What Were Ancient Egyptian Laws
The first cases of established laws to follow were introduced in ancient Egypt. Around 1760 BC. King Hammurabi introduced the Code of Hammurabi, which introduced sanctions for certain unacceptable behaviors. This is what historians consider to be the first instance of legal rules. Throughout history, humanity has relied on these early laws and today introduced a system of checks and balances in the legal system to guarantee the rights of innocent people and the opportunity to stand trial before a jury of their peers. One of the most famous cases is probably that of the eloquent peasant (the story of the eloquent peasant), who investigates the quest for justice of a poor man by high officials and the king himself. This particular story was told at length in the Middle Kingdom of Egypt (2055-1650), illustrating that even the problems of ordinary peasants were considered important. Although men dominated the legal system in ancient Egypt, records show that women enjoyed important rights under the law. After a person`s death, property was often divided equally between boys and girls. Women can own and bequeath property, sue, testify in court and file for divorce. Children and the poor had considerable legal rights, and even slaves were allowed to own property under certain circumstances.
Before the 7th century BC, most treatises and acts were oral, but with the advent of demotic writing, many legal transactions had to be written, and these documents give us a better picture of legal proceedings. A plaintiff had to take legal action and, if the case was found to be valid, the defendant was summoned to appear in court. Since there were no lawyers, both sides presented their own arguments. While witnesses were sometimes summoned, the judge usually decided on the basis of documentary evidence and the testimony of each party. While the first type is mainly used for simple or static situations, the second type develops a hypothetical case, sometimes in a very elaborate way with possibilities branching out in different directions. In both cases, the aorist law or the future third law contains the legal consequences, for example the necessary measures to be taken by the judges. The grammatical structure thus clearly indicates the character of the text as binding rules; Similar structures are common for the formulation of laws throughout antiquity (for example, in the Codex Hammurabi, in the Code of Gortyn, or in the Law of the Twelve Tablets). In addition, there are exactly the same structures for the laws cited in court transcripts. The collection also contained examples of documents, e.g. for oaths, promissory notes, rental documents, Sanx documents, public protests, etc. The vizier was the chief justice, but most court cases were handled by minor judges. The court could even be held in the market or on the street, and there was also an administrative building called the trial room that existed in each city.
In the new kingdom, there were no lawyers or appeals, the priests of Amun were the ones who decided the verdict because people trusted them to give a fair hearing and render the right judgment. Sandra Lippert of the University of Tübingen wrote: “A single fragmentary document from the 6th dynasty informs us about the legal proceedings (Papyrus Berlin P 9010). The beginning is lost, so it is not known which court was involved and how the inheritance process was initiated. Both parties appear to have been present in court, with the applicant taking the first step by producing a document on which he based his claims, namely that the testator had appointed him as trustee of his heirs. The defendant countered by stating that the document was a forgery and that he should therefore remain the sole heir (presumably as the eldest son). [Source: Sandra Lippert, University of Tübingen, Germany, UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology 2012, escholarship.org ] The laws of ancient Egyptian societies are much less well documented than those of ancient civilizations in other regions. To date, no recognized legal code has survived (although it may have existed). “We expect crimes to be prosecuted by the authorities and punished in a way that shows that not only the victim, but society as a whole have been harmed by the criminal. In ancient Egypt, however, there were no state prosecutions for theft or assault against individuals.
The aggrieved party had to act as plaintiff and the sentence was limited to changes for the victim (crime and punishment). Only crimes against the pharaoh and the gods, such as conspiracies or theft from royal tombs or temples, were prosecuted by officials. A special oath of allegiance (anx n sDfA tryt) required them to report and investigate suspicious incidents. Given that cases of manslaughter and murder of individuals are not well documented, how they were handled remains unclear, but there is evidence that local authorities were supposed to solve obscure deaths, whether or not victims` families requested it. Roman officials who acted as judges were not bound by either Greek or Egyptian law and because Roman law at the time was not very comprehensive and was often judged at their own discretion. Although Egyptian laws have sometimes been cited by the parties` lawyers, Egyptian legislation appears to have been followed only when it was profitable for the state, but completely ignored otherwise. The most striking example is the so-called Nestnephis trial, in which the official of the idios logos convicted the Egyptian defendant of appropriating land without an owner, even though he had a valid demotic deed of sale, and the seller stated under oath that he had inherited his father`s land. The totally innocent accused, who had been slandered by a colleague, was fined 500 drachmas. Theoretically, it was possible to appeal a judgment of the prefect, although this would have meant sending the emperor himself to Rome. An appeal was impossible if the party had already taken note of the verdict by its reactions. Pharaoh had failed to maintain and maintain Ma`at, and this affected everyone up and down in the hierarchy of Egypt`s social structure. Funeral robberies have become more frequent – as have false witnesses – and even law enforcement has become corrupt.
A policeman`s testimony was considered absolutely reliable, but the police of the second half of the New Reich could charge someone, have him convicted, and then take whatever they wanted from the suspect`s possession. Theodorid stands out as a scholar who placed special emphasis on ancient Egyptian law. See his chapter on law in Harris` J.D. The Legacy of Egypt, which is his major work in English (available at the Bodleian Bookstack and other libraries, including the Sackler). “The procedure for oral trials was similar to the normal procedure in that the plaintiff made his statement, sometimes probably in writing, including the presentation of documents. Oracles were approached primarily for the same types of trials as district courts.