8.2 Treason
Death may have been the penalty for treason. At any rate, it is
declared in a funerary stela: “There is no tomb for one who commits
a crime against (sbfi ̇r) his majesty, his corpse being thrown into the
river.”^259
It was also, not surprisingly, a crime to harbor state enemies in
temples, according to one interpretation of a problematic text. The
penalty would be expulsion from the temple and loss of office for
perpetrator and heirs.^260- S I
9.1 Curses
Curses appear in legalistic texts such as Cairo Stele 30770.^261 There
is also a curse on every king who pardons a convicted criminal.^2629.2 The Letters to the Dead, which often have a legal background,
are found in the Middle Kingdom.^263BAllam, S. “Adoption,” LÄ1, cols. 66–67.
——. “Familie-Struktur,” LÄ2, cols. 104–13.
——. “Zeuge,” LÄ6, cols. 1398–99.
——. “De la divinité dans le droit pharaonique,” BSFE68 (1973) 17–30.
——. “Les Obligations et la famille dans la société égyptienne ancienne,” OA 16
(1977) 89–97.
——. “Sinuhe’s Foreign Wife (Reconsidered),” DE4 (1986) 15–16.
——. “Traces de “codification” en Égypte ancienne (à la basse époque),” RIDA 40
(1993) 11–26.
——. “Quenebeteet administration autonome en Égypte pharaonique,” RIDA 43
(1995) 11–69.
Allen, J. “Some Theban Officials of the Early Middle Kingdom.” In Studies in Honor
of William Kelly Simpson, ed. P. Der Manuelian. Vol. 1. Boston: Museum of Fine
Arts, 1996, 1–26.(^259) Lorton, “Treatment.. .,” 14.
(^260) Ibid., 18–23.
(^261) See Assmann, “Justice.. .,” 154–55; Morschauser, Threat-Formulae.. .; Nordh,
Curses and Blessings...
(^262) Lorton, “Treatment.. .,” 21 (Seventeenth Dynasty).
(^263) E.g., Wente, Letters.. ., 215–16; Gardiner and Sethe, Letters to the Dead.
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