Egyptisk Trading System

Lov og orden Selv om det var forskjeller i hvordan medlemmer av de ulike sosiale klassene ble behandlet og dømt 11. hverken rikdom eller adel hevet en person over loven. Høy forræderi begått av mektige adelsmenn og embetsmenn ble alvorlig behandlet. Dommere og skattemyndigheter misbrukte deres krefter, fremfor alt i uroligheter, og skriftlærte noen ganger forfalsket kadastral data hvis de ble fanget, deres straff kunne være villig. Da statens eksistens og velfungerende avhenger av deres virksomhet, måtte motstandsdyktige statstjenestemenn som gjorde sin plikt eller bytte dem, undertrykkes til enhver pris, slik som perjury, falske anklager og uttalelser og unødig innflytelse på rettsprosedyren. Misbehavelse måtte straffes, ære opprettholdt, fred mellom naboer holdt, og folks liv og eiendom beskyttet. Ikke rapportering av en forbrytelse var en forbrytelse i seg selv: Den store kriminelle, Weren, som var butler. Han ble ført inn på grunn av at han hørte ordene fra kammerets øverste, og da han hadde trukket seg fra ham, skjulte han dem og rapporterte ikke dem. Han ble plassert før ekspertene i undersøkelsesretten, de fant ham skyldig, og de tok straff på ham. Sacrilege og les-majestet, tvilling forbrytelser i et samfunn der det guddommelige og verdslige var nært sammenvevd, var spesielt vanvittig. De var forbrytelser mot det vi ville se som de verdslige institusjoner av staten og konge, men i de gamle egypternes øyne fornærmet de mot gudene og verdensordenen de hadde innført. Vi vet om noen få, tilsynelatende sjeldne forsøk på et kongers liv 28. men det var også mindre overtredelser: Den pseudepigrafiske hungersnødsstela truer den onde med den som spytter (på den - dvs. på stela i templet) bedragerisk skal overgis til straff. Selv om denne kontoen er fiktiv, kan vi anta at slike handlinger ble påtalt. Røveri, tyveri og gjerding av stjålne varer var kriminelle handlinger, spesielt brudd, skade og plyndring av gravene. Formentlig ble mammaen til et 25-dynasties gravfarer, som muligens ble begravet levende. Etter samarbeid i fire år arbeidet Amenpenofer, en byggherre for Amenhotep, yppersteprest for Amen-Re Sonter og syv andre byggere, trearbeidere, bønder og en båtmann, bestemte seg for å bryte inn i Sobekmesefs pyramide. Med metallverktøyene kuttet de et passasje inn i pyramidene underjordiske kamre, fjernet alle hindringene og nådde dronningen og kongeens sarkofagi. De åpnet lokkene og de indre forgylte treskistene, samlet de gylne ansiktsmasker, smykker, amuletter, veide 160 deben (ca. 14,5 kg) og brente resterne. De delte lodten i åtte deler og ble rodd tilbake over Nilen av båtmannen. Om han ikke kunne holde seg stille, ble hans plutselige rikdom lagt merke til, eller de hadde blitt observert, ble Amenpenofer arrestert av byvaktene og ført til kontoret til Peser, prins av byen. Han bestikkte en skriftlærer med sine tjue deben av gull og ble løslatt uten å bli belastet. Da han kom tilbake, ble hans medarbeidere enige om å omfordele de resterende 140 deben av gull. De fortsatte sine raids inntil de ble endelig arrestert. Og de var ikke de eneste som gjorde det. Som tyven bemerket Mange sønner av dette folket røver gravene akkurat som vi gjør, og er ikke mindre skyldige enn vi er. Røvere returnerte med undersøkelsesdommene til pyramidene de hadde ranet. De ble enige om å avsløre alle navnene på gjengen til sin herre, Amenes yppersteprest, men da de ble ført for ham, var bare tre av de åtte igjen. Dommerne ba om at ypperstepresten grepet flyktene. Amenpenofers mor ble eksilert til Nubia, og bygmesteren selv anklaget noen måneder senere og ble tatt til retten. Ikke bare vanlige mennesker begått gravvåpen. Tider var vanskelige i løpet av sen Ramesside-perioden. Administrasjonen var i disarray og lønn ble sjelden betalt i tide, om ikke i det hele tatt. Sosial opprør og borgerkrig brakte med seg skarpe prisvekst. Det er ikke rart at skribenter og prester også deltok i denne omfordeling av rikdom. En slik gjeng inkluderte en prest som ble kalt Pen-un-Heb, og fire Guds fedre, Meri og hans sønn Peisem, Semdi og Pehru. De begynte med å stjele det gyldne kjede av en statue av Osiremire Sotepenre, som etter smelte forlot dem med fire deben og seks gullsett. Den gamle Meri splittet løvet blant dem. En annen gjeng med prester, skriftlærde og hyrder rømte Guds hus av Osiremire Sotepenre. Presten Kaw-karui og fire av sine kolleger fjernet noen ganger noe gull som de kjøpte korn i byen. En herdsman etter å ha truet prestene, fikk en oks som de hadde kjøpt for fem sett (ca 45 gram) gull. En skribent, Seti-mose, som overheard deres krangel, avpresset dem og utpresset fire og et halvt gullsett. 6 Mens kildene er meget veltalende når staten og dets institusjoner som inkorporeringer av Maat var ofre for kriminell oppførsel, er det mye mindre kjent om hva som skjedde dersom skadet var en privatperson. Homicider må ha blitt begått, men skriftlige bevis om eller til og med litterær omtale av drap er sjeldne. Paneb, en foreman ved Deir el Medina, er beskrevet som å ha drept noen, og den muligens fiktive pededen ble angrepet og forlatt for død og hans familiemedlemmer ble drept. Men disse voldsoverskuddene ser ikke ut til å ha blitt retsforfulgt, enda mindre straffet av staten, selv om myndighetene ble informert. Det har blitt foreslått at private mord ble behandlet av feiser, 49 selv om det er enda mindre bevis for det enn for mordene selv. Bevæpnet med staber, politimenn bevoktet offentlige steder, til tider bruk av hunder eller, sannsynligvis sjelden, av trente aper. Fra en markedsplass i graven til Khnumhotep og Niankhkhnum: Monkey som holdt fast på et tyvens femte dynasti, hadde Necropoles sine egne vakter som skulle forhindre gravfeber. Det var tidsperioder da de var spektakulært mislykket i å gjøre jobben sin. En veileder slår en arbeider Tomb of Menna Courtesy Jon Bodsworth, utdrag Forebygging av kriminalitet og fengsel av kriminelle var plikten til lokale tjenestemenn og politistyrker. De åpnet undersøkelser etter klager fra borgere til Polemon, epistater av Kerkeosiris, fra Tapentos datter til Horos, i samme landsby. Et anfall ble gjort på min bolig av Arsinoe og hennes sønn Phatres, som gikk av med kontrakten om huset mitt og andre forretningsdokumenter. Derfor er jeg alvorlig syk, er i lyst av livets og kroppens nødvendigheter. P. Tebtunis 52. fragmentarisk 5 114 fvt. De samlet inn ledetråder mot mistenkt ved å forhøre dem og deres bekjente, kontrollere offentlige registre, organisere reenactments og anvende fysisk tvang, generelt i form av beatings. Så, som det fremdeles er i dag, var mest kriminalitet av småartet, men i et samfunn der de fleste bodde langt nærmere kanten av dårlig fattigdom, kan selv små tyverier være en alvorlig sak. Et memorandum beskriver et slikt ran som ble begått av arbeiderne til Nakhu-m-Maut. De gikk inn i huset mitt, stjal to store brød og tre kaker, spilte oljen min, åpnet min søppel med mais, stjal Nord-Dehu-mais. De dro til huset i kaien, stjal halvparten av killesteis (en slags syrebrød) i går bakt, spilt oljen. I den tredje måneden i Shemu-sesongen, den 12. dag, under kongens fest av kong Amen-hotep, l. h.s. De gikk til kornet, stjal tre store brød, åtte sabu-kaker av Rohusu bær. De trakk en flaske øl som var avkjøling i vann, mens jeg bodde i min fars rom. Herre, la det som er blitt stjålet, bli gitt tilbake til meg. Egyptiske publikasjoner av Mariette G. Maspero, Etudes de mythologie et darcheacuteologie eacutegyptiennes vol. 3, 1898 Bedre tilkoblede mennesker eller de som hadde blitt ignorert av de lokale myndighetene, kunne begjære regionale tjenestemenn eller til og med kongen selv Til kong Ptolemy og Queen Cleopatra, hans søster, de morelske gudene, hilsen. Fra Petesouchos sønn av Petos, Crown kultivator fra landsbyen Oksyrhyncha i divisjonen Polemon i Arsinoite nome. Jeg bor i Kerkeosiris i nevnte nome, og det tilhører meg i den ovennevnte landsbyen Oksyrhyncha et hus arvet fra min far, besatt av ham for sin levetid og av meg selv etter hans død fram til i dag uten tvil . Men Stratonike-datteren til Ptolemaios, en innbygger av Krokodilonpolis i ovennevnte nome, som plutselig ønsker å øve utpressing på meg, kommer med andre personer mot nevnte hus, styrker seg inn før en dømmekraft er gitt. i landsbyen om. huset, kommer inn og legger krav på det feilaktig. Derfor ber jeg deg, mektige gud, om du ønsker å sende budet mitt til Menekrates, archisomatophylax (archbodyguard) og strategos (kommandør), slik at han kan beordre Stratonike ikke å tvinge hennes veier inn i huset, men hvis hun tror Hun har en klage, for å få rett fra meg på riktig måte. Hvis dette er gjort, skal jeg ha fått hjelp. Farvel. P. Tebt. 771 5 Fra midten av det andre århundre fvt Etter at en forhørsmann, hvis skyld var tydelig, ble holdt til prøve eller bestilt av politiet for å gjøre endringer. De første registrerte gravrøverne skjedde i det 14. året av regjeringen til Ramses IX. Guvernøren til nekropolen, prinsen til Kher, som under sin befaling hadde den mejeyiwen (Medjay) og en stor kroppsvakt, gjorde ingenting for å forhindre plundering. Peser, prince of the city, skrev et memorandum om denne skandalen til utvalget av høyt embetsmenn. Pew-re, prins av Kher, ble tvunget til å utnevne en undersøkelseskommisjon (en stor domstol), som konkluderte med at ikke alle Pesers påstander ble grunnlagt Amenhotep I-graven som hadde blitt rapportert forurenset, var fortsatt intakt. Andre kongelige gravene, som Sobekmesefs, hadde blitt ranet. I andre var det blitt gjort forsøk på å bryte inn men mislyktes. Forholdene i kirkegården til ikke-kongelige personer var mye verre. Alle gravene var blitt brutt inn, sarkofagen smadret og noe av verdien stjålet. Noen få mistenkte ble arrestert, og protokollene fra deres forhør av Pew-re ble sendt til kommisjonen. 7 Medlemmene av kommisjonen var utilfredse med disse resultatene, da de utsatte sin egen forpliktelse, og viktigere for dem enn å fange de kriminelle, var å kvitte seg med fløyteblæseren Peser, som truet med å varsle Farao selv og få dem arrestert. De satte opp en felle ved å sende ham Bekheru, en metallsmed, som bekjente feilaktig å ha ranet residensene til herskerne. Prinsen av Kher startet en etterforskning etter Pesers anklage for Bekheru, som viste at Pesers kostnader var helt ubøyelig. Kommisjonen publiserte sine konklusjoner Vi har undersøkt de stedene som ifølge byens prins var besmittet av arbeiderne i Osiremire-Myamun-huset. Vi har funnet dem hele, uberørte av hvilken som helst hånd. Vi konkluderer og opprettholder at alle kostnader er løgner. De sluppet arbeiderne som tilhørte den øverste profeten til Amen-Re Sonter, en av Pesers hovedmistenkte, og påtalte Peser seg med bedrageri. Da røveriene fortsatte å være uformelle, ble det satt opp en annen kommisjon av Ramses IX, som besto av vizier, den kongelige majordomo, kasserer, to baldakinbærere, heralds og skriftlærde. De forhørte besetningsmannen Bukhef, som avslørte navnene på seks medskyldige etter at noen snakket med. Dette tilfredsstillte ikke kommisjonen som hadde ham flogget. Da han svarte på spørsmålet om hvordan de hadde gått inn i graven ved å hevde at den hadde blitt brutt inn i tidligere, ble han slått igjen til han lovte å avsløre alt. Andre tretten personer ble nevnt, som da ble arrestert og forhørt. Reliefs viser fanger knyttet til en innsats og blir flogged. Det var tre slags slag som brukes til å oppnå en bekjennelse, (bejena, nejena og menini). Det var vanligvis ryggen som ble slått, men også ben og armer ble flogget. En annen form for overtalelse var trusselen mot å bli eksilert til Nubia, ha kroppsdeler amputert eller torturert på skogen. Noen ganger har ikke undersøkelser ført til en forsvarlig rettssak i retten, men til likvidasjon. Under den 21. dynastiet sendte General Piankh en ordre til sin agent Payshuuben: Jeg har notert alle saker du skrev om. Når det gjelder nevnen du gjorde om denne saken om disse to politimennene, sa de disse anklagene, kom også sammen med Nodjme og skribent Tjaroy og send ord og få disse to politimennene til meg og kom til bunnen av deres anklager i kort rekkefølge og drep dem og kast dem i vannet om natten - men ikke la noen i dette landet finne ut om dem EF Wente, Letters from Ancient Egypt Justice, representert av Maat 42. gudinnen til verdensordenen, lå hos gudene og var immanent og retributiv, både i her-etter 33 som i denne verden. Faraoene som levende guder var kilden og eksekutorer av rettferdighet 43. Vizierne, som erstattet kongene som høvdinger, hadde tittelen på presten av Maat, Hm-nTr-MAa. t. som gjorde mange andre høyt embetsmenn. På grunnlag av noen sen periode statuer av høyt embetsmenn ha på seg halskjeder med amuletter av Maat. 50 og en passasje i Diodorus Historical Library. 57 Det har blitt foreslått at anheng av rettferdighetens gudinne var et slags emblem på kontoret. 50 De administrative verktøyene for å oppnå rettferdighet blant mennesker var lovene og ordinansene (hp. w). Maat Tomb of Nefertari Bildekilde: Jon Bodsworth Du er Re, din kropp er hans kropp. Det har ikke vært noen hersker som deg, for du er unik, som Osiris sønn, du har oppnådd det samme som hans design. Isis har ikke elsket en konge siden Re, unntatt du og hennes sønn større er det du har gjort enn det han gjorde da han regjerte etter Osiris. Landets lover fortsetter i henhold til hans stilling. Fra en berømmelse til Ramses II, James Henry Breasted Ancient Records of Egypt, tredje tre, sekt 270 Amenkhau, en felles, uttrykte dette prinsippet i mindre opphøyde ord i hans testament, selv om dette kanskje ikke har vært basert på et bestemt faraonisk dekret, men på vanlig lov , identifisert med Maat og Faraos vilje: For Farao har sagt: Hver skal gjøre som han ønsker med sin eiendom. Noen av disse kreftene, rettslig og til og med lovlig, delegerte faraoene til deres representanter, deres vizier og dommere, som utøvde dem som en del av deres offisielle administrative funksjoner. Tilsynelatende var egyptisk lov vanlig lov, basert på tilpasset og rettslig fortilfelle 23. Å utnytte nye lover eller forandre gamle var en del av faraoens prerogativer 35. Disse kongelige dekretene var tilsynelatende ofte kongene svarer på appeller fra personer eller institusjoner med klager. De juridiske koder som den demokratiske juridiske koden for Hermopolis West var retningslinjer i stedet for lovsamlinger i moderne forstand. De ble samlet av prester og holdt i deres arkiver. Statutebøker, skinnruller, som noen ganger ble brukt til offisielle dokumenter i stedet for den mindre varige papyrusen, var tilsynelatende i daglig bruk. Som for enhver handling av denne tjenestemannen (dvs. Rekhmire), vizieren mens han hørte i hallen av vizieren, skal sitte på en stol, med et teppe på gulvet og en strøk på den, en pute under ryggen, en pute under føttene, a. på den og en stafett på hånden skal de 40 skinnene 15 være åpne for ham. Fra gravenes påskrifter av vizier Rekhmire (18. dynastiet) James Henry Breasted Ancient Records of Egypt del tre, sekt 675 I samme inskripsjoner ble vizieren også formanert for å høre hver andragende ifølge denne lov som er i hånden. Under Ptolemyene ble det innført en gresk juridisk tradisjon, og saker ble avgjort i henhold til språket der de ble hørt. Kvinner, favoriserte av egyptiske tradisjoner som ga dem mer rett og frihet enn den restriktive greske skikker, gjorde det bedre under demotiske enn de greske lovene. Ptolemy II integrert en gresk oversettelse av den jødiske Tora i den offisielle koden, som var gjeldende for jødiske fag. Under det gamle rike var det tilsynelatende ingen profesjonelle dommere. Saker ble prøvd før tribunaler av skriftlærde og prester utnevnt til det formål, med høyt embetsmenn - noen ganger en eller begge de vizierne 1 - presiding. Gjennom pharaonic historie forblir rettssystemet del av utøvende og mange offisielle stillinger hadde utøvende og rettslige aspekter. Hans majestet utnevnte meg dommer over Hierakonpolis. fordi hans hjerte var mer fylt med meg enn med noen av hans tjenere. Jeg hørte på at jeg var alene med sjefdommeren, vizieren, om enhver hemmelighet og hvert tilfelle knyttet til kongens navn, med den kongelige harem og de seks store husene. Dommerens tittel var av stor betydning for innehaveren. I Mehu's grav, et femte dynasties dommer, beskriver påskrifter ham som zAb (dommer), præst av Maat, sannhetens gudinne, eldste en av hallen og sekretær for de hellige beslutninger fra den store dommedomstolen. Dommer Mehu 5. dynasti Kilde: Bulletin of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Nummer 304, 1958 Dømning ble et yrke 21 og ligner andre yrker i Egypt, og administrering av loven kjørte i familier. Faren ble etterfulgt av sønnen med mindre noe ekstraordinært skjedde. Overordnerenes overordnede bord, Sebek, avdøde. Hans sønn, dommeren Nemu. Hans sønn, dommeren Kirdis. Hans kone, kongens ornament Yusni. Hans kone Nubyiti. (hans) datter Nubenib. Hans bror, dommeren Khnummose. Hans sønn, dommeren Bebiseneb. Hans sønn, dommeren Khnum. Hans sønn, dommeren Merikhnum. Hans sønn, dommeren Hor. Fra stjerne av Sebek, Abydos, om 12th dynastiet, Thomas George Allen: Egyptisk Stelae i Naturhistorisk museum, 1936 dommere kunne, som andre tjenestemenn, bare være upartiske hvis de ikke var økonomisk avhengige av noen. Det var en konges plikt å sørge for at de ikke ble forgjengelige: Gjør dine magnater store, slik at de utfører lovene dine, en som er rik i hans hus, vil ikke være ensidig, for den som ikke mangler, er en eier av eiendom en fattig mann snakker ikke virkelig, og en som sier, ville det jeg hadde, er ikke grei han er ensidig mot belønningseieren. Veien til en slags rettferdighet var noen ganger lang og vanskelig. Bestikkelse eller smigre kan svinge en dommer og erstatte lyd juridisk argumentasjon. Den fiktive Tale of the Eloquent Bonde 3 beskriver hvordan Hunanup, en bonde, klaget mot Djehuti-nekht. Hans sak var litt svak, da han ikke hadde noen vitner, så han søkte å gratulere seg med dommeren Meruitensi: Høvdinger, min herre, du er størst av de store, du er veileder for alt det som ikke er og som er. Når du går i sannhetens hav, så du kan seile på det, da skal ikke det. ta bort seilet ditt, da ditt skip ikke skal forbli fort, så skal ikke ulykke skje med din mast, så skal ikke dine spars bruttes, så skal du ikke bli strandet --- hvis du løper fort, skal bølgene ikke bryte på du, da skal du ikke smake urenes urenhet, så skal du ikke se fryktens ansikt; den sjenert fisk skal komme til deg, og du skal fange de fete fuglene. For du er den forældreløse, enkenes ektemann, den øde brors, den morsløse plagg. La meg sette ditt navn i dette landet høyere enn alle gode lover. Du styrer uten grumling, du er stor, fri for deg, som ødelegger svik, som skaper sannferdighet. Kast det onde til jorden. Jeg vil snakke høre meg. Gjør rettferdighet, du roste en som de roste berømmer. Fjern min undertrykkelse: se, jeg har stor vekt å bære, jeg er bekymret for sjelen, undersøker meg, jeg er i sorg. Fra talet av den utallige bonden fra: George A. Barton, arkeologi og Bibelen Åtte ganger gjentok han sine grunne anledninger før dommen ble gitt til hans favør, eller snarere hans majestet sa: Pass deg selv min elskede sønn som, som det ser ut til, Hunanup gjorde det og hjalp seg til en del av Djehuti-nekhts eiendom. Å få rettferdighet var ofte vanskelig. og det var sjelden billig. Det var forsøk på å bringe lettelse til de som nesten ikke kunne hjelpe seg selv, men utgiftene synes å ha veid tungt på noen: Amun, leve øret til ensom i retten, Han er fattig, han er ikke rik For retten utvider seg fra ham : Sølv og gull til klærne, Klær til kledningene Kan Amun vises som vizier, Å la de fattige gå fri Kan de fattige vises som de berettigede, og vil overgå rikdom P. Anastasi II.8,5-9,1 M . Lichtheim gamle egyptiske tekster. Vol. II, s.111 Kongen, eller i det vanlige livets løp, var hans stand-in, vizier, øverst på det rettslige hierarkiet. Det var domstoler på forskjellige nivåer den høyeste var de seks store husene med vizier som hadde tittelen som sjef for de seks store husene. sjef for de seks domstolene som dømmer folket og innbyggerne, og hørselsårsaker til hvem den store kommer å bøye seg og hele landet, som er utsatt for magen. Kommandørens tablett, 11. dynasti James Henry Breasted Ancient Records of Egypt del 1, sekt 445 Ved det nye rike var disse seks store husene hvis sammensetning endret seg, men lite, erstattet av nye domstoler hvis medlemmer endret seg ofte, og sjef for de seks domstolene var litt mer enn en tom tittel. Tribunal of Thirty, mabA. yt. var på den ene siden en domstol i etterverdenen skapt av Re, da re snakket til den som var i sin tid (dvs. den som var ansvarlig): motta spydet, menneskehetens arv som det var å komme til retten av tretti av den som var i sin tid. pNu (De dødes bok) 52 I de negative bekjennelsene i en papyrus, pNu, hevdet den avdøde før Entraildevoureren tilhørte Tribunal of the Thirty. at han ikke hadde lurt under landets måling. i en annen, pMaiherperi, at han ikke hadde praktisert lønn med korn. 51 Det var også en tribunal med viss konsekvens i denne verden til slutten av faraohistorien. 56 Amenemope anbefaler i sin instruksjon. Fortell sannheten før den høye offisielle. slik at han ikke vil gripe din person. Morgenen etter, når du nærmer deg ham, vil han være enig med alle dine ord. Han vil nevne ditt vitnesbyrd i Residence før tribunalen til tretti, slik at den vil betrakte det en gang til. pBM EA 10474, Amenemops Instruksjoner (linje 20.18) 53 Dommere og embetsmenn, selv de svakeste blant dem, beordret stor respekt fra vanlige egyptere, som det var i deres makt å bestemme deres skjebne, det være seg et slag eller det konfiskering av deres eiendom. Mens mange dommere prøvde å handle i henhold til moralske forskrifter Glem ikke å dømme rettferdighet. Det er en gud av gud for å vise partiskhet. Dette er undervisningen. Derfor gjør du tilsvarende. Se på ham som er kjent for deg som den som er ukjent for deg og den som er nær kongen som den som er langt fra sitt hus. Se, en prins som gjør dette, skal utholde her på dette sted. Instruksjonene til Rekhmire fra visdom av det gamle Egypt av Joseph Kaster. og de fleste hevdet å ha gjort hva folk vil prise, hva som er riktig i guds øyne. Jeg ga brød til de sultne, jeg fornøyd den ubesværede sjelen. Hypnose stela av Ptahmose ganske mange, fremfor alt i perioder med sivil uro og usikkerhet, var korrupte 30. Horemheb så dette klart: Vet at de ikke vil vise barmhjertighet og være medfølende på den dagen de vil dømme de fattige. Han var klar over at de skriftlærde og skattemyndighetene i hans dag undertrykte befolkningen og ranet både dem og den kongelige statskassen. Og da folk appellerte til domstolene, var disse ofte venale og bestikket for å frata de skyldige og fordømme de uskyldige. Noen av Horemhebs strenge tiltak ble rettet mot disse uærlige tjenestemenn: Nesene til dømte dommere skulle bli avskåret og de skulle sendes til Tharu (Sile) 10. Under Ramses III befant en lignende skjebne to embetsmenn som hadde mottatt kongens instruksjoner og to offiserer som sannsynligvis hadde vært ansvarlig for gutten. De hadde assosiert med kvinner anklaget for å delta i Harem Conspiracy å lage et ølhus. dvs. feste. Butler Pebes kunne ikke ha det synd om å ha nese og ører avskåret og begått selvmord 16. Det ser ut til at det ble gjort forsøk under Setis regjering for å beskytte ikke bare rike templer, men også de fattige som den delvise historien om bonde Menet-Hamlekh beviser. Fra funn på Deir el Medine vet vi at det også var arbeiderne eller borgerrettene som ligner juryer, hvor formenn, håndverkere, skriftlærere og arbeidere satt i dommen over sine jevnaldrende, i hvert fall fra det Nye Rike og utover. Disse kenbetene (qnbt) handlet generelt om mindre lovbrudd 18. I kompliserte tilfeller der en avgjørelse ikke kunne nås, ble appeller appellert til. Straffen disse domstolene kunne pålegge varierte fra bøter til slåss 36 og, kanskje verste fra lovbryterens synspunkt, til eliminering av hans navn fra gravene han jobbet med. Han mistet dermed sitt håp for evig liv som var avhengig av den fortsatte eksistensen av hans navn. 4 Forskjellene mellom administrasjon av sivil og straffelov var betydelige. I straffesaker, hvor staten var anklageren, synes det å ha vært en første formodning om skyld, og det ble utført forsøk tilsvarende 27. Forbrytelser mot staten, kongen, gudene og mot personen, som mord og kroppslig skade, ble påtalt av staten, mens ofre for ran, tyveri og tilsynelatende seksuell aggresjon måtte bringe sine saker for retten selv 40 . Den egyptiske besettelsen for å holde opptegnelser var ofte nyttig mot kriminelle. Man kunne ikke eie slaver uten å registrere dem med myndighetene. Problemet for dommeren var å oppdage kilden til pengene. En bosatt i Thebes, Ari-Nofer, ble spurt: Hva sier du om sølv din mann Penhesi brakte hjem som hun svarte: Jeg så det ikke. Spørsmålet Hvordan ble slavene kjøpt som var med ham, svarte hun med jeg så ikke sølvet som han betalte sin pris på. Da han var på vei, var de med ham. Hun forklarte kilden til sølvet som Penhesi forlot med Sobekmesef ved å si at jeg kjøpte den med bygen i løpet av hyaenasåret, da det var hungersnød. Og det kunne ikke påvises noe galt på hennes side. Beatings, absolutt av vanlige kriminelle, var en prøvd og bevist måte å utløse hvis ikke sannheten, så minst en bekjennelse. Amenpenofer, et nytt rigsgraver, ble slått til han innrømmet å ha begått flere røverier, blant dem i Guds tredje profets grav med fire medarbeidere som ikke var kjent for myndighetene. Truselen om slått eller lemlestelse ble til og med håpet å forhindre falskt vitne. Dommedomstolen sa til kvinnen Iry-nofret: Ta edens ede med ordene: Skal vitner bli bragt opp mot meg at noe av eiendommen tilhørte kvinnen Bak-Mut i sølvet som jeg ga for denne tjeneren, og jeg skjulte det, vil jeg være ansvarlig for 100 slag, mens jeg blir fratatt henne. . og de tok eden til Herren, så vel som gudens ed, med ordene: Vi skal tale sannferdig, vi skal ikke tale falskt. Skal vi snakke falt, skal tjenerne bli tatt bort fra oss. Old Near Eastern Texts Forhold til Gamle Testamentet Oversatt av John A. Wilson ed. av James B. Pritchard Feltarbeideren Pay-Kharu, sønn av Pesh-Nemeh, ble brakt. Han ble undersøkt ved å slå med pinnen og føttene og hendene hans ble vridd. Han ble gitt ed av regjeren på smerte av lemlestelse for ikke å snakke løgn. The Great Tomb-Robberies of the Twentieth Egyptian Dynasty Oversatt av Thomas Eric Peet Selv vitner som ikke ble anklaget for noe feilaktig, ble til tider slått. Nesuamon, en prest og Wenpehti, begge sønner av anklagede gravfuglere og på tidspunktet for de påståtte forbrytelsene begge barna ble undersøkt ved å slå med en stang og Wenpehti, som bare var en vever, fikk en bastinado til føttene og hendene 19 . Bekjennelsen var grunnlaget for en overbevisning. Vesentlig bevis, vitner og tortur var midler for å oppnå denne bekjennelsen. Da den anklagede til tross for alt nektet å bekjenne, ble han noen ganger gitt muligheten til å få et vitne til å snakke i hans favør, eller som skjedde sjelden, ble han løslatt. En mann som heter Amenkhau som ble anklaget for å ha begått røveri i nekropolen, nektet å innrømme noen skyld jeg ikke har sett noe. Uansett hva jeg har sett har du hørt fra munnen min. Han ble funnet å være ikke skyldig og ble utgitt. Hori, en standardbærer og tilsynelatende en av dommerne ved Harem Conspiracy-prøvene under Ramses III, ble prøvd for å ha hatt forbindelser med den anklagede. Han ble avvist straff ble ikke henrettet over ham og holdt seg på kontoret. I postene fortsetter han å bli gitt epitheten stor kriminell. men dette synes bare å ha vært lik den moderne den anklagede 17. Dommer var basert på skriftlig og muntlig bevismateriale 18. Dokumenter ble generelt sammensatt av offisielle skriftlærere, og navnene til de som hadde vært vitne til signeringen ble vedlagt. Vitner ga vitnesbyrd under ed 37. Dommerne ble forventet å være upartiske, vær heller ikke for alvorlige eller for lette: Vær forsiktig med det som er sagt om vizier Kheti. Det sies at han diskriminerte noen av sine egne slektninger til fordel for fremmede, for frykt for at det ikke skulle bli sagt om ham at han favoriserte hans slekt uærlig. Da en av dem appellerte mot dommen som han syntes å få ham, fortsatte han i sin diskriminering. Nå er det mer enn rettferdighet. Regulering lagt på vizier Rekhmire Forhåpentligvis hadde de ingen forutbestemte forestillinger og lyttet til alt det som andre hadde å si og redegjorde for deres dom kjent: Pass ikke over en andrager uten å snakke om hans tale. Hvis det er en saksøker som skal appellere til deg, være en hvis tale ikke er det som er sagt (det vil si hvem har snakket feil), avvis ham etter å ha la ham høre det på grunn av hvilket du avviser ham. Regulering lagt på vizier Rekhmire Den profesjonelle advokat som representerer vanlige mennesker ved å snakke for dem var ukjent. Visse grupper av litiganter, enker, foreldreløse og de dumme ble derfor ansett å fortjene spesiell beskyttelse og behandling fra domstolene som de trodde ikke kunne se etter egne interesser 24. Jeg har reddet de fryktelige fra den voldelige. Regulation laid upon the vizier Rekhmire (I was) kind to the great and to() the little, one who turned his face towards the fearful, when his case was heard and his witnesses appeared and gave evidence. Harwa, chief of domain under Amenirdis Cases should be adjudged swiftly Make no delay at all in justice, the law of which you know. Regulation laid upon the vizier Rekhmire There was also the (perhaps a bit cynical) acceptance of the fact that justice cannot always be done, but an aggrieved person should have his say (and his moment of glory) at least. A petitioner desires his saying be regarded rather than the hearing of that on account of which he has come. Regulation laid upon the vizier Rekhmire Ancient Egyptians were quite a quarrelsome lot. Records of cases have been found where every possible aspect of life was disputed. Frequent bones of contention were the rights to land, vital in a rural society, and inheritances were often fought over, as they still are today. At times private referees rather than official judges adjudicated in civil disputes. A 4th century prenuptial agreement speaks of three mutually agreed upon men who were to decide in the case of a dispute between the husband and the wife. During the New Kingdom the priesthood arrogated to themselves some of the judicial powers belonging to the royal administration. This took the form of oracles with the statue of the god choosing between two alternative papyri, as in the case of a supervisor accused of embezzlement. O Amon-Re, king of gods, my good lord it is said that there are no matters which should be investigated in the case of Thutmose, triumphant 38 . son of Sudiamon, triumphant, the major-domo and O Amon-Re, king of gods, my good lord it is said that there are matters which should be investigated in the case of Thutmose, triumphant, son of Sudiamon, triumphant, the major-domo Karnak pylon inscription J. H. Breasted, Ancient Records of Egypt . Part Four, sect 672 The two papyri were placed in front of Amens statue, which twice pointed out one of them, thus acquitting Thutmose, who was reinstated and given further honours. The choice of the god may have been made manifest by the statue recoiling a few steps if the answere was negative, or by advancing if affirmative. Other ways have been proposed based on the word used, hnn . interpreted as inclining the head. Typically the questions - or statements to be approved of - put to oracles were probably even more succinct. Ostraca have been found containing simple questions, many of which were personal rather than part of a judicial inquiry: Are they true, those things Will Seti be appointed priest Is it him who has stolen this mat Were they stolen by the people of the royal tomb Jaroslav Cerny, Questions addresseacutees aux oracles . BIFAO 35 (1935), p.41ff. Decisions of one oracle could be appealed against before another. This led Ahmose II, who had been a rebellious lad in his youth to have doubts as to the competence of some gods oracles at least: . when finally he (i. e. Ahmose II) became king he did as follows: as many of the gods as had absolved him and pronounced him not to be a thief, to their temples he paid no regard, nor gave anything for the further adornment of them, nor even visited them to offer sacrifice, considering them to be worth nothing and to possess lying Oracles but as many as had convicted him of being a thief, to these he paid very great regard, considering them to be truly gods, and to present Oracles which did not lie. During the Graeco-Roman period the god was generally addressed in a more elaborate way, including a salutation, the question, and a concluding supplication such as Reveal it to me. Unless it was a public holiday on which the god emerged from his temple, access to the oracle was difficult as laymen were not allowed inside the sanctuaries. In the late New Kingdom a petitioner was in a hurry to have an issue decided upon, but encountered obstacles when he tried to get himself heard: When I was looking for you (the god) to tell you some affairs of mine, you happened to be concealed in your holy of holies, and there was nobody having access to it to send in to you. Now, as I was waiting, I encountered Hori, this scribe of the temple of Usermare-miamon (Ramesses IIIs mortuary temple), and he said to me, I have access. So I am sending him in to you. P. Nevill, 20th dynasty Translated by E. Wente in E. S. Meltzer ed. Letters from Ancient Egypt . Scholars Press Atlanta, Georgia, 1990, p.219 The petitioner continued complaining that the business of others had been dealt with, but that it seemed to him as if the god were confined in the netherworld for a million years. Unlike other nations in the Near East, Egypt appears not to have known trials by ordeal, in which the accused in a criminal trial or the contestants in a civil litigation underwent an ordeal (often held in a river), the winner of which was supposed to be favoured by the gods and therefore in the right. Some have claimed that the contests in the myth of the Contendings of Horus and Seth in which the two gods are pitted against each other in order to decide who should succeed Osiris as ruler over Egypt, point to the possibility of there having existed trials by ordeal in prehistoric times. Punishment by beating Source: T. G.H. James Pharaos Volk Just as their gods in the Afterlife 31 were weighing the souls of the dead and meting out eternal justice 26 . the Egyptians dealt quite pitilessly with criminals in this life too. Officials who had been remiss in their duties were removed. Teti was nomarch of Coptos and was informed against by the lay priests of Min An evil thing is about to happen to this temple. Foes have been stirred up by, a curse to his name Teti, son of Minhotep. Cause him to be deposed from the temple of my father, Min cause him to be cast out of his temple office, from son to son, and heir to heir . upon the earth take away his bread, his food, and his joints of meat. His name shall not be remembered in this temple, according as it is done toward one like him. From the Coptos Decree (2nd Intermediate Period) James Henry Breasted Ancient Records of Egypt Part One, sect 777f Officials who might plead for leniency for Teti were threatened with the impounding of their own belongings. Syrians tied to a pillory Late Period Source: copy Georges Poncet Museacutee du Louvre 20 Other crimes were punished with restitution of stolen property, fines, confiscation, imprisonment 14 . forced labour, beatings, mutilation, banishment, or death. List of property stolen by the servant of the charioteer Pakhary. 1 wash-basin of bronze amounting to 20 deben, making a penalty of 40 deben 1 vessel of bronze amounting to 6 deben, making a penalty of 18 deben 1 spittoon of bronze amounting to 6 deben, making a penalty of 18 deben 1 vessel of bronze amounting to 3 12 deben, making a penalty of 10 12 deben 1 vessel of bronze amounting to 1 deben, making a penalty of 3 deben 2 garments of fine Upper Egyptian linen of first quality, making a penalty of 6 2 garments of fine Upper Egyptian linen, making a penalty of 6 1 shirt of fine Upper Egyptian linen, cast off, making a penalty of 3 17 hunks of yarn, making a penalty of 51 1. making a penalty of 3. Restitution of, and Penalty attaching to, Stolen Property in Ramesside Times Published by Jaroslav Ocernoy, 1937 The peace treaty between Ramses II and the Hittite king Hattusili III specifically protected extradited persons from some punishments: let no injury be done to his eyes, to his ears, to his mouth, nor to his feet. It is even possible that relatives were at times held responsible for the deeds of an individual the same treaty forbids any reprisals against family members: Let not his house be injured, nor his wives, nor his children. The harsher punishments were only meted out by the vizier or the king himself. In a tale about magic Khufu. who had heard that someone called Djedi knew how to rejoin a severed head . said, Let a criminal who is in gaol be brought to me and his sentence be executed in order to satisfy his curiosity. If Djedi could not rejoin the head, no harm would have been done, as the criminals sentence had been executed 25 . In his Great Edict Horemheb laid down some severe penalties in an attempt to curb official corruption. Anybody guilty of preventing the free traffic on the Nile for instance was to have his nose cut off and be exiled to Tharu, called Rhinocolura by the Greeks for this reason, a town in the Sinai desert on the shores of the Mediterranean. The theft of hides was punishable by 100 blows and five open wounds. This was also the penalty for military men guilty of extortion from the common people. Corrupt magistrates were guilty of a great crime of death. 10 Seti I tried to prevent officials from requesting illegal corveacutee work from the staff at his temple at Abydos and confiscating the trading goods from Nubia carried on the Nile. They were to be given 100 lashes, had to return the stolen goods and pay fines worth a hundred times the amount of their theft. Disfigurement, like the cutting off of ears, and enslavement were also imposed. The death penalty was imposed for crimes against the state, i. e. the king and the divine order he stood for the conspirators against Ramses III were consequently dealt with harshly. Some were executed, othersndashaccording to the records ndashwere forced to commit suicide, and some were mutilated. And they set him (Paibekkamen, the major-domo) in the presence of the great officials of the place of examination and they examined his crimes and found that he had committed them. And his crimes took hold of him, and the officials who examined him caused his punishment to cleave to him. Executions took the form of impalement, giving on top of the stake . a slow and painful death. 44 It seems that in normal times the pharaoh was informed of death, and possibly also of lesser, sentences, as Ramses III gave specific orders to the court trying the conspirators to execute punishments without referring to him. Death sentences were rare in Egypt compared with other ancient societies 39 . For the killing of another person the death penalty was deemed appropriate, but at times it was apparently punished by a lesser sentence. Seemingly no distinction was made between premeditated murder and unpremeditated manslaughter. Then the High Priest of Amon, Menkheperre triumphant, went to the great god, saying: As for any person, of whom they shall report before thee, saying, A slayer of living people . (is he) thou shalt destroy him, thou shalt slay him. Then the great god nodded exceedingly, exceedingly. Stela of the Banishment 21st dynasty Breasted Ancient Records of Egypt . part IV sect658 Tax evasion was of serious concern to the authorities as were attempts to dodge the compulsory corveacutee work, 55 on which the proper flow of the Nile waters and the upkeep of the temples and palaces depended. 8 It was Amasis too who established the law that every year each one of the Egyptians should declare to the ruler of his district, from what source he got his livelihood, and if any man did not do this or did not make declaration of an honest way of living, he should be punished with death. Herodotus, Histories II 12 Project Gutenberg Burning, which may have been used to punish the most serious offences such as crimes against state and temple institutions, 45 would have had implications for the eternal life of the criminal. Without a body the deceased could not pass the tests before him and achieve eternal life. Similarly, impalement may have bound ba and shadow of the deceased to the ground of execution, making them unable to follow the body, when it was disposed of 39 . Sometimes posthumous punishment 32 was meted out as in the case of King Teti s bodyguards who, according to Manetho, assassinated the pharaoh. Grave inscriptions and names were erased, in some representations the noses and feet were destroyed, and Tetis chief armourer was removed from his tomb and replaced by a female bodyguard. The loss of his grave might befall a convicted criminal. According to the The Loyalist Instructions while those who were in the kings good graces would be well provided spirits, there would be no tomb for anyone who rebels against His Majesty, and his corpse shall be cast to the waters. In a 5th dynasty relief at Abusir the feet and arms of the bearers of offerings were hacked out, probably to prevent them from carrying sustenance to the deceased. 59 Pentawer, the son of Ramses III, who was involved in a harem conspiracy was, according to Judicial Turin Papyrus, forced to take his own life. Scientists think that they have identified his corpse and do not exclude the possibility that he was strangled. His corpse was not mummified but simply wrapped in a goatskin, which would have caused him all sorts of problems in the after life. 58 Retribution wasnt harsh - or considered to be so - all the time. According to Herodotus Shabaka s rule was just and the punishments he imposed measured The Ethiopian was king over Egypt for fifty years, during which he performed deeds as follows:--whenever any man of the Egyptians committed any transgression, he would never put him to death, but he gave sentence upon each man according to the greatness of the wrong-doing, appointing them to work at throwing up an embankment before that city from whence each man came of those who committed wrong. Not many examples of royal clemency during the early periods of Egyptian history have come down to us, and the little evidence we have is mostly indirect or literary: Sinuhe received a pardon and was allowed to return home from exile. When he reached the Horus Road, a region on the eastern border, he was picked up by a troop of soldiers who took him by ship to Itjtawy. Sinuhe prostrated himself in front of his king, who made a remark about Sinuhes changed appearance attributing it to his having lived among Asiatics. After songs of praise had been sung invoking the Golden One. Goddess of Joy, the plea was uttered that Sinuhe might be forgiven as he had committed his deed without forethought. Sinuhe left the palace a free man, and lived in the house the king had given him. 9 Nebkheperure-Intef, one of the ephemeral Second Intermediate Period kings, vented his wrath against the nomarch Teti accused of plotting against him in his Coptos Decree As for any king or any ruler, who shall be merciful to him, he shall not receive the white crown, he shall not wear the red crown, he shall not sit upon the Horus throne of the living, the two patron goddesses shall not be gracious to him as their beloved. From the Coptos Decree of Nebkheperure-Intef (2nd Intermediate Period) James Henry Breasted Ancient Records of Egypt Part Two, sect 779 He also threatened anybody appealing for mercy for Teti with dire consequences. Given the vindictiveness of this inscription one wonders whether Teti managed to escape with his life. But the verbal virulence may have been caused by the fear that a successor or competitor might be quite likely to pardon the rebel. In the early Macedonian-Greek period a certain Psenamunis was sentenced to death and Absenhy writes to Kolanthion and begs him to appeal to the oracle of Amen at Ptolemais on his behalf: Absenhy (sends) greetings to Kolanthion there before Pshai-hu, the Agathos Daimon (protective deity) of Ptolemais. Leon sends many greetings to you. Psenamunis, son of Tryphon, is incarcerated in prison. For many days he has been beaten on hands and feet. They say: Today or tomorrow they will come to kill him. We have not ascertained if he is already dead or if he is still alive. Perform the cult service and ask a question concerning him before (the oracle of) Amen, as follows: Will he escape the circumstances he is in Will they be far from him (i. e. will he be pardoned) And ask (furthermore) as follows: All the adverse circumstances he is in, is it you (i. e. Amen) who has something to reproach him Also question him (Amen) in order to find out, as follows: Will he (Psenamunis) live or die in prison where he is Take care to let us know about the oracles answers concerning him as fast as possible, for his lifes breath is in danger. There may have been a general amnesty on the occasion of the accession to the throne of a pharaoh as the Ptolemaic Instruction of Ankhsheshonq 29 or a paean to Ramses IV seem to suggest: Those who hungered are sated and glad Those who thirsted are filled with drink Those who were naked are clad in the finest linen Those who were dirty shine Those who were in captivity are freed Those who were in fetters rejoice After Jan Assman, Aumlgypten, Theologie und Froumlmmigkeit einer fruumlhen Hochkultur . p.171 though, while Those who fled have returned to their cities are mentioned, there is no reference to those sent into exile. Among the measures announced on the Rosetta Stone by Ptolemy V Epiphanes, c.210-180 BCE, was a decree freeing some prisoners . those who were in prison and those who were under accusation for a long time, he has freed of the charges against them. The Rosetta Stone 13 and towards the end of his reign Ptolemy VIII decreed: King Ptolemaios and Queen Kleopatra the sister and Queen Kleopatra the wife proclaim an amnesty to all their subjects for errors, crimes, accusations, condemnations and charges of all kinds up to the 9th of Pharmouthi of the 52nd year, except to persons guilty of wilful murder or sacrilege. P. Tebt.0005, decrees of King Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II, 28th April 118 BCE copied by the village scribe of Kerkeosiris. wwwapp. cc. columbia. eduldpdappapisitemmodeitemampkeyberkeley. apis.263, accessed 17th May 2009 The priesthood, again using the oracle, also gave pardons to offenders. When the statue of Amen was asked whether the banishment to a desert oasis of some convicts should be shortened, it nodded in agreement. By way of the oracle new laws could be enacted, thus banishment was abolished as a punishment under the 21st dynasty: Then he (i. e. the High Priest of Amen, Menkheperre) went again to the great god, saying: O my good lord, thou shalt make a great decree in thy name, that no people of the land shall be banished to the distant region of the oasis, nor. from this day on. Then the god nodded exceedingly. He spake again, saying: Thou shalt say it shall be made into a decree upon a stela. in thy .., abiding and fixed forever. Stela of the Banishment 21st dynasty Breasted Ancient Records of Egypt . part IV sect656 Picture sources: Excerpt showing a supervisor beating a worker: Lionel Casson Ancient Egypt Judge Mehu: Bulletin of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Number 304, 1958 Photograph of the grave robber mummy: Tigertail Virtual Museum . Line drawing of beating: T. G.H. James Pharaos Volk Syrians tied to pillory: ) Georges Poncet Museacutee du Louvre Bibliography: Thomas George Allen: Egyptian Stelae in Field Museum of Natural History, 1936 Jan Assman, Aumlgypten, Theologie und Froumlmmigkeit einer fruumlhen Hochkultur George A. Barton, Archaeology and The Bible Bulletin of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Number 304, 1958 James Henry Breasted Ancient Records of Egypt . Chicago 1906 Lionel Casson Ancient Egypt . Time-Life Herodotus, Histories II . translated by G. C. Macauley T. G. H. James Pharaos Volk . Artemis 1988 Joseph Kaster, The Wisdom of Ancient Egypt Ranon Katzoff, The Validity of Prefectural Edicts in Roman Egypt . in Artzi, Pinhas (ed.) Bar-Ilan Studies in History, Bar-Ilan University Press, 1978 Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature . Volumes 1 to 3, University of California Press, 1973-80 Gaston Maspero, Etudes de mythologie et darcheacuteologie eacutegyptiennes vol. 3, 1898 A. G. McDowell, Village Life in Ancient Egypt: Laundry Lists and Love Songs . Oxford University Press 1999, ISBN 0198149980 E. S. Meltzer ed. Letters from Ancient Egypt . Scholars Press Atlanta, Georgia, 1990 Pierre Montet, Haiey yom-yom bemitzrayim (La vie quotidienne en Egypte), Am Hassefer Publishers Ltd. Tel Aviv, 1963 R. Muumlller-Wollermann, Vergehen und Strafen. Zur Sanktionierung abweichenden Verhaltens im alten Aumlgypten . Brill 2004 Jaroslav Ocernoy, Restitution of, and Penalty attaching to, Stolen Property in Ramesside Times . 1937 David B. OConnor, Eric H. Cline, Amenhotep III: Perspectives on His Reign . University of Michigan Press 1998, ISBN 0472088335 Thomas Eric Peet, The Great Tomb-Robberies of the Twentieth Egyptian Dynasty James B. Pritchard ed. Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament Jacob Rabinowitz, Isle of Fire . invisiblebooks 2004 Ian Shaw, Paul Nicholson, The British Museum Dictionary of Ancient Egypt . British Museum Press 1995 Emily Teeter, John A. Larson (eds), Gold of Praise . University of Chicago 1999 Footnotes: 1 The vizier was the supervisor of the Six Great Houses, the main courts of law. During the reign of Pepi I for instance an official called Mery-Teti held a number of offices: He of the curtain, judiciary official and vizier. overseer of scribes of the kings documents, overseer of all the kings works, overseer of the six great law-courts, revered with Osiris, lord of Busiris, revered with Anubis who is on his mountain, overseer of the priests of (the pyramid complex) The Perfection of Pepi Endures. Tomb of Mery-Teti, Saqqara After a transliteration and German translation on the Thesaurus Linguae Aegyptiae web site During the New Kingdom there were times when there were two viziers, see The Vizierate . 6 The stories of the 20th dynasty criminals are translated from La vie quotidienne en Egypte by Pierre Montet 8 In the light of this, the Hebrew tradition which claims that the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt, seems not to be completely without base. Chances are that like many other tribes they sojourned in Egypt, probably on a number of occasions. A semi-nomadic people, they would not willingly have given up a large part of their time to work for a government they did not regard as their own. What was a not much loved but necessary tax to Egyptians, must have looked very much like slavery to people, who were used to moving on when conditions in a place became unfavourable. 9 The Tale of Sinuhe 11 There are such differences even in the most advanced democratic societies. There still is no equality before the law. But the ancient Egyptians did not pretend there was. 12 Herodotus reports of historic occurrences are just that: reports. He repeats (one hopes faithfully) what he has heard from his Egyptian interlocutors. 13 The Greek Section of the Rosetta Stone 14 Little is known about Egyptian gaols. They were frequently just pits or wells deep enough to prevent an escape. At times a room in a temple, often in the gate building, was used: The Semitic loan word Sar . originally referring to a gate, was employed for prison. Fortified places (xnr. t, jtH) also had this connotation. Feeding people locked up as a punishment was alien to the Egyptian mindset. The only reference to it is in the introduction to the demotic Instruction of Ankhsheshonq dating to the Ptolemaic Period. Debtors were apparently imprisoned at times, possibly to prevent their escape or to force them to pay up, but on the whole the primary purpose of gaols seems to have been to hold prisoners on remand, rather than to incarcerate convicted criminals: He who has not disproved the charge at his hearing, which takes place . , then it shall be entered in the criminal docket. He who is in the great prison, not able to disprove the charge of his (i. e. the viziers) messenger, likewise. From the Regulations Laid upon the Vizier, Rekhmire, 18th dynasty James Henry Breasted Ancient Records of Egypt . Part Two, sect 683 The Egyptians probably made their prisons as impregnable as possible, but even then gaol-breaks occurred as is reported in a 21st dynasty letter of which only fragments survive, leaving us in the dark about the circumstances: . and they escaped from prison (DdH. w) I. Hafemann ed. Altaumlgyptisches Woumlrterbuch, Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften gt Briefe gt Briefe nach dem Neuen Reich gt VerwaltungAlltag gt Briefe aus El-Hibeh gt pStrasburg 22 II. (Brieffragment) In the afterworld too rebels (sbj. w) - i. e. anybody opposing the will of the gods - were apparently imprisoned. The New Kingdom papyrus Neferubenef promises the deceased that nothing like this would happen to him: You shall not be locked up. You shall not be guarded (as a prisoner) You shall not be imprisoned. You shall not be put in that room in which the rebels are. (pNeferubenef), Tb 169 After a transliteration and German translation on the Thesaurus Linguae Aegyptiae web site. 15 skins . Ssm . translated by Beinlich as ledernes Gesetzbuch, a statute book made of leather. Lippert on the other hand suggests that the Ssm. w may have been leather whips or rods, symbols for the viziers authority. (Lippert, Sandra, 2012, Law (Definitions and Codification). In Elizabeth Frood, Willeke Wendrich (eds.), UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology . Los Angeles. digital2.library. ucla. eduviewItem. doark21198zz002bzzg) 16 Records of the Harem Conspiracy against Ramses III Persons upon whom punishment was executed by cutting off their noses and their ears, because of their forsaking the good testimony delivered to them. The women had gone had arrived at their place of abode, and had there caroused with them and with Peyes. Their crime seized them. This great criminal, Pebes, formerly butler. This punishment was executed upon him he was left (alone) he took his own life. The great criminal, Mai, formerly scribe of the archives. The great criminal, Teynakhte, formerly officer of the infantry. The great criminal, Oneney, formerly captain of the police. James Henry Breasted Ancient Records of Egypt . Part Four, sect 451ff 17 J. H. Breasted Ancient Records of Egypt . Part Four, sect 453 19 J. H. Breasted Ancient Records of Egypt . Part Four, sect 551 f. 21 This did not preclude judges from filling other positions in the administration. No conflicts of interest between their judicial and their administrative functions were recognized. 23 judicial precedent: According to the inscriptions in Rekhmires tomb Lo, what one says of the viziers chief scribe: Scribe of Justice one says of him. As to the hall in which you judge. It has a room full of written decisions. M. Lichtheim Ancient Egyptian Literature . Volume II, p.23 or in the words of J. H. Breasted . every act of the vizier, while hearing (cases) in his hall and as for every one who shall. he shall record everything concerning which he hears James Henry Breasted Ancient Records of Egypt . Part Two, sect 683 These records, unless they were confidential, could be consulted by officials As for any writing sent by the vizier to any hall (i. e. court), being those which are not confidential, it shall be taken to him together with the documents of the keepers thereof under seal of the sDm. w - officers, and the scribes thereof after them then he shall open it then after he has seen it, it shall return to its place, sealed with the seal of the vizier. James Henry Breasted Ancient Records of Egypt . Part Two, sect 684 24 Shoufu Jin, Der Furchtsame und der Unschuldige: Uumlber zwei sozio-juristische Begriffe aus dem alten Aumlgypten in Journal of Near Eastern Studies . October 2003, Vol. 62, No. 4: pp. 268-273 25 Interestingly, Djedi protested against experimenting with human beings: But not to a human being, O king, my lord Surely, it is not permitted to do such a thing to the noble cattle (i. e. mankind) The Magician Djedi M. Lichtheim Ancient Egyptian Literature . Volume I, p.219 26 The Shabaka Stone defines justice in terms of deeds that are loved and deeds that are hated, rather than referring to transgressions against the divine will: ltThus justice is donegt to him who does what is loved, ltand punishmentgt to him who does what is hated. Thus life is given to the peaceful, death is given to the criminal. The Shabaka Stone M. Lichtheim Ancient Egyptian Literature . Volume I, p.55 27 In the Instructions for Merikare composed by a member of the scribal class (it is improbable that they were written by the king himself) who was unlikely to have to appear before a judge, the choice of words designating the accused is significant: wretch . and misertable . The Court that judges the wretch, You know they are not lenient, On the day of judging the miserable, In the hour of doing their task. The instruction addressed to king Merikare M. Lichtheim Ancient Egyptian Literature . Volume I, p. 101 28 There are hints of conspiracies in the Instruction of Amenemhet . records of proceedings against the accused in the conspiracy against Ramses III in the Judicial Turin Papyrus, Rollin Papyrus and Lee Papyrus . 29 The introduction to the demotic Instruction of Ankhsheshonq is a tale concerning an assassination attempt against Pharaoh. Ankhsheshonq, the fictional author, had known about the plot but had refused to participate. After their discovery the conspirators were executed and he was sentenced to gaol for failing to inform against the traitors. He was never forgiven. On special occasions there were seemingly general amnesties, but Ankhsheshonq was excluded: . there occurred the accession-day of Pharaoh. Pharaoh released everyone who was (in) the prisons at Daphnae except Ankhsheshonq son of Tjainufi. M. Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature . Volume III, p.163 30 If mortal judges could not always be relied upon to be impartial, one might at least hope to be judged fairly in the afterworld: Amen-Re who first was king, The god of earliest time, The vizier of the poor. He does not take bribes from the guilty, He does not speak to the witness, He does not look at him who promises, Amun judges the land with his fingers. He speaks to the heart, He judges the guilty, He assigns him to the East, The righteous to the West. P. Anastasi II.6, 5-7 M. Lichtheim Ancient Egyptian Literature . Vol. II, p.111 31 Mafdet. a mongoose goddess, was protectress of Re during the Old Kingdom, decapitating the sun gods enemies with her razor sharp teeth. In New Kingdom tomb scenes she was shown as executioner in the afterlife. The instrument of execution she was associated with was a pole to which a knife had been tied. It may have been used for executions in early times. During the weighing of the heart the demon Ammut waited for the outcome and if the heart of the deceased was found to be too heavy with sin, Ammut would devour it destroying the sinner for eternity. 32 The stela of Sehetepibre at Abydos carries the following warning There is no tomb for one hostile to his majesty But his body shall be thrown to the waters. J. H. Breasted, Ancient Records of Egypt . Part One, sect 748 33 cf. Judgment of the Dead where every deceased person is judged individually, or the Book of the Dead . O Yebew-Weret, guardian of the slaughter-site of Ras Day of Judgment, today you have said and said again: The butcher-block of justice is ready - you know what to expect. Jacob Rabinowitz, Isle of Fire p.156 invisiblebooks. accessed 5 June 2004 35 Under the Ptolemies royal edicts, the so-called prostagmata . at times carved in stone, often became permanent law and were cited decades later. This tradition was inherited by the Roman prefects governing the province of Egypt. While in Rome and its other provinces edicts were valid only during the time of office of the magistrate, in Egypt they often continued to serve as judicial authority long after. (Katzoff ) 36 Naguib Kanawati, Extreme Physical Punishment In Old Kingdom Scenes in Newsletter No. 93, July 2005 of the Rundle Foundation for Egyptian Archaeology 38 triumphant: deceased 39 R. Muumlller-Wollermann, op. cit. . pp.198f. 40 R. Muumlller-Wollermann, op. cit. . p.293 42 Explicit reference to Maat is rare. The introduction to a record of a civil case heard at Deir el Medina contains the sentence: Let the court of the Necropolis act in conformity with the laws of Maat McDowell, op. cit. . p.166 43 At the same time, the pharaohs were also subject to the law themselves. (cf. The Demedjibtawy decree ) 44 According to R. Muumlller-Wollermann, op. cit. p.197, records of real-life executions do not refer to any other mode of putting to death other than impalement. 45 Burning as punishment appears generally in literary, fictional sources only. But the Libyan pharaoh Osorkon, after putting down a revolt in the Thebaid, had the rebels punished: Then the prisoners were brought to him at once like a bundle of pinioned ones() Then he struck them down for him (Amun), causing them to be carried like goats the night of the feast of the Evening Sacrifice . of the Going Forth of Sothis. Everyone was burned with fire in the place of (his) crime. Jan Assmann, The Mind of Egypt . Henry Holt and Company, New York, 2002, p.314 The effects burning was thought to have, were expressed in a New Kingdom charm which threatens the cursed one with utter destruction: Neither will you be able to beget, nor will one give birth for you, as you will be killed by fire, which will destroy your ba, so that it cannot roam on earth anymore, so that you cannot wander on the clouds, so that you will not be seen, so that you will not be perceived, because you have been destroyed as your shadow ceases to exist. After a transliteration and German translation on the Thesaurus Linguae Aegyptiae website. K. Stegbauer ed. gt Projekt Digital-Heka, Leipzig gt Schlangenzauber Neues Reich gt Cairo JE 69771 (Statue prophylactique) gt Spruch 8 (Ruumlckseite, 18-26) 48 After a transliteration and German translation on the Thesaurus Linguae Aegyptiae website. G. Vittmann ed. gt Demotische Textdatenbank, Akademie fuumlr Sprache und Literatur Mainz gt administrative und dokumentarische Texte gt Briefe gt Kairo JE 95206 49 Baines, Feuds or vengeance Rhetoric and social forms in Teeter amp Larson 1999, pp.11-20 50 Shaw amp Nicholson 1995, p.159 51 pKairo CG 25095 (pMaiherperi), Tb 125. line 422 on the Thesaurus Linguae Aegyptiae web site: Totenbuchprojekt, Nordrhein-Westfaumllische Akademie der Wissenschaften gt pKairo CG 25095 (pMaiherperi) gt Tb 125 52 pLondon BM 10793, Tb 115 (line 24,21) on the Thesaurus Linguae Aegyptiae web site: Totenbuchprojekt, Nordrhein-Westfaumllische Akademie der Wissenschaften gt ppLondon BM 10793 gt Tb 115 53 After a transliteration and German translation on the Thesaurus Linguae Aegyptiae website. Altaumlgyptisches Woumlrterbuch, Saumlchsische Akademie der Wissenschaften gt 3. Weisheitslehren gt Neuaumlgyptische Weisheitslehren gt Die Lehre des Amenemope gt 1. pBM EA 10474 gt Die Lehre des Amenemope 54 Breasted 1906, Part Four, sect 437 55 There are no records to prove that forced labour was extracted during the Old Kingdom, while for the Middle Kingdom it is known that people tried to get around fulfilling their duties towards the state, for which they were punished harshly. (Ingelore Hafemann, Dienstverflichtung im alten Aumlgypten waumlhrend des Alten und Mittleren Reiches . Internet-Beitraumlge zur Aumlgyptologie und Sudanarchaumlologie XII, ISBN 978-1906137113) 56 In Chapter 75 of his Historical Library Diodorus Siculus who lived in the first century BCE, describes it as having consisted of judges who were the best men and came from the most important Egyptian cities For from Heliopolis and Thebes and Memphis they used to choose ten judges from each. 57 Siculus mentions the Maat sign worn by the Chief Justice of the Tribunal of Thirty. saying that he regularly wore suspended from his neck by a golden chain a small image made of precious stones, which they called Truth. . Diodorus Siculus, Historical Library . Chapter 75 58 BMJ: Revisiting the harem conspiracy and death of Ramesses III: anthropological, forensic, radiological, and genetic study accessed at bmjcontent345bmj. e8268 - USAToday: Egyptologist: Ramses III assassinated in coup attempt, accessed at usatodaystorytechsciencefair20121217ramses-ramesses-murdered-bmj1775159 on 18th December 2012 59 Hartwig Altenmuumlller: Verstuumlmmelte Opfertraumlger auf einem Relief aus Abusir in V. G. Callender et al. . Times, Signs and Pyramids. Studies in Honour of Miroslav Verner on the Occasion of his Seventieth Birthday . Prague 2011, p.1-23Updated January 3, 2017 Gold plates with Phoenician and Etruscan writing Y ou might imagine that something as simple and basic as the alphabet would have been around forever. But of course it hasnt. As you may well know, the elaborate pictures of Egyptian hieroglyphics and the intricate reed-poked-into-clay marks of Mesopotamian cuneiform used to be the way people communicated in writing. Gradually these were simplified into syllable symbols instead of word symbols, but were still fairly daunting and only a few scholars ever learned to write. We are often told that the Phoenicians invented the alphabet, though some debate this. Regardless of who put pen to papyrus to create it, the Phoenician contribution was none-the-less major and critical. They were the major sea-traders of the Mediterranean, and they went everywhere. Every country which had a seashore seems to have done trade with them. When the Phoenicians began using the alphabet as a simple and easy way to keep track of their trades, it was exposed to everyone. And since money and wealth were involved, people were highly motivated to learn the system and make sure it was being accurately written down. This new method proved to be so much better than previous methods that it soon was being used by many people and many languages. It had been given so much momentum that it could not be stopped. First inventions are sometimes a little rough and need to get the bugs worked out, and so it was with this new alphabet which the Phoenicians made popular. It consisted of 22 consonants. but no vowels. The reader was assumed to speak the language, so they would know what sound to put between the consonants. Of course, looking back at their inscriptions a few thousand years later, it is not so obvious. That is one reason why you will see different spellings for the same word or name. The ancient and modern-day translators just did the best they could. Phoenician alphabet -- note their writing reads right to left, and that some symbols were later re-used and made into vowels. Sanford Holst, used here with permission Click for larger The Greeks adopted this Phoenician alphabet, and added vowels to it. The refined combination worked very well. It enabled the philosophy of Socrates and the theater plays of Euripides -- among many other great works of literature -- to be passed down to us. On the Incirli Stela, Greek writing (deep incisions) was cut into the earlier Phoenician text The Etruscans in Italy were familiar with the Phoenician alphabet, as shown on the Pyrgi gold plates at the top and bottom of this page. Their plate on the left was written in Phoenician, and the other one in Etruscan. After the Etruscans adopted and modified the Greek alphabet, they passed it along to Rome. The Romans made their own refinements to it, and this led to the alphabet we use today. A fairly eye-opening account of how -- and why -- the alphabet and early writing came into being is described in the book Phoenician Secrets . In this well researched and intriguing narrative, the mysterious Phoenicians and the ancient Mediterranean are experienced in rich detail. The alphabet did not arise in a vacuum. It was part of a wider social phenomenon that was spreading across the ancient Mediterranean, and reached one of its pinnacles in classical Greece. To fully appreciate the origins and impacts of the early alphabets, it is necessary to see the flow of people and discoveries back and forth across the Mediterranean in those days. Phoenician Secrets is one of the few books to fully capture the many social threads that were woven into this essential human creation. quot Sanford Holst has created a fascinating, accessible and intriguing narrative of the Phoenicians. It explains how the success of trade and necessary inventions, including the alphabet, developed in the civilizations of the Mediterranean . quot Sanford Holsts book should be a quotmust readquot for all those who want to learn the science and art of how a social system not only survives but thrives in an environment of great political, military, cultural, religious, and economic turbulence. sitat. This paperback book is Alphabets in Use The following tablets show how the Phoenician alphabet and Etruscan alphabet were used in actual practice. These inscriptions date from approximately 500 BC. They were found in a temple near ancient Caere in Italy, and describe a dedication made to the Phoenician goddess. Pyrgi Gold Tablets Pyrgi Gold Tablets Origin of the Alphabet For a history of the people known asEarliest History The art of pre dynastic Egypt (c.40003200 B. C. ), known from funerary offerings, consisted largely of painted pottery and figurines, ivory carvings, slate cosmetic palettes, and finely worked flint weapons. In painting, a monumental treatment was given to designs like those drawn in red on buff-colored pottery from Hieraconpolis, a palace city of upper Egypt. Toward the end of the pre dynastic period, sculptors began to carve monolithic figures of the gods from limestone, such as the Min at Coptos. In the proto dynastic and early dynastic periods (32002780 B. C. ) some Mesopotamian motifs began to appear. The craftsmanship of the finely worked stone bowls and vases of these periods is particularly remarkable. Oldest carving in Egypt, as old as 12000 years Art of the Old Kingdom Royal and private statuary, as well as wall paintings and reliefs, reflected the concepts of art that served the cult of the gods, the kings, and the dead. In royal statuary, traditional poses are combined with idealistic features. The statuary was designed to depict royalty as physically strong with softened features, sometimes with touches of realism. This can be traced in the sculpture of King Djoser, the only surviving statuette of King Khufu, the figure of King Khafra in different stones, the schist triads of King Menkaure, and the head of King Userkaf. The private statuary followed the same concepts, but had more freedom in movement and more varieties of poses. Artists created seated scribe statues or figures standing, kneeling, or praying and others busy in domestic works. Examples are the statues of Prince Ra-hotep and his wife Nofret, which look like real humans because of the colors and the inlays of the eyes. The wooden statue of Ka-aper, with a realistic modeling of the features and the body, his other bust, and that of his wife, are additional examples of private statuary. Wall spaces in the tombs and temples began to use reliefs and paintings to depict daily activities in homes, estates, and workshops. There were also scenes of entertainment as well as offerings. Such reliefs and paintings were sometimes executed to depict the activities of working groups, animals, and birds. Sunken or raised relief and paintings were well proportioned and composed with fine details, especially in the Saqqara tombs. With the beginning of the Old Kingdom, centered at Memphis (26802258 B. C. ), there was a rapid development of the stylistic conventions that characterized Egyptian art throughout its history. In relief sculpture and painting, the human figure was usually represented with the head in profile, the eye and shoulders in front view, and the pelvis, legs, and feet in profile (the law of frontality). There was little attempt at plastic or spatial illusionism. The reliefs were very low relief and shallow intaglio are often found in the same piece. Color was applied in flat tones, and there was no attempt at linear perspective. A relief masterpiece from the I dynasty is the palette of Namer (Cairo). It represents animal and human forms in scenes of battle with the ground divided into registers and with emphasis on silhouette in the carving. In statuary in the round various standing and seated types were developed, but there was strict adherence to the law of frontality and a tendency to emphasize symmetry and to minimize suggestion of movement. Outstanding Old Kingdom examples of sculpture in the round are the Great Chephren, in diorite, the Prince Ra-hetep and Princess Neferet, in painted limestone, the Sheik-el-Beled (mayor of the village), in painted wood (all: Cairo), and the Seated Scribe, in painted limestone (Louvre). Probably because of its relative impermanence, painting was little used as a medium of representation it appears to have served principally as accessory to sculpture. A rare example is the painting of geese from a tomb at Medum (Cairo). Religious beliefs of the period held that the happy posthumous existence of the dead depended on the continuation of all phases of their earthly life. The artists task was therefore to produce a statement of reality in the most durable materials at his command. Tombs were decorated with domestic, military, hunting, and ceremonial scenes. Entombed with the deceased were statues of him and of his servants and attendants, often shown at characteristic occupations. The Middle Kingdom The Middle Kingdom, with its capital at Thebes (20001786 B. C. ), was a new age of experiment and invention that grew out of the turbulence of the First Intermediate Period (2134c.2000 B. C. ). The forms of the Old Kingdom were retained, but the unity of style was broken. Increasing formalism was combined with a meticulous delicacy of craftsmanship. The paintings of the rock-cut tombs at Bani Hasan (e. g. Slaves Feeding Oryxes and Cat Stalking Prey, Tomb of Khnemu-hetep) are outstanding for freedom of draftsmanship. In sculpture the sensitive portraits of Sesostris III and Amenemhet III (both: Cairo) are exceptional in Egyptian art, which at all other times showed a reluctance to portray inner feeling. The New Kingdom The art of the New Kingdom (15701342 B. C. ) can be viewed as the final development of the classic Egyptian style of the Middle Kingdom, a combination of the monumental forms of the Old Kingdom and the drive and inspiration of the Middle Kingdom. The paintings of this period are noted for boldness of design and controlled vitality. In sculpture the emphasis is on bulk, solidity, and impersonality. During the Amarna period (13721350 B. C. ) a free and delicate style developed with many naturalistic tendencies and a new sense of life and movement. In sculpture the new style was carried to the point of caricature, e. g. in the colossal statue of Ikhnaton (Cairo). The outstanding masterpiece of this period is the painted limestone bust of Queen Nefertiti (Berlin Mus.). The delicacy, sophistication, and extreme richness of this style in its late period is best exemplified by the furnishings from the tomb of Tutankhamen. The Ramesside period (13141085 B. C. ) saw an attempt to return to the classic formalism of the earlier New Kingdom, but the vitality that characterized that period could not be recovered. The sculpture, both in relief and in the round, became monotonous and even overbearing except in the numerous battle scenes. The period of decline (1085730 B. C. ) is characterized by mechanical repetition of earlier forms in the major arts and by the introduction of satirical and often cynical drawings in the papyri. In the Sate period (730663 B. C. ) there was an attempt to return to the austerity of the Old Kingdom style, but for the simplicity of the earlier forms a coarse brutality was substituted. After the conquest of Egypt by the Assyrians in 663 B. C. all the arts declined with the exception of metalworking, in which a high standard of skill was maintained. Neither the Assyrian nor the subsequent Persian invasions left a mark on Egyptian art, and even under the Ptolemaic dynasty (33230 B. C. ) Egypt proved extraordinarily resistant to Hellenic conceptions of art. The ancient architectural tradition retained its vitality, as in the temples of Horus at Idfu and Isis at Philae, but painting and sculpture continued to decline. Native naturalism may have influenced the painted Fayum panels and orant (praying) portraits on mummy shrouds, but neither their subjects nor their style is essentially Egyptian. The minor arts, however, continued to flourish alabaster vases, faience pottery and figurines, glassware, ivories, and metalwork were produced with the ancient skill and in the traditional Egyptian style. Relief sculpture and painting For Egyptians the decoration of tomb walls with reliefs or painted scenes provided some certainty of the perpetuation of life in a temple, similarly, it was believed that mural decoration magically ensured the performance of important ceremonies and reinforced the memory of royal deeds. The beginnings of the dynastic tradition can be found in tombs of the 3rd dynasty, such as that of Hesire at Saqqarah it contained mural paintings of funerary equipment and wooden panels carrying figures of Hesire in the finest low relief (Egyptian Museum). Generally speaking, mural decorations were in paint when the ground was mud brick or stone of poor quality, and in relief when the walls were in good stone. Painting and drawing formed the basis of what was to be carved in relief, and the finished carving was itself commonly painted. In tombs the mural decorations might be left unfinished, being only partly sketched or partly carved by the time of the burial. Uncompleted scenes reveal clearly the methods of laying out walls for decoration. The prepared wall was marked out with red guidelines, the grid described earlier being used for major human figures and sometimes for minor ones. Preliminary outlines were corrected and paint was applied usually in tempera, pigments being mostly mineral-based. In the Old Kingdom pure painting of the highest quality is found as early as the 4th dynasty in the scene of geese from the tomb of Nefermaat and Atet at Maydum. But the glory of Old Kingdom mural decoration is the low-relief work in the royal funerary monuments of the 5th dynasty and in the private tombs of the 5th and 6th dynasties in the Memphite necropolis. Outstanding are the reliefs from the sun temple of King Neuserre at Abu Jirab (gyptisches Museum, East and West Berlin) and the scenes of daily life in the tombs of Ptahhotep and Ti at Saqqarah. The tradition of fine painting was continued in the Middle Kingdom. At Beni Hasan the funerary chambers are crowded with paintings exhibiting fine draftsmanship and use of color. The best relief work of the period, reviving the Memphite tradition, is found at Thebes in the tomb of Mentuhotep II at Dayr al-Bahri and in the little shrine of Sesostris I at Karnak, where the fine carving is greatly enhanced by a masterly use of space in the disposition of figures and text. In the early 18th dynasty the relief tradition was revived at Thebes and can best be observed in the carvings in Hatshepsuts temple at Dayr al-Bahri. Later royal reliefs of Amenhotep III and of the post-Amarna kings show a stylistic refinement that was carried to its best in the reign of Seti I, at Karnak, at Abydos, and in his tomb at Thebes. The 18th dynasty also saw Egyptian painting reach its highest achievement in the tombs of the nobles at Thebes. The medium of decoration and an apparently greater artistic freedom led to the introduction of small, often entertaining details into standard scenes. The tiny tombs of Menna and Nakht are full of such playful vignettes. The paintings in great tombs, such as that of Rekhmire, are more formal but still crammed with unusual detail. Fragments of mural and floor paintings from palaces and houses at Thebes and Tell el-Amarna provide tantalizing glimpses of the marsh and garden settings of everyday upper-class life. The fine royal reliefs of the late 18th dynasty were matched by those in private tombs at Thebes (Ramose and Kheruef) and Saqqarah (Horemheb) these are breathtaking in execution and, in the case of Horemheb, both moving and original. Interest in relief subsequently passed to the work in the temples of the 19th and 20th dynasties. The most dramatic subject was war, whether the so-called triumph of Ramses II at Kadesh (Thebes and Abu Simbel), or the more genuine successes of Ramses III against the Libyans and the Sea Peoples (Madinat Habu). The size and vitality of these ostentatious scenes are stupendous, even if their execution tends to be slapdash. The artistic renaissance of the 25th and 26th dynasties is less evident in painting and relief than in sculpture. Although the fine work in the tomb of Montemhat at Thebes is distinctly archaizing, it is, nevertheless, exceptional in quality. The skills of the Egyptian draftsman, nurtured by centuries of exercise at large and small scale, remained highly professional. This skill is seen at its most consistent level in the illumination of papyruses. The practice of including drawings, often painted, in religious papyruses flourished from the time of the 18th dynasty and reached a high point around 1300 BC. The peak of achievement is probably represented by the Book of the Dead of the scribe Ani (British Museum), in the vignettes of which both technique and the use of color are outstanding. Subsequently, and especially in the Late Period, pure line drawing was increasingly employed. The earliest Egyptian art is very different from that of the pyramids and temples of the Pharaonic period. As early as the eighth millennium BC, the first inhabitants of the Nile Valley began to make engraved drawings on the cliffs, particularly in Upper Egypt and Nubia. They depicted the fundamentals of their lives, from wild game and hunting scenes in the earlier times to river boats and herds of cattle in the early Neolithic period. The art of the Predynastic period has survived mainly in the form of small carved stone and ivory grave goods, together with pottery vessels, placed alongside the deceased in simple pit burials. The small votive figures of people and animals include many female statuettes made of pottery and ivory, whose exaggerated sexual characteristics suggest that they probably related to early fertility cults. Some of the painted scenes on pottery vessels continue, during the Predynastic period. to reflect the prehistoric rock-carvings, while others begin to display the styles and preoccupations of the Dynastic period. In the final stages of the Predynastic period, a range of unusual ceremonial artifacts, including maces, palettes and ivory handled flint knives, began to play an important role in the emerging religious ritual and social hierarchy. Many of the more elaborate mace heads and palettes, such as those of the kings named Scorpion and Narmer. were discovered in a deposit of the temple at Hierakonpolis. and though the archaeological circumstances of their discovery are poorly documented, they were apparently meant as votive offerings. Their carved decoration appears to summarize the important events of the year in which they were offered to the god. However, it is unclear whether any of the scenes depicting historical events are real, or simply generalized representations of myth and ritual. In fact, this would be a problem with Egyptian art throughout the ages. A number of references on ancient Egypt insinuate that the Egyptians had no concept of the term, art. Indeed, we know of no word from the ancient Egyptian language that exactly conforms to our abstract use of the word. They did have words for their creations that we today regard as examples of Egyptian art, such as statues, stelas and tombs, but we have no reason to believe that these words necessarily included an aesthetic dimension in their meaning. Though the ancient Egyptians built and decorated their monuments, and cut their statues first and foremost for religious functionality, this does not mean that the Egyptians were not aware of and did not aim for an aesthetic content. To represent was, in a way, to create, and Egyptian representation in both two and three dimensions was meant to create images that would function as a meaningful part of the cult of the gods and the dead. Statues were objects in which deities could manifest themselves, while images of the dead ensured their survival in the next world and formed a point of contact between this and the next domains, where the deceased could receive the offerings of the living. Depictions of temple cult ceremonies ensured their enactment for all time, and portrayals of offering goods meant that these items would be available in the next world. Furthermore, images of protective deities found in houses, on furniture and made into amulets created a powerful shield against the malign forces of the universe. Most of what we see of ancient Egyptian art, at museums or in books, are pieces that appeal to modern aesthetic tastes. Yet they represent only a selection of surviving Egyptian material and are usually pieces produced under royal patronage. For each of these pieces, there are many, many others collecting dust in museum reserve collections that are not so finely made. These latter items may demonstrate poor workmanship, unbalanced compositions, awkward proportions or clumsy execution, but they were came from the more common Egyptians. Though these items lack the artistic quality of the more accomplished works, they must have still been thought to have functioned for the benefit of their owners. Hence, we must ask ourselves why those of power sought out the best artists, if not for their superior artistic abilities. And we must also question Egyptologists who tell us that art completely surrounded Egyptian religion. for it did not, nor may it have always served a specific function. We find, in tombs of common Egyptians, sometimes intricate scenes of daily life that seemingly have really very little mortuary functionality, but we also find designs on pottery and other items that today we would call art, and appear to have no further function than to adorn the pottery, making it more appealing. Indeed, while the ancient Egyptians may not have had an abstract word to denote art in general, they did appreciate fine designs and well decorated objects. However, it should also be pointed out that artists in ancient Egypt were very different than their modern counterparts. In ancient Egyptian society. conformity and not individualism was encouraged, and there was hardly a place for an artist with a personal vision that broke the accepted norms. In fact, Egyptian artists usually worked in teams and according to strict guidelines, even though their works might be highly regarded. This does not mean that artists could not experiment and innovate within certain limits. Many of the fundamentals of Egyptian art were established at the very beginning of Egyptian history and changed little over time. Subject matter also remained relatively unchanged over long periods of time. However, Egyptian art did not remain completely static over the three thousand years of pharaonic history. Despite the limited repertory of subject matter, Egyptian artists valued variation and avoided producing exact copies of the same forms. To understand most of the Egyptian artwork that we see in museums and books, we must understand that it was produced by elite Egyptians, mostly for specific functions, and that it was an integral part of their world view. It is important that we understand the purpose of the artwork, or the concepts that shaped it, because a lack of such information has often led people to unfavorably compare it to the art of other cultures. For example, while the ancient Egyptians produced sculptures that were intricately detailed and lifelike in many ways, they never turned the body and twisted it through space as we find in classical Greek statuary. Egyptian artists sometimes got left and right quotmuddled, and never seem to have discovered the rules of geometric perspective as European artists did in the Renaissance. In fact, such shortcomings had little if anything to do with the ability of the artists, and everything to do with the purpose for which they were producing their art. Egyptian art was not intended to merely imitate or reflect reality, but to replace and perpetuate it. Hence, for example, the religious ritual known as quot the opening of the mouth quot was not just performed by Egyptian funerary priest on the mummy of the deceased, but also on his or her statuary. Egyptian art was concerned above all with ensuring the continuity of the universe, the gods, the king and the people. The artists therefore depicted things not as they saw them but as idealized symbols intended to be more significant and enduring than was otherwise possible in the real world. The best, most inspired Egyptian art therefore blends the real with the ideal. The essential elements of art during the Old Kingdom were the funerary sculpture and painted reliefs of the royal family and the provincial elite. One of the most impressive statues to come from this period is the diorite figure of the seated Khafra. builder of the second pyramid at Giza. On the simplest level, the statue is a portrait of a powerful individual, but is also made up of symbols that relate to the general role of the pharaoh. His head and neck are physically embraced by the wings of a hawk representing the protective god, Horus. who was also the divine counterpart of the mortal ruler. His throne is decorated on either side with a complex design consisting of the hieroglyph meaning quotunionquot tied up with the tendrils of the plants of Upper and Lower Egypt, all of which symbolizes the unified state over which he ruled. In the same manner, an alabaster statue of the 6th Dynasty ruler Pepi I has the rear of the throne carved to imitate a serekh with Horus perched on the top. After the Old Kingdom. centralized power within Egypt declined into what we refer to as the First Intermediate Period. This decline in power resulted in a period when provincial workshops at sites such as el-Moalla and Gebelein began to create distinctive funerary decoration and equipment rather than being influenced by the artists at the royal court, as they were earlier during the Old Kingdom and later during the Middle Kingdom. During the Middle Kingdom, Egyptian art is exemplified both by the fragments of reliefs from the royal pyramid complexes at Dahshur, el-Lisht, el-Lahun and Hawara, and by the spacious tombs of the governors buried at Beni Hassan in Middle Egypt. In the latter, the traditional scenes of the deceased receiving offerings or hunting and fishing in the marshes are joined by large depictions of wrestling and warfare, perhaps copied from Old Kingdom royal prototypes. The history of the Middle Kingdom is very much characterized by a tension between the artistic styles of the various provincial sites and the styles of the royal workshops at Itjtawy, the new capital established near el-Lisht. Only by the late Middle Kingdom does the distinctive provincial styles become eclipsed by the art of the royal workshops. After the Middle Kingdom. Egypt was ruled for a period of time by Asiatics, who gained control of a considerable area of the country. The works of art surviving from this phase show that the foreign rulers simply re-used and copied traditional Egyptian sculptures and reliefs in order to strengthen their claims to the throne. After these foreign rulers were expelled, Egypt entered one of its most grand periods, the New Kingdom. The grand art of this period actually varied considerably so that we have the very formal art found in the great temples such as Karnak and Luxor. the tombs in the Valley of the Kings. and the private artisans tombs at Deir el-Medina. with their intimate details. Art during this period also varied because of radical religious changes, such as the Amarna period which resulted in a dramatic change in art styles. After the New Kingdom. the rapidly changing artistic styles of the first millennium BC demonstrate that Egyptian art could assimilate new possibilities while retaining its essential character and integrity. During the Late Period. when Egypt had really already lost much of its prestige, Egyptians attempted to revive the classic images of the Old and Middle Kingdom. which must have symbolized a lost sense of stability and certainly. Then, after the conquest of Egypt by Alexander The Great. the nature of Pharaonic art was adapted to create a compromise between the needs of the native Egyptians and the preferences of the New Greek, and later Roman rulers. Though from this period we have some of the largest surviving religious buildings, the reliefs were beginning to appear mass produced and repetitive, and the artwork was increasingly poorly formulated and executed. However, at the same time, there were new cultural elements absorbed from the Mediterranean word, such as the Fayoum mummy paintings. Most all three-dimensional representations, whether standing, seated or kneeling, exhibit what is called frontality. That is, they face straight ahead, even though at times they may be striding. Were it not for our understanding of their purpose, it might be easy to criticize their rigidity that remained unchanged for three thousand years, particularly when viewed outside of their original context. However, such statues were not produced as pure art, but rather to play a primary role in the cults of the gods. kings and the dead. They were places in which these beings could manifest themselves in order to be the recipients of ritual actions. Hence, it made perfect sense to show the statue looking forward at what was happening in front of it, so that the living could interact with the divine or deceased recipient. Furthermore, such statues were very frequently enclosed in rectangular shrines or wall niches with an opening only in the front, making it natural for the statue to display frontality. Other statues were frequently placed in pillared courts, where they would typically be situated between pillars, and frontality worked perfectly for this context as well. Most of the statues produced in ancient Egypt were made of stone, wood or metal. Stone statues were produced usually from a single rectangular block. Stone between the arms and the body, as well as between the legs in standing figures or the legs and the seat in seated ones, was commonly not cut away, adding to the strength of the physical sculpture. This method also added to the image of strength and power of the being depicted, and frequently the statue was quotengagedquot to the front of a pillar or column which added to this effect. Wooden statues, on the other hand, were generally carved from several pieces of wood and pegged together, while metal statues were either made by wrapping sheet metal around a wooden core or cast by the lost wax process. In these, the arms were sometimes held away from the body and could carry separate items in their hands. However, though wooden and metal sculptures have a completely different effect, altogether lighter and freer than their stone counterparts, they still display frontality. There was one other type of statuary aside from those depicting deities, kings and other elite members of society. These small statuettes depicted generic figures, frequently servants, from the non-elite population. Their function varied considerably from other statues, for these were made to put in tombs of the elite in order to serve the tomb owner in the afterlife. These funerary figurines depict a wide range of actions, from grinding grain to making music, while some are simply standing figures, depending on the time frame in which they were produced. They were not used in any cult, and are not meant to help perpetuate the existence of a particular person. In effect, they are merely a component of the overall funerary equipment placed in tombs for the benefit of the owner. Unlike formal statues, these were not limited to static poses. Depending on the activity in which they are engaged, they may be bending or squatting or take another position suitable to their work. In fact, it is the action and not the figure itself that is important. Producing the three dimensional world on a two dimensional surface is very different than working with statuary. In a number of cultures, artists have found ways by which to obtain the illusion of the third dimension, adding depth to their work, while in others the two-dimensionality of the drawing surface has been accepted and even exploited. The ancient Egyptians belong to this latter group. Rather than attempting to create the appearance of depth, they instead arranged the objects they wished to depict over the flat drawing surface. Such objects were drawn using their most characteristic and easily recognized aspect, usually in profile, full view, plan or elevation. Because these different views can occur together in the same picture plane, the result is not rendered as though from a single viewpoint. Rather, it is a composite assemblage containing information that can be interpreted by the educated viewer. The human figure was usually formed from a composite built up from its individual parts. Hence, the head may be shown in profile, though with a full view of the eyebrow and eye set into it. The shoulders of formal figures are most usually shown frontally, while the waist, buttocks and limbs are in profile. Normally, the nipple on male figures and the breast on females are drawn in profile on the front line of the body, while items that lie on the chest such as collars, necklaces, pectorals and clothing are shown in full frontal view on the expanse of the torso framed by the front and back lines of the body. The navel is shown full view and is placed inside the front line of the body at the appropriate level. Prior to the 18th Dynasty. the two feet are depicted identically from the inside, showing the big toe and the arch. Later, the near foot was increasing shown from the outside with all the toes showing. Even when the figures on the walls of Egyptian tombs and temples are acting out myths, rituals and historical events, they are nevertheless carved or painted with the stiffness and formality of hieroglyphs. The ancient Egyptians sought order in their world, and it was also fundamental to their art. Only when the concept of chaos was intended, were figures placed haphazardly on the drawing surface. Otherwise, they were set within a system of registers, the lower border of which acted as the ground line for the figures within the register. The position of figures within a scene could be determined by the viewer according to several rules. Objects could be overlapped within the register, which means that the object partially covered by another is farther away. Items higher up in the register are further away than those lower down. The hierarchical ordering of society was reflected in both two-dimensional and three-dimensional art by scale. Hence, the kings figure is usually the same size as the gods whom he interacts with, though larger than his queen, children or subjects. Whether in two or three-dimensions, Egyptian art was usually combined with text. Short captions might describe the figures depicted and the actions taking place, while longer texts included requests for offerings for the dead, hymns to deities, works spoken by deities to the king, etc. The hieroglyphic texts within any scene typically formed an integral part of the whole composition. Because the blocks of hieroglyphic texts was often set against representational elements, the composition would lack balance without them. In fact, hieroglyphs were small images drawn according to the principles that underlie Egyptian two dimensional art. Nevertheless, the images often do not resemble the objects that they describe, but are phonetic, representing different consonantal sounds in the Egyptian language. However, other hieroglyphs are logographic, representing literally or metaphorically an object or idea. Interestingly, hieroglyphs can act as determinatives. That is, they are placed at the ends of individual words to quotdeterminequot a category. For example, the name of a man may be followed by an image of a man identifying the word as a mans name. However, so clearly connected is art and hieroglyphs that when a figure is identified by its name in hieroglyphs. the expected determinative is usually omitted because the picture the name identifies acts as its determinative. Usually, the orientation of scenes in two dimensional art for hieroglyphs and figures was facing to the right. However, it was not uncommon for both to also face left, dictated by the circumstances, or for the hieroglyphs to be written in horizontal lines or vertical columns. Of course, this allowed for considerable versatility and subtlety when combining text with depictions. Usually, hieroglyphs faced the same direction as the figures they refer to, and in fact, the art was intended to be read like an elaborate code much like the hieroglyphic text. The mediums with which Egyptian artists worked were varied. One of the most easily obtained was limestone, which composed the cliffs to either side of much of the Nile Valley. Other common soft stone materials included calcite (Egyptian Alabaster), a crystalline form of calcium carbonate, sandstone, schist and greywacke. Harder stones included quartzite (a crystalline form of sandstone), diorite, granodiorite, granite and basalt. Stone was almost always used in royal free standing and rock cut temples and tombs after the earliest periods. It was also used to make statues, stelae, offering tables, libation bowls, vessels and other ritual equipment. Soft stone, whether cut in place such as a rock cut tomb, or carved into blocks as in free standing temples. was usually covered by plaster prior to being decorated. Paint was sometimes also applied to hard stone, but often it was left visible for its symbolism. Hence, black stone such as granodiorite was representative of the life giving black silt left by the Nile inundation. thus symbolizing new life, resurrection and the resurrected god of he dead, Osiris. Red, brown, yellow and gold were associated with the sun, and so stones of those colors, such as red and brown quartzite and red granite, symbolized the sun. Green stone referred to fresh, growing vegetation, new life, resurrection and Osiris as well, who sometimes appears with black skin and sometimes green. Limestone and other soft stones were carved with copper chisels and stone tools. Hard stones were worked by hammering and grinding them with tools made of even harder stone together with sand, which is basically quartz, acting as an abrasive. Stone vessels were hollowed out using drills with copper bits, together with an abrasive. These tools were also used to apply details and inscriptions to hard stone monuments. Afterwards, the finished object was polished with a smooth rubbing stone. If the stone was to be painted, the surface had to be smoothed and any holes in the stone or joints between blocks filled in with plaster. Scenes on stone surfaces were often cut into relief before painting (or when not painted at all). There were two main types of reliefs, consisting of raised and sunk relief. In both, chisels were used to cut around the outlines of figures. Then, in raised relief, the stone of the background was cut away, so that the figures were left standing out from the surface. In sunk relief, it was the figures that were cut back within their outlines, leaving the surface of the background at a higher level. In both methods, the figures were modeled to a greater or lesser extent within their outlines. Traditionally, sunk relief was used on outside walls and raised relief on interior walls, because bright sunlight has the effect of flattening raised relief and enhancing sunk relief. It should be noted that such work could also be applied to plastered surfaces on soft stone. In Theban tombs which were often simply painted, as opposed to relief-cut, rock cut walls, the walls were first covered with mud that was then plastered before painting. Treated similarly to soft stone, mudbrick was used in houses, palaces and other public buildings. And like the walls in Theban tombs. the mud was prepared for decoration with a layer of plaster. Prior to actually painting the prepared surfaces of stone or plaster over stone or mudbrick, scenes were laid out by first marking off the area to be decorated and then drawing in the initial sketches in red, to which corrections were often made in black, probably by the master draughtsman in charge of the project. Squared grids were introduced at the beginning of the Middle Kingdom. Used to assist the artist in obtaining the proper proportions of their figures and often also to lay out the composition as a whole, the grids were drawn out on the surface before the scene was sketched in. The lines of the grid were either drawn against a straight edge, or more commonly made with a string that was dipped in red paint and stretched taut across the surface before being snapped against it like a modern chalk line. The sketches were drawn with brushes, similar to those that were used by scribes. They were made from fine reeds that were trimmed at one end to an angle and chewed or split to fray the fibers. For the actual application of paint, thicker brushes were made from fibrous wood such as palm ribs, or from bundles of twigs tied together that were than beaten at one end to separate the fibers and make a course brush. Pigments for paint came primarily from minerals that occur naturally in Egypt and the surrounding desert. White was usually made from calcium carbonate (whiting) or calcium sulphate (gypsum). However, huntite, which was already in use during the Middle Kingdom. and which became common during the New Kingdom. produced a more intense white. It was frequently used to paint white areas, such as clothing, so that it would stand out against the less white background of calcium carbonate. Black was produced from one of several forms of carbon, most commonly soot or charcoal. Ochre (iron oxide) could produce a range of colors from light yellow to dark brown depending on the level of hydration. It was frequently used for reds and yellows. During the New Kingdom. realgar was also used for red, but is unstable in light, and has often degraded over time to yellow. Orpiment was used from the Middle Kingdom onward to obtain a very bright yellow that was used to simulate gold. However, it fades in light to a dull off-white so that its effect is often lost. Jarosite was also used to produce a pale yellow. The artists used different yellow pigments side by side, showing that they were not mere substitutes for each other. Blue was sometimes provided from azurite (copper carbonate), which over time becomes green as it changes to malachite, another form of copper carbonate. However, Egyptian blue was more common, which consisted of a compound made from heating quartz, ground malachite and calcium carbonate together. Different shades of blue were obtained according to the way in which the resulting compound was ground for use, since the finer the grain the paler the blue. Green rather than blue could be produced if the proportions of malachite and calcium carbonate were varied. However, green was more frequently made from naturally occurring malachite. Sometimes, the pigments were mixed together to make different colors prior to application. For example, black might be mixed with white to obtain gray, or red and white to make pink. Pigments were prepared by grinding them on a hard stone mortar before mixing them with a medium such as plant gum or animal glue. Paint was laid on in flat washes, pigment by pigment, so that painters mixed as much of one color as they needed, painted in all the appropriate areas, and then moved on to another color. However, colors could also be painted over one another in layers to obtain different color effects. The final stage of painting was to outline figures and add interior details with a fine brush. Many details in relief work and on statues were often only added in paint and not cut into the stone. No discussion of stone art would be complete without reference to Ostracons, rock fragments that were used for various purposes. They were generally discarded fragments, which were frequently used to draw plans and sketch out drawings. However, some of the most interesting artwork ever produced in Egypt were recorded on their small surfaces, usually by craftsman, but also by anyone else. They were the scratchpads of ancient Egypt, used by the common man to do the ancient equivalent of doodling. As such, there were no real rules that applied and so we find a completely unique art form known perhaps no where else in Egypt other than perhaps the graffiti drawn on the faces of cliffs. Even though Egypt has very little wood. there is nevertheless a long tradition of working with this material. Most Egyptian timber consists of tamarisk, acacia and Sycamore figs, wood that tends to be irregular, small and knotted, at least in comparison to the coniferous wood imported from Syria. However, Egyptian artisans became skilled at piecing together uneven lengths of native Egyptian wood in order to build furniture, chests, coffins and even statues. Wood was shaped with chisels and adzes and the surface smoothed down with rubbing stones. Sometimes the surface of these objects were plastered over and painted, but on good quality wood, paint was sometimes applied to the wood itself. Egyptians worked with metals for earlier than many realize. There are scenes in Old Kingdom tomb depicting metal working, and we know that they used copper from during the earliest periods, arsenic bronze (copper and arsenic) from the late Old Kingdom, and bronze (copper and tin) from the later Middle Kingdom. Gold and silver were also highly prized as precious metals, though initially silver was very rare. In addition to wood and stone, linen could also be plastered and painted to make decorated funerary and votive cloths. Alternating layers of linen and plaster were used to build up car tonnage, from which painted funerary masks. coffins and mummy wrappings were manufactured. We must also mention papyrus paper as a medium. It was primarily used as a writing surface for a wide range of administrative, economic, literary and ritual documents, but it was also used for other purposes. Specifically, papyrus was used for the production of funerary texts, such as versions of the Book of the Dead. which also included illustrations drawn and painted with the fine scribal brush. Other non-funerary papyrus were also sometimes painted or sketched upon with little or no text. Metal was used in the production of statues, temple fittings and cult implements, jewellery and funerary equipment. Both silver and gold were used to product cult statues, which were then frequently inlaid with materials such as precious stones. Obviously, many of these statues did not survive, for they were repeatedly melted down for their valuable metal and stones. Gold and Silver were not used in religious statuary simply because of their value, but also because of the symbolism associated with these metals. Gold was considered the flesh of the gods, particularly the sun god, and silver was the material from which the bones of the gods were made. Furthermore, silver was associated with the moon, so lunar disks on statues were sometimes made from this material. The Egyptians also manufactured a material which we often call Egyptian faience or glazed composition. Faience consists of a quartz core with a glazed surface. The material could be modeled and molded, and because it was inexpensive, this material was used to mass produce many small objects such as statuettes, amulets, rings and ear studs. It was often made to imitate stone and used as a substitute for that material. The color of the glaze depended on additions to the basic mixture. One of the most common colors was a blue-green, imitating turquoise, which was associated with the important goddess, Hathor. sometimes known as the quotLady of Turquoisequot. Also, the ancient Egyptian word for faience was tjehenet, from the root tjehen, meaning quotto dazzle or gleamquot. Hence, the material also had a solar symbolism. It seems that no matter where you go in Egypt you will always be surrounded by its beauty and art. As you get closer to the monuments and pyramids of the great Pharaohs, youll find statues of all sorts that surround the entrances, as well as contained within. Of these statues you will notice several common characteristics from the way they face and are positioned, to the way they are sized and depicted. The combination of geometric regularity is characteristic of all ancient Egyptian art which was often described as cubed and constrained. Its purpose was to keep alive the history of the individual and give eternal life to the Pharaohs. The divine nature of the rulers evolved the art of sculpture. In order for the people to be able to see what they worship, statues became the most important symbol of divinity. Enormous sculptures where built up to represent famous Pharaohs and their queens. Most sculptures depicted the individual as eternally young and beautiful, staring straight ahead, their gaze lost in contemplation. To the uninformed tourist the statues, paintings and architectural forms seem to fall into place as if they obeyed one law. No one seemed to want anything different. The artist was never told to be original. On the contrary, he was graded and praised for how precise his work was and how exact it resembled the past statues. The goal seemed to be completeness, the task to preserve everything as clearly as possible. Needles to say, Egyptian art changed very little. Another major component of Egyptian statues lies in the fact that they had to adhere to strict rules. These were a set of very strict laws, which every artist had to follow. Seated statues had to have their hands on their knees statues of males had to be made using darker materials than females. This was mostly because of the socio-economic structure of the males having a darker complexion from being outside all day. There were only three options for statue figures. People could either stand, sit, or kneel. This was because artists did not free the sculpted form from the block of stone. As they were primarily to be viewed from the front, the images and symbols of the hieroglyphs, were clearly and accurately carved in stone. The finished product was more or less an idealized manner, the way the individual would have wanted to be for the rest of their eternal lives. Aside from the position, there was an emphasis on the size of the individual. This was to show the divinity, or the social status and power of the Pharaoh. However powerful his queen, she was most often depicted rather small, barely taller than a child. These children were easily recognizable simply by the fact that they were depicted naked. Nudity indicated the young age an innocence of the child. However, adults were sometimes depicted naked, but more so as a symbol of rebirth in the afterlife, more commonly found in the case of a funeral statue. Children were depicted with their index finger on their lower lip, a side lock of a braid of hair worn usually at one side. Representations of older children were fully clothed and usually wore a wig, marked by a second hairline. Although older, these children were still depicted smaller than their parents, sometimes barely knee - high - of course you have to remember that none of Egyptian art is based proportionately. For 3000 years the Ancient Egyptian people practiced an art form and style that is almost immediately recognizable as Egyptian. In those 3000 years there was almost no change in the style, meaning of color, or meaning of body placement in a painting, with the exception of the Armarna Period. To the untrained eye it would seem that the Egyptians were a people of little imagination to continue a style for so long, however to those who know anything about Ancient Egyptian art the story is quite complex. Egyptians used a special code of colors in each painting they did, with each color representing a different quality of the people represented. There were six colors the Ancient Egyptians used in their paintings red, green, blue, yellow, black, and white. They made these colors of mineral compounds and that is why they have lasted so long. The color green was symbolic of new life, growth, vegetation, and fertility. Depictions of Osiris often show him with green skin. Red was the color of power it symbolized life and victory, as well as anger and fire. Red was associated with the god Isis and her blood, which red could also represent. It also represented the God Set who was considered evil and who caused storms. The color blue was the color of the heavens and the water and it symbolized creation and rebirth. The god Amun, who played a part in the creation of the world, is depicted with a blue face. Anything yellow symbolized the eternal and indestructible, the qualities of the sun and gold. It was the color of Ra and of all the pharaohs, which is why the sarcophagi and funeral masks were made of gold to symbolize the eternalness of the pharaoh who was now a god. The color of death was black. Black also represented the underworld and the night. Both the gods Anubis and Osiris were depicted in black as the gods of the embalming and the afterlife respectively. Lastly white was the color of purity, it symbolized all things sacred and simple. Normally used in religious objects and tools used by the priests. The same way that the colors of Egyptian art meant something so did the position of the figures represented. The figures were usually shown motionless or only walking. See historylink101lessonsarthistorylessonsegyptmain2.htm for an idea of the common positions and their meanings. There are a few other identifying features of Ancient Egyptian art that are common throughout time. In nearly all paintings the heads of the people were represented from the side with one eye staring out of the side of the face. The arms and legs of the person are also in profile but the mid-body is facing forward. This made the figure look twisted into a position nearly impossible to achieve in reality. Another aspect of the Ancient Egyptian painters was to depict the gods, pharaohs, or other important figures as larger than the other people in the painting to signify their higher importance. So although it may seem strange to us that the Egyptians didnt change their style for so long it did have a reason. The lack of change, especially in painting commissioned by the pharaoh, connect each ruler to the last and was seen as evidence of that they belonged in this continuing line.