A History of Ancient Near Eastern Law

2.4.3.1 The court was also where private individuals registered or

confirmed transactions and declarations concerning immovables, deeds

of gift or property divisions,^157 and rights of inheritance or family.^158

2.4.4 Because of the seriousness of the case, the Tomb Robbery

suspects were not interrogated in the local qenbetof Deir el-Medina.^159

Not only the vizier but also the high priest of Amun took part. The

Tomb Robbery documents reveal the very close connection between

the local scribes and the central administration.^160 In case of any

irregularities or need, these local scribes could report directly to the

vizier.^161

2.4.5 The precise nature of the court or committee investigating

the Harem Conspiracy is unclear. It may well have been a special

court.^162

Scholars disagree on the enforcement power of such local courts

as those in Deir el-Medina.^163 Allam, for example, thinks that they

had no very great authority and would try first to reach a com-

promise,^164 while Janssen suggests that a real de facto power (on the

basis of custom, hp) over the disputants existed.^165 The local courts

did not indeed seem to have much formal power of compulsion,

although the force of peer pressure on the losers of a court case

should perhaps not be underestimated.^166

(^157) Bierbrier, Tomb-builders.. ., 104.
(^158) Allam, “Egyptian Law Courts.. .,” 111.
(^159) On the composition of the court for the tomb robbery cases, see Peet, Tomb-
Robberies.. ., 18–20. The cases involving tomb robbery, harem conspiracy, and tem-
ple theft are examples of state investigations forming a special class of trial. They
are not conducted in a qenbet court, but rather in a s.t smtr, “a place of interroga-
tion”; see Boochs, “Strafverfahren.. .,” 22.
(^160) See also McDowell, Jurisdiction.. ., 189–200.
(^161) Allam, “Egyptian Law Courts.. .,” 113–14. See McDowell, Jurisdiction.. ., 192.
(^162) See Lurje, Studien.. ., 68–72; Peet, Tomb-Robberies.. ., 25–27; Lorton,
“Treatment.. .,” 29–30; Théodoridès, “Concept of Law.. .,” 313; Weber, “Harim-
verschwörung,” col. 989.
(^163) See Eyre, “Crime.. .,” 102; McDowell, Jurisdiction.. ., 179–82; Théodoridès,
“Grace.. .,” 235.
(^164) Allam, “Legal Aspects.. .,” 142.
(^165) Janssen, “Rules.. .,” col. 295; Eyre, “Crime.. .,” 102–3.
(^166) McDowell, Jurisdiction.. ., 117; Lorton, “Legal and Social Institutions.. .,”
357.
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