796
The New Kingdom designation 'n¢-n-nfi.wt, “citizeness,” still occurs
ca. 770.^1634.2 Class
The old designations sr(“noble”)^164 and nm ̇(“free person”) perhaps
possessing “legal” significance, still occur in this period. While there
may have been some social mobility or movement between social
classes, inheritance of offices was probably the rule.^165 Osorkon, for
example, declares that he appointed “the children of the magnates
[who were learned]” to the positions of their fathers.^1664.3 Gender
Women figure prominently in the legal and economic sources of the
Third Intermediate period,^167 playing an important role in the trans-
mission of ownership and property rights.^168 A woman, for example,
leases out land in P. Louvre 7851 (Nubian period).^169 A man states
of a well in Dakhla that “it belongs to my mother Tew ̇enut, whose
mother was Óententere.”^170 Several large tombs in Thebes belong
to female “officials who adminstered the possessions of the Divine
Spouse...They prove that these women held high offices like their
male colleagues and received the corresponding income.”^171 They
can also act as witnesses.^172 Menu believes that widows might still
utilize the land given to their husbands as payment for their mili-Remarks on Rank and Titles,” 79, emphasizes (speaking of the Twenty-first Dynasty),
“(in Thebes) everybodywas somehow connected with the great temple at Karnak or
its dependants in Luxor and in western Thebes. Thus, the commonly used term
“priest” should rather be understood as a synonym for ‘citizen,’ all the more because
most of the priests were engaged in the holy service only temporarily, more or less
three times a year.”(^163) Parker, Saite Oracle Papyrus.. ., 50; see Menu, “Business.. .,” 197.
(^164) E.g., Caminos, Osorkon.. ., 44.
(^165) Allam, “Bevölkerungsklassen,” col. 774. Cf. also Gardiner, “Dakhleh Stela.. .,”
27; Menu, “Business.. .,” 197.
(^166) Caminos, Osorkon.. ., 51.
(^167) See Menu, “Business.. .,”and “La condition de la femme.. .” In general, see
also Johnson, “Legal Status...”
(^168) Menu, “Business.. .,” 198.
(^169) Donker van Heel, “Land Leases.. .,” 341.
(^170) Gardiner, “Dakhleh Stela.. .,” 22.
(^171) Feucht, Egyptians.. ., 339.
(^172) Menu, “Cessions.. .,” 79.
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