Page 73 [73]
All of the scenes representing the tomb owners carrying out their official duties as
wb3 nswt ‘royal wb?’ are connected to the original functional tasks of wb3s and wdpws:
preparing and serving food and drinks. Nevertheless, being in a higher rank in the offi¬
cial hierarchy, they did not take part in the processes actively but rather acted as
managers directing and overseeing the procedures as well as the workers. The scenes in
the tomb of Djehuti (I) (TT 110) show various drinking and storage vessels and men
straining out, mixing or cooling liquids. Djehuti (I) addresses the waiters in the text
above his figure, however, the inscription is too fragmentary to reveal its meaning.”
Similar depictions can be seen in the tomb of Suemniut (TT 172) as well with preparing
and bringing food and drinks, scribes recording produce before the deceased, butchers,
as well as men with trays of bread and other food. The inscriptions accompanying the
scenes reveal that Suemniut was in charge of the inspection of drink supplies for the
royal palace, the preparation of the drinks themselves as well as the sealing of the vessels
in the cellars, all sorts of things intended for the king’s table, and the transportation of
vegetables grown especially for him.?°
The responsibility for inspecting produce appears in the other tombs as well. In his
tomb TT 22, Wah is depicted while receiving and inspecting produce, while beside the
vintage scene men are represented bringing provisions and preparing drinks, which
might also be linked to the office of tomb owner as ‘royal wb3’.*°” Parennefer is also
inspecting the produce of vintages as well as men processing grapes and sealing jars in
his tomb TT 188, while scribes and men are measuring grain behind him, which dem¬
onstrates his official function as an ‘overseer of the granary’.*° The duty of inspection
of a domain is depicted in an elaborate scene in the peristyle court of the tomb of Pta¬
hemwia (I) at Saqqara.”°? The tomb owner is standing turning back to the two estate
managers who, it is supposed, are reporting to him on the estate. On the other side of
him, a servant is presenting the produce of the fields. All the accompanying scenes
around Ptahemwia (1) demonstrate his high position and his luxurious circumstances
705 For a detailed discussion on Djehuti (1), see p. 111, for his tomb inscriptions, see [2.1] Theban Tomb
110 On p. 336.
For a detailed discussion on Suemniut, see p. 125, for his tomb inscriptions, see [8.1] Theban Tomb
92 on p. 360.
7 For a detailed discussion on Wah, see p. 120, for his tomb inscriptions, see [5.1] Theban Tomb 22
on p. 354.
For a detailed discussion on Parennefer, see p. 150, for his tomb inscriptions, see [18.1] Theban Tomb
188 on p. 404.
For a detailed discussion on Ptahemwia (I), see p. 155, for his tomb inscriptions, see [20.1] Tomb
Saqqara on p. 418.