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As for the individuals labelled as wb3 appearing on the stelae one cannot make any
similar observations to the ones mentioned above. There is no instance of several wb3s
owning a common stela. If they were presented on a stele because of their function or
relationship, there is no other information about them except their names. In cases when
an wb} is the only owner of a stele, the text contains their affiliation but — in contrast to
that of the wdpw — no attribution referring to their function or personal attachment to
the deceased can be observed. There is only one example where the third person singu¬
lar masculine possessive suffix =fwas added to the two w#3 titles on a stele addressing
both persons thereby as wb3=f— ‘his butler’.”
To conclude, the usage of the two words, wb3 and wdpw was very similar; their meaning
conveyed a more or less similar function: a person primarily in charge of preparing and
serving food and drinks in households. According to Grajetzki and Quirke,” the origi¬
nal function of the wdpw ‘cupbearer’ was bringing the food from the different
preparation rooms to the place of eating, while the wb is defined by Quirke as a ‘food
bearer’ who seems to have represented the same function, perhaps a lower status or less
formal expression.” Helck, in contrast, suggests that the hierarchy was the reverse, and
the wdpw did the actual work in the food chambers under the direction of the wb3.'°
The variations and oddities in their usage are linked to the innovation of wb3 in the
Middle Kingdom, rather than their functional differences since the word wb3 did not
have such a tradition and background by that time as wdpw had from the period of the
Old Kingdom. In the New Kingdom, however, the differentiation can be observed between
the two words used as a title in themselves and those complemented with the attribute
of nswt ‘royal’, both in respect to their meaning and function, as well as regarding the
social status of the persons holding these officials.
9 Lange — Schafer, 1902, 29-33, CG 20025.
95 Quirke, 2004, 66, Grajetzki, 2013, 245.
9 Quirke, 2004, 66.
°° Helck, 1958, 257.