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not widely attested in the New Kingdom, especially during the Ramesside era."5 The
latter title supports the duties of Tjai Ta in the personal service of the king, already
implied by the title ‘royal wb3’, while the honorary title Bj-hw hr wnmj nswt ‘fan bearer
on the right of the king’ confirms his close connection with the ruler. Similarly to his
colleague, Sethherwenemef, mentioned above, he was also s¥ nswt ‘royal scribe’, indicat¬
ing his presence in the royal administrative sphere as well. A stone block found by the
EES-Leiden expedition contains some functional titles but without the name of the
owner: s§ nswt ‘royal scribe’, wb3 nswt tpj ‘first royal wb?’ and wr swnw ‘great physician’ .*°°
The titles almost entirely correspond to those of Tjai Ta, except the ¢pj ‘first’ complement
by the title wb3 nswt ‘royal wb3’, however, the same is true for one of his contemporary
colleagues, Nebmerutef, discussed below. Even the order of the titles in their title strings
is identical, thus, it cannot serve as a basis for deciding the ownership of the stone block
either. This question has to be left open until new evidence comes to light.
As for the family of Tjai Ta, only his father, Hui and his wife, Taweretemheb are
mentioned in the inscription of the stele. Being buried in Saqgara, it can be assumed
that Tjai Ta carried out his duties in the royal palace of Memphis or that of Pi-Ramesse.
III.42. Nebmerutef
Date: Ramesses II (based on the cartouche on the pottery plaque)
Genealogy: unknown
Tomb: most likely in Saqqara
Remains: — faience plaque
— pottery plaque
— shabti fragment
— stone block (?)
Functional titles: wb3 nswt
wb3 nswt tpj (?)
wb3 nswt wb “wi
wr swnw (?)
wr swnw n nb t3.wj
ss nswt
‘5 Taylor, 2001, 103; Al-Ayedi, 2006, 250.
66 van Dijk, 1989, 12; Malek, 1988, 136.