The vizier () was the highest official in ancient Egypt to serve the

pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: '' pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the ...

(king) during the Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms.

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 ...

is the generally accepted rendering of ancient Egyptian , etc., among

Egyptologists This is a partial list of Egyptologists. An Egyptologist is any archaeologist, historian, linguist, or art historian who specializes in Egyptology, the scientific study of Ancient Egypt and its antiquities. Demotists are Egyptologists who special ...

. The ''Instruction of Rekhmire'' ('' Installation of the Vizier''), a New Kingdom text, defines many of the duties of the , and lays down codes of behavior. The viziers were often appointed by the pharaoh. During the

4th Dynasty The Fourth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (notated Dynasty IV) is characterized as a "golden age" of the Old Kingdom of Egypt. Dynasty IV lasted from to 2494 BC. It was a time of peace and prosperity as well as one during which trade with other ...

and early 5th Dynasty, viziers were exclusively drawn from the royal family; from the period around the reign 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 ...

onwards, they were chosen according to loyalty and talent or inherited the position from their fathers.

Responsibilities

The viziers were appointed by the

s and often belonged to a pharaoh's family. The vizier's paramount duty was to supervise the running of the country, much like a

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

. At times this included small details such as sampling the city's water supply. All other lesser supervisors and officials, such as

tax collectors A tax collector (also called a taxman) is a person who collects unpaid taxes from other people or corporations. The term could also be applied to those who audit tax returns. Tax collectors are often portrayed as being evil, and in the modern ...

and scribes, reported to the vizier. The judiciary was part of the civil administration, and the vizier also sat in the High Court. At any time, the pharaoh could exert his own control over any aspect of

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...

, overriding the vizier's decisions. The vizier also supervised the security of the pharaoh and the palace by overseeing the comings and goings of palace visitors. The viziers often acted as the pharaoh's seal bearer as well, and the vizier would record trade. From the Fifth Dynasty onwards, viziers, who by then were the highest civilian bureaucratic official, held supreme responsibility for the administration of the palace and government, including jurisdiction, scribes, state archives, central granaries, treasury, storage of surplus products and their redistribution, and supervision of building projects such as the royal pyramid. In the New Kingdom, there was a vizier for

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 ...

and Lower Egypt each.Jane Bingham, Fiona Chandler, Jane Chisholm, Gill Harvey, Lisa Miles,Struan Reid, and Sam Taplin "The Usborne Internet-Linked Encyclopedia of the Ancient World" page 80

Installation of the Vizier

According to the Installation of the Vizier, a New Kingdom document describing the office of the vizier, there were certain traits and behaviors that were required to be a vizier: *Act by the law *Judge fairly *Do not act willfully or headstrong

List of viziers

Early Dynastic period

Old Kingdom

Middle Kingdom and Second Intermediate Period

New Kingdom

Third Intermediate Period

Late Period

References

External links

The vizierate
{{Ancient Egyptian royal titulary Ancient Egyptian titles Noble titles Positions of authority