Tjati

Tjati and Tjati-sab in hieroglyphics
	;

Tjati is the ancient Egyptian official title of the vizier , which has been attested since the Old Kingdom . This is the first and highest official who was the second man in the state after Pharaoh . The office of vizier was initially only occupied by princes, later also by close confidants of the king.

In Egyptology , proposals regarding the functional origin of the Tjati were discussed and associated with the early title Tjet . Wolfgang Helck suspects that the king's chief son initially occupied the post of Tjet.

history

Vizier Neferrenpet's stele

In the Old and Middle Kingdoms of Egypt there was only one vizier in the residence . At the end of the Old Kingdom there were not only these but also those who had their official residence in the province, such as B. in Abydos or Meir .

This is also attested in the early Middle Kingdom, where there were viziers at the royal residence, but also in the province, in Deir el-Berscheh . In the New Kingdom there had been at least since the reign of Thutmose III. for the parts of the empire Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt each have their own vizier. This division of the office into two parts is also attested for the later period . The last viziers are recorded in the 30th dynasty.

The vizier was the middleman between Pharaoh (king) and the other officials. He was also the highest legal authority in the country and coordinator of the provincial administration, which was headed by Gaufürsten .

supporting documents

In some grave complexes of viziers of the New Kingdom, the so-called service instructions for the vizier were found , which reported on the daily tasks and duties of the viziers. Since the 13th dynasty , an official costume of the vizier has been documented. It is a long robe under which a chain can be seen. The pendant is hidden by the robe. It was suspected that it could have been the official seal or the figure of the mate .

tasks

The vizier was considered a kind of chief minister. He practically performed duties that were due to the king and had to report to him daily. He controlled the princes in the provinces and lands, distributed civil servants 'salaries and workers' salaries and was responsible for tax revenues. He also oversaw the military and foreign trade , was site manager and chief judge , recruited soldiers, supervised the police and shipping, and was directly responsible for the workers' settlement of Deir el-Medina . In addition, he had to report natural events such as the rise of Sirius , the flood of the Nile and rain.

Important viziers

Important viziers in Egyptian history were Nefermaat , Hemiunu , Ptahhotep and Kagemni (who were still venerated in the late period) in the Old Kingdom, Amenemhet (possibly later King Amenemhet I ) in the Middle Kingdom, as well as Rechmire , Paser , Chay , Neferrenpet and Ta im New Kingdom.

Title episodes

The term Tjati rarely appears alone in Egyptian title series. In the Old Kingdom the typical sequence of titles is : sab, taiti, tjati ( sab official who belongs to the curtain, vizier ). From the Middle Kingdom onwards, the title sequence imi-ra nut, tjati (head of the city and vizier) became the rule.

literature

Arthur Weil: The Veziere of the Pharonic Empire. Arranged chronologically. Schlesier & Schweikhardt, Strasbourg 1908.
Thomas Kühn: The second man in the state - the office of the vizier. In: Kemet. Volume 12, Issue 3 = Reich Administration and Officials , 1982, ISSN 0943-5972 , pp. 15-22.
Christine Raedler: The Viziers Ramses'II. - networks of power. In: Rolf Gundlach, Andrea Klug (ed.): The Egyptian kingship in the field of tension between domestic and foreign policy in the 2nd millennium BC BC (= royalty, state and society of early high cultures. Vol. 1). Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2004, ISBN 3-447-05055-1 , pp. 277-416.
Guido Dresbach: For administration in the 20th dynasty: the vizier. (= Royalty, state and society of early high cultures. Vol. 9). Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2012, ISBN 3-447-06656-3 .

Individual evidence

^ Dilwyn Jones: An Index of Ancient Egyptian Titles, Epithets and Phrases of the Old Kingdom II. (= BAR international Series. Vol. 866, 2). Volume 2. Archaeopress, Oxford 2000, ISBN 1-84171-071-7 , p. 1000, no.3706.
^ Geoffrey Thorndike Martin: Egyptian Administrative and Private Name Seals. Principally of the Middle Kingdom and Second Intermediate Period. Griffith Institute, Oxford 1971, p. 176.
↑ ^a ^b ^c Thomas Kühn: The second man in the state. 1982, pp. 15-22.
^ Elisabeth Staehelin: Investigations on Egyptian costumes in the Old Kingdom (= Munich Egyptological Studies. Vol. 8, ZDB -ID 500317-9 ). Hessling, Berlin 1966, pp. 65-66.
↑ Wolfgang Helck : Investigations on the official titles of the Egyptian Old Kingdom (= Ägyptologische Forschungen. H. 18, ISSN 0933-338X ). Augustin, Glückstadt u. a. 1954, pp. 16-17.

[1] Dilwyn Jones: An Index of Ancient Egyptian Titles, Epithets and Phrases of the Old Kingdom II. (= BAR international Series. Vol. 866, 2). Volume 2. Archaeopress, Oxford 2000, ISBN 1-84171-071-7 , p. 1000, no.3706.

[2] Geoffrey Thorndike Martin: Egyptian Administrative and Private Name Seals. Principally of the Middle Kingdom and Second Intermediate Period. Griffith Institute, Oxford 1971, p. 176.

[kemet-3] Thomas Kühn: The second man in the state. 1982, pp. 15-22.

[4] Elisabeth Staehelin: Investigations on Egyptian costumes in the Old Kingdom (= Munich Egyptological Studies. Vol. 8, ZDB -ID 500317-9 ). Hessling, Berlin 1966, pp. 65-66.

[5] Wolfgang Helck : Investigations on the official titles of the Egyptian Old Kingdom (= Ägyptologische Forschungen. H. 18, ISSN 0933-338X ). Augustin, Glückstadt u. a. 1954, pp. 16-17.