A History of Ancient Near Eastern Law

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Other sources also attest to legal records and archives. In his Chronicle,

for example, Osorkon states: “Go and bring to me every (case of )

transgression against him and the records (') of the ancestors.”^95

2.2.1.10 The series of extracts from marriage contracts in P. Berlin

3048 (verso) implies a “register of deeds given in custody to the tem-

ple of Amon at Thebes.”^96 Texts from the time of Shabako (707)

mention a “hall of writings” (¢3 n s§) in the declaration: “His state-

ment will not be heard in the hall of writings.”^97 In the Stela of

Sheshonq, it is recounted that a “contract” or “document of endow-

ment” was “recorded in the hall of writings.”^98

2.2.1.11 Johnson suggests that there may have been “increased pro-

fessionalization” of legal scribes in the late period; people began to

go to those familiar with the proper legal vocabulary and format.^99 The

scribal titles indicate an organized administrative structure, even if de-

tails are lacking. A scribe of the royal letters (“'t) appears in P. Louvre

E 3228 b, 2.^100 In the Smaller Dakhla Stela, there is mention of a

“scribe of leases” or “scribe of the deeds.”^101 The same text also con-

tains the enigmatic title “scribe of the seal” or “scribe of the con-

tract” (s“¢tm).^102 “Witness scribes” are generally found in abnormal

hieratic documents.^103

2.2.2 Central Administration

While the suzerainty of certain kings, such as Taharqa, during the

Third Intermediate period was generally acknowledged throughout

Egypt, the sources are too sparse to reconstruct the details of any

(^95) Caminos, Osorkon.. ., 48.
(^96) Pestman, Marriage.. ., 189.
(^97) Malinine, Choix.. ., 37; see also Malinine, “Jugement.. .,” 168. Vleeming,
“Sale of a Slave.. .,” 15, remarks: “this alternation [of phrasing] suggests to me
that a building rather than a special institution is referred to.”
(^98) So Breasted, Ancient Records.. ., vol. 4, 330. See also Théodoridès, “Testament.. .,”
452.
(^99) Johnson, “Legal Status.. .,” 181.
(^100) Malinine, Choix.. ., 5.
(^101) Janssen, “The Smaller Dakhla Stela.. .,” 167.
(^102) Ibid., 169. The interpretation of such titles is treacherous. As Vittmann,
“Genealogische Inschrift.. .,” 327, points out, the title s“s≈ 3 .t -n∆rhas been taken
to be either a “sort of private-secretary to the high priest” or the scribe responsi-
ble for the recording and registration of contracts between the temple and private
individuals.
(^103) Vleeming, “Sale of a Slave.. .,” 15.
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