ꜣw-ḥr

Egyptian

Etymology

ꜣw (“long, extended”) +‎ ḥr (“face”), thus literally ‘the (one who is) long of face’.

Pronunciation

(modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /ɑuː ħɛr/
- Conventional anglicization: au-her

Noun

m

(hapax) The meaning of this term is uncertain. Possibilities include:
1. happy or well-disposed one
2. farsighted one
  - c. 1860–1839 BCE, The Eloquent Peasant, version B1, Papyrus Berlin P 3023:
    
    n(n) n.k st ḫpr ꜣw-ḥr m ḥwꜥ-jb
    It does not befit you that a happy^?/farsighted^? one becomes anxious^?.
    (literally, “It is not for you, the long of face becoming the short of heart.”)
  - late 12th Dynasty, The Eloquent Peasant, version B2, Papyrus Berlin P 3025:
    
    nn n.k st ḫpr ꜣw-ḥr m ḥwꜥ-jb
    It does not befit you that a happy^?/farsighted^? one becomes anxious^?.
    (literally, “It is not for you, the long of face becoming the short of heart.”)

Usage notes

This is a hapax legomenon attested only in copies of The Eloquent Peasant, where it is found in a sentence contrasted with another hapax legomenon, ḥwꜥ-jb. As such, the meaning of this word is very uncertain. Attempts to intepret it often draw a parallel with the similar term ꜣwj-jb (“to be happy”, literally “to be long of heart”).

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of ꜣw-ḥr

ꜣw-ḥr

from version B2 of The Eloquent Peasant

References

Allen, James (2015) Middle Egyptian Literature: Eight Literary Works of the Middle Kingdom, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 299–301
Faulkner, Raymond (1962) A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian, Oxford: Griffith Institute, →ISBN, page 1