Page 53 [53]
in Pi-Ramesse, the capital that had recently been founded by Ramesses II. The indíca¬
tion for a northern place of function if somewhat more definite in the case of
Ramessesemperre, who appears on an ostracon (CG 25504)" reporting visits by high
ranking officials in the Valley of the Kings and at Deir el-Medina in the 7" year of
Merneptah.’® The inscription clearly states that after inspecting the procedure of plac¬
ing the coffins, as well as presumably additional pieces of funerary equipment, into the
tomb, the officials returned back to the north. This indicates that the place of function
of Ramessesemperre was either in Memphis or in Pi-Ramesse and he travelled to Thebes
only to carry out a particular mission under the orders of the king. A similar situation
can be concluded in the case of Bay who explicitly defines himself as a visitor to Thebes
on a ostracon (CG 25766),’* indicating that he mainly resided in the northern part of the
country. Unfortunately, the purpose of preparing the ostracon is not clear enough to
draw unequivocal conclusions from its content,’” however, it was probably left in the
Valley of the Kings as an ex-voto.’®
Besides the types of references mentioned above, a special duty with which the official
is assigned, according to the inscription of a monument, might also specify his place of
function. Ramessesankherneheh appears on a donation stele, located in a private col¬
lection, dated to the 25" year of Ramesses III that records a land donation of 50 aruras
for the cult statue of the ruler which was erected in Pi-Ramesse.* The inscription names
Prince Ramessesmeriamun as the supervisor of the donation, and Ramessesankherne¬
heh as the person responsible for providing for the cult of the statue. As such, it is hard
to imagine that his place of function would have been far away from the cult place of
the statue. A similar situation can be observed in the case of Hori who is assigned as one
of the members of the great law-court of Heliopolis on a stele (Memphis, 2882) from the
24" year of Ramesses III reporting on the donation of a cult statue of the king, as well
as the list of persons and goods ordered to its cult service. Both officials must have
been settled in the north, Ramessesankherneheh most probably in Pi-Ramesse, and Hori
perhaps in Memphis.
“9 For the inscription of the ostracon, see [53] Ostracon, Cairo, 25504 on p. 496.
50 For a detailed description on the events, see Janssen, 1997, 148-151; Davies, 2014, 139-141.
51 For the inscription of the ostracon, see [58] Ostracon, Cairo, CG 25766 on p. 515.
152 Cerny, 1966, 36; Posener, 1977; Kitchen, 1993a, 237.
153 Davies, 2014, 249.
%4 According to the inscription, the cult statue ‘is settled in the house of Amun of Ramesseshegaiunu',
which refers to the royal residence of Pi-Ramesse. See Chappaz, 2005-7, 6, n. 5, with further refer¬
ences. For the inscription of the stele, see [61] Stele in private collection on p. 519.
55 For the inscription of the stele, see [73] Stele, Memphis, 2882 on. p. 529.