Crime & Punishment in Ancient Egypt

By Krishna Horrigan

Introduction•Laws were important to make Egyptian culture run well.

•None of the laws were written.

•We have learned about laws from stories and carvings.

A Pharaoh presenting the symbol of Justice to the god 

of Dekkah Temple, Ptolemic era

Pharaoh

•The pharaoh was the judge of the high court.

•The people thought of the king as a god, so whatever he said went.

Ma’atGoddess of truth, justice

and balance

Gold Ma’at pendant from the British Museum

Ma’at

•In the British Museum in London.

•A story on papyrus paper.

•Helps us understand the Ancient Egyptian’s sense of right and wrong

The Eloquent Peasant

•The story of a poor farmer going to market with his goods on an donkey.

•Land owner/rich man wanted to trick peasant

•Laid carpet on path/road as a trap

•Peasant tells his story over and over.

•Goes to seven courts to argue his case

•Ends up telling his story to the pharaoh

The Eloquent Peasant

The Eloquent Peasant

•King Menes was a very important ruler

•He made the first legal system

King Menes

                               

this is a picture of him punishing a person who has broken the law

•Found in the tomb of Mehu, a fifth dynasty judge

•Inscriptions describe him as zAb (judge), Priest of Maat, the Goddess of Truth, Eldest One of the Hall and Secretary of the Secret Decisions of the Great Judgment Court.

Ancient Judge

Included:

• Getting whipped or beat

• Amputation (getting something cut off.)

Punishments

•Hand cut off if you stole.

•Punishment of a grave robber

•Buried alive

Punishments

If a kid killed his or her parent(s)

•they would have their skin cut with reeds

•Be put on a bed of thorns

• then burned alive.

But if a parent killed their kid(s)

•they would only have to hold their kid(s) for three days.

Punishments

Death Sentence If you did a really serious crime, you would be sentenced to death

•left to be eaten by the alligators

•If you had a very high rank, they might let you commit suicide

•The husband wrote this contract

•He said he would pay the wife some money within 30 days of divorce

Marriage Contract

•They could get married again after divorce

•Eight witnesses signed the back of the contract

•Loans not a modern invention.

•This papyrus is a contract to repay a quantity of grain.

•The loan is for approximately seven months

•Interest is not charged on the basic loan.

•if the loan is not repaid by the set date, the debtor,Amenhotep, agrees to pay an additional fifty percent to Padimin, the owner of the grain, a month later.

•A summary was written at the top of the papyrus

•The papyrus was sealed up.

An ancient loan agreement