ꜣfꜥ

Egyptian

Etymology

Probably from ꜣfj (“to gorge oneself, to be greedy”).

Pronunciation

• (modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /ɑfɑː/
  • Conventional anglicization: afa

Noun

 m

1. gluttony, greed [12th Dynasty]
   • c. 1928 BCE, tomb no. 2 (of Amenemhat) at Beni Hasan, northern architrave, western half:

     [jmꜣḫ] ḫr ḥr ḥ(w) rḫyt (j)r(j)-pꜥ(t) ḥꜣt(j)-ꜥ jꜣm-ꜥ mn rdwj šw m ꜣfꜥ ḥr mr.f nwt jmny-m-ḥꜣt mꜣꜥ-ḫrw

     [Revered one] in the presence of Horus who strikes the people, hereditary prince, nomarch, gracious of arm, firm of feet, devoid of greed because of his love for the city, Amenyemhat, justified.

   • c. 1900 BCE, The Instructions of Kagemni (pPrisse/pBN 183) lines 1.4–1.5:

     ꜣt pw ktt dꜣjr jb ḫw(w) pw ꜣfꜥ jw ḏbꜥ.t(w) jm

     Controlling oneself (lit. Subduing the heart) is a little moment; gluttony is something to be precluded, as it is pointed to in reproach.

Usage notes

See the usage notes section below.

Inflection

Declension of ꜣfꜥ (masculine)

singular	ꜣfꜥ
dual	ꜣfꜥwj
plural	ꜣfꜥw

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of ꜣfꜥ  

ꜣfꜥ

from tomb no.2 at Beni Hasan

Noun

 m

1. glutton, greedy person [12th Dynasty]
   • c. 1900 BCE, The Instructions of Kagemni (pPrisse/pBN 183) lines 1.7–1.8:

     jr ḥms.k ḥnꜥ ꜣfꜥ wnm.k ꜣḫf.f swꜣ(.w)

     If you sit with a glutton, you should eat when his burning appetite has passed.

Usage notes

The only attestations of this word as a common noun are the three quotations given above. Given this sparse attestation, Erman and Grapow interpret it (along with some uses of the verb ꜣfj) as an adjective ‘greedy, gluttonous’ (sometimes used nominally) instead of as a noun.

Inflection

Declension of ꜣfꜥ (masculine)

singular	ꜣfꜥ
dual	ꜣfꜥwj
plural	ꜣfꜥw

Related terms

• ꜣfꜣf
• ꜣfj

 

Proper noun

 m

1. a minor god, ‘the Glutton’, ‘the Devourer’ [Coffin Texts]
   • c. 2050 BCE – 1926 BCE, Coffin Texts, version S1C (inner coffin of Mesehet, Cairo CG 28118) spell 431:

     jnk ꜣfꜥ nn pr m (n)nw pr m wnw nnk bꜣ nb

     • Translation by Faulkner

       I am the devourer of the Inert One, who ascended from the Abyss, who went forth from Unu, and every soul belongs to me; […]

   • c. 1971 BCE – 1926 BCE, Coffin Texts, version M6C (coffin of Senbi, Cairo JdE 42827) spell 431:

     jnk ꜣfꜥ nny pr m wnw nnk bꜣ nb

     • Translation by Faulkner

       I am the devourer of the Inert One, who went forth from Unu, and every soul belongs to me; […]

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of ꜣfꜥ  

ꜣfꜥ	ꜣfꜥ	ꜣfꜥ	ꜣfꜥ

References

• “ꜣfꜥ (lemma ID 121)”, “ꜣfꜥ (lemma ID 122)”, and “ꜣfꜥ (lemma ID 123)”, in Thesaurus Linguae Aegyptiae‎^[1], Corpus issue 18, Web app version 2.1.5, Tonio Sebastian Richter & Daniel A. Werning by order of the Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften and Hans-Werner Fischer-Elfert & Peter Dils by order of the Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig, 2004–26 July 2023
• Erman, Adolf, Grapow, Hermann (1926) Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache‎^[2], volume 1, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, →ISBN, pages 3, 9.17
• Faulkner, Raymond Oliver (1962) A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian, Oxford: Griffith Institute, →ISBN, page 3