The

Egyptian hieroglyph Egyptian hieroglyphs (, ) were the formal writing system used in Ancient Egypt, used for writing the Egyptian language. Hieroglyphs combined logographic, syllabic and alphabetic elements, with some 1,000 distinct characters.There were about 1,0 ...

for "perfect, complete" (with the extended meanings of "good, pleasant, well, beautiful") in

Gardiner's sign list Gardiner's Sign List is a list of common Egyptian hieroglyphs compiled by Sir Alan Gardiner. It is considered a standard reference in the study of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. Gardiner lists only the common forms of Egyptian hieroglyphs, but h ...

is numbered F35; its phonetic value is ', with a reconstructed pronunciation of and a conventional Egyptological vocalization of '.

Hieroglyphs and symbolism

The triliteral Egyptian hieroglyph F35 ('nfr') has sometimes been explained as a representation of a

lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lute" can ref ...

; however, Egyptologists today no longer consider this hypothesis likely. Rather than a lute, the hieroglyph is actually a representation of the

heart The heart is a muscular Organ (biology), organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as ca ...

and

trachea The trachea, also known as the windpipe, is a cartilaginous tube that connects the larynx to the bronchi of the lungs, allowing the passage of air, and so is present in almost all air- breathing animals with lungs. The trachea extends from t ...

. It originally may have been the

esophagus The esophagus (American English) or oesophagus (British English; both ), non-technically known also as the food pipe or gullet, is an organ in vertebrates through which food passes, aided by peristaltic contractions, from the pharynx to t ...

and heart. The striations of the

windpipe The trachea, also known as the windpipe, is a cartilaginous tube that connects the larynx to the bronchi of the lungs, allowing the passage of air, and so is present in almost all air-breathing animals with lungs. The trachea extends from the l ...

only appear in the hieroglyph following the

Old Kingdom of Egypt In ancient Egyptian history, the Old Kingdom is the period spanning c. 2700–2200 BC. It is also known as the "Age of the Pyramids" or the "Age of the Pyramid Builders", as it encompasses the reigns of the great pyramid-builders of the Fourt ...

. The lower part of the sign has always clearly been the heart, for the markings clearly follow the form of a

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticate ...

's heart.

Use

The term ' has been incorporated into many names in Ancient Egypt. Examples include

Nefertiti Neferneferuaten Nefertiti () ( – c. 1330 BC) was a queen of the 18th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, the great royal wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten. Nefertiti and her husband were known for a radical change in national religious policy, in which ...

Nefertari Nefertari, also known as Nefertari Meritmut, was an Egyptian queen and the first of the Great Royal Wives (or principal wives) of Ramesses the Great.Dodson, Aidan and Hilton, Dyan. ''The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt''. Thames & Hud ...

, and

Neferhotep Khasekhemre Neferhotep I was an Egyptian pharaoh of the mid Thirteenth Dynasty ruling in the second half of the 18th century BC K.S.B. Ryholt: ''The Political Situation in Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period, c.1800–1550 BC'', Carst ...

. Some scholars suggest that it was used in ancient Egyptian construction where 'nfrw' was used to denote 'level zero' of a building and in accounting where 'nfr' would refer to a zero balance.

Pharaoh

Nefer was an ancient

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

ian pharaoh who ruled for two years, one month, and a day, from 2197–2193 BCE, according to the

Turin Canon The Turin King List, also known as the Turin Royal Canon, is an ancient Egyptian hieratic papyrus thought to date from the reign of Pharaoh Ramesses II, now in the Museo Egizio (Egyptian Museum) in Turin. The papyrus is the most extensive list ...

, though he reigned during the reign of

Pepi II Neferkare Pepi II Neferkare (2284 BC – after 2247 BC, probably either 2216 or 2184 BC) was a pharaoh of the Sixth Dynasty in Egypt's Old Kingdom who reigned from 2278 BC. His second name, Neferkare (''Nefer-ka-Re''), means "Beautiful i ...

. IV,10: Nefer.

References

Ancient Egypt: the Mythology - Nefer (Beauty)
22nd-century BC Pharaohs Beauty Egyptian hieroglyphs Egyptian words and phrases Heart Pharaohs of the Sixth Dynasty of Egypt Sheep in art Trachea Year of birth missing Year of death missing {{AncientEgypt-bio-stub