Aperel (sometimes written as Aperia) was a

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 ...

of ancient Egypt, who served during the reigns of the 18th Dynasty kings

Amenhotep III Amenhotep III ( egy, jmn-ḥtp(.w), ''Amānəḥūtpū'' , "Amun is Satisfied"; Hellenized as Amenophis III), also known as Amenhotep the Magnificent or Amenhotep the Great, was the ninth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty. According to different ...

and

Akhenaten Akhenaten (pronounced ), also spelled Echnaton, Akhenaton, ( egy, ꜣḫ-n-jtn ''ʾŪḫə-nə-yātəy'', , meaning "Effective for the Aten"), was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh reigning or 1351–1334 BC, the tenth ruler of the Eighteenth D ...

.Viziers
by Anneke Bart Besides being Vizier, Aperel was also a commander of chariots and had the title ''God's Father''.

Pronunciation and etymology

Aperel was pronounced "something like 'Abdiel ('Abdi-El) meaning "the servant of the god El" according to Alain Zivie.

Family

Aperel's wife was named Taweret. They had at least three sons: Seny, Hatiay and Huy. Seny was a steward and Hatiay was a priest of

Nefertem Nefertem (; possibly "beautiful one who closes" or "one who does not close"; also spelled Nefertum or Nefer-temu) was, in Egyptian mythology, originally a lotus flower at the creation of the world, who had arisen from the primal waters.Nefertem ...

. Huy, who was a commander of horse, commander of chariots and scribe of recruits of the Lord of the Two Lands, was also buried in the tomb of his parents.Murnane, William J. ''Texts from the Amarna Period in Egypt'', Scholars Press, Atlanta, 1995 (#26-A p. 53)

Tomb and burial

Aperel's tomb was discovered in 1987 by the French under supervision of Alain Zivie. The tomb is designated as I.1 and is located in the cliffs of the

Bubasteion The Bubasteum was a Ptolemaic and Roman temple complex dedicated to Bastet in the cliff face of the desert boundary of Saqqara. In Arabic the place is called Abwab el-Qotat (''"The Gates of the Cats"''). The temple complex is surrounded by a 275 ...

(a sanctuary dedicated to

Bastet Bastet or Bast ( egy, bꜣstjt, cop, Ⲟⲩⲃⲁⲥⲧⲉ, Oubaste , Phoenician: 𐤀𐤁𐤎𐤕, romanized: ’bst, or 𐤁𐤎𐤕, romanized: bst) was a goddess of ancient Egyptian religion, worshipped as early as the Second Dynasty (2 ...

). Taweret, Aperia's wife, may have been an important lady in her own right as she is the only

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 ...

woman identified to date to have been buried in a set of three coffins. Their son Huy was buried in year 10 of Akhenaten or even later. Also mentioned in the tomb are Aperel’s sons Seny, an official, and Hatiay, a priest.Alain Zivie, The Lost Tombs of Saqqara, American Univ in Cairo Press, 2007 According to Strouhal, Aperel was 50–60 years old at the time of his death, his wife Taweret was 40–50 years old at the time of her death, and their son Huy was 25–35 years old at the time of his death.

References

14th-century BC Egyptian people Viziers of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt {{AncientEgypt-bio-stub