DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4858#0076
ITS OWNER
before the four genii of burial, Kebehsenuf, Imset, [Hapi and Dwamu-
tef].
The scanty information that we gain about Nakht from this
monument is not supplemented elsewhere save that we learn that
his wife Tawi was a chantress of Amon, like all ladies of any pretense
to rank, and that his son was called Amenemapt. The title "scribe"
simply means that he had had the education of an official, while that
of wenuti is so rarely employed that it points to a quite secondary
function.1 The tomb, despite its small size, can hardly be that of a
poor man or an altogether inferior functionary. We rarely meet in
ancient Egypt with well-to-do persons who were not also officials of
some sort; yet we can hardly doubt that there must have been many
who lived on their lands withdrawn from any burdensome official duties.
It is perhaps amongst these that Nakht is to be ranked.
As to the period in which he lived, the erasure of the name of
Amon shows that it was at least previous to the movement under
Akhnaton. The tomb scenes which it contains come from a source
which is common also to other tombs, one of which (No. 57) is dated
The inscrip-
tions on the
stela
Nakht's office
Date of the
tomb
1 The title wenuti (spelt in this tomb -
^0)kO
and
i
temple duties: hence
elsewhere also ^^^^krw', "^^ "kY&tn) marks a class of priest or temple official whose duties and rank are
not very clear. Its use to denote an individual, as here, is very rare. By the courtesy of the authorities in
Berlin I have been allowed to look through the references in the files of the Worterbuch and may sum up the
results briefly. The suggested translation "astrologer," "astronomer," is to be reserved for a different term
t\ ^J^^'TT-'-®-. Our word in earlier times has the more general meaning of "ser-
ell of duty," and this sense lasts on to latest times. Nor is this service restricted to
is a frequent addition to the title. The word clearly refers to members of a rota
whose period of service was fixed to certain hours of the day or night and whose duties were so general that
the presence of the officials in rotation was the most salient feature of their office. This rota of ministrants
was so large that owing to their number the word is sometimes used as a general expression for the priest-
hood, although their duties seem to have been largely non-priestly or even menial. It seems that the
temple staff could be described as consisting of the wenutiu, the bailiffs, the w^-priests, the lectors, and the
higher officiants (cf. Naville, Eleventh Dynasty Temple, PI. XXIV). They are spoken of as cleansing the
temple and one of their duties was to bring consecrated flowers from the temple to those privileged to receive
them. Yet they had access to the king. The impression is given that they were laymen who were sum-
moned to perform short spells of service in the temple and counted it an honor to fulfil the simplest duties
there, much like the voluntary rota of members which in some modern churches provides custodians for
the sacred building between hours of service. This would explain why few officials assumed the title save
those who, like Nakht, had no more definite office in the bureaucracy. I would therefore translate the word
by "serving-priest" or "lay priest." The determinative -=z>- which is at times used in this tomb, but very
rarely elsewhere, seems to have been taken over from the compound word meaning "astronomer."
4e
before the four genii of burial, Kebehsenuf, Imset, [Hapi and Dwamu-
tef].
The scanty information that we gain about Nakht from this
monument is not supplemented elsewhere save that we learn that
his wife Tawi was a chantress of Amon, like all ladies of any pretense
to rank, and that his son was called Amenemapt. The title "scribe"
simply means that he had had the education of an official, while that
of wenuti is so rarely employed that it points to a quite secondary
function.1 The tomb, despite its small size, can hardly be that of a
poor man or an altogether inferior functionary. We rarely meet in
ancient Egypt with well-to-do persons who were not also officials of
some sort; yet we can hardly doubt that there must have been many
who lived on their lands withdrawn from any burdensome official duties.
It is perhaps amongst these that Nakht is to be ranked.
As to the period in which he lived, the erasure of the name of
Amon shows that it was at least previous to the movement under
Akhnaton. The tomb scenes which it contains come from a source
which is common also to other tombs, one of which (No. 57) is dated
The inscrip-
tions on the
stela
Nakht's office
Date of the
tomb
1 The title wenuti (spelt in this tomb -
^0)kO
and
i
temple duties: hence
elsewhere also ^^^^krw', "^^ "kY&tn) marks a class of priest or temple official whose duties and rank are
not very clear. Its use to denote an individual, as here, is very rare. By the courtesy of the authorities in
Berlin I have been allowed to look through the references in the files of the Worterbuch and may sum up the
results briefly. The suggested translation "astrologer," "astronomer," is to be reserved for a different term
t\ ^J^^'TT-'-®-. Our word in earlier times has the more general meaning of "ser-
ell of duty," and this sense lasts on to latest times. Nor is this service restricted to
is a frequent addition to the title. The word clearly refers to members of a rota
whose period of service was fixed to certain hours of the day or night and whose duties were so general that
the presence of the officials in rotation was the most salient feature of their office. This rota of ministrants
was so large that owing to their number the word is sometimes used as a general expression for the priest-
hood, although their duties seem to have been largely non-priestly or even menial. It seems that the
temple staff could be described as consisting of the wenutiu, the bailiffs, the w^-priests, the lectors, and the
higher officiants (cf. Naville, Eleventh Dynasty Temple, PI. XXIV). They are spoken of as cleansing the
temple and one of their duties was to bring consecrated flowers from the temple to those privileged to receive
them. Yet they had access to the king. The impression is given that they were laymen who were sum-
moned to perform short spells of service in the temple and counted it an honor to fulfil the simplest duties
there, much like the voluntary rota of members which in some modern churches provides custodians for
the sacred building between hours of service. This would explain why few officials assumed the title save
those who, like Nakht, had no more definite office in the bureaucracy. I would therefore translate the word
by "serving-priest" or "lay priest." The determinative -=z>- which is at times used in this tomb, but very
rarely elsewhere, seems to have been taken over from the compound word meaning "astronomer."
4e