Reflecting the order of the cosmos, a
pharaoh’s duty was to instill justice on
earth. He created laws as the need arose,
even pronouncing judgment after death,
through the mouth of oracular statues.
IRENE CORDÓNJUST DESSERTS
Officials beat a man with sticks, probably for
failing to fulfill his tax obligations, in a detail from
a painting in the New Kingdom tomb of Menna.
Below, the crook and flail were found in the tomb
of the boy king, Tutankhamun. The flail was a
symbol of the pharaoh’s judicial authority.
PAINTING: AKG/ALBUM
CROOK AND FLAIL: UHA/GETTY IMAGES