Editing Osiris (section)

==Etymology of the name==
[[File:Head of the God Osiris, ca. 595-525 B.C.E..jpg|thumbnail|right|''Head of the God Osiris'', {{Circa|595}}–525 BC. [[Brooklyn Museum]]|upright]]
''Osiris'' is a [[Latin alphabet|Latin]] [[transliteration]] of the [[Ancient Greek]] {{lang|grc|Ὄσιρις}} {{IPA|el|ó.siː.ris|IPA}}, which in turn is the Greek adaptation of the original name in the [[Egyptian language]]. In [[Egyptian hieroglyphs]] the name appears as ''[[wikt:wsjr|wsjr]]'', which some [[Egyptology|Egyptologists]] instead choose to transliterate as ''ꜣsjr'' or ''jsjrj''{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}}. Since hieroglyphic writing lacks [[vowel]]s, Egyptologists have vocalized the name in various ways, such as Asar, Ausar, Ausir, Wesir, Usir, or Usire.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}

Several proposals have been made for the etymology and meaning of the original name; as Egyptologist Mark J. Smith notes, none are fully convincing.<ref name="Smith">{{Cite book|title=Following Osiris: Perspectives on the Osirian Afterlife from Four Millennia|last=Smith|first=Mark|date=2017|pages=124–125}}</ref> Most take ''wsjr'' as the accepted transliteration, following [[Adolf Erman]]:

* [[John Gwyn Griffiths]] (1980), "bearing in mind Erman's emphasis on the fact that the name must begin with an [sic] ''w''", proposes a derivation from ''[[wikt:wsr|wsr]]'' with an original meaning of "The Mighty One".<ref name="Griffiths">{{Cite book|title=The Origins of Osiris and His Cult|last=Griffiths|first=John Gwyn|orig-year=1980|year=2018|language=en|pages=89–95}}</ref>
* [[Kurt Sethe]] (1930) proposes a compound ''[[wikt:st|st]]-[[wikt:jrt|jrt]]'', meaning "seat of the eye", in a hypothetical earlier form ''*wst-jrt''; this is rejected by Griffiths on phonetic grounds.<ref name="Griffiths" />
* David Lorton (1985) takes up this same compound but explains ''st-jrt'' as signifying "product, something made", Osiris representing the product of the ritual mummification process.<ref name="Smith" />
* [[Wolfhart Westendorf]] (1987) proposes an etymology from ''[[wikt:wꜣst|wꜣst]]-[[wikt:jrt|jrt]]'' "she who bears the eye".<ref>{{Harvsp|Mathieu|2010|p=79}} : Mais qui est donc Osiris ? Ou la politique sous le linceul de la religion</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|title=Zur Etymologie des Namens Osiris: ''*wꜣs.t-jr.t'' "die das Auge trägt"|journal=Form und Mass: Beiträge zur Literatur, Sprache und Kunst des Alten Ägypten: Festschrift für Gerhard Fecht zum 65. Geburtstag Am 6. Februar 1987|last=Westendorf|first=Wolfhart|date=1987|language=de|pages=456–461}}</ref>
* Mark J. Smith (2017) makes no definitive proposals but asserts that the second element must be a form of ''[[wikt:jrj|jrj]]'' ("to do, make") (rather than ''[[wikt:jrt|jrt]]'' ("eye")).<ref name="Smith" />

However, recently alternative transliterations have been proposed:

* Yoshi Muchiki (1990) reexamines Erman's evidence that the throne hieroglyph in the word is to be read ''ws'' and finds it unconvincing, suggesting instead that the name should be read ''ꜣsjr'' on the basis of Aramaic, Phoenician, and Old South Arabian transcriptions, readings of the throne sign in other words, and comparison with ''[[wikt:ꜣst|ꜣst]]'' ("Isis").<ref>{{Cite journal|title=On the transliteration of the name Osiris|journal=The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology|volume=76|last=Muchiki|first=Yoshi|date=1990|language=en|pages=191–194|doi=10.1177/030751339007600127|s2cid=194037367}}</ref>
* [[James Peter Allen|James P. Allen]] (2000) reads the word as ''[[wikt:jsjrt|jsjrt]]''{{Hair space}}<ref>{{Cite book|title=Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs|last=Allen|first=James P.|date=2010-04-15|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9781139486354|language=en}}</ref> but revises the reading (2013) to ''[[wikt:js-jrj|jsjrj]]'' and derives it from ''[[wikt:js|js]]-[[wikt:jrj|jrj]]'', meaning "engendering (male) principle".<ref>{{Cite journal|title=The Name of Osiris (and Isis)|journal=Lingua Aegyptia|volume=21|last=Allen|first=James P.|date=2013|language=en|pages=9–14}}</ref>