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original placement of the statue. However, references to the temple in the inscription or the place of discovery themselves cannot serve as conclusive evidence for the original place of the statue. The inscription on the back is an autobiographical part which informs us that Neferperet brought back seven bulls as booty from a campaign in Retjenu with the permission of the king in order to offer them as a donation to the memorial temple of Thutmose III. These kinds of private endowments to temples or temple statues of the king were common, most frequently with a funerary purpose. The objects of the donation and the exchange for it, namely for a personal offering cult, were recorded in contracts, and required royal consent. In some cases, however, the endowments were conveyed during the life of the donor, as in the case of Neferperet as well.4°* The inscription contains the act of donation, as well as the protection guaranteed by the royal residence: it assures the authority of Neferperet over the animals that would be taken over by his heirs after his death, not by the overseer of the cattle. The text also mentions some members of the family of Neferperet: his brother, Amenemmehib, who was the guardian of the cattle, and his son, Djeserkare,*”? who carried the milk jars, which were supposedly to be presents to the gods in the temple daily, and which were then the benefit of Neferperet as well. It is not known until when Neferperet was active in his office. Based on the type of the wig on his stelophor statue, which is similar to wigs of statues under Amenhotep II, Bryan suggests that the statue be dated to the later phase of the reign of Thutmose III.”° It is conceivable that Neferperet remained in office under Amenhotep II as well, although there is no evidence of this. IIL.5. Wah Date: Thutmose III (?) — Amenhotep II (?) (based on the stylistic criteria of the tomb structure and decoration) Genealogy: unknown Tomb: Theban Tomb 22 Remains: — tomb structure Functional titles: wb3 nswt 4°8 For private endowments and the case of Neferperet, see Haring, 1997, 142-147. “°° Legrain wrongly identified Djeserkare as the father of Neferperet. Legrain, 1908, 92. #° Bryan — Hornung, 2002, 92; Bryan, 2006, 89.
