{{Short description|Ancient Egyptian peerage rank}} {{hiero|Iry-pat|<hiero>r:p:a</hiero>|align=left|era=egypt}} [[File:Stele Intef CG20009 Maspero.jpg|thumb|Stele of Intef the Elder, called an ''iry-pat'' at the beginning of the second row]] '''Iry-pat''' ({{langx|egy|jrj-pꜥt}} "member of the elite") was an ancient Egyptian ranking title announcing a high position in the hierarchy of the country.<ref>Wolfram Grajetzki: ''Court Officials of the Egyptian Middle Kingdom'', London 2009 p. 5 {{ISBN|978-0-7156-3745-6}}</ref> Iry-pat was the highest ranking title at the royal court, and only the most important officials could bear this title. It is attested as early as during the First Dynasty: one of the first confirmed holders was Merka,<ref>Toby Wilkinson: ''Early Dynastic Egypt'', London, New York {{ISBN|0-415-18633-1}}, p. 148</ref> official under king Qa'a. The title's use by women occurs from the reign of Pepi II Neferkare of the Sixth Dynasty onwards.<ref name="Dodson 2007 p82">{{cite book |last1=Dodson |first1=Aidan |author1-link=Aidan Dodson |editor1-last=Wilkinson |editor1-first=Toby |editor1-link=Toby Wilkinson |title=The Egyptian World |date=2007 |publisher=Routledge |location=London ; New York |isbn=9780415427265 |page=82 |chapter=The Monarchy}}</ref>
The title literally means "member of the ''pat''",<ref>{{cite book |last1=Jiménez-Higueras |first1=Ángeles |title=A Prosographic Study of the New Kingdom Tomb Owners of Dra Abu El-Naga |date=2022 |publisher=Archaeopress Archaeology |location=Oxford |isbn=978-1-80327-055-5 |page=3}}</ref> with "pat" being the highest level of the elite.<ref name="Dodson 2007 p82"/> It is conventionally translated as "hereditary prince", "nobleman",<ref>{{cite web |title="jr.j-pꜥ.t" (Lemma ID 94060) |url=https://thesaurus-linguae-aegyptiae.de/lemma/94060 |website=Thesaurus Linguae Aegyptiae |access-date=17 April 2026}}</ref> or "hereditary noble"<ref name="Brand 2023 p21">{{cite book |last1=Brand |first1=Peter J. |title=Ramesses II, Egypt's Ultimate Pharaoh |date=2023 |publisher=Lockwood Press |location=Columbus |isbn=978-1-948488-49-5 |page=21}}</ref> depending on context. The female version, iryt-pat, is often translated as "hereditary princess"<ref>{{cite web |title="jr.jt-pꜥ.t" (Lemma ID 94070) |url=https://thesaurus-linguae-aegyptiae.de/lemma/94070 |website=Thesaurus Linguae Aegyptiae |access-date=17 April 2026}}</ref> but did not indicate the bearer had a claim to the throne.<ref name="Dodson 2007 p82"/>
In the late Eighteenth Dynasty of the New Kingdom, the title was given to the king's nominated heir where he had no living children to inherit. Tutankhamun designated his general Horemheb as iry-pat and successor.<ref name="Brand 2023 p21"/> On his coronation stela, Horemheb recounts that the king "set him to be supreme chief of the land in order to steer the laws of the Two Regions as Hereditary Prince [iry-pat] of this entire land".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gardiner |first1=Alan |title=The Coronation of King Haremhab |journal=The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology |date=December 1953 |volume=39 |page=14 |doi=10.2307/3855308}}</ref> Horemheb in turn nominated his own general Paramessu as iry-pat who succeeded him as Ramesses I. In the reigns of Ramesses' son Seti I and grandson Ramesses II, the title was given to the crown prince,<ref name="Brand 2023 p21"/> where it appeared at the start of the list of titles alongside "king's eldest son" ({{transliteration|egy|sꜣ nsw smsw}}).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Brand |first1=Peter J. |editor1-last=Collier |editor1-first=Mark |editor2-last=Snape |editor2-first=Steven |title=Ramesside Studies in Honour of K.A. Kitchen |date=2011 |publisher=Rutherford Press Limited |location=Bolton |isbn=978-0-9547622-6-1 |page=66 |url=https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/36455465/Brand_Date_of_War_Scenes_FS_Kitchen-libre.pdf?1422679937=&response-content-disposition=inline%3B+filename%3DThe_Date_of_Battle_Reliefs_on_the_South.pdf&Expires=1777975482&Signature=QsnZ~HJY-n~ab46HbgBGYaFyLbThpluQxhuyiDksPFkFqoofytf3H3yqf5oy7SHemnpv4uy2otHvO1jXLM8vcIopZpKGp7vSsYDFxVletIcqyof0kp8oX1rRzXl5QCGQsOQHv0O7eHp1ZTgGk75L8ut8P3lE2T7J4-f-6yTyx9TsIOcMkZ-cC75vThHeZPDRy16eHwZCe0MMhBF32T8R4Tqw3qz-b6A0LXYXgVEewMhkfm5PDbI0dpEXdOfH0r1kh7lxCEi2IT5tpL6uxRxZlyHBWA4iVqiPVRlbvfjApgNozJgbPiVLAeDAFGdvnzgI58ymnN5aH23xXD7cXexSZg__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJLOHF5GGSLRBV4ZA |access-date=5 May 2026 |chapter=The Date of the War Scenes on the South Wall of the Great Hypostyle Hall and the West Wall of the Cour de la Cachette at Karnak and the History of the Late Nineteenth Dynasty}}</ref>
== References == <references/> {{Ancient Egyptian royal titulary}} Category:Ancient Egyptian titles