Law In Ancient Egypt

Law in Ancient Egypt examines the legal philosophy, legal institutions, and laws of the ancient Egyptians. Ancient documents, accounts, and literature provide the basis for a wide perspective of law and the Egyptian legal system. VerSteeg delineates and analyzes the elements of Egyptian law, explaining how social, religious, cultural, and political forces shaped both the procedural and substantive aspects of law. Part I considers the theory of justice in ancient Egypt, exploring the role of law in society. Part I also traces the development of the judicial system distinguishing the various types of judges, courts, and procedures that were employed to make justice available to all. Part II reconstructs the substantive laws of the ancient Egyptians, including chapters detailing property, family law, inheritance and succession, tort and criminal law, contracts, and status. Land records, wills, sales documents, court chronicles, works of ancient fiction, and accounts of ancient trials illustrate the sophisticated, often subtle, and complex nature of law in ancient Egypt. This study provides an introduction to law in ancient Egypt. It is the first comprehensive overview of the subject written from the perspective of someone trained as an American lawyer who is also sufficiently familiar with the discipline of Egyptology. The book will be of interest to Egyptologists, legal historians, law students, and educated non-specialists who are interested in the interaction of law, history, and ancient culture.

This book investigates the law enforcement system of Ptolemaic Egypt (323-30 BC).

Ancient Egyptians were ruled by a pharaoh whose word was law and it was the law of Maat whom all Ancient Egyptians lived by, including pharaoh. Maat's laws were quite simple and very much inline with the ten commandments. For instance, do not lie but be truthful in words and deeds, be a moral person, do not steal, but the worst offence is murder and desecration of a pharaohs tomb. The book contains various stories of suspected murder, actual crimes which were committed, the people who were suspected of the offences and in some cases, the punishment or punishments which were meted out to them. These crimes and punishments are evident in texts, court manuscripts and other sources, some of which have been used in this book. As with numerous religions, ancient Egyptians believed in an afterlife. But to enable a person to enter eternity, they must pass the test of the weighing of the heart in the Hall of Judgement also known as the Hall of Truth. Many of the Gods and Goddesses were identified by their headdress, crowns etc, and Maat was identified by the feather on her head, and like her sister Isis, by the wings on each arm. It was this feather, weighed against a persons heart which decided whether or not the deceased had led a good life enabling them to enjoy an afterlife. This book would be helpful to any student of Egyptology.

"Nearly four thousand years ago, kings in various ancient societies, especially in Mesopotamia (contemporary Iraq), faced a crisis of major proportions. Large portions of the population were horribly in debt, many being forced to sell themselves or their children into slavery to pay off their debts. The laws and customs seemed to support the commercial practices that allowed lenders to charge 20%-30% interest, and the law protected the lenders and gave no recourse for the indebted. Strict justice called for the creditors to receive what they were due. But another legal concept, the emerging idea of equity, seemed to call for a different result - the use of law as a vehicle to free people from economic oppression. Debt relief edicts were instituted - "clean-slate laws" as they were known - and are of obvious relevance today as well where crushing debt is a major issue underlying social inequality"--

An A-Z reference providing concise and accessible information on Ancient Egypt from its predynastic cultures to the suicide of Cleopatra and Mark Anthony in the face of the Roman conquest. Annotation. Bunson (an author of reference works) has revised her 1991 reference (which is appropriate for high school and public libraries) to span Egypt's history from the predynastic period to the Roman conquest. The encyclopedia includes entries for people, sites, events, and concepts as well as featuring lengthy entries or inset boxes on major topics such as deities, animals, and the military. A plan and photograph are included for each of the major architectural sites.

Law in the Ancient World examines the legal philosophy, legal institutions, and laws of the ancient Mesopotamians, Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans. Ancient documents, accounts, and literature provide the basis for a wide perspective of law and the procedural features of these ancient legal systems. VerSteeg delineates and analyzes the elements of ancient laws, explaining how social, religious, cultural, and political forces shaped both procedure and substance. The book is comprised of four units: I. Early Mesopotamian Law; II. Law in Ancient Egypt; III. Law in Classical Athens; and IV. Roman Law. Each unit has three chapters, and the first chapter in each unit begins with an overview which provides essential historial background. Next, each initial chapter considers the role of law in society, exploring law in the abstract, the theoretical bases of justice. The middle chapters in each unit trace the development of the ancient judicial systems, distinguishing the various types of judges, courts, and procedures that were employed to make justice available to both citizens and foreigners. The third chapter in each unit reconstructs the substantive laws, including sections detailing Personal Status, Property, Family Law, Inheritance & Succession, Torts, Criminal Law, and Contracts & Commercial Law. A variety of sources, such as early law collections, land records, wills, sales documents, court chronicles, works of ancient literature, accounts of ancient trials, and great codes such as Justinian's Corpus Iuris Civilis illustrate the sophisticated, often subtle, and complex nature of law in the ancient world.