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Pharaoh vs. Pharoah


Oracle

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I'm aware, that Belintar is not called Pharaoh anymore, but God-King, but anyway in the Adventure Book of the Gamemaster Screen Pack, p.6, it says:

Quote

The Stranger proved himself to be the sacral king and from then on was called God-King, or Pharoah.

I have seen this title (Pharoah) as well as its alternate form Pharaoh in several older publications.

But from my perspective - being a non-native English speaker - the latter is the correct form, whereas the former looks like a typo.

Another example supporting the assumption, that Pharoah is a typo, is Thunder Rebels. In its index you can find
 

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Pharoah .....................15, 152

but if you look at the respective pages the title Pharaoh is used!

An Internet search showed something similar: even if searching for Pharoah most results were about Pharaoh. The only real hit was Pharoah Sanders, a Jazz musician, who used Pharoah as a part of his artist's name.

So is my assumption correct, that Pharoah is a typo, or do I miss something here?

Edited by Oracle
added a second quote
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59 minutes ago, Oracle said:

Pharoah Sanders

Early references like the RQ Companion use the "oah" spelling and it lingers in the publishing into modern times.

While the Greg-King was always a creative typist, I love this fix. From now on the City of Wonders IMG sounded like this

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singer sing me a given

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19 minutes ago, Nick Brooke said:

Typo. Like "Kahn."

Which to complicate matters comes from Sherman Kahn, one of the players in Greg's early RQ campaign (and one of the Ringworld RPG designers).

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The Ancient Egyptian pronunciation was */ˌpaɾuwˈʕaʀ/ "Great House", basically like saying "the White House said today...", a hyperchorism. It later just turned into an actual title.

By Late Egyptian the sounds of Egyptian had changed quite a bit over 1500 years and ancient Greek renders it as φαραώ pharaō, where the ph here is pronounced still as a ph sound (the change to f didn't happen until much later, maybe the third century AD).

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For me, it only matters when word puts a squiggly line under the word, telling me to change it. When I am reading, I don't really care how it is spelled.

Edited by soltakss

Simon Phipp - Caldmore Chameleon - Wallowing in my elitism since 1982. Many Systems, One Family. Just a fanboy. 

www.soltakss.com/index.html

Jonstown Compendium author. Find my contributions here

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On 5/1/2021 at 10:04 PM, Qizilbashwoman said:

The Ancient Egyptian pronunciation was */ˌpaɾuwˈʕaʀ/ "Great House", basically like saying "the White House said today...", a hyperchorism. It later just turned into an actual title.

’Synechdoche’ is the word you’re looking for?

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The Great House – the original manor of Talar Barat - is a two story round building in the centre of Casin Town.  It houses the Faro Wheel, the strange artifact the Talar retrieved from the Clanking Ruins. Because wagers on the Faro Wheel can be made with intangible concepts (runic affinities, mana, life-force, perception etc), Ingareen statisticians have long disputed what the Great House’s house edge actually is. But it is said Talar Barat’s beard turned gray that day Belintar "broke the bank" on the Faro Wheel.

 

Edited by MOB
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41 minutes ago, MOB said:

The Great House – the original manor of Talar Barat - is a two story round building in the centre of Casin Town.  It houses the Faro Wheel, the strange artifact the Talar retrieved from the Clanking Ruins. Because wagers on the Faro Wheel can be made with intangible concepts (runic affinities, mana, life-force, perception etc), Ingareen statisticians have long disputed what the Great House’s house edge actually is. But it is said Talar Barat’s beard turned gray that day Belintar "broke the bank" on the Faro Wheel.

 

Not sure, but I think, I do not understand, how this is related to the OP ... 🤔

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2 minutes ago, Sir_Godspeed said:

Interrelated puns and Easter Eggs.

I thought so, but that's the point: Neither do I understand the puns nor do I see the Easter Eggs ... which tells me, that there are still a lot of holes in my Gloranthan lore ...

Edited by Oracle
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10 minutes ago, Oracle said:

I thought so, but that's the point: Neither do I understand the puns nor do I see the Easter Eggs ... which tells me, that there are still a lot of holes in my Gloranthan lore ...

Pharaoh is Ancient Egyptian for "Great House", as detailed in the thread.

The "Faro (ie., "Pharaoh/oah") Wheel" of Casino Town is located in the "Great House" (ie. Pharaoh) of the ruling guy there.

It was visited and jackpotted by Belintar (ie. the Pharoah) when he visited. 

That's what I got out of it at least. I suspect MOB just quoted a slightly relevant lore snippet to drop us a goodie.

 

 

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2 hours ago, Sir_Godspeed said:

That's what I got out of it at least. I suspect MOB just quoted a slightly relevant lore snippet to drop us a goodie.

More about the Great House, the Faro Wheel, the Pharaoh/oah*, and Belintar breaking the bank in this thread:

*long ago in my undergrad university days – back when the work we submitted was handwritten, and if you wanted to check your spelling, you had to look it up in a damn dictionary – I got a distinction for an essay about ancient Egypt. When handing it back to me the lecturer said it really deserved a high distinction, but for the fact I'd used three different spellings for Pharaoh throughout, and all wrong.

Edited by MOB
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2 hours ago, Oracle said:

Not sure, but I think, I do not understand, how this is related to the OP ... 🤔

Pharoah/Pharaoh/Faro are essentially the same word.

It is always good to see snippets of lore.

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Simon Phipp - Caldmore Chameleon - Wallowing in my elitism since 1982. Many Systems, One Family. Just a fanboy. 

www.soltakss.com/index.html

Jonstown Compendium author. Find my contributions here

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12 hours ago, Oracle said:

Neither do I understand the puns nor do I see the Easter Eggs ... which tells me, that there are still a lot of holes in my Gloranthan lore ...

Also the joys of the English language...

Pharoah/Pharaoh/Faro - are all pronounced the same.

Others have noted the references to the origination of the word "Pharaoh"

But Faro (also "Pharaoh") is a gambling card game.  See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faro_(card_game)

And what better than to transform a gambling game into another casino game (i.e. roulette, or wheel of fortune) but use the name reference since it conveniently connects into our favorite God-king's earlier (accidental) "Pharaoh" title.

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1 hour ago, jajagappa said:

But Faro (also "Pharaoh") is a gambling card game.

Far out !

Farro is also a type of wheat grain you can cook to obtain something similar to rice or barley. I've discovered it last year and it has become a favorite since. It has a nutty flavour and keeps a relatively firm texture even after being cooked.

Edited by Hijabg
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1 hour ago, Hijabg said:

Isn't it "Phare à Hon" in french ? 

En français, ne devrions pas plutôt écrire "Phare à Hon", tel qu'expliqué dans la vidéo ci-dessous?

As it happens...

31. The glow of the Faro Wheel can be seen for great distances and serves as a helpful navigational beacon, drawing in ships through the Troll Straits and from across the Mirrorsea Bay. (T)

from here: 

 

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