“Boy,” “Slave,” and “Slav” Slaves as Children and Children as Slaves in Demotic Egyptian

Abstract

Nouns like Greek pais (“child”) or English “boy” have historically been applied to enslaved persons as a form of derogation: an intentional infantilization of an adult slave. This paper examines the similar Demotic Egyptian noun ẖl, which was used to refer both to a stage of biological development (i.e., a “boy” or a “girl”) in addition to enslaved persons who may or may not have been adults. Demotic ẖl may in addition have been connected etymologically to a geographic region (ẖr, Syria), an etymological connection reminiscent of the relationship between modern English “slave” and the ethnonym “Slav.” In order to assess the manifestation of infantilization of enslaved adults in Demotic Egyptian, this analysis explores the use of ẖl as an infantilizing derogation, including extended uses (e.g., the compound with ḫm, ‘small’) and the connection to the ethnonym “Syrian,” as well as the application of significant personal names (e.g., llw, “young boy”) to enslaved persons. Following the investigation of slaves as children, this discussion turns to children as slaves in contemporary evidence, with an eye to how the two practices—the infantilization of enslaved adults and enslavement of children—may have worked in tandem.