The Overseer of
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 E ...
was an important
Ancient Egyptian title during the
Old and
Middle Kingdom periods. The title appears first in the early
Fifth Dynasty
The Fifth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (notated Dynasty V) is often combined with Dynasties III, IV and VI under the group title the Old Kingdom. The Fifth Dynasty pharaohs reigned for approximately 150 years, from the early 25th century BC until ...
. The first title holder is 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 ...
Kay, who possibly lived during the reigns of
Neferirkare Kakai
Neferirkare Kakai (known in Greek as Nefercherês, Νεφερχέρης) was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh, the third king of the Fifth Dynasty. Neferirkare, the eldest son of Sahure with his consort Meretnebty, was known as Ranefer A before h ...
and
Nyuserre Ini. The office is well attested in the following years. Most titles holders had other high titles, many of them were viziers. In the Fifth Dynasty, the
Egyptian provinces became more important. The
central government
A central government is the government that is a controlling power over a unitary state. Another distinct but sovereign political entity is a federal government, which may have distinct powers at various levels of government, authorized or dele ...
installed an office in charge of the provinces. The first title holders were all officials at the
royal residence. In later times also local officials were bearing the title.
[Juan Carlos Moreno García: ''The territorial Administration of the Kingdom'', in: Juan Carlos Moreno Gracía (editor): ''Ancient Egyptian Administration'', Leiden, Boston 2013, p. 118-119]
References
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