A History of Ancient Near Eastern Law

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EGYPT

OLD KINGDOM AND FIRST INTERMEDIATE PERIOD

Richard Jasnow

1. S  L

Explicit sources for law from the Old Kingdom are rare, although

there is considerable indirect evidence in the form of titles and ref-

erences to legal institutions or situations.^1 This chapter begins with

the Old Kingdom and First Intermediate period (Fourth through

Tenth Dynasties), since documentation on the subject from the Archaic

period (Zero to Third dynasties) is exceedingly scarce and its inter-

pretation highly speculative.^2

No law code proper has been preserved from the Old Kingdom.^3

(^1) In general, see Théodoridès, “Problème.. .” and “Concept of Law.. .”; Allam,
“Droit.. .”; Menu, “Bibliographie.. .” Although outdated, still useful is Seidl,
Einführung... Allam, “Gerichtsbarkeit,” col. 536, tellingly declares: “Puisque la doc-
umentation juridique ne nous permet de retracer suffisamment que l’organisation
de la Justice égyptienne sous le Nouvel Empire, nous nous contenterons de mettre
celle-ci en évidence.” References in these chapters are chiefly to monographs and
articles written from a legal perspective. Worthwhile general observations on Egyptian
law from a different viewpoint are in Brunner-Traut, Frühformen des Erkennens, 94–98.
(^2) The evidence for the earliest periods consists largely of labels, seals, and dock-
ets; see Eyre, “Work.. .,” 7–8. Dreyer, “Drei archaisch-hieratische Gefässaufschriften,”
publishes several such early hieratic inscriptions from an administrative archive of
the late Third Dynasty (?). For the Early Dynastic Period text corpus, see Kahl,
Das System der ägyptischen Hieroglyphenschrift in der 0.bis 3.Dynastie; the classic, if out-
dated treatment, is still Pirenne, Histoire.. ., 1: Des Origines à la fin de la IVeDynastie.
On the early administration, see also Leprohon, Civilizations.. ., 1: 278; Théodoridès,
“Concept of Law.. .,” 292; Seidl, Einführung.. ., 61. For s3w N¢n(“guardian(?) of
Hierakonpolis”) and firy N¢n(“keeper (?) of Hierakonpolis”) as legal titles in the
Archaic Period, see Franke, “Ursprung.. .,” 213. For the “ms-Ór(“Following/serv-
ing of Horus”) as the periodic journey of the Thinite king for purposes of judging
throughout the land, see Goedicke, Königliche Dokumente.. ., 48–52.
(^3) Allam, “Traces.. .”; Théodoridès, “Formation.. .,” 4–5. For a positive view
regarding the existence of an Egyptian law code, see Lorton, “Treatment.. .,” 5.
Lurje, Studien zum altägyptischen Recht, 126–29, also believes that such a code prob-
ably did exist. He asserts (129) that the precise and very elaborate form of the royal
decrees, together with the court records and private documents, suggest that not
only customary law but also written laws existed. Allam, “Le droit égyptien ancien,”
1, observes: “on n’a trouvé jusqu’à présent aucune trace tangible de codification.
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