attic Θήβη (Thḗbē), from Mycenaean Greek 𐀳𐀣 (te-qa /⁠tʰēgʷā⁠/), from Proto-Hellenic *tʰēgʷā.

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /tʰɛ̂ː.bai̯/ → /ˈθi.βɛ/ → /ˈθi.ve/
* (5th BCE Attic) IPA: /tʰɛ̂ː.bai̯/
* (1st CE Egyptian) IPA: /ˈtʰe̝.bɛ/
* (4th CE Koine) IPA: /ˈθi.βɛ/
* (10th CE Byzantine) IPA: /ˈθi.ve/
* (15th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA: /ˈθi.ve/

#### Proper noun

Θῆβαι • (Thêbai) f pl (genitive Θηβῶν); first declension
* Thebes, the name of a city in Boeotia
** 800 BCE – 600 BCE, Homer, Iliad 6.222-223:Τυδέα δ’ οὐ μέμνημαι, ἐπεί μ’ ἔτι τυτθὸν ἐόντα / κάλλιφ’, ὅτ’ ἐν Θήβῃσιν ἀπώλετο λαὸς Ἀχαιῶν.Tudéa d’ ou mémnēmai, epeí m’ éti tutthòn eónta / kálliph’, hót’ en Thḗbēisin apṓleto laòs Akhaiôn.1990 translation by Robert FaglesMy father, Tydeus, I really don't remember. I was just a baby when father left me then, that time an Achaean army went to die at Thebes.

##### Derived terms

* Θήβησι (Thḗbēsi)
* Θήβαζε (Thḗbaze)
* Θηβαῖος (Thēbaîos)
* Θηβαγενής (Thēbagenḗs)
* Θηβαϊκός (Thēbaïkós)
* Θηβαΐς (Thēbaḯs)

##### Descendants

* → Arabic: طِيبَة (ṭība)
* → Basque: Tebas
* → Breton: Thebai
* → Bulgarian: Тива (Tiva)
* → Catalan: Tebes
* → Czech: Théby
* → Danish: Theben
* → Dutch: Thebe
* → English: Thebes
* → Esperanto: Tebo
* → Estonian: Teeba
* → Finnish: Theba
* → French: Thèbes
* → Galician: Tebas
* → German: Theben
* Greek: Θήβα (Thíva)
* → Hebrew: תבאי
* → Hungarian: Thébai
* → Italian: Tebe
* → Japanese: テーバイ (Tēbai)
* → Korean: 테베 (tebe)
* → Latin: Thebae
* → Lithuanian: Tėbai
* → Norwegian: Theben
* → Polish: Teby
* → Portuguese: Tebas
* → Romanian: Teba
* → Russian: Фи́вы (Fívy)
* → Serbo-Croatian: Теба, Teba
* → Slovak: Téby
* → Slovene: Tebe
* → Spanish: Tebas
* → Swedish: Thebe
* → Turkish: Tebai
* → Welsh: Thebai

### Etymology 2

From Egyptian Demotic tꜣ-jpy (“Thebes”, literally “the temple”), from earlier Egyptian tꜣ (“the”) +
(jpt, “Luxor”, literally “inner sanctum”).

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /tʰɛ̂ː.bai̯/ → /ˈθi.βɛ/ → /ˈθi.ve/
* (5th BCE Attic) IPA: /tʰɛ̂ː.bai̯/
* (1st CE Egyptian) IPA: /ˈtʰe̝.bɛ/
* (4th CE Koine) IPA: /ˈθi.βɛ/
* (10th CE Byzantine) IPA: /ˈθi.ve/
* (15th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA: /ˈθi.ve/

#### Proper noun

Θῆβαι • (Thêbai) f pl (genitive Θηβῶν); first declension
* Thebes, the name of a city in Upper Egypt (including today's Karnak and Luxor)

##### Alternative forms

* Θήβη (Thḗbē)

##### Derived terms

See under Etymology 1 above.

##### Descendants

* → Breton: Teba
* → Coptic: ⲑⲉⲃⲁⲓⲥ (thebais)
* → Czech: Théby
* → Danish: Theben
* → Dutch: Thebe
* → English: Thebes
* → Esperanto: Tebo
* Greek: Θήβες (Thíves)
* → Hungarian: Théba
* → Italian: Tebe
* → Japanese: テーベ (Tēbe)
* → Latin: Thebae
* → Polish: Teby
* → Portuguese: Tebas

### References

* “Θῆβαι”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
* “Θῆβαι”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
* “Θῆβαι”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
* “Θῆβαι”, in Slater, William J. (1969) Lexicon to Pindar, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter
* Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited, page 1,027

### Further reading

* Thebes on Wikipedia.Wikipedia