the title "hrj ssta" "keeper of the secrets" is attested for 13 individuals during the old kingdom, at least once elaborated to the form "hr ssta mdw-ntr" "keeper of the secrets of the god's words," meaning the hieroglyphic language used on monuments. in contrast with the hieratic script used for everyday record-keeping, already an elite activity, the content of hieroglyphic texts was closely controlled property of the state and permission from the king was probably required for inscriptions in one's tomb, as we see in a royal authorization for rawer, an official under neferirkare buried at giza, to do so.