Onuphrius
Onuphrius ( Latin ) also Onuphrios ( ancient Greek Ὀνούφριος ), Onnophris (Greek Ὀννωφρις) or Omphis is the Latin or Greek form of the ancient Egyptian male name Wen-nefer (also Wenen-nefer ) which has been a personal name since the Old Kingdom and since the Middle Ages Kingdom is evidenced as a common epithet of the god Osiris . The Coptic version is ⲟⲩⲉⲛⲟⲃⲣ (Wenovr).
Origin and Distribution
| Onuphrius in hieroglyphics | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Wnn-nfr That is good |
||||
Wen-nefer means “who is good” or “who is perfect”, perhaps also “the (again) perfect” or “the risen one”. It is believed that this epithet alludes to the beneficial earthly kingship of the god Osiris. Visitor inscriptions from the Old Kingdom also attach this name to the ancient Egyptian King Sneferu in his mortuary temple.
Famous non-royal persons of that name were
- Wennefer , Egyptian priest in the 13th century BC, and
- Wenennefer , Egyptian civil servant in the 4th century BC.
The Greek writer Plutarch (* around 45; † around 125 AD) translates the name in his work De Iside et Osiride as “ Euergetes ” (German “who acts well”, “benefactor”). This Greek expression was also the nickname of the Egyptian- Ptolemaic kings
- Ptolemy III Euergetes I. (* around 284 BC; † 222 BC) and
- Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II (* around 180 BC; † 116 BC).
During the time of King Ptolemy IV and Ptolemy V , a short-lived dynasty of opposing kings in Upper Egypt with headquarters in Thebes, who named themselves after Wen-nefer:
- Harwennefer ( 205-199 BC)
- Anchwennefer (199-186 BC)
The Ethiopian saint Onophrios the Great , who died around 400 AD, became the patron saint of Heinrich the Lion and the city of Munich he founded in the European Middle Ages . Christian name versions derived from the ancient Egyptian name are still widespread in Italy and the Balkans .
Other well-known namesake
- Saint Onuphrius of Malsk in Pskow , abbot († 1492 )
- Saint Onuphrius of Vologda , monk ( 16th century )
- Onufri , Orthodox clergyman and one of the most important icon painters of the 16th century in Southeast Europe
- Onofrius Meyenrose, sexton and author in Hildesheim, 16th century
- Onuphrius, Russian Orthodox bishop, martyr († 1938 )
See also
literature
- Wolfgang Helck , Eberhard Otto . Edited by Rosemarie Drenkhahn: Osiris , in: Kleines Lexikon der Ägyptologie , 4th edition, Wiesbaden 1999, p. 213, ISBN 3-447-04027-0
- Hans Bonnet : Onnophris , in: Lexikon der ägyptischen Religionsgeschichte , 3rd edition, Berlin 2000, p. 545, ISBN 3-937872-08-6
- Erich Lüddeckens (ed.): Demotic name book. Reichert, Wiesbaden 1986-2000, ISBN 3-89500-168-6 , pp. 118-119, 133
- Johannes Glötzner: Onuphrius: Patron of the city of Munich and the hermaphrodites . Edition Enhuber, Munich 2008, ISBN 3-936431-16-7 .