Aspects of the Judiciary in the Egyptian Old Kingdom

Caleb R. Hamilton

Aspects of the Judiciary in the Egyptian Old Kingdom

Caleb R. Hamilton

The Centre for Ancient Cultures

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (Book) › Other › peer-review

Abstract

This paper addresses aspects of the judiciary, focusing on the courts, during the Egyptian Old Kingdom. The proposal that the Egyptian administration during the Old Kingdom was divided into five parts (the treasury, agriculture, royal archives, works and the judiciary) prompts this paper to explore the judicial part of the administration by focusing on the different courts that made up the judicial branch. It will be proposed that the courts that existed formed a hierarchy that Egyptians could appeal to when disputes arose and conflict resolution was required.

The evidence for the court system comes from the inscriptional records dating from the Old Kingdom. It is through their examination that the judiciary will be outlined in regards to what courts made up the legal branch of the Egyptian administration for this time period. This will cover the provincial tribunals or councils (the so-called DADAt), the Great Courts (Hwt wrt), as well as the special tribunals, such as the Hall of Horus (shw-Hr/wsh.t-Hr) or the unique ‘Mansion of the Prince’, as mentioned in the Pyramid Texts.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Ancient Cultures at Monash University
Subtitle of host publication	Proceedings of a Conference held between 18-20 October 2013 on Approaches to Studying the Ancient Past
Editors	Jessica Cox, Caleb R. Hamilton, Katherine R. L. McLardy, Amy J. Pettman, David Stewart
Place of Publication	Oxford UK
Publisher	Archaeopress
Pages	29-38
Number of pages	10
ISBN (Print)	9781407314266
Publication status	Published - 30 Oct 2015

Publication series

Name	BAR International Series
Publisher	BAR Publishing
Volume	2764

Cite this

Hamilton, Caleb R. / Aspects of the Judiciary in the Egyptian Old Kingdom. Ancient Cultures at Monash University: Proceedings of a Conference held between 18-20 October 2013 on Approaches to Studying the Ancient Past . editor / Jessica Cox ; Caleb R. Hamilton ; Katherine R. L. McLardy ; Amy J. Pettman ; David Stewart. Oxford UK : Archaeopress, 2015. pp. 29-38 (BAR International Series).

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Aspects of the Judiciary in the Egyptian Old Kingdom. / Hamilton, Caleb R.
Ancient Cultures at Monash University: Proceedings of a Conference held between 18-20 October 2013 on Approaches to Studying the Ancient Past . ed. / Jessica Cox; Caleb R. Hamilton; Katherine R. L. McLardy; Amy J. Pettman; David Stewart. Oxford UK: Archaeopress, 2015. p. 29-38 (BAR International Series; Vol. 2764).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter (Book) › Other › peer-review

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