nṯr-nfr
Egyptian
Etymology
nṯr (“god”) + nfr (“pleasing, fine, good, beautiful”), thus ‘the pleasing/fine/good/beautiful god’. The use of the term in contrast with nṯr-ꜥꜣ (“the elder god”) shows that the implication of nfr here was probably one of youthful beauty or, euphemistically, simply youth, as also seen in nfrt (“young woman”). A rendering such as ‘the youthful god’ is thus perhaps truer to the intended meaning than the traditional rendering ‘the good god’.[1]
Pronunciation
- (modern Egyptological) IPA(key): /nɛt͡ʃɛr nɛfɛr/
- Conventional anglicization: netjer-nefer
Proper noun
|
m
- an epithet of the currently living king, often appended as a title either before all other titles or immediately before or after the king’s names, sometimes in contrast to nṯr-ꜥꜣ for the dead former king
- epithet for the junior king in a coregency, in contrast to nṯr-ꜥꜣ for the senior king
- (less commonly) an epithet for various gods, especially Osiris as king of the afterworld
References
- Erman, Adolf, Grapow, Hermann (1928) Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache, volume 2, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, →ISBN, pages 361.10–362.3
- Faulkner, Raymond Oliver (1962) A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian, Oxford: Griffith Institute, →ISBN, page 142
- Allen, James Peter (2015) Middle Egyptian Literature: Eight Literary Works of the Middle Kingdom, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 62
- On the meaning and translation of this term see also especially the discussion in Berlev, Oleg (2003) “Два Царя — Два Солнца: К мировоззрению древних египтян” and the translated version “Two kings – Two Suns: On the Worldview of the Ancient Egyptians” in Discovering Egypt from the Neva: the Egyptological Legacy of Oleg D. Berlev, edited by Quirke, Stepehen, Berlin: Achet-Verlag, pages 1–35
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