Petiese (alt. Peteese, Pediese) was the name of a number of high ancient Egyptian officials who served the pharaohs during the seventh and sixth centuries BCE. Their family history is known from a petition (pRylands 9), which the priest Petiese (referred to below as Petiese III) wrote during the reign of
Darius I of Persia
Darius I ( peo, 𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎺𐎢𐏁 ; grc-gre, Δαρεῖος ; – 486 BCE), commonly known as Darius the Great, was a Persian ruler who served as the third King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 522 BCE until his d ...
, although some have claimed that, rather than a real petition, this is a
work of literature or at best a draft for a petition.
The Petition of Petiese
Petiese I, son of Ireturu, administered
Upper Egypt
Upper Egypt ( ar, صعيد مصر ', shortened to , , locally: ; ) is the southern portion of Egypt and is composed of the lands on both sides of the Nile that extend upriver from Lower Egypt in the north to Nubia in the south.
In ancient ...
jointly with his cousin Petiese, son of Ankhshesheq, who held the position of Ships Master. In 651 BCE he had his priestly offices confirmed by
Psamtik I
Wahibre Psamtik I ( Ancient Egyptian: ) was the first pharaoh of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt, the Saite period, ruling from the city of Sais in the Nile delta between 664–610 BC. He was installed by Ashurbanipal of the Neo-Assyrian Empire ...
, above all that of prophet of
Amun
Amun (; also ''Amon'', ''Ammon'', ''Amen''; egy, jmn, reconstructed as (Old Egyptian and early Middle Egyptian) → (later Middle Egyptian) → (Late Egyptian), cop, Ⲁⲙⲟⲩⲛ, Amoun) romanized: ʾmn) was a major ancient Egyptian ...
of
Teudjoi. After he had resigned from his powerful office of administrator of Upper Egypt, the priests of Teudjoi decided in 621 to wrest his priestly offices, which were well paid, from him and killed two of his grandsons. Pediese received police protection. He restored the fortunes of the temple at Teudjoi. Pediese's rights were inscribed on a stela. He signed over his prophet's portion to his son Wedjasematawi I.
In 591, Petiese II, son of Wedjasematawi I, accompanied
Psamtik II
Psamtik II ( Ancient Egyptian: , pronounced ), known by the Graeco-Romans as Psammetichus or Psammeticus, was a king of the Saite-based Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt (595 BC – 589 BC). His prenomen, Nefer-Ib-Re, means "Beautiful s theHeart ...
on a campaign to Syria. While he was away, the priests of Teudjoi bribed an official and Petiese on his return lost his case against the priests in court.
After his death, his son Wedjasematawi II had to flee from Teudjoi as the priests tried to force him to sign over his rights to them. They destroyed his house in his absence, but had to pay a small compensation when Petiese III, the son of Wedjasematawi II, brought an action against them.
If the petition of Petiese III is to be believed there was little justice in the Egypt of his time and only bribery brought results.
References
*
Alan Gardiner
Sir Alan Henderson Gardiner, (29 March 1879 – 19 December 1963) was an English Egyptologist, linguist, philologist, and independent scholar. He is regarded as one of the premier Egyptologists of the early and mid-20th century.
Personal life
G ...
, ''Egypt of the Pharaohs: An Introduction'', Oxford University Press 1966, , p. 368
* K. S. B. Ryholt, ''Acts of the Seventh International Conference of Demotic Studies, Copenhagen 23–27 August 1999'', Museum Tusculanum Press 2002, , p. 11
Thesaurus Linguae Aegyptiae G. Vittmann ed., ''P. Rylands 9'', Demotische Textdatenbank, Akademie für Sprache und Literatur Mainz => administrative und dokumentarische Texte => Petitionen => P. Rylands 9
External links
*
ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eshTkzvHVuk&t=222s YouTube: Ancient Egypt: Murder In The Temple 1 Full Documentary
7th-century BC clergy
6th-century BC clergy
7th-century BC Egyptian people
6th-century BC Egyptian people
Ancient Egyptian priests
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