# sḫm
## Egyptian
### Pronunciation

* (noun): (reconstructed) IPA: /ˈsaːχam/ → /ˈsaːχam/ → /ˈsaːχəm/ → /ˈsoːχəm/
* (noun): (Old Egyptian, c. 2500 BCE) IPA: /ˈsaːχam/
* (noun): (Middle Egyptian, c. 1700 BCE) IPA: /ˈsaːχam/
* (noun): (Amarna-period Late Egyptian, c. 1350 BCE) IPA: /ˈsaːχəm/
* (noun): (latest Late Egyptian, c. 800 BCE) IPA: /ˈsoːχəm/
* (modern Egyptological) IPA: /sɛxɛm/
** Conventional anglicization: sekhem

### Verb

3-lit.
* (intransitive) to be(come) physically powerful or vigorous [since the Pyramid Texts]
* (intransitive) to be(come) powerful, capable (+ m: through the power of (magic, the Eye of Horus, food, etc.); + mm: among (the gods); + ḫr: before (a god); + ḫnt: at the head of (people); + m ḫt or m sꜣ: in pursuit of (enemies)) [since the Pyramid Texts]
* (intransitive, of poison, magic, names, etc.) to be(come) potent, effective
* (intransitive, of a quality such as might) to be(come) strong, intense, great
* (intransitive, with m or (since the 18th Dynasty) r or (rarely) transitive) to have or take control of, to have power over (enemies, people, gods, places, oneself, etc.) [since the Pyramid Texts]
** c. 1900 BCE, The Instructions of Kagemni (pPrisse/pBN 183) lines 1.10–1.11: jr šww m srḫ n t nj sḫm.n mdt nbt jm.fAs for one who is free of notoriety regarding bread, no word can take control of him.
* (intransitive, with m or (rarely) transitive) to have the use of, to be able to make use of (one’s limbs)
* (intransitive, with m) to take possession of (a thing)
* (intransitive, with m, of knives, lions, snakes, poison, magic, etc.) to have power to freely harm (someone), to have injurious power over [chiefly Late Period]
* (intransitive, with m or r, of fire) to burn, to consume (someone) [Greco-Roman Period]
* (intransitive, with m, Late Egyptian, of sleep) to overpower, to overtake (the body)
* (intransitive, with m and infinitive) to be(come) capable (of doing something), empowered or entitled (to do something)
* (intransitive, of the heart/mind) to be(come) bold, daring, courageous, spirited
* (intransitive, of the heart/mind) to be(come) overbold, impudent, audacious
* (intransitive, of the face) The meaning of this term is uncertain. Possibilities include:
** to be(come) defiant-looking or spirited
** to be(come) grim

#### Usage notes

Often found in parallel with bꜣ, spd, and wꜣš, among other verbs.

#### Alternative forms

| sḫm | sḫm | sḫm | sḫm | sḫm | sḫm |
| [chiefly Pyramid Texts] | [chiefly Pyramid Texts to Middle Kingdom] | [since the Old Kingdom] | [since the Middle Kingdom] | [since the Middle Kingdom] | [since the Middle Kingdom] |
| | | | usual form |
| sḫm | sḫm | sḫm | sḫm | sḫm | sḫm |
| [since the 18th Dynasty] | [Greco-Roman Period] | [Greco-Roman Period] | [Greco-Roman Period] | [Greco-Roman Period] | [Greco-Roman Period] |

#### Derived terms

* pꜣ-sḫmtj
* sḫm-jb-pr.n-mꜣꜥt
* sḫm-pḥtj-ḏsr-ḫꜥw
* sḫm-ẖt
* sḫmt
* sḫmtj

### Noun

m
* power, capability, especially capability to overpower [since the Pyramid Texts]
    Synonym: sḫmt
* violence

#### Usage notes

Often found in parallel with bꜣ and kꜣ as a quality that is ‘with’, ‘by’, ‘behind’ someone, etc. May also be found in parallel with words such as wsr and qn.

#### Alternative forms

See under the verb above.

#### Derived terms

* m sḫm
* nb-sḫm
* nbt-sḫm
* sḫm-jr.f

### Noun

m
* being of divine power, Power; chiefly used as an epithet for various gods, exceptionally also for kings [since the Pyramid Texts]
** c. 1550 BCE – 1295 BCE, Great Hymn to Osiris (Stela of Amenmose, Louvre C 286) lines 7–8: sꜥḥ ꜣḫ ḫnt sꜥḥw wꜣḥ jꜣwt smn ḥqꜣt sḫm nfr n(j) psḏt jmꜣ ḥr mrr mꜣ n.f rdj snḏ.f m tꜣw nb(w) n mr(w)t dm.sn rn.f r ḥꜣt […]Effective dignitary, foremost of dignitaries, enduring of office, established of reign, the fair power of the Ennead, gracious of face, the sight of whom is beloved, the awe of whom is set in all lands in order that they pronounce his name first, […]
* (with following genitive, or else plural) earthly image or incarnation (of a god), cult image, including statues, paintings, standards, people, etc. [since the Middle Kingdom]
* (in the plural) gods in general [Greco-Roman Period]

#### Alternative forms

| sḫm | sḫm | sḫm | sḫm | sḫm | sḫm | sḫm |
| [Pyramid Texts] | [Pyramid Texts] | [since the Pyramid Texts] | [since the Pyramid Texts] | [Old Kingdom and 18th Dynasty] | [since the New Kingdom] | [since the New Kingdom] |
| sḫm | sḫm | sḫm | sḫm | sḫm |
| [Greco-Roman Period] | [Greco-Roman Period] | [Greco-Roman Period] | [Greco-Roman Period] | [Greco-Roman Period] |

#### Derived terms

* ḥtp-sḫmwj
* ḫꜥ-sḫmwj
* sḫm-ꜥnḫ-jmn
* sḫm-pt
* sḫm-n-jnpw
* sḫm-n-rꜥ
* sḫm-n-sḫmw
* sḫm-nṯrw
* sḫm-tꜣwj

#### Descendants

* Bohairic Coptic: ϣⲓϣⲉⲙ (šišem)
* Lycopolitan Coptic: ϣⲓⲥⲙⲉ (šisme)

### Noun

m
* sekhem scepter [Pyramid Texts and Middle Kingdom]

#### Alternative forms

| sḫm | sḫm | sḫm | sḫm | sḫm | sḫm |
| [Pyramid Texts] | [Middle Kingdom] | [Middle Kingdom] | | | [since the Middle Kingdom] |
| | | | | abbreviation | abbreviation |

### Noun

m
* sistrum [since the Middle Kingdom]
    Synonym: zššt
    ― jrj sḫm ― to play the sistrum (+ n: for (someone))

#### Alternative forms

| sḫm | sḫm | sšm |
| [Greco-Roman Period] | [Greco-Roman Period] | [Greco-Roman Period] |

#### Derived terms

* ḥwt-sḫm

### Noun

m
* (hapax) sword [Greco-Roman Period]

### References

* “sḫm (lemma ID 851679)”, “sḫm (lemma ID 142180)”, “sḫm (lemma ID 142140)”, “sḫm.w (lemma ID 142400)”, “sḫm (lemma ID 142130)”, “sḫm (lemma ID 142190)”, and “sḫm (lemma ID 142150)”, in Thesaurus Linguae Aegyptiae‎, Corpus issue 18, Web app version 2.1.5, Tonio Sebastian Richter & Daniel A. Werning by order of the Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften and Hans-Werner Fischer-Elfert & Peter Dils by order of the Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig, 2004–26 July 2023
* Erman, Adolf, Grapow, Hermann (1930) Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache‎, volume 4, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, →ISBN, pages 243.3–249.16, 251.18–252.7
* Faulkner, Raymond Oliver (1962) A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian, Oxford: Griffith Institute, →ISBN, page 241
* James P[eter] Allen (2010) Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs, 2nd edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 377.
* ↑ Loprieno, Antonio (1995) Ancient Egyptian: A Linguistic Introduction, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 59
* ↑ Loprieno, Antonio (1995) Ancient Egyptian: A Linguistic Introduction, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 63