Oldal 47 [47]
indicated by the geographical element in the name which comprised of either the definite
article p3 ‘the’ or the demonstrative pn, often written p3 n, ‘the one of’ plus the geograph¬
ical specification. According to this pattern, the name of the father of Neferrenpet (II),
Penlevi ‘the one of Levi’ also indicates foreign origin.” The same pattern can be observed
in the case of two other officials as well. The cognomen of R™ms-'sw!-[hrw dd n=f] Pn-"H
dr! Ramessesheru called Penhazuri ‘the one of Hazor’ on his stele in Paris (E 3629) sup¬
posedly refers to his hometown in north-eastern Canaan.” It cannot be ascertained in
this case either when or in what circumstances he came to Egypt and became a personal
servant of the ruler. Similarly, almost nothing can be ascertained about of a certain Paluka
‘The Lukkan’™, who was one of the first individuals to be accused in the trial of the con¬
spirators in the plot against Ramesses III, together with two of his fellow-officials with
likewise foreign names, Warna™” and Inini, the latter of whom was even explicitly called
‘the Libyan’ .”” Two of their colleagues, Baalmeher”* and Qedendenna™” were on the other
side of jurisdiction acting as members of the judiciary that examined the criminals. In
such cases, when the name of the individual is a foreign-looking and -sounding name, it
is even written with the ideogram of a throwing-stick signifying them as ‘foreign, foreigner’.
Besides these cases, several officials bore a basiliphoric name during the Ramesside period,
however, there are no other indications regarding their foreign ethnicity. In these cases
non-Egyptian origin is only assumable but as it was mentioned earlier, and based only
on their basiliphoric name one cannot adopt a position in this question unequivocally.
Regrettably, the functional titles held by these officials are either so diverse that no con¬
clusions can be drawn regarding any possible connection between their foreign origin and
their status in the royal court nor in respect to their duties in the personal service of the
ruler. Schulman speculated in regard to the socio-political background of the increasing
number of ‘royal wb3s’ of foreign origin during the Ramesside era that it was because the
king either mistrusted or could not rely on the native members of the upper echelons.*° He
sees the Amarna period as a turning point in this respect. After the triumph over the reforms
'3 For a discussion on Neferrenpet (II), see p. 191.
”+ Sauneron — Yoyotte, 1950, 68; Schulman, 1986, 196; Kitchen, 2003b, 25; Davies, 2014, 88. For the
inscription of the stele, see [55] Stele, Paris, E 3629 on p. 509, for a discussion on Ramessesheru, see
p. 208.
5 Schneider, 1992, 110-111.
26 Schneider, 1992, 80-81.
27 For the inscription of the trial, see [62] Judicial Papyrus of Turin on p. 521.
25 Schneider, 1992, 86.
29 Schneider, 1992, 205.
3° Schulman, 1986, 198-199.