A History of Ancient Near Eastern Law

functions was collecting taxes for the state.^91 The state could order

such “mayors” or “town governors” to supply men for royal quar-

rying expeditions in the Wadi Hammamat.^92 According to Quirke,

no “source attests to an “office of the mayor” (*¢3 n ̇3ty-'or *s§n

̇3ty-'). In his view, the mayor oversaw local administration but did

not participate directly in the bureaucracy. As Quirke further remarks,

“the town itself operated as an active juridical entity, with its own

bureau and scribe; fields, herds and cattlestalls were r-§t‘in the charge

of ’ the town, rather than its scribe or mayor, according to the ter-

minology of the accounts papyri.”^93 The mayor of Elephantine is,

however, kept informed of legal matters such as the transaction con-

cerning the servant woman in P. Berlin 10470 (Thirteenth Dynasty).^94

2.1.3.3.2 A ̇ry tm3, “chief of the mat(?),” acts on behalf of the city

in the case recorded in P. Berlin 10470.^95 Also mentioned in the texts

are a “scribe of the mat” (s“n tm3) and a “court of the mat” (≈ 3 ≈ 3 .t

n.t tm3).^96 The “judge(?), mouth of Hierakonpolis,” s3b r3 N¢n, which

occurs in legal situations, has been understood as an honorific title.^97

2.1.4 Courts

The Old Kingdom institution of the “six great houses” continues

into the Middle Kingdom. The titles “overseer of the six law courts”^98

and “foremost of the Six Great Ones”^99 are still employed well into

the Hyksos period, being associated especially with the viziers.^100

The djadjatremains important in the Middle Kingdom, but by the

later Twelfth Dynasty the qnb.tmay have assumed the functions of

the older ≈ 3 ≈ 3 .t.^101

264 

Situation.. ., 87; Van den Boorn, Vizier.. ., 243; Quirke, Administration.. ., 161, 167;

Théodoridès, “Sixième.. .,” 440, 449.

(^91) Trigger et al., Social History.. ., 110–11.
(^92) Ibid., 111.
(^93) Quirke, Administration.. ., 167.
(^94) Vittmann, “Hieratic Texts,” 39 (with further references). Van den Boorn,
Vizier.. ., 255.
(^95) Vittmann, “Hieratic Texts,” 36.
(^96) Van den Boorn, Vizier.. ., 268. See also Ward, Essay.. ., 125.
(^97) Ryholt, Political Situation.. ., 236; Franke, “Ursprung.. .,” 209–17; Simpson,
Reisner Papyri, vol. 2, 42.
(^98) Sometimes so translated; see Fischer, Egyptian Titles.. ., 4.
(^99) Fischer, Egyptian Titles.. ., 19. See also Ward, Titles.. ., 34.
(^100) Hayes, Papyrus.. ., 142.
(^101) Ibid., 140. See also Quirke, Administration.. ., 54–55; Allam, “Quenebete.. .”;
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