The name "Gidgiddonah" in the Book of Mormon

Parent page: Book of Mormon Names

Book of Mormon Names—Rules of Name-Building 2

Another illustration of name-formation in Nephite and Egyptian may be seen in the names Zemna-ri-hah (Nephite) and Zmn-ha-re (Egyptian), where the same elements are combined in different order. The elaborate Nephite names of Gidgiddoni and Gidgiddonah may be parallels to the Egyptian Djed-djḥwti-iw-f and Died-djḥwti-iw-s; in each case the stem is the same, sounding something like "Jid-jiddo-." To this the suffix -iw-f, and iw-s are added in Egyptian with the word ankh, signifying "he shall live" and "she shall live," respectively,15 the two names meaning "Thoth hath said he shall live" and "Thoth hath said she will live." The suffixes in the two Nephite names are different, -iw-ni and iw-nah, but they are perfectly good Egyptian and indicate "I shall live" and "we shall live" respectively. The agreements are much too neat and accurate to be accidental. Any student with six months' hieroglyphic may recognize the Nephite Gidianhi as the typical Egyptian name "Thoth is my life," Djḥwty-ankh-i.^[1]

Notes

1. ↑ Hugh W. Nibley, An Approach to the Book of Mormon, 3rd edition, (Vol. 6 of the Collected Works of Hugh Nibley), edited by John W. Welch, (Salt Lake City, Utah : Deseret Book Company ; Provo, Utah : Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1988), Chapter 22, references silently removed—consult original for citations.