In the correct order:
t3 s3 sw w / y h w3 (w)
Some specialists correctly point out that the Egyptian vowels
are not known very well. However, for foreign words –
as in this case - Egyptians used a sort of standard alphabet
with ‘matres lectionis’ (semi-consonants which served
as vowels). In this system you pronounce: ‘3’ =
‘a’; w = u en ÿ = i.
Using this system, the hieroglyphic above says:
“ta sasûw yehûa(w)”
Or translated in English: “land of the nomads (or
Bedouins), those of Yehua(w).”
Some specialists choose to identify 'Yehua'
with an unknown toponym. This cannot be proven because there
are places with names like: land of Judah (Deuteronomy 34:2)
and land of Rameses (Genesis 47:11). Or if we look at Asiatic
toponyms from that time: land of Jakob-El, land of Josep-El,
land of Lewi-El, etc. Clearly names of people were used in names
for places! (1)
Jean Leclant writes: “It is evident that the name
on the name-ring in Soleb that we are discussing corresponds
to the "Tetragrammaton" of the god of the Bible YHWH."
He adds: "The name of God appears here in the first place
as the name of a place." In a footnote he explains that
place-names are often derived of the names of gods. (2)
It is interesting to know that the expression ‘Shasus’,
used by Egyptians, referred to Bedouins living with their bundles
in the region North of the Sinai. From the 15th to the 12th
century B.C. the Hebrew settlers conquering Palestine were called
‘Hapirus’. The word ‘Apiru’ or ‘Habiru’
in Semitic languages means “wanderings”.
(1) Gerard Gertroux: zie boek: “The Name Of God Y.eH.oW.aH
Which is pronounced as it is written I_Eh_oU_Ah – Its
(2) Jean Leclant, Le “Tetragramme” à l’époque
d’Aménophis III, in “Near Eastern Studies
dedicated to H.I.H. Prince Takahito Mikasa on the Occasion of
His Seventy-Fifth Birthday,” pages 215-219, 1991 Wiesbaden.