A History of Ancient Near Eastern Law

are members of the qenbetcourts.^117 A herald still appears in such

texts as P. Berlin 10470, just as in the Middle Kingdom,^118 although

the office of the local herald (w ̇m.w) has been abolished.^119 Royal

butlers (wb3) are often dispatched from the Residence on special

commissions of the king.^120 Occasionally, local officials seem to deal

with minor infractions outside of the court system.^121

2.3.3.1 On a very local level, gatekeepers are significant officials,

quite visible, at least in Deir el-Medina, where they frequently appear

in legal proceedings.^122 Persons flee to the “place of the gatekeepers”

in order to swear an oath (e.g., P. Salt 124). The gatekeepers could

collect debts, risking a beating by enraged losers of legal disputes.^123

2.3.3.2 The old title “eldest one of the gate” (smsw h3y.t), possibly

endowed with legal functions, still appears in the New Kingdom.^124

2.3.3.3 The elaborate temple bureaucracy also became involved in

legal matters. Important temples had qenbetcouncils or courts, which

were also ultimately under the control of the vizier, and operated

hardly differently from the “secular” courts.^125 In Cairo 30770

(Seventeenth Dynasty) the temple authorities, namely, scribes hold-

ing responsible positions, for example, “scribe of the God’s Treasury,”

investigate the theft of valuable religious objects.^126

2.3.3.4 The institution of police responsible for public order, as dis-

tinguished from the military proper,^127 is fairly well attested. As chief

legal officer in the land, the vizier supervised the police.^128 In the

(^117) Kruchten, Horemheb.. ., 156 (but based on restoration).
(^118) Théodoridès, “Procedure.. .,” 138.
(^119) Helck, “Landesverwaltung,” col. 921.
(^120) Schmitz, “Truchsess.”
(^121) McDowell, Jurisdiction.. ., 201–2.
(^122) On firy-' 3 , “gatekeepers,” see McDowell, Jurisdiction.. ., 41–46; ’ernÿ, Com-
munity.. ., 161–73.
(^123) McDowell, Jurisdiction.. ., 45; Allam, Hieratische Ostraka.. ., 207.
(^124) Römer, “Handel.. .,” 278; Meeks, “Donations.. .,” 648.
(^125) Allam, “Zur Tempelgerichtbarkeit.. .,” 3. See also Allam, “Egyptian Law
Courts.. .,” 110–11.
(^126) See Janssen, Village.. ., 29–33.
(^127) Trigger et al. Social History.. ., 215. For terms designating police, see Andreu,
“Titres.. .”; Andreu, “Policiers.. .” For police, see also Wente, “A Goat for an
Ailing Woman,” 858–59.
(^128) Van den Boorn, Vizier.. ., 43.
  301
WESTBROOK_F9_289-359 8/27/03 1:43 PM Page 301