“Overseer of the King’s Scribe”

Let’s read some hieroglyphs 𓊹𓌃𓏪! 

Today 𓏇𓇋𓈖𓇳 we are going to look at a word that appears a lot in funerary inscriptions 𓏟𓏛𓏥! This word is simple, so it is easy to remember and to recognize! So let’s get started – the word for today 𓏇𓇋𓈖𓇳 is “Overseer 𓅓𓂋.”

People with the title of “Overseer 𓅓𓂋” worked for the nomarchs (kind of like governors and were appointed by the pharaoh 𓉐𓉻). The overseers 𓅓𓂋𓏦 helped the nomarchs run the local government, and the overseers 𓅓𓂋𓏦 had lots of people who worked for them, many of which were scribes 𓏟𓀀𓏪. 

The word/title of “Overseer 𓅓𓂋” was always followed by what specifically the person was an overseer 𓅓𓂋 of. This brings me to the full inscription: 𓅓𓂋𓇓𓏞. 

𓅓𓂋 – Overseer

𓇓 – King/Royal

𓏞 – Scribe

So the person who this inscription 𓎘𓅱𓎖 is for is the “Overseer of the King’s Scribe 𓅓𓂋𓇓𓏞” or “Overseer of the Royal Scribe 𓅓𓂋𓇓𓏞.” The word 𓇓𓏞 by itself can also mean “King’s Secretary!”

The word Overseer 𓅓𓂋 can also be translated as “Commander.” Let’s take a look at some other Overseer 𓅓𓂋 titles you might see:

𓅓𓂋𓀆 – Overseer of the Wab Priests

𓅓𓂋𓃹𓈖𓏏𓈊𓉐𓉐𓉐 – Overseer of the Forts

𓅓𓂋𓅱𓏏𓆇 – Overseer of the Embalmers

𓅓𓂋𓆓𓃀𓂝𓅱 – Overseer of the Seals

𓅓𓂋𓆼𓆼𓆼 – Overseer of the Herds

𓅓𓂋𓇏 – Overseer of the Fields