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not two different readings of the same sign group, but two different sign groups with their
own readings. Observing the presence and forms of appearance of the two words as well
as the context in which they appear may help to clarify their usage.
The lexical meanings of the two words, wb3 and wdpw, stand for the same in general:
‘man-servant, waiting man, cupbearer, butler, sewer’." In regard to their usage, wdpw
appeared earlier,” its presence has been detected as early as the Old Kingdom with the
meanings ‘(domestic) servant, cellarman, cook, sewer, cupbearer’, whereas at this time
wb only existed as a verb with the meaning ‘open’ or in the form of the feminine wb3.t
(wb3.yt) as a noun which means ‘maidservant’.* During the Middle Kingdom, wb? also
appeared with the meaning ‘butler, cupbearer, manservant, sewer’,* while wdpw lived
on with its former Old Kingdom meanings, and its usage was more general and frequent
than that of wb3."° Ward mentions some stelae from this period that provide good exam¬
ples of the discrepancies in the usage of the two words, proving that their lexical
meanings were not yet clearly divided at that time.” On these stelae, he states, the two
words stand instead of each other, where one would expect the presence of wdpw, wb3
appears and vice versa, but both of them rarely appear on the same stele. Ward does not
provide any further explanation for the background of this fact or what his statement
is based on. He only mentions that the duties of the two positions probably covered
similar areas, and they were not clearly distinct according to their functions, which could
explain the interchangeability of the two words in the early period of their common
usage.” It must be pointed out, however, that in the cases of the examples shown by
Ward one could speak of the interchangeability of the words themselves and not only
of their readings.
In the New Kingdom, the word wb} lived on with similar meanings as in the Middle
Kingdom, such as ‘butler, cupbearer, chancellor’, and wdpw was still used with the mean¬
" Erman — Grapow, 1971, , Bd. I, 292, 388; Hannig, 2003, 391-392; Hannig, 2006b, 200-201, 242-243;
Hannig, 2006a, 647-648, 750-754; Lesko, 1982, 110, 136.
” Erman — Grapow 1971, 292, 388; Gardiner, 1947, 43°.
5% Hannig, 2003, 391-392.
4 Hannig, 2003, 330.
5 Erman — Grapow, 1971, 292; Hannig, 2006a, 647-648.
Hannig, 2006a, 750-754.
7 Ward, 1978, 92, $178.
At first sight one may think that the noun wé3 originates from, or at least has some connection with
the verbal root b3 which means ‘to pour out’, since these persons, being servants and cupbearers, served
drinks and liquids as well. Nevertheless, based on its use in the Middle Kingdom, Ward derives the
noun from the Semitic verbal root wbl which means ‘to carry, to bring’. Ward, 1978, 94, $178-181.