The Akhet from the Spirit of Khufu to the land of the Horizon Dwellers of Pepi the Second and beyond

In a recently published paper, arxiv December 2024, G. Magli mentions the Cheops’ pyramid, that is, Akhet Khufu - a name which is generally translated as the Khufu’s horizon - and the symbol of the ‘solarized’ horizon, N27 of the Gardiner’s list. It is necessary to stress that Akhet in Akhet Khufu, the name of Khufu’s pyramid, is written with the crested ibis, G25 of the Gardiner’s list, which means ‘spirit’. This is clearly shown by the papyri discovered at Wady al-Jarf, which are contemporary of Khufu’s reign. Even after the evidence of these papyri, Akhet Khufu continues to be translate as Khufu’s horizon, but other interpretations of the term ‘Akhet’ had been proposed. The use of Akhet written with the crested ibis is attested in a King Pepi II letter to his vizier Herkhuf, three centuries after Khufu, to indicate the land of the Horizon Dwellers. We will show further examples of the use of the crested ibis beyond the name of Khufu’ pyramid and the land mentioned by Pepi II. We will consider also the name of Akhetaten, the city of Akhenaton, where the horizon is that of the rising Sun Disk, that is of the sun as a physical object. In the name of Akhenaton, the crested ibis persists.