Called Tjatey in Egyptian, the Vizier was the prime minister in all periods. The office of the Vizier is as old as kingship itself. On the Narmer palette, a little Vizier is shown standing in front of Narmer. He is labelled tjet in the still-evolving hieroglyphs of the time. Our word Vizier is the French spelling of the Turkish Vezir, which was the title of the Sultan's prime minister. This in turn comes from the Arabic wazir, which means "porter". Curiously, there is an Egyptian verb tja which means "carry", so it is possible that the Arabic and Turkish words retain an original meaning of the Egyptian tjatey. I have no idea what it is an early Vizier would have carried, but the little Vizier on the Narmer palette is actually carrying something. I can't tell what it is. The Vizier of Egypt wore a special garment which remained unchanged for thousands of years. It was a simple smock made of pure white cotton and symbolized his impartiality. Besides being Pharoh's prime minister, the Vizier was also the involved in the administration of justice and difficult cases were appealed to him. He was traditionally fair but strict.