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III.25. Qema
Date: Horemheb (based on the stylistic criteria of the pillar)
Genealogy: Paraemheb ő Sat[...] ©
?
Qema d
Tomb: most likely in Saqqara
Remains: — pillar, Bologna, Museo Civico Archeologico, EG 1892
Functional titles: wb3 nswt wb Cw
jmj-r3 "hnwtj
The only source available to us about wb3 nswt w"b ".wj royal wb3 clean of hands’ Qema
is his limestone pillar from his tomb, now found in Bologna (EG 1892). The provenance
of the pillar is Saqqara, which locates his tomb in the necropolis there, although it
has not been found, and which also implies that Qema served in the royal palace of
Memphis. His name and titles appear only in the inscription of the pillar, however,
the figure of another person, a certain jmj-r3 “hnwtj ‘chamberlain’ Paraemheb,®” is
represented in the action of the votive motif of offering the djed-pillar, symbolizing
the sacral ritual of erecting the real object.” There are no data regarding the relation¬
ship between the two men, but Paraemheb presumably was the father of Qema’” and
presents an offering for his son. The pillar is usually dated to the end of the 18“ dynasty
and/or the beginning of the 19"" dynasty,* however, according to the stylistic charac¬
teristics of the figure of Paraemheb, showing the still strong influence of the artistic
features of the Amarna period, the tomb as well as the activity of Qema must have
been dated to the reign of Horemheb.*
Similarly to Paraemheb, Qema also bore the functional title jmj-r3 “hnwtj ‘chamberlain’.
Although the meaning of the title itself and the duties of its holders are highly enigmatic,
it can be stated that these officers were in the private service of the king. Maspero thought
that hnwtj would be the closed, inaccessible part of the royal palace, where the stores,
8
°
For the possibility that Paraemheb and his contemporary, Paatenemheb were the same person, see
above note 582.
Helck, 1939, 61. For similar pillars from tombs in the Saqqara necropolis, see Gauthier, 1935.
Ramessesemperre has a similar depiction on his pillar, for his discussion, see p. 201.
>” Gessler-Lohr, 1989, 29, 31; Ferrari — Piacentini, 1990, 118; Morigi-Govi, 1994, 41.
53 Curto, 1961, 85; Porter — Moss, 1981, 751; van Dijk, 1986, 9; Malek, 1988, 136; Morigi-Govi, 1994, 41.
54 Morigi-Govi, 1982, 125; Gessler-Lohr, 1989, 31; Ferrari — Piacentini, 1990, 117-118.
59:
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