So, the ever so famous Atem vs. Atemu debate.
I, here and now, will use "Atem" until the English manga comes out or until some Japanese, Egyptian, and English fluent person translates the pertinent chapter. This is because Takahashi screwed up royally using hieroglyphs for the Pharaoh's name. Yes, he does make mistakes. So, since he can't write in hieroglyphs and in proper ancient Egyptian context, I will use Takahashi's native language's pronunciation, which is "Atem." I do this in protest because of his disrespect for this ancient language.
If you're going to take Takahashi's hieroglyphs over Takahashi's Japanese (his native language), the hieroglyphs and the culture behind it should be flawless. Unfortunately, Takahashi has made some mistakes. Because of these mistakes, Takahashi's hieroglyphic rendering of the Pharaoh's name is not credible.
Theoretically one could excuse Takahashi's numerous mistakes. But to write in ignorance of this ancient language is disrespectful. The culture behind hieroglyphs is practically sacred and holy; the scribe was revered in Egypt. To mess up the writing is definitely unacceptable.
Pictures of Takahashi's writing of Yami's past name:
http://www.janime.biz/manga/manga/333/05.jpg
http://www.janime.biz/manga/manga/333/07.jpg
Now, I fight from the pronunciation standpoint. If you wish to debate over the actual lettering, forget this.
The Pharaoh's name written in Japanese is the katakana form, in which you cannot end any word in a consonant except for "n." In katakana, Takahashi wrote "Atemu," which in Japanese is pronounced as "Atem."
Now, as for Takahashi's hieroglyphic writing of the Pharaoh's name, Takahashi wrote [vulture][loaf of bread][single reed][owl][quail chick]. This is commonly (and incorrectly) translated as "[A][T][E][M][U]."
Many people have pointed their fingers at the quail chick, which is pronounced as a "oo" or "u," and say "HA! SEE! IT'S A 'U!' IT HAS TO BE ATEMU!"
First mistake: incorrect number of names. Pharaohs (by the 5th dynasty) actually had five names: the Horus Name, the Nebti (Two Ladies) name, the golden Horus name, the prenomen (throne name), and the nomen (birth name). Each was preceded by a glyph telling the reader which name it was. (See below for links about Pharaoh's names.)
Which name is Atem/Atemu? It could be the birthname, being that it is in a cartouche and does not have "Ra" in it; but Takahashi forgot to precede with "sa Ra" or "son of Ra" to denote this. Also, the nomen is simply the birth name; it was the prenomen that was predominately used in most affairs as king and Pharaoh. Each name is important and has religious and cultural significance; for Takahashi to not name them (especially since this is the first time it's being told to us) is culturally wrong. (Unless Takahashi's going to write a whole new series of the Pharaoh searching for the other four names�)
Second mistake: use of vowels. Egyptians did not write vowels. The fact that Takahashi tried writing them is wrong. The use of "vowels" in hieroglyphic writing came during the Greek conquest when Egyptians would translate Greek names such as "Ptolemy" or "Cleopatra" into Egyptian pronunciation. Since the Pharaoh is definitely not Greek and is also in the 18th dynasty as stated by Takahashi, the Pharaoh cannot have "vowels" in his name. All hieroglyphs are consonants; although the reed is transliterated as "i" it is a consonant, not a vowel. The "a," the "e," and the "u" should not even be in the hieroglyphic writing of the Pharaoh's name. It is said that the arabic language today only writes down consonants as well, except for long vowels. One could argue that the "a" and the "u" are like consonants, in that they are long vowels, but the "e" is most certainly not.
Third mistake: the single reed as "e." In all of my Egyptian books, I have never come across the connection that the single reed is a "e." Every single book I've read has told me it is an "i," pronounced as "ee." The "e" in the name Atem/Atemu has an "eh" sound to it-- not "ee." Only in a children's book have I seen a double reed as an "e." Since children's books are not reliable and tend to oversimplify, Takahashi has made yet another mistake.
Fourth mistake: the "a," or [vulture]. In children's books, I have seen the [vulture] translated into "A." However, this is wrong. Literally, the transliteration symbol for the vulture is "3" and its true pronunciation is a glottal stop. This is a brief closing of the windpipe, like a little cough. For example, the English Cockney pronunciation of "t" in "little bottle" -- kind of like "li'le bo'le."
There are actually two glyphs for the sound of "a" -- the vulture and the forearm, transliteration symbols 3 and 9, respectively. The forearm's pronunciation is the arabic 'ayn, or guttural "ah." The 3 (vulture) is a softer or higher sound while the 9 (forearm) is a louder and lower "A." The 3, in order to get a strong "ah" sound, often needs another hieroglyph next to it, with the transliteration symbol h. The 9 can stand by itself.
Now, the names of Atem/Atemu require a strong "A" sound, not a muted/softer one. This requires the forearm, not the vulture. If Takahashi wanted to use the vulture, he needs to put another glyph. In some textbooks the Egyptian names of Anubis, Amun, Atum, and Aten are transliterated as inpw, imn, itm, and itn, respectively. In other textbooks, for ease of understanding, these names are transliterated as 9inpw, 9imn, 9itm, and 9itn, respectively. Either way, they definitely do not use 3.
If one were to transliterate what Takahashi wrote, it would be [3timw]. My guess at pronunciation would be "At-ee-moo." If one were to pronounce the "3" as an "A" as tradition holds you to, it would be "Atimu" or "Ah-tee-moo" or possibly "Aa-tee-moo" which has no significant cultural meaning (unlike Atem/Atemu) and is just plain weird. And besides, the "Atimu" pronunciation is different from the "Atemu" pronunciation in katakana. Though if you want to use it, go right on ahead�
Now, as for some other debateable aspects of the Pharaoh's name... the "backing" for it. Both names point to the same primevoral god -- along with Temu, Tem, Tum, among others (because Egyptians didn't write vowels in hieroglyphics, combinations can be interesting...). If one were to type in the name "Atem" into some search engine on the internet, minus all YGO references, one gets links to various egyptology sites. However, if one were to do the same with Atemu, minus all YGO references, one mainly gets links to William Budge's translations and baby name sites. I would not trust baby name sites on ancient egyptian names. As for Budge's translation of "The Book of the Dead," there's debate in egyptology circles on Budge's translations (usually a Budge vs. Faulkner comparison).
As implied in the previous paragraph, "The Book of the Dead" (actually called Coming Forth by Day by Egyptians) mentions the god Atem/Atemu. Therefore meaning the hieroglyphs for Atem/Atemu are written down. Now, transliteration and translation of these hieroglyphs are your own study. I personally do not have a copy of all the hieroglyphs in Coming Forth by Day. I believe Budge's does, or at least some, and his work is on the web. (This is what the search for "Atemu" comes up with.) However, according to a YGO website, [shown below] the hieroglyphs in Coming Forth by Day for Atem/Atemu are not what Takahashi has written. If indeed, Takahashi meant to refer to this god, then he made a very bad mistake.
Some helpful links:
The Pronunciation of Ancient Egyptian
On the Pharaoh's five names
More about the Pharaoh's five names
On translation of Yami's past name
http://hieroglyphs.net - site created by Egyptologists. Look at their name section.
So that's it. Basically, "Atemu" was what Takahashi meant to write but messed up. I suppose that one can forgive Takahashi and say he meant to use Atemu, so use it; but for those that actually take the time and effort to learn this ancient language, in protest, use Atem.
*deep breath* So there you have it. Why I use "Atem" and why you should not take Egyptian hieroglyphs so literally from some kid that read the children's book on Egyptian hieroglyphs.
