jnd is a polysemous lexeme with the core meaning of “suffering”. jnd denotes physical suffering, emotional suffering, and a general, iterative suffering. These meanings are not necessarily discrete, but rather lie on a spectrum from physical suffering to emotional distress. These shades of meaning are “signposted by the presence of specific lexemes and phrases in the surrounding co(n)text or frame” (Jenkins 2022: 192). The nominal lexeme is written jnd and jnḏ (Jenkins 2022: 194). The below discussion is based on the data available in the Thesaurus Linguae Aegyptiae and other lexicographic tools. For a list of the tools consulted, see Jenkins (2021: 26–27) and Jenkins (2022: 173 n.17).

The meaning “physical suffering (because of medical ailments)” is attested in the Ramesside Period (Jenkins 2022: 194). A key signpost of this sense is a reference to being sḏr “be bedridden” (Wb 390.9–392.6) because of jnd. In other words, the experience of jnd is the reason for being bedridden (see: Sentence ICIBiKVpz6ofC0QYmp1GfJuX36E).

Similarly, to the verbal lexeme, jnd may also denote “infertility (of females)” in the Third Intermediate Period chapel of the Divine Adoratrices of Amun (Jansen-Winkeln 2009: 266; Jenkins 2022: 194). This text describes an inverse relationship between women “bearing children and not experiencing jnd, and experiencing jnd and presumably not having children” (Jenkins 2022: 180).

The sense of “emotional distress relating to the anglophone emotions of ‘sadness’, ‘misery’, and ‘grief’” is attested from the Ramesside Period through to the Greco–Roman Period (Jenkins 2022: 194). This meaning is signalled by key lexemes in the co(n)text, such as collocations with the jb “heart; mind; wish; character” (Wb 1, 59.10-60.11) and opposition with lexemes from the ‘happiness’ semantic field, such as sḥtp “to please” (Wb 4, 221.10–222.20) (see, for example: Sentence ICEDSLsw46dfv0Qxpaa8C0L7ucE). jnd is also associated with lexemes from the ‘grief’ semantic field, such as jꜢkb “to grieve” (Wb 1, 34.5–8) and hwt “to lament” (Wb 2, 485.2–3; see, for example: Edfu I.2, 215.32–33).

jnd is also attested with the general sense of “atemporal/indeterminate suffering” in the Greco–Roman Period Edfu Temple (Edfu I.4, 559.81; Jenkins 2022: 190). In this attestation, the contextual frame does not evoke a clear physical or emotive sense.

Bibliography
– Edfu I.2 = Chassinat, Emile & de Rochemonteix, Marquis. 1987. Le Temple D’Edfou I.2. Second Revised Edition by Sylvie Cauville & Didier Devauchelle, Cairo.
– Edfu I.4 = Chassinat, Emile & de Rochemonteix, Marquis. 1987. Le Temple D’Edfou I.4. Second Revised Edition by Sylvie Cauville & Didier Devauchelle, Cairo.
– Jansen–Winkeln, Karl. 2009. Inschriften der Spätzeit Teil III: Die 25 Dynastie, Wiesbaden.
– Jenkins, Madeline. 2022. “On the Semantics of jnd: A Lexical-Semantic Analysis of the ‘Sadness’ Lexeme jnd”, Lingua Aegyptia 30, pp. 171–200.
– Jenkins, Madeline. 2021. ‘Sadness’ in the Ancient Egyptian Lexicon: A Lexical-Semantic Analysis of the Lexeme ind. Master of Research Thesis submitted to Macquarie University, Sydney. <http://hdl.handle.net/1959.14/1283392>;.
– Thesaurus Linguae Aegyptiae <https://thesaurus-linguae-aegyptiae.de>;, Corpus issue 17, Web app version 2.1.0, 10/13/2023, ed. by Tonio Sebastian Richter & Daniel A. Werning on behalf of the Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften and Hans-Werner Fischer-Elfert & Peter Dils on behalf of the Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig (accessed: 10/26/2023)

Commentary author: Altägyptisches Wörterbuch; with contributions by: Madeline Jenkins; Data file created: 07/16/2024, latest revision: 07/16/2024