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of thirty-nine individuals from the 20" dynasty, and one case out of seven individuals
without a specified period during the New Kingdom.
Regrettably, the available data about the family relationships of the officials are gener¬
ally not really informative concerning the social status and place of origin of the family
or the officials themselves as in most of the cases only the name of the person is known
but they are not labelled with any titles. The most frequently mentioned relative — not
surprisingly — is the wife of the official, who is presented or named in twenty-one cases.
Both or one of the parents are named in seventeen cases” but grandparents are not known,
except the grandfather of Suemniut (Thutmose III —- Amenhotep II). Other relatives such
as siblings and children are also often named in the sources, and even an aunt, a sister¬
in-law, a mother-in-law or a nephew appear occasionally.
On the occasions when titles are mentioned with the names of the family members,
the titles are not important ones (Table 6.), which fact implies that the officials did not
originate from the higher social class but rather from the middle one.’ There are no
explicit references as to how they got into higher social circles and became prominent
members of the royal court. Besides, there are only a few (auto)biographical inscriptions
in which the owner mentions the stages of his official advancement in detail or conclu¬
sions can be drawn based on its content**, which do not provide with information
regarding this question either. Nevertheless, some possibilities emerge as an answer
based on observing the titles held by certain officials, which is discussed in detail later."
Titles of the fathers are mentioned in four cases (Neferrenpet (I) and Sarenenutet Tjaui
were brothers, so their father is the same individual), all of them are from the 18" dynasty.
Pesedjiri and Amenemhat, fathers of Djehuti (I) as well as Neferrenpet (I) and Sarene¬
nutet Tjaui respectively, hold the title s3b ‘dignitary’, which indicates that they were
18" dynasty: Nebamun, Djehuti (1), Qenamun, Suemniut, Heqanakht, Neferrenpet (1), Sarenenutet
Tjaui, Setau, Parennefer, Ptahemwia (I), Ipu, Pay, Paatenemheb, Nensemekhetef, Kasa; 19'" dynasty:
Tjai Ta, Wenefdjedsen, Ramessesemperre, Pentawer; 20" dynasty: Ptahemwia (II), Hori.
18" dynasty: Nebamun, Djehuti (I), Montuiui, Suemniut, Neferrenpet (I), Sarenenutet Tjaui, Ipu,
Pay, Qema; 19" dynasty: Tjai Ta, Neferrenpet (II), Ramessesemperre, Pentawer, Bay; 20" dynasty:
Hori, Amenkhau; New Kingdom: Isiu.
Schulman also drew the same conclusion based on a much narrower corpus containing only the
royal wh3s’ during the Ramesside period. Schulman, 1986, 197.
‘4 For the tomb inscriptions of Nebamun, see p. 105. and [1.1] Theban Tomb 24 on p. 327, for the focal
points of the tomb of Djehuti (I), see p. 113, for the stelophor statue of Qenamun, see p. 116. and
[3.1] Stelophor statue on p. 348, for the tomb inscriptions on Montuiui, see p. 123. and [7.1] Theban
Tomb 172 on p. 357.
For a discussion on the possible origins of the close relationship of the officials with the ruler, see
p- 62.
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105