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3.1 Parties
Such disputes and transactions as are documented occur between
relative social equals. Of some interest, however, is the suit of a
daughter against her father mentioned in P. Brooklyn 35.1446.^121 At
least in literature, lower status individuals contend with higher status
ones, as is shown in the Eloquent Peasant, wherein a peasant peti-
tions against a dishonest official who has robbed him. So, too, the
author of the wisdom text of Ptahhotep raises the possibility that
one might contend with a superior, equal, or inferior.^122
In the transaction concerning the servant woman recorded in
P. Berlin 10470, conducted in the vizier’s bureau at Thebes, “agents”
(rw≈.w) act for the actual masters of the servant in Elephantine.^1233.2 Procedure
As in the Old Kingdom, court cases were probably conducted orally
in the form of claim and rebuttal. The oral statements are taken
down in writing. A “scribe of hearing” (s“n s≈m) appears in P. Kahun
I.4, whose function may have been to record such court proceed-
ings.^124 An oral rebuttal is preserved in P. Brooklyn 35.1446, in the
case of a man defending himself against a suit brought by his own
daughter.^125 In P. Berlin 10470, the procedure consists of interroga-
tion, consent, and oath.^126 Judging from the Instructions of the Vizier,
understood by some to describe Middle Kingdom procedure, the
possibility of petitioning a high official was especially important for
the ordinary Egyptian.^127 These petitions would have to be at some
point recorded in writing.^128(^121) Théodoridès, “Concept of Law.. .,” 303.
(^122) Lichtheim, AEL1, 63–64.
(^123) Quirke, Administration.. ., 206; Vittmann, “Hieratic Texts,” 39. See also Menu,
“L’Assistance judiciaire...”
(^124) Griffith, Kahun.. ., 23.
(^125) Hayes, Papyrus.. ., 115.
(^126) Vittmann, “Hieratic Texts,” 40. See also Parkinson, Voices.. ., 110.
(^127) Van den Boorn, Vizier.. ., 170–71.
(^128) Ibid., 200.
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