Khufu/Cheops

[frogmarch]

Khufu was a pharaoh who ruled Egypt in the Old Kingdom period (26th century BC). He is generally believed to have ordered the construction of the Great Pyramid of Giza. Khufu was called Cheops by the ancient Greeks. Why? Google won't tell me why the Greeks called him Cheops, and not knowing is driving me crazy. Does anyone here know?

Thanks in advance.

[NRaleighLiberal]

1. seems like a translation thing - from Wikipedia, below

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khufu

Khufu's name
Khufu's name was dedicated to the earth deity Khnum, which might point to an increase of Khnum's popularity and religious importance. In fact, several royal and religious titles introduced at his time may point out that Egyptian pharaohs sought to accentuate their divine origin and status by dedicating their official cartouche names to certain deities. Khufu may have viewed himself as a divine creator, a role that was already given to Khnum, the god of earth, creation, and growth. As a consequence, the king connected Khnum's name with his own. Khufu's full name (Khnum-khufu) means "Khnum protect me"[11].[12]

The pharaoh officially used two versions of his birth name: Khnum-khuf and Khufu. The first (complete) version clearly exhibits Khufu's religious loyalty to Khnum, the second (shorter) version does not. It is unknown as to why the king would use a shortened name version since it hides the name of Khnum and the king's name connection to this god. It might be possible though, that the short name wasn't meant to be connected to any god at all.[5][10]

Khufu is well known under his Hellenized name Khêops or Cheops (/ˈkiːɒps/, KEE-ops; Greek: ?έ??, by Diodorus and Herodotus) and less well known under another Hellenized name, Súphis (/ˈsuːfɪs/ SOO-fis; Greek: ??ῦ???, by Manetho).[5][10] A rare version of the name of Khufu, used by Josephus, is Sofe (/ˈsɒfi/ SOF-ee; Greek: ?ό?? .[2] Arab historians, who wrote mystic stories about Khufu and the Giza pyramids, called him Saurid (Arabic: سوريد? or Salhuk (سلهوق .[13]

[Iggo]

2. Is that a common thing in Hellenization, moving the "f" sound toward "ps"?

Or is that even what happened?

I may pose this question to my sister, who is a linguist, and ask her to check with the linguist community. (Oh, there's a community...lol.)

[frogmarch]

3. Thank you. I'd read that on wiki, but

I didn't see any explanation for the name being changed. Couldn't the ancient Greeks say "Koo Foo"?

[NRaleighLiberal]

4. no idea - but thanks for posting such an interesting question!

[Iggo]

5. As words travel across languages, vowels get bent and consonants change texture.

And I suppose this might be especially true when the two languages in question are separated by time and wildly different alphabets.

[frogmarch]

6. That seems reasonable.

Yet I wonder why he was given other Hellenistic names too, besides Cheops.

[defacto7]

7. It has been a common practice throuout history.

Names have only been less likely to change in the last couple of centuries. It's one of the things archeologists deal with all the time. Even today european countries are called by different names in different languages. Check out Germany's different names.

[frogmarch]

9. I did. Thanks!

I'm now going to look for name changes for other places, and for people too, especially famous historical people. I think I'm hot on the trail of WHY now. Thanks again.

[defacto7]

12. You'll find a trove of name changes in Greek and Roman history

Especially among the elite. For instance Augustus Caesar...

Born: Gaius Octavius Thurinus

Changed to:
Gaius Julius Caesar Divi Filius for his adopted father

..then
Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus

..then
Imperator Caesar Divi Filius

..then
Imperator Caesar Divi Filius Augustus

But liked to be called in his time by all:
Princeps Civitatis (First Citizen)

But now the modern anglicized name is:
Octavian
or Augustus

It can get really complicated.

[frogmarch]

13. Wow, I'll say!

I had no idea how complicated.

I think my curiosity about Khufu/Cheops/etc. has been satisfied.

Thanks!

[Iggo]

8. That was interesting. Especially Sofe. Because it made me giggle.

[frogmarch]

10. It was Sofe's choice

to commission the building of the Great Pyramid.

[Iggo]

11. Nice.