Akan "ƐfƐw" and Ancient Egyptian "Nefer"
18-June-2011
This article is full of
excitement. It has been a while since I made a personal discovery that
almost caused me to fall over the chair I was sitting on. No,
literally! I was running off to check both Akan and Ancient Egyptian
references to "ƐfƐw"
(Akan) and "Nefer" (Ancient Egyptian) respectively when I almost fell
over. Both words mean THE SAME THING in the respective languages. To my
knowledge, no one has pointed this out before. Why is this so? Folks,
as far as I am know, it is being pointed out here for the first time.
According to Wikipedia:
'Nefer is a word in the Ancient
Egyptian language that was used to symbolize beauty and goodness. The
exact translation of the word in English is 'Beautiful on the
inside and the outside'. (Wikipedia, accessed 18-June-2011)
According to the website "Egyptian Myths":
'The term nefer was very
popular throughout the ages with the ancient Egyptians. It appears with
a dozen different meanings in their literature... all positive. It was
also incorporated into many personal names, including those of the
famous queens Nefertiti and Nefertari.'
The nefer hieroglyph was used to
convey the concepts of 'goodness' and 'beauty'. This is poignantly
illustrated in the statue to the right of Merytamun, the daughter of
Rameses II. Her necklace is nothing but rows and rows of the 'nefer'
hieroglyph.
(www.egyptianmyths.net/nefer.htm; accessed 18-June-2011)
Indeed, it is true that
the word "Nefer" has several meanings, most of which relate to beauty
and goodness. Budge's Egyptian dictionary alone lists more than 2 pages
of meanings for this word.
Among the meanings in Budge's Egyptian Hieroglyphic Dictionary (Budge: 1920, pgs. 370-372) for the word "nefer":
"to be good, good, pleasant,
beautiful, excellent, well-doing, gracious, happy, pretty; for the
best, most beautiful of all; a good or beautiful thing"
Here is what Christaller's Twi and Fante Dictionary (Christaller: 1933, pg. 124) has
to say about the Akan word, "ƐfƐw":
"beauty, fairness, handsomeness"
(SEE: Dictionary screenshots below)
NOTE: The character 'Ɛ' sounds very much like the 'e' between the 'r' and 'd' of "red"....obviously on its own, without the 'r' or the 'd'.
This for me is nothing
short of fascinating! But wait, that is not all. Let us continue to
follow the thread to see where it will lead.
ON NEFERTITI AND NEFERTARE
This word "nefer" appears many times in Ancient Egyptian accounts. The Egyptian queen Nefertiti for instance could be called "ƐfƐw-tete"
which in the Akan language translates literally as "Beauty-Ancient" or
more readably as "Ancient Beauty"!! And what about Nefertari, one might ask?
Well hold on, you won't be disappointed. Nefertari in the Akan language
will be "ƐfƐw-tare", and what does it mean? We now know what "ƐfƐw" means but what about "tare"?
According to Christaller's dictionary (1933, p.495), "tare" means:
"to cast or lay (at, upon, into); to paste up or on; to be cast, to stick, to be fastened (at, in, on)"
So in that case Nefertari or more appropriately, "ƐfƐw-tare" means "beauty laid upon" or "beauty cast upon" or "beauty fastened upon"!!
Oh yes! You are probably
saying that this is major! It is! I said right at the beginning of this
Akan book and website project that it is by looking at the language,
cuture/traditions and symbols of the Akan that their link with ancient
civilisations and (ultimately) influences from Sirius in particular can
be ascertained.
But wait, that is not all. The more major and important implications are about to land and explode like a bomb!
ANCIENT EGYPTIAN MEN-NEFER, GREEK MEMPHIS AND AKAN MAMFE
This one blew my top! As
I normally get excited about discoveries and feel shy about such
excitement years later, I expect this episode to follow that pattern.
But for the moment, to hell with constraints!
According to
conventional Egyptian accounts, the city of Memphis was founded around
3,000BCE by the universally acknowledged ruler of the first dynasty,
Menes ('Meni' in the Ancient Egyptian language). This city was said to
be under the protection of Ptah. Menes was the first king after the
Zeph-Tepi (the time of the Neteru) and after the time the Shem-su-Hor
(followers of Horus) ruled.
Memphis is the Greek
name for this city, a name derived from the older Ancient Egyptian one.
What is the Egyptian one? It is Men-Nefer. Now those who did not
understand the Akan language may have been unable to see the link. But
for me, when the insight came through, it was mind-blowing!
Men-Nefer in Ancient Egyptian is the same as Man-ƐfƐw in the Akan language!!
Oh yes! You see it now, don't you? It is incredible, isn't it? Yes,
"Man" is the Akan name for city-state/nation! Man-ƐfƐw
LITERALLY means "State-Beauty"/"Nation-Beauty", which when turned
around for readability, could mean "Beautiful Nation". This, I suspect, is
the true meaning of the Ancient Egyptian name Men-Nefer which later
turned into its Greek corruption, Memphis.
This one is a new
revelation, and it is significant, it is major. Folks, you heard it
here first! One more piece of the puzzle has been put in place!
Although this does not prove that the Akan were in Egypt at the time,
it does in my view present a relevant piece of linguistic
evidence linking the Ancient language of the (likely pre-dynastic to early dynastic)
Egyptians with that of the ancient and modern language of the Akan. I would
like to present this piece of evidence to you for your consideration. I
am not yet done so let us continue.
MEN-NEFER, MEMPHIS AND MAMFE ARE ONE AND THE SAME NAME
Previously, the Akan
chief of the Kwahu Akan people, Dr. Nana Banchie Darkwah, gave an
alternative derivation for Memphis in his book The Africans who wrote the Bible. He suggested that we call the Ancient Egyptian city Memphis "Mamfe"/"MamfƐ", a name which actually belongs to a town found in the Akan area of present day Ghana.
Let me suggest to readers that Mamfe/"Man-fƐ" and Man-ƐfƐw mean THE SAME THING, even with the different derivation by Nana Banchie Darkwah, since "fƐ" and "fƐw" are variations of "ƐfƐw" and can be used in the same context (see dictionary definition for 'ƐfƐw' below). Strictly speaking, "fƐ" is used as an adjective (beautiful) while "ƐfƐw" is a noun (beauty), however "fƐ" is sometimes used to connote both 'beauty' and 'beautiful'.
Oh yes! This revelation is SO
Sirius! (pun). Now you believe me that I almost fell of my chair! "Man-fƐ" is just a shorter way to say "Man-ƐfƐw",
anyone who speaks the Akan language will instantly see this. It is
similar to when in English a person says "won't" instead of "will not".
My guess is that the Akan people kept this name "Man-ƐfƐw" which turned into the colloquial but nevertheless identical name, "Man-fƐ"/"MamfƐ".
"MENI" (ANCIENT EGYPTIAN) AND "MAN-HENE" (AKAN) ARE TITLES FOR THE RULER OF THE PEOPLE
The name of the Ancient Egyptian king,"Menes", who ruled the first dynasty, is a Greek
corruption of the Ancient Egyptian version: "Meni", in which word we can find
the Akan words "Man" (State) and "Manhene" (Akan word for
king). So, "Menes"/"Meni" quite likely was the "Manhene" of "Man-ƐfƐw"
(Men-Nefer/Memphis in Ancient Egyptian)!! "Oh my god", you might be saying! Oh yes, quite
exciting isn't it? After 5,000 years of Earth history, a Higher Self incarnated as an Akan man
comes around to reveal that which once was and some of which still
remains preserved in the culture of contemporary Akan people.
Once
again, "Menes"/"Meni" (king) was the "Manhene" (king) of "Man-ƐfƐw" (= Men-Nefer = Memphis), the beautiful nation! Go figure!
It is quite possible that the influence happened the other way round,
in that "Meni"/"Menhi" in the Ancient Egyptian language became
"Man-hene" in the Akan language.
Modern historians are
struggling to find out the meaning of "Menes"/"Meni". This meaning has
now been given in this article. "Menes"/"Meni" is not actually the name
of the ruler (as modern historians will also agree with) but rather his
title. We do not know what the actual name of this "Manhene"
was, as surviving Egyptian accounts do not seem to give it.
CONCLUSION
So there you go! One more piece of the puzzle is set in place. Brought to you by The Akan. In The Akan Book
(section 3.15) I wrote about how Memphis, the "City of Ptah" had the
falcon/hawk as its emblem and how this is the bird totem of one of the
major clans of the Akan, the Ayoko/Oyoko clan which currently rules the
Asante subgroup of the Akan people. In a later section of The Akan Book
(section 5.5) I pointed out how the being referred to as Ptah during
Egyptian times is actually the same as the Akan 'god' Nyame, the
Babylonian god Ea/Hea, the Sumerian god Enki and the Ugaritic god
Yamm.
This new information about Memphis/Mamfe, together with the Garamantian/Koromante hypothesis I proposed in section 3 of The Akan Book,
gives some foundational basis for extending the Akan migration scenario
past Mali/Timbuktu, (which is as far as conventional, publicly
available accounts of Akan oral histories go), into (at least) Libya
(Garamantia/Koromante) and Egypt (Memphis/Man-Nefer/Man-ƐfƐw) of the early dynastic and possibly of the pre-dynastic period as well.
EXTRAS -- OTHER WORDS FROM BUDGE
(Egyptian Hieroglyphic Dictionary vol 1, 1920, pg. 370-372)
Nefer-Tut: the title of the priestess of Memphis (Could this have a reference to the Akan "Tutu"?)
Nefer-T: the beautiful or good land, a name of Amentt (Egypt)
Nefer Shefi: terribly beautiful one
*this word nefer is so
pervasive in Ancient Egyptian vocabulary, no wonder it survived till
the present time among the Akan. There are 3 pages (370-372) of words
related to "nefer" some of which are connected to divine beings/gods.
JULY 2011 ADDITION
Now that I am once again
calm, I am convinced that my Higher Self
allowed me to have these insights so that this information could be
revealed. It also happened synchronistically. It's still personally
quite mind blowing to consider that a concept (beauty) which features
strongly in both Akan and Ancient Egyptian culture is represented by
the same word in both cultures. It is also remarkable that a strong
link has been made between the Akan people who are known to have
migrated from North to South and the Ancient Egyptian city of Men-Nefer
(Memphis). The Akan city/town
Mamfe and the Ancient Egyptian city of Men-Nefer (Memphis) have the
same name! The information presented in this article in my view
provides one more possible piece of the puzzle in the attempt to work
out the Ancient history of the the Akan and other Africans as well as
other Earth human groups whose culture displaces influences from
civilizations in the Sirius star system.
In terms of areas on
the African continent to which we can now point out influences on Akan
language and culture, we can posit the following locations:
Men-Nefer/Mamfe (Ancient
Memphis) ---> Garamantia (Koromante)/Libya ---> Timbuktu (where
conventional history of the Akan starts) ---> Bono & Bona Kingdoms (by Volta tributaries)-->
Diverse Akan settlements (Forest & Coastal areas)
