Sabef (civil servant)

Sabef (official) in hieroglyphics
Surname	Sabef S3b.f
1st title	Ra-pe-neb-sedjed-seh R3-p-nb-sdḏ-sḥ The person responsible for each seat in the dining hall
2nd title	Cherep-seh-chenet-hwt-sa-ha-neb Ḫrp-sḥ-ḫnti-ḥwt-s3-h3-nb Head of the dining hall and the wine cellar of the estate "All protection is behind him"
3rd title	Cherep-per-descher-hut-pa-Hor-mesen Ḫrp-pr-dšr-ḥwt-p3-Ḥr-msn Head of the Red House of the estate " Seat of the harpooning Horus "
4th title	Hem-Inpu Ḥm-Jnp.w priest of Anubis
5th title	Semer-per-nesu Smr-pr-nsw friend of the royal family

Sabef is the ancient Egyptian name of a high official who lived during the reign of King ( Pharaoh ) Qaa in the 1st Dynasty .

supporting documents

Sabef became known for his richly decorated and inscribed grave stele, which is now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo (JE 34416). It is rectangular and has a large, also rectangular window with engravings . It is about 82 cm high and 37.5 cm wide. The inscription enumerates the official titles of Sabef and presents for the first time the complete portrait of a private person in priest's robes . Sabef is shown walking, holding a long staff in his right, outstretched hand. His left hand holds a Sechem scepter . The stele was discovered around 1890 by the French archaeologist Émile Amélineau .

Term of office

Sabef held several high offices, among other things he was head of the dining hall and the wine cellar of the manor “All protection is behind him” , head of the red house of the manor “ Seat of the harpooning Horus ” and friend of the royal family .

dig

After his death, Sabef was buried in a side grave in the necropolis of King Qaa ( Tomb Q ) in Abydos . Until the beginning of the 2nd dynasty , it was an ancient Egyptian tradition that some members of the royal family had to follow the ruler to their death.

See also

• Ancient Egyptian official and function titles

literature

• WM Flinders Petrie : The royal tombs of the first dynasty: 1900. Part I (= Memoir of the Egypt Exploration Fund. Volume 18). Egypt Exploration Fund et al., London 1900, ( digitization ), pp. 44 and 45.
• Dilwyn Jones: An Index of ancient Egyptian titles, epithets and phrases of the Old Kingdom. 2 volumes (= BAR international series. Volume 866), Archaeopress, Oxford 2000, ISBN 1-8417-1069-5 , especially Volume 2, p. 602.
• Toby A. Wilkinson : Early Dynastic Egypt. Routledge, London 2001, ISBN 0-415-26011-6 , pp. 111, 133-137 and 281.
• Michael Rice: Who-is-who in ancient Egypt . Routledge, London 1999, ISBN 0-415-15448-0 , p. 137.
• Wolfgang Helck : Investigations on the Thinite Age (= Ägyptologische Abhandlungen. (ÄA) Vol. 45). Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1987, ISBN 3-447-02677-4 , p. 194.
• Geoffrey Thorndike Martin: Umm el-Qaab VII, Private Stelae of the Early Dynastic Period from the Royal Cemetery at Abydos (= Archaeological Publications. Vol. 123). Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2011, ISBN 978-3-447-06256-5 , pp. 44-45, no. 48, plate 14.

Individual evidence

1. ^ D. Jones: An Index of Ancient Egyptian Titles, Epithets and Phrases of the Old Kingdom. Volume I, p. 491, no.1832.
2. ^ D. Jones: An Index of Ancient Egyptian Titles, Epithets and Phrases of the Old Kingdom. Volume II, p. 738, no.2690.
3. ^ D. Jones: An Index of Ancient Egyptian Titles, Epithets and Phrases of the Old Kingdom. Volume II, p. 714, No. 2605.