Adultery is called the “abomination of (the god) Montu” (e.g., O.
DM 439).^506 The strictures against adultery occur in religious con-
texts, as in the Negative Confession of the Book of the Dead (chap-
ter 125) “I have not copulated with a married woman.”^507
An obscure papyrus (P. BM 10416)^508 may show how Egyptians
settled such problems on their own outside of the legal system. The
text suggests, at least, that a married man who committed adultery
could be urged to go to court for a divorce.8.4 Theft^509
The most dramatic records of theft are the Tomb Robbery Papyri.
The penalty for theft from royal tombs was death.^510 Penalties such
as mutilation and impalement befell Deir el-Medina workers who
stole from private tombs.^511 Another penalty for this act, presumably
committed under mitigating circumstances, was one hundred blows.
Theft from a private individual was punishable by the return of
the stolen object together with a penalty (∆3wt) of two or three times
its value.^512 ’ernÿ publishes two short texts which contain lists of
stolen items, apparently to be returned, together with a penalty based
on the value of the items.^513 The victim could possibly renounce his
claim to the penalty when the stolen goods were not found with the
thief.^514 This penalty for theft from a private individual is in contrast
with the extraordinarily high penalties for theft from the state, amount-
ing to eighty or a hundred times the value of the stolen object.^515
One lady accused of using another woman’s property to purchase
a slave took an oath of denial, then invoked the penalty of one hun-
dred blows and the confiscation of the slave.^516(^506) See Eyre, “Crime.. .,” 100.
(^507) See ibid., 95.
(^508) Janssen, “Marriage Problems.. .” See also Toivari, “Man versus Woman...,”
158–59; Janssen, Late Ramesside Letters.. ., 28–32.
(^509) McDowell, Jurisdiction.. ., 227–32; Lurje, Studien.. ., 154–60.
(^510) Lorton, “Treatment.. .,” 31.
(^511) Ibid., 40; on the penalties of the tomb robberies in general, see ibid., 30–49.
On impalement, see Boochs, “Über den Strafzweck des Pfählens.”
(^512) Lorton, “Treatment.. .,” 47. On fines, see Janssen, Commodity Prices.. ., 548–49;
McDowell, Jurisdiction.. ., 29.
(^513) “Restitution...”
(^514) Ibid., 189.
(^515) Lorton, “Treatment.. .,” 37–38; Théodoridès, “Dénonciation...”
(^516) Lorton, “Treatment.. .,” 48–49. On women committing theft, see Toivari,
“Man versus Woman.. .,” 166–67.
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