šꜣsw

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Shasu

Etymology

Probably from šꜣs (“to travel, to wander”). A borrowing derived from Hebrew שָׁסָה (šāsā) or שָׁסַס (šāsas, “to plunder”) has also been suggested.

Pronunciation

(modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /ʃɑsuː/
- Conventional anglicization: shasu

Proper noun

m

the Shasu, Semitic nomads originally from the area around Edom and Mount Seir, later also throughout southern Canaan [since the 18th Dynasty]
the land of the Shasu, the area around Edom and Mount Seir [since the 18th Dynasty]
(possibly) warlike nomads in general

Usage notes

Conventionally this word is sometimes translated as bedouin, but the Shasu were not (necessarily) Arabs; some scholars have suggested links to other Semitic groups, such as the Israelites.

Alternative forms

Hieroglyphic writings of the phonetic component of šꜣsw

šꜣsw

šꜣsꜣ

šꜣs

šꜣjs

[19th Dynasty]

[Greco-Roman Period]

Determinatives of šꜣsw

Derived terms

tꜣ-šꜣsw-yhwꜣ

Descendants

Akhmimic Coptic: ϣⲁⲥ (šas, “herd, shepherd”)
Sahidic Coptic: ϣⲱⲥ (šōs, “herd, shepherd”)

References

Erman, Adolf, Grapow, Hermann (1926–1961) Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, →ISBN
Černý, Jaroslav (1976) Coptic Etymological Dictionary, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN
Ward, William A. (1972) “The Shasu ‘Bedouin’: Notes on a Recent Publication” in Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, Volume 15, Issue 1, pp. 35-60
Giveon, Raphael (1971) Les Bédouins Shosou des documents égyptiens