Ancient Egyptian official and function titles

Ancient Egyptian official and function titles appear for the first time in the 1st Dynasty , shortly after the introduction of the script, and are well documented until Roman times . A very large part of the Egyptians are identified on monuments with a title, which underlines their former importance. The term officials - or official title refers to an introduced already in the administration office. A function Title contrast, defines the type of a person's activity.

list

The following list names some of the most important titles of ancient Egypt in alphabetical order . Altogether there were several thousands of them, but a large part is only used once, only a relatively small part several times. These titles are an important resource for ancient Egyptian administration and structure of society.

title	in hieroglyphics	Translations	Function / interpretation	Occupancy period	literature
Adj-mer ˁḏ-mr		Area administrator, lit. "Canal graves" (?)	Administrator of an area or property	since the 1st dynasty	Ward, No. 637
Chetemti-biti Ḫtm.tj-bjtj	or	Seal of the King		since the 1st dynasty	Ward, No. 1472
Cheri-habet H̱rj-ḥ3bt		Reading priest		since the 1st dynasty	Ward, No. 1202
Cheri-habet-heri-tep H̱rj-ḥ3bt-ḥr.j-tp	or	Supreme reading priest
Cheri-tep-nesu H̱r.j-tp-nsw		Valet of the king ; who is under the king's head		since the early days	Jones, p. 788, No. 2874
Cherep-her-ib H̱rp-hr-jb		Head of residence ; Residence manager		1st - 3rd dynasty	Jones, p. 732, No. 2665 Serrano, p. 16.
Hatia (Hati-a) Ḥ3.tj-ˁ	or	Foremost in action, count, mayor, prince	Title, but also mayor, local prince	since the 1st dynasty	Ward, No. 864
Hati-a-en-imentet-Niut Ḥ3.tj-ˁ-n-jmntt-Njwt		Mayor of Westtoben	Supreme administrator of Thebes-West .	20th dynasty	Helck: Administration. Pp. 236-237.
Hati-a-en-Niut Ḥ3.tj-ˁ-n-Njwt		Mayor of Thebes	Supreme administrator of the city of Thebes .	New Kingdom , Late Period	Helck: Administration. Pp. 236-245.
Hati-a-en-Kupna Ḥ3.tj-ˁ-n-Kpn		Mayor of Byblos	Local prince of Byblos in the Middle Kingdom	12th and 13th dynasties	Ward, no.882
Hem-bau-Nechen Ḥm-b3w-Nẖn	( )	Servant of the soul (s) of Nechen ,	Second highest office in the Old Kingdom , reserved for the king's son	Old empire	Ute Rummel: Panther fur, 2009
Hem-netjer Ḥm-nṯr		Servant of God of ... / Prophet of ...	Priestly title linked to a god or deceased king	since the early Old Kingdom	Wildung: The role of Egyptian kings ... , pp. 44–49
Hemet-netjer (ent-Amun) Ḥm.t-nṯr ( nt-Jmn.w )		Consort of Amun	Originally: main wife of the king, presumably served to secure the succession	18th - 26th dynasty
Hem-netjer-tepi-en-Amun Ḥm-nṯr-tpj-n-Jmn		First Servant of the Deity Amun (First Priest of Amun)	Important religious office	Since the beginning of the 18th dynasty
Heri-wedja Ḥrj-wḏ3		Head of the magazine	Controller of royal domains and storerooms	1st and 2nd dynasties	Engel, pp. 179-188 Kahl, p. 873
Heri-chenit Ḥr.j-ẖny.t		Chief of the rowing team	admiral		Hannig: Concise dictionary. 2001, p. 551
Idenu-em-per Jdnw-m-pr		Deputy of the House	Deputy High Priest
Imi-ra-chetemet Jmj-r3-ḫtm.t		Treasurer, Chancellor, Head of the Treasury	since the end of the Old Kingdom, in the Middle and New Kingdom, a high office of state		Ward, No. 364
Imi-ra-achenuti Jmj-r3-ˁẖnwtj		Head of Cabinet		Middle realm	Ward, No. 72
Imi-ra-chetemetiu Jmj-r3-ḫtm.tjw		Head of the Siegler		since the Middle Kingdom
Imi-ra-kat-nebet-net-nesu Jmj-r3-k3t-nbt-nt-nsw		Head of all the king's work	especially in the Old Kingdom the title of pyramid architect		Ward, No. 401
Imi-ra-mescha Jmj-r3-mšˁ		Chief of the Troop, General	Head of troops that could be used militarily, but also for construction missions	since the old kingdom	Ward, no.205
Imi-ra-niut Jmj-r3-njwt		Mayor	Part of the vizier's structure, probably originally: head of the pyramid city	from 6th dynasty	Ward, No. 220 (cf. No. 221–225)
Imi-ra-nisutiu Jmj-r3-njswtjw		Head of the King's People		Old empire
Imi-ra-per Jmj-r3-pr		House managers, asset managers, domain managers	Administrator of the house and yard of an official or of institutions	from 4th Dynasty , one of the most common titles	Ward, no.132
Imi-ra-per-hedj Jmj-r3-pr-ḥḏ		Treasury chief	Supreme administrator of the palace treasury	since the old kingdom	Ward, no.192
Imi-ra-perui-hedj Jmj-r3-prwj-ḥḏ		Head of the twin treasure house	Supreme administrator of the palace treasury	since the old kingdom
Imi-ra-per-wer Jmj-r3-pr-wr		Head of House, Upper Property Manager, Upper Domain Manager	Supreme administrator of the palace's treasures	from the 12th dynasty	Ward, No. 141
Imi-ra-ruiit Jmj-r3-rwjjt		Head of the gate guard		since the old kingdom
Imi-ra-sau-schemau Jmj-r3-s3w-šmˁw		Chief of the Phyles of Upper Egypt		since the old kingdom
Imi-ra-semat-imentet Jmj-r3-sm3t-jmntt		Head of the Western Desert		since the old kingdom	Ingelore Hafemann: Service Commitment in Ancient Egypt , pp. 28–40.
Imi-ra-schhenuti Jmj-r3-šnwtj		Head of the double barn		since the old kingdom	Quirke: Titles and bureaux , p. 63
Imi-ra-schenuti-en-Amun Jmj-r3-šnwtj-n-Jmn		Barn master of Amun	Supply of the Theban temples	since the 18th dynasty	Helck: Administration. P. 236.
Imi-ra-seschu-en-cheneret-who Jmj-r3-sšw-n-ḫnrt-wr		Chief of the scribe of the great framing		Late period
Imi-ra-upet Jmj-r3-wp (w) t		Head of the orders	Particularly documented in the provincial administration in the Old Kingdom	Old empire	Jones: 88, No. 375
Iripat (Iri-pat) Jrj-pˁ.t		Member of the elite, Count	highest ranked title	since 1st dynasty; in the New Kingdom also deputy to the Pharaoh	Ward, no.850
Iti-netjer Jtj-nṯr		Father of God	denotes non-royal relatives of a pharaoh, also priestly title	since the end of the Old Kingdom
Jun-Jau Jwn-J3w		Pillar of the old man	designates the introductory priesthood as successor	since the old kingdom
Medu-jau Mdw-j3w		Old man's staff	designates the introductory priesthood as successor	since the old kingdom
Medjeh-nesu Mḏḥ-nsw		King's carpenter		especially in the Old Kingdom	Jones, no.1728
Sa-nesut S3-nswt		Prince	Initially kinship title, from the 4th dynasty also honorary title	since 2nd dynasty	Ward, No. 1245
Sa-nesut-en-Kusch S3-nswt-n-K3š		Viceroy of Kush	Administrators of the Nubian Provinces	18th - 22nd Dynasty
Sab S3b		Sab officer	probably honorary title	since 1st dynasty	Ward, no.1236
Sameref S3 mr = f		Loving son	A priest in the cult of the dead; mostly follower of Medu-jau	since the early dynastic period
Sechenu-ah Sḫnw-3ḥ		Providers of the royal tomb		since the early 1st dynasty	W. Helck: Investigations on the thinite age . Pp. 226 & 227
Sem / Setem Sm Stm		Setem (Sem) priest	A priest or shaman in the royal cult; up to the Greco-Roman Time read as sm	Occupied as a functional title since the 1st dynasty. At the end of the 3rd dynasty at the earliest, introduction of the official title “Sem-Priest”.
Semer Smr		Friend or relative of the royal family		Occupied since the 1st dynasty, mostly with a functional title appendix	Hannig, p. 765
Semer-per-nesu Smr-pr-nsw		Friend or relative of the royal family		Occupied since the 1st dynasty, mostly with a functional title appendix
Semher-wati Smḥr-w ˁ.tj		Unique (good) friend (of the king) ; mistakenly mostly read smr-wˁ.tj		S29-U23	Ward, No. 1299
Sesch-nesu Sš-nsw		King's scribe
Tjai-chu-her-wenemi-nesu Ṯ3.y-ḫw-ḥr-wnm.j-nsw		Frond bearer on the right of the king	significant honorary office	since the 18th dynasty	Helck: Administration. Pp. 281-284.
Tjati Ṯ3tj		mostly translated as a vizier .	second highest office, highest state office	since 1st dynasty	Ward, no.1590
Tjet Ṯt		Scion , panther skin carrier	second highest office, reserved for the prince's son	at least since the 1st dynasty
Wer-medj-schemau Wr-mḏ-šmˁw Wer-medju-schemau Wr-mḏw-šmˁw		Big of the Ten of Upper Egypt / One of the Big Ten of Upper Egypt	Frequently used title, especially in the Middle Kingdom, unclear meaning	since the end of the Old Kingdom	Quirke: Titles and bureaux , p. 87
Who-cherep-hemut Wr-ḫrp-ḥmwt		Greatest head of craftsmen	It is the main title of the high priest of Ptah	since the old empire	Jones, No. 1450
Who-cherep-hemut-em-perui Wr-ḫrp-ḥmwt-m-prwj		Largest head of the craftsmen in the duplex	It is a rarely documented special form of the high priest of Ptah	since the end of the Old Kingdom	Jones, No. 1452; see article Sehetepibreanch
Wer-en-Miam Wr-n-Mjˁm		Prince of Miam	Title of local Nubian prince	18th dynasty

literature

• Wolfgang Helck : To the administration of the Middle and New Reich. 1958.
• Dilwyn Jones : An index of Ancient Egyptian titles, epithets and phrases of the Old kingdom / 2 (= BAR / International series. Vol. 866). Archaeopress, Oxford UK 2000, ISBN 978-1-84171-071-6 ( Directory of Old Kingdom Titles ).
• Stephen Quirke : Titles and bureaux of Egypt 1850-1700 BC. Golden House Publications, London 2004, ISBN 0-9547218-0-2 .
• Alejandro Jiménez Serrano: Royal Festivals in the Late Predynastic Period and the First Dynasty (= British Archaeological Reports British Series. Vol. 1076). Archaeopress, Oxford UK 2002, ISBN 1-84171-455-0 .
• William A. Ward : Index of Egyptian administrative and religious titles of the Middle Kingdom: with a glossary of words and phrases used. American University of Beirut, Beirut 1982, ISBN 978-0-8156-6065-1 ( List of titles from the Middle Kingdom ).

Individual evidence

1. ^ William Matthew Flinders Petrie , Francis Llewellyn Griffith : The royal tombs of the first dynasty. 1900. Part 1 (= Memoir of the Egypt Exploration Fund. Volume 18, ISSN  0307-5109 ). Egypt Exploration Fund, London 1900, digitized version , plate XXII, no.32.
2. ↑ Diana Alexandra Pressl: Officials and soldiers: The administration in the 26th dynasty in Egypt (664-525 BC). Lang, Frankfurt a. M. 1998, ISBN 3-631-32586-X , pp. 45-46.
3. ^ Joachim Friedrich Quack: On the sound value of Gardiner Sign List U 23. In: Lingua Aegyptia. 11, 2003, pp. 113-116.
4. ↑ Old Kingdom
5. ↑ from the Middle Kingdom.