Har-pa-khered
/ˌhɑːr.pəˈkɛr.ɛd/noun
An ancient Egyptian name meaning Horus the Child, later identified by the Greeks with the god Harpocrates.
Did you know?The finger held to the lips was an Egyptian child’s gesture for childhood, but Greek and Roman viewers reinterpreted it as a supernatural sign of silence and secrecy.
Etymological Timeline
Old Kingdom onward
Egyptian
Ḥr
“Horus, the falcon-associated sky god whose name is commonly connected with the idea of the distant or high one”
Middle Egyptian
Egyptian
ẖrd
“Child or young child”
Late Period
Egyptian
Ḥr-pꜣ-ẖrd
“Horus the Child; a divine child-form of Horus”
Ptolemaic Period
Greek
Ἁρποκράτης (Harpokrátēs)
“Greek rendering of the Egyptian name, interpreted as Harpocrates”
Roman Period
Latin
Harpocrates
“The Egyptian child-god adopted into Greco-Roman religious imagery, especially as a figure associated with silence”
Modern English
English
Har-pa-khered
“A scholarly transliteration of the Egyptian name for Horus the Child”
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