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office, Neferrenpet (I) and Sarenenutet Tjaui during the reign of Amenhotep III. Both
examples are strayed occurrences temporarily far from each other so they cannot be
considered as basis for any further conclusions in respect to looking for links between
the office and family relationships.
II.1.2, The issue of foreign origin of the officials
Foreigners played an active role in the administration of the Egyptian state during the
New Kingdom, particularly during the Ramesside period. It is obvious from the titles
of these individuals that they participated in every level of the society.’ Helck"° and
Schulman” discussed the foreign origin of the ‘royal wb3s’ and ‘royal wdpws’ in the 18‘
dynasty as well as during the Ramesside period.
Helck notes that the persons who acted in these offices were predominantly Egyptian,
however, those of foreign ethnicity might have been represented among them during the
18" dynasty and their number definitely increased from the reign of Ramesses IL." Accord¬
ing to Helck, it was generally accepted that besides their original name officials of foreign
origin adopted an additional court name compounded with the word hq? during the 18"
dynasty,” while later during the Ramesside period, the name of the ruler was used instead
of the word hq3, by which a basiliphoric name was created for the non-native individuals.
These names were given to them by the king himself upon their arrival at the royal court
for the service of the ruler, as Helck states," and, however, it is known that numerous
hostages were taken to Egypt during the 19"*-20"" dynasties for this purpose as well as oth¬
ers, certainly not every name thus compounded with a royal name should automatically
infer that an individual was of non-Egyptian origin or entered Egypt as hostage. Basiliphoric
names may be interpreted as a mark of a foreign origin indeed, on the one hand, and on
the other hand, as Malek notes, they might express a special affiliation of a person with
their ruler regardless of their nationality.» Furthermore, some basiliphoric names such as
Ramessesnakht, Nebmaatrenakht or Menmaatrenakht were borne by native Egyptians as
9 Helck, 1958, 353-367; Schulman, 1986, 193.
"° Helck, 1958, 271-271.
™ Schulman, 1986, 193-197.
"= Helck, 1958, 271-273.
‘= Helck mentions Hegaerneheh and Hegareshu as examples of ‘royal wb3s’ of foreign origin during
the 18" dynasty, however, neither of them bore this office according to the available evidence. Helck,
1958, 273.
"4 Helck, 1958, 274.
"5 Málek, 1988, 136; Davies, 2014, 87.