The Overseer of cattle ( egy, jmy-r jḥw) was an Ancient Egyptian official position, during the

New Kingdom New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

Role

The ''

Onomasticon of Amenope The Onomasticon of Amenope is an ancient Egyptian papyrus from the late 20th Dynasty to 22nd Dynasty. It is a compilation belonging to a tradition that began in the Middle Kingdom, and which includes the ''Ramesseum Onomasticon'' dating from th ...

'', which lays out the arrangement of Egypt's administration in the

Ramesside period The Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt (notated Dynasty XX, alternatively 20th Dynasty or Dynasty 20) is the third and last dynasty of the Ancient Egyptian New Kingdom period, lasting from 1189 BC to 1077 BC. The 19th and 20th Dynasties furthermore togeth ...

, lists the overseer of cattle as one of the members of the "high council" (''qnbt ꜥꜢt''), led by the

vizier A vizier (; ar, وزير, wazīr; fa, وزیر, vazīr), or wazir, is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in the near east. The Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called ''katib'' (secretary), who was a ...

, which was responsible for civil administration. Within this council, the overseer of cattle belonged to the branch of the administration tasked with the administration of resources, which was headed by

overseer of the treasuries The overseer of the treasuries (alternative translation: overseer of the two treasuries; ''imy-r prwy ḥḏ'') was an important official at the ancient Egyptian court of the Old Kingdom of Egypt, Old and the New Kingdom. The title is first attest ...

. The primary responsibility of the position was the maintenance of an inventory of all cattle in the country and the collection of their hides. Inscriptions indicate that in year 3 of

Ramesses IV Heqamaatre Setepenamun Ramesses IV (also written Ramses or Rameses) was the third pharaoh of the Twentieth Dynasty of the New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt. He was the second son of Ramesses III and became crown prince when his elder brother Amenherk ...

(1152 BC), the overseer of cattle was one of several other high-ranking civil and military officials sent with over 7,000 workers on a quarrying expedition to

Wadi Hammamat Wadi Hammamat ( en, Valley of Many Baths, ''India way; gateway to India'') is a dry river bed in Egypt's Eastern Desert, about halfway between Al-Qusayr and Qena. It was a major mining region and trade route east from the Nile Valley in ancien ...

. The overseer's role on this expedition was to secure supplies of cattle hides, which were then handed over to the

army scribe An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

s to distribute to the workers. This expedition is an example of the way in which different branches of Egyptian administration were able to collaborate effectively in the

Nineteenth dynasty The Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt (notated Dynasty XIX), also known as the Ramessid dynasty, is classified as the second Dynasty of the Ancient Egyptian New Kingdom period, lasting from 1292 BC to 1189 BC. The 19th Dynasty and the 20th Dynasty furt ...

. By contrast, in the Eighteenth dynasty decree of

Horemheb Horemheb, also spelled Horemhab or Haremhab ( egy, ḥr-m-ḥb, meaning "Horus is in Jubilation") was the last pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt, 18th Dynasty of Egypt (1550–1295 BC). He ruled for at least 14 years between 131 ...

, army regiments are reprimanded for requisitioning cattle hides from local people, something that only the overseer of cattle was allowed to do. In the

Wilbour Papyrus The Wilbour Papyrus is the largest known non-funerary papyrus from Ancient Egypt, named after the New York journalist Charles Edwin Wilbour who acquired it in 1893. History Charles Edwin Wilbour purchased seventeen papyri from a farmer when he ...

probably from year 4 of

Ramesses V Usermaatre Sekheperenre Ramesses V (also written Ramses and Rameses) was the fourth pharaoh of the Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt and was the son of Ramesses IV and Duatentopet. Reign Ramesses V's reign was characterized by the continued growth of t ...

(1146 BC), the overseer of cattle has ultimate control over some plots of royal land (''khato'') and land belonging to the Pharaoh's harem, which were then placed under the administration of two layers of subordinate officials and worked collectively by local labourers. A separate overseer of cattle for the properties belonging to the

Precinct of Amun-Re The Precinct of Amun-Re, located near Luxor, Egypt, is one of the four main temple enclosures that make up the immense Karnak Temple Complex. The precinct is by far the largest of these and the only one that is open to the general public. The te ...

at Thebes existed by the reign of

Thutmose II Thutmose II (sometimes read as Thutmosis or Tuthmosis II, Thothmes in older history works in Latinized Greek; Ancient Egyptian: /''ḏḥwty.ms''/ ''Djehutymes'', meaning "Thoth is born") was the fourth Pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egy ...

. There was another overseer of cattle in the provincial administration of

Nubia Nubia () (Nobiin: Nobīn, ) is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area between the first cataract of the Nile (just south of Aswan in southern Egypt) and the confluence of the Blue and White Niles (in Khartoum in central Sudan), or ...

under the authority of the

Viceroy of Kush The former Kingdom of Kerma in Nubia, was a province of ancient Egypt from the 16th century BCE to eleventh century BCE. During this period, the polity was ruled by a viceroy who reported directly to the Egyptian Pharaoh. It is believed that the ...

, during the reign of

Tutankhamun Tutankhamun (, egy, twt-ꜥnḫ-jmn), Egyptological pronunciation Tutankhamen () (), sometimes referred to as King Tut, was an Egyptian pharaoh who was the last of his royal family to rule during the end of the Eighteenth Dynasty (ruled ...

References

Bibliography

* * * * *{{cite book , last1=Shirley, first1=JJ, editor1-last=Moreno Garcia , editor1-first=Juan Carlos , title=Ancient Egyptian administration , date=2013 , location=Leiden, The Netherlands , isbn=9789004250086 , pages=521–606, chapter=Crisis and Restructuring of the State: From the Second Intermediate Period to the Advent of the Ramesses * Ancient Egyptian titles