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milítary service. However, as Shirley notes, the three títles could also be related to the
royal palace rather than the military,*# Suemniut was awarded with the Gold of Honour
by Thutmose III, which was primarily bestowed upon officials in the military.‘ Based
on this fact, one may presume his involvement in military actions, where he excelled in
some way, and in appreciation of which the ruler rewarded him with the Gold of Honour.
One also may presume that promoting him to the personal service of the king as ‘royal
wb? in the royal household would also have been part of the reward. Nevertheless, Bryan
agrees that Suemniut had already accompanied Thutmose III on his campaigns to Syria
and Palestine, suggesting that he became ‘royal wb?’ only under Amenhotep II. Binder
and Shirley, however, refer to Suemniut as ‘royal wb?’ of Thutmose III.“*° The tomb itself,
as mentioned above, was constructed in the early years of Amenhotep II. The last phase
of the construction, the decoration of the walls, was never finished, which suggests that
Suemniut passed away relatively soon after the ascension of the king to the throne. Since
the first hall contains several depictions of his official duty as ‘royal wb?’, and since design¬
ing and implementing the decoration take time, it seems to support the assumption that
Suemniut had already borne the title ‘royal wb?’ and was active in this function for a longer
period under the reign of Thutmose III. As the depictions and inscriptions of him in this
role reveal, he was responsible for the inspection of drink supplies — both wine and some
sort of drinks made of milk — for the royal palace on behalf of the ruler, preparation of
the drinks themselves and sealing of the vessels in the cellars, all sort of things that were
to be placed on the king’s table (shtp jb ‘which please the heart’), and the transportation
of vegetables grown especially for the him. He was in charge not only of the drinks in the
royal palace but of the food as well. In this respect his duties combined those of a cupbearer
as well as a naperer, so it confirms that neither of these labels fit well enough to denote
the wide ranging responsibilities of the representatives of this office.
Besides his military and administrative titles discussed above, Suemniut held some
religious titles as well, three of them directly connected to Amun. Binder suggests that
these probably represent retirement titles,*#* and the title jmj-r3 jh.w n Jmn ‘overseer of
the cattle of Amun’ might reflect his active military service as hrj-jhw ‘stable master’.
However, it is also possible that these religious titles may also refer to his father, Iamnefer,
48 Shirley, 2011, 301, n. 70.
444 Binder, 2008, 238-239.
+5 Bryan, 2006, 101.
“4 Binder, 2008, 238; Shirley, 2011, 305, n. 70.
“47 For the representations of duties of the officials see p. 70.
“48 Binder, 2008, 238, n. 905.