A History of Ancient Near Eastern Law

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EGYPT

MIDDLE KINGDOM AND SECOND

INTERMEDIATE PERIOD

Richard Jasnow

1. S  L

The principal sources of law in the Middle Kingdom are royal inscrip-

tions, administrative papyri, and private documents and inscriptions.

Middle Kingdom literary compositions also refer to legal situations.

1.1 Law Codes

No law codes proper are preserved from the Middle Kingdom.^1

However, some texts do imply, if not an extensive code, at least lim-

ited systematic collections of “laws” (hp.w).^2 P. Brooklyn 35.1446

(Thirteenth Dynasty), for example, contains references to:

“The law pertaining to those who desert.”

“The law pertaining to one who deliberately deserts for six months

(or more).”

“The law pertaining to deliberate desertion of [one’s] labors.”

“The law pertaining to one who flees without performing his tasks.”

“The law pertaining to one who flees the prison.”^3

On the basis of such citations, some scholars argue for detailed law

codes in ancient Egypt, but this remains a disputed point.^4

(^1) On law codes, see, e.g., Allam, “Traces.. .”; Ward, Essay.. ., 133.
(^2) The standard word for “law,” hp, first appears in the Middle Kingdom; see
Nims, “The Term Hp“Law, Right” in Demotic,” 243. On hp, see also Otto,
“Prolegomena.. .,” 152; Lorton, “King and the Law.. .”; Van den Boorn, Vizier...,
166–69; Boochs, “Hpw.. .” On customary law, see Harari, “Force...”
(^3) Hayes, Papyrus.. ., 47–48. See also Quirke, Administration.. ., 135; Théodoridès,
“Rapport.. .”; Kemp, Ancient Egypt.. ., 129.
(^4) Lorton, “Treatment.. .,” 5, 53–64. Cf. Hayes, Papyrus.. ., 51, 135, and 142;
Kemp apud Trigger et al., Social History.. ., 84; Helck, “Gesetze.. .,” LÄ2, cols.
570–71.
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