8.5 Perjury
To judge from the Deir el-Medina material, the standard penalty
for false litigation was one hundred blows.^522 In the Legal Text of
Mes, male witnesses invoke as the penalty for perjury the cutting off
of the nose and ears and being sent to Kush; a woman agrees that
perjury will be punished by being sent to “the rear of the house,”
possibly a term for domestic slavery.^523 Perjury in the Tomb Robbery
cases was also punished by mutilation and expulsion to Kush.^524
Swearing falsely in the name of a god could result in divine
punishment.^5258.6 Slander and Blasphemy
During the reign of Seti II, several villagers accused their foreman
of uttering blasphemies against the pharaoh. The case was heard
but, not surprisingly, the accusers recanted.^5268.7 Bribery
P. Turin 1887 includes a charge of bribery of a priest.^527
- S I
9.1 Curses
Curses often strengthen the provisions of both royal and private
texts.^528 Pharaohs may even employ curses to ensure the proper con-
duct of future rulers. King Neb-kheperu-Re Antef (Seventeenth
Dynasty), for example, concludes a decree concerning a crime com-
mitted by an official in the temple of Min at Koptos with the dec-(^522) Ibid., 41. On perjury, see also Lurje, Studien.. ., 161–64.
(^523) Lorton, “Treatment.. .,” 37–38. See also Seidl, Einführung.. ., 54.
(^524) Lorton, “Treatment.. .,” 32–34.
(^525) See Lichtheim, AEL2, 110.
(^526) Bierbrier, Tomb-builders.. ., 107 (O. Cairo 25556); Allam, Hieratische Ostraka......,
61–63. See Toivari, “Man versus Woman.. .,” 167; Lorton, “Treatment.. .,” 42;
McDowell, “Schijnproces.. .,” and Jurisdiction.. ., 251–53; See also Janssen, “Rules.. .,”
292; Théodoridès, “Dénonciation.. .,” 11–12, and “Ouvriers.. .,” 123–28.
(^527) Vittmann, Elephantine.. ., 48.
(^528) See Assmann, “When Justice Fails.. .”; Morschauser, Threat-formulae.. .; Nordkh,
Curses...
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