Oldal 96 [96]
content of the document cannot be classified as a particular assignment ordered by the
ruler.”” An interesting example of the use of the title wb3 nswr can be found on a monu¬
ment obviously made during a special mission where otherwise, the title wdpw nswt
would be expected to be represented on the rock stele of Ramessesemperre at Timna.
The explanation may be that in the intensity of his participation in the activity,
Ramessesemperre may not have been involved in the leadership of the expedition but
was only an attendant in the mission as the observer of the king.” A similar situation
can be seen on the stele No. 12 from Wadi Hammamat in the case of Nakhtamun and
Usermaatresekheper. The inscription commemorates an expedition that designated the
officials as wh3 nswts. A possible explanation could be the position of the two officials
in the assignment, the intensity of their active participation in it, namely that they did
not function as active leaders but — as the phrasing of the text implies — ‘only’ accompany
the leader in the mission, possibly as agents of the ruler in the role of observers.”* Nev¬
ertheless, this is pure speculation. Hopefully, further evidence, which might come to
light in the future, will help to gain a clearer picture regarding the usage of the two titles
as well as the duties of the officials they designate.
As for the translation of the titles wb3 nswt and wdpw nswt, it is rather difficult to find
proper solutions, which both reflect their wide-ranging official activities and at the same
time, do not generate a gap regarding the relationship between the original functional
occupation and the title of the high ranking officials. The continuity between the two
stages is clearly represented in the tomb depictions of the officials” and it is not negli¬
gible in spite of the obvious functional changes, especially in the case of the title wdpw
nswt. The usual translations for wb} and wb} nswt are ‘butler’ and ‘royal butler’, respec¬
tively. According to Schulman,*® this translation is somewhat misleading, since it might
cover the modern nuances of a major-domo and personal servant connected with the
administration of food, however, while such duties were without doubt originally char¬
acteristics of the title, mainly during the Ramesside period other duties of a legal,
administrative, and even judicial nature came to be associated with it. This interpretation
by Schulman originates from the fact that he did not make a distinction between the
°° For a discussion on Djehutiherhesetef, see p. 180, for his inscription, see p. 455.
797 For a discussion on Ramessesemperre, see p. 201, for his inscriptions, see p. 493.
°° For a discussions on Nesamun and Neferkareemperamun, see pp. 242. and 244, respectively, for
their inscriptions, see pp. 579. and 594, respectively.
799 For the duties of the officials depicted in the tomb decorations, see chapter II.5.1. on p. 70.
3° Schulman, 1976, 123.