i shall take your majesty name from the list and place his there instead.' what does the vizier wish to convey to the king?
Answers
Most often, the position was bestowed upon a male but a record of two female viziers have survived, Nebet in the Sixth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom, and one in the 26th Dynasty. Evidently, Nebet held the title of vizier but her husband performed the duties of the office.
Installation of the Vizier
Statue of Vizier Hemiunu
© Einsamer Schütze - Statue of Vizier Hemiunu
An ancient Egyptian text entitled the “Installation of the Vizier” was found in the tomb of the vizier Rekhmire and entails the duties of his office, including:
The code of conduct
The appointment
Relationships and interfaces with other officials
Two similar texts exist, but they are incomplete; Rekhmire's transcript is the only complete description of the functions of this exalted office. Rekhmire's main duties involved overseeing the departments of:
Agricultural
Executive
Interior
Judicial
Treasury
War
Among these general duties, were the specific duties of sitting in the high court, recording trade, and acting as the pharaoh's seal bearer.
Ancient Egyptian viziers, because of their power, were expected to be law-abiding, impartial, and levelheaded. When a pharaoh was very young or was weak or otherwise incapacitated, it was the vizier who cohesively held the country together. Often, a vizier would maintain his office during the reign of several pharaohs, unless a pharaoh wanted to appoint his own vizier rather than use that of his predecessor.
Hieroglyphs often depict the viziers wearing long, white robes; these symbolized their purity of heart and spirit. A vizier in ancient Egypt did not generally attempt to supplant the pharaoh, due either to the vizier's code of ethics or the realization that it could endanger the balance of power that existed within the government.