Popielska-Grzybowska, Joanna [Hrsg.]; Central European Conference of Young Egyptologists <2, 2001, Warszawa> [Hrsg.]: Proceedings of the Second Central European Conference of Young Egyptologists: Egypt 2001: perspectives of research, Warsaw 5 - 7 March 2001 (Warsaw, 2003)

Piotr Laskowski

Now we should turn to the private records that
mention the act of snfr-mg. At first sight they appear
to contradict these conclusions. However, it seems
they may be incorporated into the wider scheme and
contribute to a better understanding of the verb in
question.
1. The autobiographical text of Intef describes the
activity of that official in the oases and concludes:
“I supplied it.
I equipped it with every thing that was desired in the
desert,
it being snfr-td more than the palace Ch) in Egypt.”
In this text snfr should be considered a stative.
The suffix pronoun of the first person singular is care-
fully written throughout the text, thus considering it
a sdm—f form does not seem likely. This stative is
related to the 7z, which is indicated by the lack of the
feminine ending and may also be deduced from the
context.
This text clearly describes the activity of the official
responsible for the royal residences. It is impossible to
translate this verb as “to complete”. The translation “to
make beautiful” does not seem likely either. Intef was
not occupied with the building activity. Moreover, even
the boasting has its limits - certainly the provincial resi-
dence in the oasis could not have been more beautiful
than the palace in Thebes. The text states clearly that it
was excellently supplied. It should be suggested that
Intef was proud of his efficiency as a royal supplier in
the difficult, desert conditions. So the residence was
better supplied than the palace in Thebes.
2. Second of the private inscriptions comes from
Memphis. Amenhotep was an overseer of the works
in the Mansion of Millions of Years erected by
Amenhotep HI in Memphis. He describes the tem-
ple -its enclosure, gates, furniture, sacred lake to
conclude:
“After these works had been snfr-td (hr m-htsnfrw
khvt tn) his majesty established Clf.n will, n hn=f)
the offerings anew.”
It should be noted that there are works snfr-td.
This fragment would then summarise all the activities
22 It was Professor L. ZONHOVEN who pointed this issue
out to me.

described above. It seems clear that snfr here means
“to complete”. However, no royal ancestor is men-
tioned in this text.
In thinking of a single scheme that would incor-
porate and explain all the above-mentioned exam-
ples, one should go back to the question of the
meaning of the root nfr. The present author has al-
ready pointed to the fact that the English word “per-
fect” would seem most accurate. However, the no-
tion of being perfect includes the concept of being
finished, fully accomplished. When we say some-
thing is perfect we mean it needs no improvement
or alteration. To make something perfect would then
mean also to complete it.
The interesting feature of Egyptian that might be
recalled to support these considerations is the use of
nfr with the meaning of a negative verb.22 It was al-
ready noted by GARDINER that nfr may signify
“finished”.23 GARDINER compares it with the re-
lated nouns nfrw “lack”, nfrw “end-room” and nfryt
“end”. This would explain why the phrase nfr pw
was used as a negation. Something that has been com-
pleted is finished.
It seems to me that the verb snfr in the private
records fits this interpretation. Intef’s account of how
the residence was supplied, and Amenhotep’s de-
scription of the temple’s erection were meant to be
records of duties that were fully, perfectly fulfilled by
the deceased official. The meaning perfect/complet-
ed - refers to their activity. It seems interesting that
the verb snfr is employed in the passive forms - stative
or sdmw=f- it is a palace that was equipped; there
are works that were completed.
The situation of the king is very different. The tasks
of the king and the officials have nothing in common.
It is a permanent activity - war outside, and erecting
the temples inside the country - that is considered
the duty of the king. If one pays attention to the con-
text of the occurrences of the verb snfr he may ob-
serve that private texts are related to the deceased,
while royal building records refer to the living ruler.
Royal activity - including building activity - cannot
be completed before the king is dead. It is only after
his death that his foundation may finally be called per-
fect - completed. And it is a duty of the faithful son
and heir to make it perfect.
23 GARDINER, £G,§ 351.

94