A History of Ancient Near Eastern Law

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possibly referring to judicial activity.^79 An official, entitled firy-hp, (lit.

“one who pertains to the law”) appears in P. Harageh 3.^80

2.1.3.2.4 The government was primarily interested in recruiting

manpower^81 and material resources for state projects.^82 The subjects

were conscripted for the former,^83 while the royal land and other

types of taxable fields provided the latter.^84 P. Brooklyn 35.1445 con-

tains stipulations which prove the “existence of specific regulations

relating to labor obligations.”^85 We have little information regarding

taxation in the Middle Kingdom^86 or the extent of temple holdings

in this period.^87

2.1.3.2.5 The administration may have taken steps against possible

abuse of power. It was thought desirable, for example, that two

scribes from the “Bureau of Fields” compile listings of households,

the redundancy possibly designed to minimize the risk of corruption.^88

2.1.3.3 Local Government

The nomarch is of ever decreasing importance in the Middle Kingdom,

whereas local officials such as the town mayors, and local councils

often appear in the documents.^89

2.1.3.3.1 An especially significant figure was the “mayor,” ̇3ty-',

the term for the official in charge of a town.^90 One of his primary

(^79) Franke, “The Career of Khnumhotep III,” 59–60.
(^80) Van den Boorn, Vizier.. ., 166; Quirke, Administration.. ., 175.
(^81) On corvée, see Hafemann, “Arbeitspflicht im alten Ägypten.II.”
(^82) Quirke, Administration.. ., 215.
(^83) Ibid., 162–64, 215; Kadish, “Observations on Time...”
(^84) Kuhrt, Near East.. .1, 168.
(^85) Quirke, Administration.. ., 135.
(^86) Trigger et al., Social History.. ., 83; Helck, Wirtschaftsgeschichte.. ., 176.
(^87) Helck, Wirtschaftsgeschichte.. ., 166–68 (“Tempelbesitz”).
(^88) So Quirke, Administration.. ., 169.
(^89) Thus, for the middle Thirteenth Dynasty, on the basis of Bulaq 18 and the
Karnak Donation Stela, “the administration of Thebes consisted of four authori-
ties; pr- ̇≈, “treasury,” ¢3 n ∆3ty,“office of the vizier,” w'r.t tp-rs, “branch (of state)
of the Head of the South,” ¢3 n dd rm∆, “bureau of the people’s giving” (Quirke,
“Regular Titles.. .,” 125). See further Uphill, “Office...”
(^90) It was possible to be both a ̇3ty-'and a chief priest, as was Djefa-Hapi. The
̇3ty-'in the Middle Kingdom had a double meaning. It was later employed as a
ranking title as in the Old Kingdom but could also denote an actual town mayor
with real functions; see Gestermann, Kontinuität.. ., 101. See also Ryholt, Political
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