rḫ

See also: Rh, RH, and rh

Egyptian

Pronunciation

• (modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /rɛx/
  • Conventional anglicization: rekh

Verb

 2-lit.

1. (transitive) to learn, to come to know or experience
2. (transitive, in the stative or perfect) to know (something)
   • c. 1900 BCE, The Instructions of Kagemni (pPrisse/pBN 183) line 2.2:

     nj rḫ.n.tw ḫprt jrrt nṯr ḫft ḫsf.f

     One cannot know what might come to be or what the god might do when he punishes.

3. (transitive, in the stative or perfect) to be acquainted or familiar with (someone)
   • c. 2000 BCE – 1900 BCE, Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor (pHermitage/pPetersburg 1115) lines 119–121:

     jw dpt r jjt m ẖnw sqdw jm.s rḫ.n.k

     A boat is to come from home with sailors in it whom you know.

4. (catenative, in the stative or perfect, with a verb in the infinitive) to know how to, to be able to

Usage notes

Unlike other transitive verbs, the stative of rḫ has an active meaning rather than a passive one and can have a direct object denoting what is known. When this direct object is a personal pronoun, it appears in enclitic (dependent) form.

Inflection

Conjugation of rḫ (biliteral / 2-lit. / 2rad.) — base stem: rḫ, geminated stem: rḫḫ

infinitival forms			imperative
infinitive	negatival complement	complementary infinitive1	singular	plural
rḫ	rḫw, rḫ	rḫt	rḫ, j.rḫ	rḫ, j.rḫ

‘pseudoverbal’ forms
stative stem	periphrastic imperfective2		periphrastic prospective2
rḫ	ḥr rḫ	m rḫ	r rḫ

suffix conjugation
aspect / mood	active	passive	contingent
			aspect / mood	active	passive
perfect	rḫ.n	rḫw, rḫ	consecutive	rḫ.jn	active + .tj1, .tw2
		active + .tj1, .tw2
terminative	rḫt
perfective3	rḫ	active + .tj1, .tw2	obligative1	rḫ.ḫr	active + .tj1, .tw2
imperfective	rḫ, j.rḫ1	active + .tj1, .tw2
prospective3	rḫ	rḫḫ	potentialis1	rḫ.kꜣ	active + .tj1, .tw2
		active + .tj1, .tw2
subjunctive	rḫ, j.rḫ1	active + .tj1, .tw2

verbal adjectives
aspect / mood	relative (incl. nominal / emphatic) forms		participles
	active	passive	active	passive
perfect	rḫ.n	active + .tj1, .tw2	—	—
perfective	rḫ	active + .tj1, .tw2	rḫ	rḫḫ, rḫḫj6, rḫ2, rḫw2 5, rḫy2 5
imperfective	j.rḫ1, rḫ, rḫy, rḫw5	active + .tj1, .tw2	j.rḫ1, j.rḫw1 5, rḫ, rḫj6, rḫy6	rḫ, rḫw5
prospective	rḫ, rḫtj7	—	rḫtj4, rḫt4
Used in Old Egyptian; archaic by Middle Egyptian. Used mostly since Middle Egyptian. Archaic or greatly restricted in usage by Middle Egyptian. The perfect has mostly taken over the functions of the perfective, and the subjunctive and periphrastic prospective have mostly replaced the prospective. Declines using third-person suffix pronouns instead of adjectival endings: masculine .f/.fj, feminine .s/.sj, dual .sn/.snj, plural .sn. Only in the masculine singular. Only in the masculine. Only in the feminine.

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of rḫ  

rḫ	rḫ

Antonyms

• ḫm

Derived terms

• srḫ

Descendants

• Demotic: rḫ
  • Bohairic Coptic: ⲣⲱϣ (rōš)

Noun

 m

1. knowledge

Noun

 m

1. knowledgeable or wise man, scholar, often seen as living according to Maat (virtue/truth/cosmic order)

   Antonym: wḫꜣ

Inflection

Declension of rḫ (masculine)

singular	rḫ
dual	rḫwj
plural	rḫw

References

• James P[eter] Allen (2010) Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs, 2nd edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, pages 171, 192, 211, 263.
• Hoch, James (1997) Middle Egyptian Grammar, Mississauga: Benben Publications, →ISBN, pages 68, 128