Page 105 [105]
And he said to his cupbearer, ("Take hím, let hím see their tomb in which they lie.") 5
Unfortunately, these passages do not reveal more about the function of wdpw either,
however, it can be stated that his role was not limited to the actual serving or preparation
of drinks, but he also participated, to a certain extent and form, in official diplomatic
life. As Schipper notes, Penamun, based on his name and title, is an Egyptian who served
as a ‘cupbearer’ in the court of the ruler of Byblos. He concludes that an wdpw might
belong to the personal attendants of the ruler and might be close to his person.% It must
be noted, however, that the transcription of the word by Schipper is inconsistent since
he uses the wdpw form in the transcription of the text,* but in the comment section he
mentions the title as wb3.%7 The reason for this inconsistency is unclear, although one
might think of the same background because of which Gregersen or Lesko merged the
two differently spelled words into one category, as will be discussed later.**
From the above, it seems that the references in the literary texts do not contribute to
improving our knowledge about the function of wb3 and wdpw to a significant extent,
however, they provided us with some information on the hierarchical relationship between
them, the progress of their becoming an official title as wb3 nswt and wdpw nswt, as well
as their advancement in the ranking system and their holders becoming some of the
most important members of the royal court and the personal entourage of the ruler. All
of these correspond with the facts which the non-literary sources provide us with.
Due to the huge diversity of functional titles as well as the fact that there are only a
few that were borne by more than one or two officials, it is rather difficult to form a
definite picture about the position, activity and connections with the fellow officials of
‘royal wb3s’ and ‘royal wdpws’ within the royal court as well as the administrative system.
Further similar prosopographical research would be required on other representatives
of the most common functional titles held by these officials to reveal more detailed
information about the areas mentioned above.
34 Simpson, 2003, 122.
5% Schipper, 2005, 205.
%° Schipper, 2005, 83, 86.
*7 Schipper, 2005, 205.
8 See above on p. 23.