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Expressing a close personal connection with the king is generally typical among the tomb scenes and inscriptions of the era,” and both tombs of Parennefer well demonstrate this. Besides the depictions and accompanying texts of adoration or on making an offering to the king or the royal couple, which emphasize the autocracy of the ruler and the dependency of the subject on him — both in life and in the afterlife —,* the numerous honorific titles intended to show the close relationship of Parennefer to his lord. They are also informative regarding certain aspects of his life and career. He mentions himself as hm nswt n tj sw m jnpw ‘servant of the king when he was young", ? which indicates either his growing up together with Akhenaten, or serving him as an official under his father as mentioned above. In both cases, he must have been in a lower position in the court during this time, since he declares — twice — in his tomb that Akhenaten was the one who made hím great because of his character. This statement ís supposed to refer to his promotion to ‘royal wb3’, which title appears at least seventeen times in both of his tombs, indicating its importance for its bearer, as well as gaining his two ranking titles, jrj-p“t h3tj-° ‘member of the elite, foremost of action’ — also appearing six times in the tomb — and htmtj-bjtj ‘royal sealer’. Besides, his religious titles jmj-r3 k3.t nb.t n.t nswt m pr Jtn ‘overseer of all the works of the king in the temple of Aton’ and jmj-r3 hm.w ntr n ntr.w nb.w ‘overseer of the prophets of every god’ also demonstrate his prestigious position among the courtiers, standing close to the ruler himself and taking part in the materialization of his religious ideas. To demonstrate how inaccurate the judgement of the importance of a person depending on the resources available to us can be, it is worth quoting Davies’ final remark on Parennefer in his publication of the Amarna tomb, years before he started to work on TT 188: “Considering the very modest titles of Parennefer — Craftsman of the King (Plate iti.) He who washes the hands of His Majesty (Plates iii., vii.) — it is not surprising that we have no other record of his existence than his tomb. Indeed, the display he makes is probably somewhat incommensurate with his position. By economizing on the size of his tomb he managed to have it decorated with sculptures designed for larger walls and illustrating the careers of bigger men than himself; but he did not court rebuff by obtruding his name. If the erasure of the name in the entrance 7 Shirley, 2013, 600. § Davies 1923, 138. ° In his tomb Nr. 7. in Amarna. ° On the lintel above the entrance of the tomb and in the hymn to Re-Harakhti on the left thickness of the entrance door. x
