Egyptians were courteous, law-abiding people. Society was generally orderly and peaceful. Men and women were treated equally according to Egyptian law and custom. So were the members of different social classes. Egyptian law was based on custom, tradition, and ma’at. An offense against law and order was an offense against ma’at. Laws covered crimes, arguments about land, business deals, wills, property transfers, and arrangements made for the eternal care of tombs.
Legal
arguments could be complex. One such case about land ownership among
several generations of a feuding wealthy family went on for decades;
there were many trials overseen by a series of viziers. All judgments
were made in the king’s name. There were no profes- sional lawyers.
Trials were speedy and punishments were swift. Impris- onment was
considered expensive and unproductive. Prisons were only used as
courthouses, storehouses for legal records, and to hold prison- ers who
were waiting for their trial.
For
serious offenses, a criminal would have his nose or ears, or both, cut
off. He might also be sentenced to hard labor in the mines of Nubia, or
be sent to a faraway frontier fort. Disgrace and banishment were
considered worse than death. For lesser crimes, beatings and whippings
were common. Occasionally, an entire family was punished for a
relative’s crime. The death penalty was rare. It had to be approved by
the king and was reserved for only the most horrible crimes.
Children
who killed their parents faced especially terrible deaths, such as
being eaten alive by crocodiles. A merciful king might allow a condemned
criminal to commit suicide. While this all may sound harsh to us today,
Egypt’s laws and punish- ments were generally less cruel than those of
most other ancient cultures.
