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Meaning & History
An alternate name for Egypt, used in Grammar and Alphabet of the Egyptian Language, which was written by Joseph Smith. It appears to be partly derived from Mitzrayim, the son of Ham, which was occasionally written as Mestraim. The Hebrew suffix im used to render the word a demonym, could sometimes be removed from the rest of the name, thus leaving Mestra. The prefix ah is used in several languages. In this case, it appears to be used to mean "holy", reminiscent of the patriarchal government of Egypt according to the Mormons, which was said to be derived from the heavenly government. Thus, the basic meaning of the name would be something along the lines of "Holy Mitzrayim."