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to some extent, who bore important religious titles.“ He was jmj-r3 hm.w-ntr ‘overseer
of the prophets’, ss htp-nir Dhwtj nb Hmnw ‘scribe of the divine offering of Thoth, lord
of Hermopolis’, wr dj m pr Dhwtj ‘the Greatest of the Five in the temple of Thoth’, 4m
nr tpj n Dhwtj ‘high-priest of Thoth’. Furthermore, he bore the ranking title jrj-p"t h3tj¬
‘member of the elite, foremost of action’, and he was h3tj-“ n Nfrwsj 'mayor of Neferusi’,
as well as hrp-ns.tj controller of the two thrones’ and hrj-tp "3 n Wnt ‘greatest among the
chiefs in Unet’. He held an important place in local administration being not only the
head of the city of Neferusi in the 15" Upper Egyptian nomos, but the first person of the
whole nomos as well, and not only in regard to administration but also to sacral duties
too. Moreover, the father of lamnefer, Paahauti had also been ‘mayor of Neferusi’. As
can be observed, Suemniut had the proper background to help him achive a significant
position in life, and as his titles prove, he improved upon his father since he bore not
only one but three ranking titles (jrj-p‘t h31j-° ‘member of the elite, foremost of action’,
himtj-bjtj ‘royal sealer’, smr-w“ fj ‘sole friend’), and he attended in the personal service of
the rulers. This latter is demonstrated by his several honorific titles that emphasize his
close personal relationship with the king, such as jmj-jb n ntr nfr ‘favourite of the good
god’, w° mnh wb3 n=fjb ‘the excellent one to whom the heart has been opened’, hrrw nswt
hr tpt-r3=f with whose utterance the sovereign is content’, jr hss.t jmj-"h ‘who does that
which is praised by the dweller of the palace (i.e. the king)’ or mn hs.wt m stp-s3 ‘stable
in favour in the palace’. His trusted position under the king is also manifested in the
three variations of the same phrase, mh-jb nb=f ‘confidant of his lord’, mh-jb mnh n ntr
nfr ‘excellent confidant of the good god’, and mh-jb n nswt m mry=f ‘confidant of the
king as his beloved’, which means to be entrusted by the king with a certain specific task
that arises from an official duty or may also mean a special assignment." Unfortunately,
the specific task or assignment is not indicated for any of the holders of this epithet in
this corpus.
The sources are very fortunate in respect to the information on Suemniut s family.
Intriguingly enough, the inscriptions in his tomb name three of his wives, Qat,*” Iunna*®
and Taweret,**4 however, there is no reference to when he married them or to their titles.
On one of the offering scenes in the first hall, a child of Suemniut appears, but remains
#9 For the inscriptions of Iamnefer, see Edwards, 1939, 3, pls. II-III; Helck, 1955-1958, 1453-1455.
5° Guksch, 1994, 38.
# The persons are Nebamun, Qenamun, Djehuti (I), Maaninakhtef, Parennefer.
+ Porter — Moss, 1960, 187; Bryan, 1995, 15.
® Bryan, 1995, 15.
#4 Helck, 1955-1958, 1450.