Law In Ancient Egypt | EssayIvy.com

SURNAME 1

Author

Instructor

Course

Date

Law in Ancient Egypt:

The ancient Egyptian civilization left hundreds of grand structures dedicated to its kings

and gods but left limited evidence of the laws those kings and gods laid down. This lack of

evidence coupled with the absence of a written code of law prevents scholars from speaking of

Egyptian law as law in a proper sense (Théodoridès 291). Most of what scholars know is derived

from incomplete legal documents and anecdotes from tomb inscriptions. Archeologists have

uncovered contracts for the exchange of property and goods along with fragmentary records of

court hearings. Unfortunately, experts have been unable to locate an established legal code for

the ancient Egyptians.

Nevertheless, Egyptian law was implemented and enforced with an ideal in mind, one

conceptualized by the Egyptian word “Ma’at.” Ma’at is a term used express the righteous

epistemologies of order, justice, and truth. The Pharoah, as head of the Egyptian state and a god

incarnate, had a duty to maintain and embody Ma’at (Shupak 15). Additionally, Ma’at is also

personified as the patron goddess of the courts of justice (Erman 139).

Surveying the history of a single subject within a long-lasting civilization is no simple

task. It is crucial to understand that law in Egypt changed over time. While the ideals (such as

Ma’at) remained the same, the administration of justice changed. Competing forces in

government, religion, and external circumstances meant that the citizen of the Fourth Dynasty

could, expect very different results from a citizen of the Fifteenth Dynasty.

SURNAME 2

One of the most important elements of law is the recognition of private property. There is

evidence of the existence of private property as early as the Second Dynasty. The anecdote

“contract for the sale of a small house” in the town of Khufu dates from this period. Experts have

record of this because the status of the property in question was in dispute. The purchaser had in

his possession documentation indicating that he was the rightful owner of the property. The state

guaranteed the conveyance of property through deeds which were registered with the local

authorities. In the Seventeenth Dynasty, the property was to be in the possession of the purchaser

within a year unless the court allowed an extension (Théodoridès 291-2).

Property was not the exclusive right of free men in Egypt. Women could own property by

themselves without holding it jointly with their husbands. Records of a lawsuit of a woman

against her own father have been found. At issue was the disposition of property given to her

upon her marriage. It appears that her father had given this property to his second wife

(Théodoridès 303-4). Even slaves, who were themselves considered property, could own

property. Further, a slave could even marry or be adopted and there become free assuming their

spouse or adoptive parents were free (Théodoridès 307).

To distribute property after their death Egyptians wrote wills. Without a will, in the Old

Kingdom at least, property was distributed among the deceased’s children evenly, without regard

to age or sex. The wife of the deceased would receive nothing unless a will was made leaving her

property or an allowance from the proceeds of property. If such provisions were not made, it was

the heir’s responsibility to take care of her (Théodoridès 291).

In the Sixth Dynasty the tradition of equal inheritance changed, especially for the upper

classes of Egypt. This change was due in largely because of a change in the administrative

system. Offices became things to be handed down from one generation to another, and if a will

SURNAME 3

had not been drafted this could have meant a woman would have been due the title of Overseer

of Cattle or something similar (Théodoridès 295). At this point in ancient Egypt primogeniture,

the transfer of all assets to the oldest male relative became the rule (Théodoridès 296).

Theodrides notes the change in the handling of the estate of a man called User. A man called

Sebekhotpe claims that he is the rightful heir to User’s estate rather than the man who then held

possession of the estate, User’s eldest son called Tjau. Sebekhotpe provides the court with a

document he says User wrote to designate him as the legitimate heir. The court demands that

Sebekhotpe bring before the court a witness who was present at the signing of that document

who can vouch for its legitimacy. In the meantime, Tjau remains User’s heir and possessor of his

estate (Théodoridès 298-9).

A unique if not surprising aspect of ancient Egyptian wills are the appropriations for the

maintenance of a funerary cult. An example is the will left by a man of the upper-class named

Heti in the Fourth Dynasty. He leaves his estate to his eldest son who is to keep it intact and use

the proceeds to fund Heti’s funerary cult with the remaining proceeds to be distributed among

the rest of the heirs (Théodoridès 293-4).

In the Twelfth Dynasty Hapidjefai, a regional governor and high priest passed over his

family altogether. Instead of placing an heir in charge of his estate, he leaves his estate to a

funerary priest. This funerary priest was given the right to pass Hapidjefai’s estate down to

favored child at his death. Hapidjefai also makes a series of contract with a temple to tend to his

funerary cult (Théodoridès 303).

Marriage was not an official event. There was no civil or religious ceremony for

marriage. Instead marriage was considered the “founding of a house” and was marked simply

through cohabitation. There were however marriage contracts. These were for the most part

SURNAME 4

written for the protection of the wife’s property. The contract usually provided that she left the

marriage with the property she brought to the marriage or that she would be provided for if her

husband left her for another woman (Eyre 100-1).

Adultery was not typically an issue for the courts. Adultery in Egypt consisted of copulation with

a married or engaged woman. It was advised against in wisdom literature because the husband of

the woman in question may very well kill you. Adultery is typically mentioned not as an offense

by itself, but as evidence against the character of the perpetrator of other more serious crimes

(Eyre 94).

The following story illustrates the Egyptian courts hands-off approach to adultery. A man

and the woman he considered his wife were living in the houses of their respective parents. The

wife is found cheating on him with a member of the upper class. The husband takes the man to

court over this affair and it is he, the cuckolded man, who is beaten, not the perpetrator. His

wife’s paramour only must swear that he will never see this woman again on punishment of

mutilation and exile. Later he impregnates the same woman and his own father brings him before

the court, but the court does not hand down the punishment it had warned was coming if he

violated his oath (Eyre 100).

Divorce was relatively common in ancient Egypt. The grounds for divorce might have

been adultery or perhaps a man simply wanting to marry another woman. The issue addressed in

divorce hearing was the division of property including the property the wife brought with her and

property acquired during the marriage. The divorce proceedings may also address the inheritance

due to the children produced in the marriage (Eyre 99-100).

SURNAME 5

The vast majority cases that made their way through the Egyptian courts were considered

civil cases. These cases involved things like theft or the violation of contracts (Eyre 93). A

petitioner would file a complaint with a court. After this the court would inform the accused of

the complaint and summon a response. At the hearing the complainant would make his case

followed by the respondent’s defense. After both parties had their say the court would usually

pronounce their verdict (Erman 140). On some occasions there is evidence that the court would

leave the case open for further evidence to be brought forth. In the instances of theft the guilty

would pay the victim the value of the lost property or a multiple of that value (Eyre 93).

Courts did not tolerate frivolous lawsuits and they instituted a policy of loser pays to

discourage more litigious Egyptians. If a court found that a petitioner was abusing the legal

process, they enforced a punishment of 100 strokes (Théodoridès 310). In other words, the

petitioner would get a beating. This may explain the result of the above mentioned adultery case.

There is little Egyptian evidence regarding the obvious crimes of homicide and assault (Eyre 93).

Diodorus said that the penalty for murder and perjury was the same, which is death (Erman 141).

Crimes in the ancient Egyptian sense were offenses against the gods and the king, which for a

significant period of Egyptian history were one in the same (Eyre 93). Crimes were prosecuted

by the governor and the duty of the court was only to investigate the crime and determine the

verdict. If the verdict was guilty case file was then sent to the king who would determine the

sentence (Erman 133).

The case of the Theban grave robberies during the reign of King Ramses IX vividly

illustrates the process of criminal investigations. A prince made allegations that the necropolis of

Thebes, which was overseen by a rival prince, was being robbed and defaced. He brought these

allegations to the governor of the province, who instigated an investigatory commission to

SURNAME 6

survey the alleged damage to the royal tombs. Of the ten royal tombs inspected, only one was

breached and damaged only slightly. However, the tombs of the court servants had been

breached and robbed. The prince of the necropolis managed to find the assailants who confessed,

though their confession would not stand in the courts of today. They were beaten on the hands

and feet until they confessed. They were then made to describe their crimes and explain what

they did at the scene of the crime. The report and the verdict were then sent to the king for

sentencing. It appears that this sort of crime was a common occurrence the Theban necropolis.

So common, in fact, they had to start placing royal corpses in inconspicuous pits and abandoned

the necropolis entirely (Erman 130-8).

The system of courts changed substantially over time. In the Old Kingdom of Upper

Egypt the justice system consisted of six courts, or “great houses” as the Egyptians called them.

The judges of these courts were appointed by the king after long service as a scribe in the court.

The high-ranking judges were priests of ma’at as indicated by the pendants they wore around

their necks. In these early days of the kingdom the judicial system was somewhat independent

from the administrative state (Erman 138-9).

This independence seems to have changed late in the Old Kingdom. By the Middle

Kingdom the legal system was thoroughly intertwined with the administrative system (Erman

144). The title of chief judge still existed, but the position was more a sinecure post rather than

an actual judicial position (Erman 139). Middle Kingdom justice was dispensed by magistrates,

who were minor official and nomarch advisors, and the viziers, the king’s representative at the

regional level (Shupak 6).

“The Inscription of Rekhmire,” dating from the Eighteenth Dynasty, is a list of the

vizier’s judicial duties and right conduct as prescribed by the king. It was found in the tomb of

SURNAME 7

Rekhmire, a vizier under the kings Amenhotep I and Thutmose III, though it is thought to have

been written as early as the Thirteenth Dynasty. The king says a vizier should guarantee all

persons their rights. He also says that the vizier should never turn anyone away without hearing

their cases, for most people just want to be heard more than they want a favorable judgment.

Within this inscription there is indication that viziers had gone too far in avoiding the appearance

of corruption. A vizier called Khety apparently had been unfairly harsh in his decisions against

members of his own family to avoid the appearance corruption. The king warns against this

because it is partiality all the same (Théodoridès 307-8).

Another example of a king advising his judges and officials is “The Edict of Haremhab.”

Here Haremhab, the last king of the Eighteenth Dynasty, says he has given judges laws in their

journals. This raises the question of whether this means that there were books of law or these

were just handbooks as mentioned by Eyre (Shupak 9). This edict also implies that prior to this

Haremhab the officials of Egypt were once again exploiting the populace. To remedy this king

appoint judges of high integrity and exempted them from taxation so as to decrease the

incentives toward corruption (Shupak 4)

Cases too sensitive for the ordinary course of justice were handled by a favorite of the

king or a commission of trusted confidants. These cases included crimes committed by those

close to the king or offenses against the king himself. Scholars know of at least two cases where

the king used such means of justice. The first case was one in which King Pepi appointed a

favorite of his called Un’e to investigate the royal consort ‘Emtese during the Sixth Dynasty.

Un’e investigated ‘Emtese and reported his findings back to the king. Experts know about this

because Un’e thought this show of confidence from the king was worthy of writing about it on

his tomb (Erman 142).

SURNAME 8

The second case involves an attempt by a member of the harem of Ramses III to install

her own son as king. To this end she had enlisted to support of other members of the harem as

well as servants of the king to foment rebellion. Ramses III found out about the plot and

established a commission of trusted officials to investigate it. Unlike King Pepi, Ramses also

gave this commission the duty to pass judgment and carry-out sentences including the death

penalty. The commission divided itself into two working groups. One was to investigate the

actions of the harem, the other to investigate government officials. The former group, however,

apparently lost sight of its duties and was found to have joined the king’s concubines in a party.

These officials were punished with mutilation (Erman 142-4).

It is clear that while ancient Egypt’s legal system had its valleys and peaks as a system. It

might have not always been just, but it did have its merits during certain periods of history.

Nevertheless, additional research into this obscure area of history must be conducted.

SURNAME 9

Works Cited

Erman, Adolf. Life and Law in Ancient Egypt. Trans. H.M. Tirard. New York: Dover, 2010.

Eyre, C.J. "Adultery and Crime in Ancient Egypt." Journal of Egyptian Archaeology. Vol. 70.

(2007): 92-105.

Shupak, Nili. "A New Source for the Study of the Law and Judiciary of Ancient Egypt: "The

Tale of the Eloquent Peasant"." Journal of Near Eastern Studies. Vol. 51.No. 1 (2011): 1-18.

Théodoridès, Aristide. "The Concept of Ma’at and Law in Ancient Egypt." The Legacy of

Ancient Egypt. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University, 2016. 291-322.

Place new order. It's free, fast and safe

Paper type

Deadline

Page count

550 words

Total price: $ 15.00

Our customers say

Jeff Curtis

USA, Student

"I'm fully satisfied with the essay I've just received. When I read it, I felt like it was exactly what I wanted to say, but couldn’t find the necessary words. Thank you!"

Ian McGregor

UK, Student

"I don’t know what I would do without your assistance! With your help, I met my deadline just in time and the work was very professional. I will be back in several days with another assignment!"

Shannon Williams

Canada, Student

"It was the perfect experience! I enjoyed working with my writer, he delivered my work on time and followed all the guidelines about the referencing and contents."