The name "Paanchi" in the Book of Mormon

Parent page: Book of Mormon Names

Egyptian Name "P-nkhi" and the Book of Mormon Name "Paanchi"

Parry, Peterson and Welch:

Paanchi. Among those who contended unsuccessfully for the judgment seat was Paanchi (see Helaman 1:3, 7, 8). Egyptologist Gnther Vittmann, in an article on the name P-nkhi (pronounced "Pi'ankhi" or "Pa'ankhi"), indicates that it is a Twenty-Fifth-Dynasty royal name of Meroitic origin. ^[1] Even critics of the Book of Mormon concede that this name is indisputably Egyptian in provenance. ^[2]

Mixed Nationalities and Egyptian Hero Names

Hugh Nibley,

Recently there have been discovered lists of the names of prisoners that Nebuchadnezzar brought back to Babylon with him from his great expedition into Syria and Palestine.7 These represent a good cross section of proper names prevailing in those lands in the days of Lehi, and among them is a respectable proportion of Egyptian names, which is what the Book of Mormon would lead us to expect. Also in the list are Philistine (cf. Book of Mormon Minon and Pathros!), Phoenician, Elamite, Median, Persian, Greek, and Lydian names—all the sweepings of a campaign into Lehi's country. According to D. W. Thomas, this list shows that it was popular at the time to name children after Egyptian hero kings of the past.8 A surprisingly large number of the non-Hebraic Nephite names are of this class. Thus the name Aha, which a Nephite general bestowed on his son, means "warrior" and was borne by the legendary first hero king of Egypt. Himni, Korihor, Paanchi, Pakumeni, Sam, Zeezrom, Ham, Manti, Nephi, and Zenoch are all Egyptian hero names.9 Zeniff certainly suggests the name Zainab and its variants, popular among the desert people, of which the feminine form of Zenobia was borne by the most glamorous woman of ancient times next to Cleopatra and that other desert queen, the Queen of Sheba. Recently Beeston has identified Zoram in both its Hebrew and Arabic forms.10 In another old name list, the Tell Taannek list, the elements bin, zik, ra, and -andi are prominent, as in the Book of Mormon.11^[3]

Book of Mormon Names and possible Egyptian correlations—Piankh, son of Herihor, the High Priest of Amon

Nibley comments on the Book of Mormon names "Pahoran," "Paanchi," "Ammon," and "Korihor" and possible Egyptian sources for these names:

Paanchi, the son of Pahoran, and pretender to the chief-judgeship, has the same name as one of the best-known kings in Egyptian history, a contemporary of Isaiah and chief actor in the drama of Egyptian history at a time in which that history was intimately involved in the affairs of Palestine.3 Yet his name, not mentioned in the Bible, remained unknown to scholars until the end of the nineteenth century.

This Egyptian Paanchi, whose name means "He (namely Ammon) is my life," was the son of one Kherihor [Herihor] (the vowels are guesses!), the High Priest of Ammon [Amon], who in a priestly plot set himself up as a rival of Pharaoh himself, while his son Paanchi actually claimed the throne. This was four hundred years before Lehi left Jerusalem, and it had historic repercussions of great importance; not only did it establish a new dynasty, but it inaugurated the rule of priestcraft in Egypt; from that time on, "the High-priest of Amon . . . could and constantly did reduce the king to a position of subservience."4

It should be noted that Nibley's information comes from 1948 (almost 70 years old), and new information has come forth since that time that provides some corrections to Nibley's information. The name "Kherihor" is in reality "Herihor," and "Paanchi" is in reality "Piankh." It is also not certain whether or not Piankh was Herihor's son (successor) or predecessor. ^[4] Nibley also speculates on the political relationship between these individuals.

Now in the Book of Mormon both Paanchi and Korihor are involved in such plots and intrigues of priestcraft. The former, to gain the chief judgeship for himself, tried to achieve the assassination of his two elder brothers, who bore the good Egyptian names of Pahoran (meaning "man of Syria or Palestine"—a Horite) and Pacumeni (cf. Egyptian Pakamen), while the latter charged the judges with trying to introduce into the New World the abuses of priestcraft which the people knew had been practiced in the Old, "ordinances and performances which are laid down by ancient priests, to usurp power and authority" (Alma 30:23).

It is apparent that with their Old World names and culture, Lehi's people brought over many Old World memories and ideas with them, as was only to be expected.^[5]

The feasibility that some story of intrigue involving an attempt by Herihor's son Piankh to take over his father's position was carried hundreds of years forward into Book of Mormon times cannot be determined. The comparison is interesting, but does not provide any sort of evidence.

In Nibley's map of Egypt shown in the April 1948 Improvement Era, however, he does indicate, according to the understanding at the time, that "Paiankh" [Piankh, rather than Paanchi] is the son of "Kheridor" [Herihor].

A grouping of Egyptian names similar to several names found in the Book of Mormon. Nibley, "The Book of Mormon as a Mirror of the East," Improvement Era (April 1948) p. 203

Notes

1. ↑ Günther Vittmann, "Zur Lesung des Königsnamens P'nkhj" (On the reading of the royal name P-nkhj), Orientalia 43 (1974): 12–16. In a personal communication, John Gee informs me that the reading of the royal name as P-nkhj is disputed—Vittmann's article itself is part of that dispute—but that the name is clearly attested in nonroyal contexts at an earlier period. Cited in Stephen D. Ricks, "Converging Paths: Language and Cultural Notes on the Ancient Near Eastern Background of the Book of Mormon," in Echoes and Evidences of the Book of Mormon, edited by Donald W. Parry, Daniel C. Peterson, and John W. Welch (Provo, Utah: FARMS, 2002), Chapter 12, references silently removed—consult original for citations.
2. ↑ Stephen D. Ricks, "Converging Paths: Language and Cultural Notes on the Ancient Near Eastern Background of the Book of Mormon," in Echoes and Evidences of the Book of Mormon, edited by Donald W. Parry, Daniel C. Peterson, and John W. Welch (Provo, Utah: FARMS, 2002), Chapter 12, references silently removed—consult original for citations.
3. ↑ 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.
4. ↑ Steven R. W. Gregory, "Piankh and Herihor: Art, Ostraca, and Accession in Perspective," Birmingham Egyptology Journal 2013. 1: 5-18.Gregory notes, "Nonetheless, based on the identification of Piankh as Herihor’s son in a procession of Herihor’s family depicted in Khonsu Temple, the assertion that Herihor preceded Piankh as Hm-nTr tpy n Imn, first servant of Amun, at Thebes dominated accounts of the period for much of the Twentieth Century. Once it was recognised that the identification of Piankh in the scene in question had been erroneous – a situation existing at least from Wente’s 1979 publication – the Herihor-Piankh sequence became less secure and, in 1992, Jansen-Winkeln presented a convincing argument that it should be reversed. Nonetheless, based on the identification of Piankh as Herihor’s son in a procession of Herihor’s family depicted in Khonsu Temple, the assertion that Herihor preceded Piankh as Hm-nTr tpy n Imn, first servant of Amun, at Thebes dominated accounts of the period for much of the Twentieth Century. Once it was recognised that the identification of Piankh in the scene in question had been erroneous – a situation existing at least from Wente’s 1979 publication – the Herihor-Piankh sequence became less secure and, in 1992, Jansen-Winkeln presented a convincing argument that it should be reversed."
5. ↑ 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.