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Opinion Volume 2 Issue 3
On the saite epithet Wr M Ntrt, the great one in Netjerit
Hussein Bassir
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Director of the Antiquities Museum, Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Egypt
Correspondence: Hussein Bassir, Director of the Antiquities Museum, Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Egypt
Received: November 16, 2017 | Published: December 13, 2017
Citation: Bassir H. On the saite epithet wr m ntrt, the great one in Netjerit. J His Arch & Anthropol Sci. 2017;2(3):95-96. DOI: 10.15406/jhaas.2017.02.00054
Opinion
The epithet of the Late Saite non-royal elite member, Neshor Named Psamtikmenkhib, wr m NTrt “the Great One in Netjerit”,1 is interesting and requires a further comment. The first holder of this epithet was the ruler of Sais, Tefnakht, in the great victory stela of Piye.2 According to JJ Clère, the vizier Bakenrenef, a contemporary of Psamtik I, held this epithet on his libation basin, probably from his tomb at Saqqara.3 The Late Saite official Wahibre, from the reign of Amasis, had this epithet on his statue Cairo CG 672.4 The owner of shabti Vienna no. 5285, the Thirtieth Dynasty5 official Djed Hor also held this epithet as HAtj a wr m NTrt m P dp “the HAtj-a, the great one in Netjerit, and in Pe and Dep”.6 This refers to the existence of this epithet in Buto as well. The shabti of Tjanefer, also of this dynasty, has HAtj-a wr m NTrt.7 Yet another Thirtieth Dynasty8 monument, statue Cairo JE 43778 of Nectanebo, from the central Delta not far from Sais, gives jrj-pat HAtj-a wr m NTrt.9 In addition to Behbeit (Hebyt), the geographical locality of NTrt is sometimes connected with Sebennytos, Sema-Behedet, and Sais.10
This honorific epithet has received different readings and translations. H De Meulenaere reads it wr m NTr.t and mentions many instances, in addition to that of Neshor, in which it occurs.11 C Favard Meeks12 reads and translates wr m NTrt as a separate title after with the title HAtj-a13 as “HAtj-a wr m NTrw14 Le comte, grand dans NTrw.” G Vittmann15 points out that Pabasa and others held the title “HAtj-a wr m WAst.” He states that the correct reading should be (HAtj-a + wr) m WAst, and not HAtj-a + (wr m WAst). That means he considers wr as an adjective of HAtj-a, rather than standing in its own right as an adjective functions as a noun, “the great one”.16
The title HAtj-a + place name was common in the Late Period.17 The preposition m and the genitival article n were used to connect the adjectival noun wr with its toponym. H De Meulenaere18 refers to the existence of the title HAtj-a wr m19 and the title HAtj-a wr n.20 E Graefe21 refers to the formation of the title wr m/n + toponym with or without HAtj-a. H Ranke22 mentions another form of it associated with NTrt, “HAtj-a n mr-NTrt.”
1I dedicate this article to my late teacher of Mesopotamian histoy at the Faculty of Archaeology, Cairo University, Dr. Gaballa Ali Gaballa, Professor of History of Ancient Egypt and Near East.
2See NC Grimal (1981) La stèle triomphale de Pi(‘ankh)y au Musée du Caire: JE 48862 et 47086-47089, Paris 5(l.3), 5(12).
3See JJ Clère (1982) Un bassin à libations du vizir Bakenrenef. ASAE 68, 84(4-5).
4See L Borchardt (1930) Statuen und Statuetten von Königen und Privatleuten im Museum von Kairo Nr. 1-1294. Vol III, Berlin, 18-20; G Posener (1947) Les Douanes de la Méditerranée dans l’Égypte Saïte”, RPLHA 21(5): 124, J Yoyotte (2012) Les principautés du delta au temps de l’anarchie libyenne (2nd édn), Le Caire 155(8), H De (1956) Meulenaere Trois Personnages Saïtes. CdÉ 31(5): 252, R El-Sayed (1975) Documents relatifs à Saïs et ses divinités, Le Caire 6: 73-93, C Favard-Meeks (1991) Le temple de Behbeit el-Hagara : Essai de reconstitution et d’interprétation, Hamburg, pp. 389.
5JJ Clère (1951) Une statuette du fils aîné du roi Nectanabô”, RdE 6: 144 wants to date statue Cairo JE 43778 of Nectanebo to the beginning of the Ptolemaic Period on the ground of the presence of the graphical sign of jmj-rA, (Clère reads mr and translates “chef”), which is also used in this Thirtieth Dynasty shabti. For the writing of this military title, see W Wreszinski (1906) Aegyptische Inschriften aus dem KK Hofmuseum in Wien, Leipzig pp. 185.
6For this example, see Wreszinski, Aegyptische Inschriften aus dem KK Hofmuseum in Wien, 185, who translates “Grosser Fürst in Buto.” De Meulenaere, “Trois Personnages Saïtes” 6: 252, Yoyotte, Les principautés du Delta au temps de l’anarchie libyenne 7: 155, W Helck (1974) Die altägyptischen Gaue, Wiesbaden 181; Favard Meeks Le temple de Behbeit el-Hagara 389-390.
7See JL Chappaz (1984) Les figurines funéraires égyptiennes du Musée d’art et d’histoire et de quelques collections privées. Genève 158: 123-124, Favard-Meeks, Le temple de Behbeit el-Hagara 390.
8This statue should be dated to the Thirtieth Dynasty, see Favard-Meeks, Le temple de Behbeit el-Hagara, 687: 390, who does not support the opinion of Clère, “Une statuette du fils aîné du roi Nectanabô” 144[R] and dates it to the Thirtieth Dynasty.
9See G Daressy (1912) Statue de Kom Ebchan ASAE 12: 281-2 who translates it “le prince, gouverneur, grand dans Nutrit”; see also De Meulenaere, “Trois Personnages Saïtes” 7: 252, Yoyotte, Les principautés du Delta au temps de l’anarchie libyenne 6: 155, Favard-Meeks, Le temple de Behbeit el-Hagara 390, miswrites the word wr.
10See Favard-Meeks, Le temple de Behbeit el-Hagara 683: 389. For more see also C Favard-Meeks (2002) Les toponymes Nétjer et leurs liens avec Behbeit el-Hagara et Coptos” Topoi Supplément 3: 29-45.
11Meulenaere Trois Personnages Saïtes. 252-253. I have recently discussed this epithet in my book, albeit in much less detail; see H Bassir (2014) Image and Voice in Saite Egypt: Self-Presentations of Neshor Named Psamtikmenkhib and Payeftjauemawyneith, Tucson, p. 58-59.
12See Favard-Meeks, Le temple de Behbeit el-Hagara, p. 389.
13De Meulenaere, “Trois Personnages Saïtes”, 252(4) previously made this point.
14Favard Meeks, Le temple de Behbeit el-Hagara 389 ff., is not consistent and reads nTrt as NTrw, NTr and NTrj. However, Clère, “Une statuette du fils aîné du roi Nectanabô”, 144 [R], translates “Neterou.”
15G Vittmann (1977) Neues zu Pabasa, Obermajordomus der Nitokris SAK 5(36): 255.
16The book of the temple distinguishes between HAtj-a wr and HAtj-a jmj-jxt.
17See De Meulenaere (1958) Le Vizir Harsiêsis de la 30e Dynastie. MDIAK 16: 233. There are more recent discussions of this title and combination of HAtj-a wr n/m, see O Perdu (2006) Documents relatifs aux gouverneurs du Delta au début de la XXVIe dynastie RdÉ 57: 151-88; I Guermeur (2004) Le groupe familial de Pachéryentaisouy. Caire JE 36576 BIFAO 104: 245-89.
18There are more recent discussions of this title and combination of HAtj-a wr n/m, see Perdu, Documents relatifs aux gouverneurs du Delta au début de la XXVIe dynastie 151-188; Guermeur Le groupe familial de Pachéryentaisouy. Caire JE 36576 pp. 245-89.
19See De Meulenaere Le Vizir Harsiêsis de la 30e Dynastie. 7: 233.
20See De Meulenaere Le Vizir Harsiêsis de la 30e Dynastie. 6: 233.
21E Graefe III (1978) Stellung, Familie und Herkunft des 'Ankh-Hor”, In: M Bietak and E Reiser-Haslauer, Das Grab des 'Ankh-Hor: Obersthofmeister der Gottesgemahlin Nitokris I, mit einem Beitrag von E Graefe und Relief und Fundzeichnungen von H Satzinger, vol I, Wien 47; id. “(1974) Die vermeintliche unterägyptische Herkunft des Ibi, Obermajordomus der Nitokris. SAK 1: 202 A4.
22H Ranke (1907) Statue eines hohen Beamten unter Psammetich I. ZÄS 44: 42-54.
Conclusion
It is obvious that the formation of Neshor’s epithet wr m NTrt is different because it independently stands in its own right, and is not directly attached to his title HAtj-a, because his title xtmtj-bjtj separates the two.23 The designation of this epithet holder is not exactly known; however, H Kees characterizes it as a Saite honorific specification, while De Meulenaere24 states that it neither attaches its holder to the families of Behbeit nor confirms whether he was originating from the Delta.
23De Meulenaere Trois Personnages Saïtes. 4: 252 pointed out that the title wr m nTrt is not attached to the title HAtj-a as in the other examples that he brings up.
24See De Meulenaere Trois Personnages Saïtes. pp. 253.
Acknowledgements
None.
Conflict of interest
Author declares that there is no conflict of interest.
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