Paser (fl. late 13th century BC) was an Egyptian noble and high official who served as vizier under Pharaoh Seti I and, into the early reign of Ramesses II. He is recorded with a sequence of high court and priestly titles, showing a career that moved between royal administration, palace service, temple ritual and royal building projects.
Biography[]
Family and origins[]
Paser was born to Nebneteru Tenry and had a brother called Tjunroy.
Court career under Seti I[]
Paser's rise occurred during the reign of Seti I (c. 1294–1279 BC). Early in his career he was a close member of the royal household — described in surviving titulary as "first companion of the palace" and later as "chief chamberlain of both lands" — posts that placed him within the inner circle of the king and responsible for the day-to-day management of palace affairs. He fulfilled the role of "high priest of Werethekau" (a protective royal deity often associated with the uraeus and royal regalia).
As vizier, the highest non-royal office in pharaonic Egypt, Paser had overall responsibility for the civil administration of the kingdom: the judiciary, provincial supervision, the royal archives and correspondence, the treasury, and the organisation of state labour. He was credited with receiving foreign tribute on behalf of the king and place him in contexts connected with major royal building works.
Building works and the tomb of Seti I[]
Paser organised Seti I's funerary programme; engaging in organisation and oversight of parts of the royal tomb-work in the Valley of the Kings. His supervised quarrying, labour levies and craftsmen employed on the tomb and related temple works, which were typical responsibilities for a vizier charged with the execution of royal building programmes.
Service under Ramesses II and priestly promotion[]
Paser continued to serve into the reign of Ramesses II (reigned c. 1279–1213 BC). He had become a member of the entourage of Prince Ramesses before that prince became pharaoh; after Ramesses acceded Paser appears to have retained high office and was appointed by Ramesses II to the office of High Priest of Amun. This elevation was not an uncommon pattern in which senior administrative officials were given the leading temples as an honour and as a means of integrating elite families into the new reign.
Paser had a long tenure in high office, serving 25 years as vizier before his move to the high priesthood.
Duties and historical significance[]
Paser's career typifies the intertwined religious and administrative careers of top elites in the late 19th Dynasty. Combined priestly and vizierial offices allowed the king to place trusted men at the junction of ritual legitimacy and everyday government. As vizier and as a senior priest Paser would have been central in managing foreign relations (receiving tribute), directing major construction, administering justice, and ensuring the smooth operation of the palatial household and the temple estates that funded the state.
Gallery[]
