those not technically slaves were subject to corvée-labor or other lim-
itations on their freedom.^213 Scholars have suggested the opposition
between “officials” and “dependents” as being more useful than that
between “slaves” and “free persons.”^2144.4.2 Categories
Both b3kand ̇m,^215 the standard terms for “servants,” “slaves,” are
attested in the Old Kingdom, but little can be determined about the
legal status of such persons, apart from their evident dependence on
an owner/master.^216 The word ̇m, usually rendered “slave” by Egypt-
ologists, only appears towards the end of the Old Kingdom.^217 The
“royal servants” ( ̇m.w-nswt) portrayed working at the harvest in tombs
from Sheikh Said and Saujet el-Meitin may be prisoners (i.e., pris-
oners of war or convicted criminals).^2184.4.3 Creation
It is not certain whether a person could be enslaved for debt, but
one document may contain a stipulation against debt slavery.^219 The
possibility of an official reducing an individual to servitude is raised
in Old Kingdom biographies.^220- F
Both legal and extra-legal texts indicate that the mutual responsi-
bilities of family members were well recognized, in a moral if not
legal sense in ancient Egypt. This is most clearly expressed in the
form of support of elderly parents, their proper burial by the eldest(^213) Loprieno, Egyptians.. ., 189.
(^214) Ibid., 191.
(^215) See Fischer, “An Early Occurrence of ̇m“servant.”
(^216) See Goedicke, Königliche Dokumente.. ., 217–19, on b3kand similar terms. Cf.
Spalinger, “Revisions.. .,” 28.
(^217) Loprieno, Egyptians.. ., 194. Goedicke, Rechtsinschriften.. ., 105–6, contra Bakir’s
interpretation.
(^218) Cf. Eyre, “Work.. .,” 34; Berlev, “Social Experiment.. .,” 155; Bakir, Slavery...,
30; Helck, Wirtschaftsgeschichte.. ., 102.
(^219) So Goedicke, Königliche Dokumente.. ., 69.
(^220) “I have never reduced anyone to servitude (b3k),” claims the architect Nekhebu
(Sixth Dynasty, Urk. 1, 217, lines 3–5); Loprieno, Egyptians.. ., 194. Cf. the different
rendering of Doret, Verbal System.. ., 100–101. So, too: “I have never reduced one
of your daughters to servitude (Urk. 1, 77, line 4)”; Loprieno,Egyptians.. ., 194.
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