What were the legal traditions? • Ancient Egyptian Law was governed by religious principles • GODDESS MA’AT represented truth, righteousness and justice = balance and order • Laws were applied equally to all classes; specifically protected the family (children and wives) • Punishments could be quite severe- act as a deterrent or disgrace the guilty (Examples: minor crimes had 100 lashed; rapists were castrated; corrupt officials had their hands amputated; crimes that resulted in a death sentence could have choice= devoured by a crocodile, suicide, burning alive)
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What were the legal traditions?
• Ancient Egyptian Law was governed by religious principles
• GODDESS MA’AT represented truth, righteousness and justice = balance and order
• Laws were applied equally to all classes; specifically protected the family (children and wives)
• Punishments could be quite severe- act as a deterrent or disgrace the guilty (Examples: minor crimes had 100 lashed; rapists were castrated; corrupt officials had their hands amputated; crimes that resulted in a death sentence could have choice= devoured by a crocodile, suicide, burning alive)
Social Roles
Role of Women• Well treated and had
considerable legal rightscompared to other civilizations
• Same legal rights as men (land, property, divorce)
• Left women to be economically independent
• Primary role was in domestic life• Common title for a married
women in ancient Egypt was “nebet per” meaning “the lady of the house”
• Bear and raise children
Role of Men• Head of the family• Men could have numerous wives
but economically men had only 1 wife
• Labourers, craftsmen• Jobs were hereditary
Jobs• Labour required for construction
projects and was mostly filled by poor, serfs
• Stability of Egypt thrived as skilled trades were passed from father to son
• Children always learned the trade from parents; seldom could choose occupation
Education
• Contributed to stability and continuity of Egypt• All children, regardless of social class, received some
education• Followed a moral and ethical guide “Instructions in
Wisdom”• Goal for education was to ensure youth exhibited self
control and good manners• At 14, young boys followed fathers in jobs, and girls
learned from mothers in the household• Children of priests were schooled more formally• Literacy was stressed for government jobs• Education respected for creating a well rounded
individual
Hieroglyphics/Language
• History of Writing: 1) pictograms (sun= sun) 2) ideograms (sun = sun, daylight, warmth, light)3) phonograms: symbols that suggest a particular sound; related ideas and also sound (Sun = sun, son, Sunday)
• Each hieroglyph found in pyramids and tombs often symbolized more than one consonant. Not only that, but actual Egyptian hieroglyphs were a combination of sound-signs, pictograms, and ideograms. No wonder it was so hard to decode them!
• New Kingdom: seven hundred hieroglyphs in common usage, while rest were phonograms
• One hundred were strictly visual, while the rest were phonograms
• Eventually scribes adapted hieroglyphic symbols
• By 700 BCE, script was refined to the Demotic language (or popular script); it would eventually evolve to the Coptic that was used in parts until the 17th century
• used for secular matters such as letters, accounts and record keeping
Rosetta StoneWhat is the Rosetta Stone? • The Rosetta Stone is a stone with writing on it
in two languages (Egyptian and Greek), using three scripts (hieroglyphic, demotic and Greek). It was carved in 196 BCE.
Why is it in three different scripts? • The Rosetta Stone is written in three scripts
(hieroglyphs for religious documents; demotic- common script of Egypt; Greek- language of the rulers of Egypt at that time)
• The Rosetta Stone was written in all three scripts so that the priests, government officials and rulers of Egypt could read what it said.
When was the Rosetta Stone found? • The Rosetta Stone was found in 1799 by
French soldiers who were rebuilding a fort in Egypt (in a small village in Delta called Rosetta (Rashid)
What does the Rosetta Stone say? • The Rosetta Stone is a text written by a group
of priests in Egypt to honour the Egyptian pharaoh. It lists all of the things that the pharaoh had done that were good for the priests and the people of Egypt.
Life and Death • Life and death was measured in accordance to Ma’at: the goddess
and symbol of equilibrium of the universe and the king had to rule according to her principles
Death viewed as a new beginning• Afterlife common to all, regardless of social status
(preparation varied as well as goods stored in tombs)
• 2 Common Principles: 1) body preservation in a lifelike form2) the deceased must have items necessary for life in the afterworld
• Personal belongings were usually placed in the tomb to make the Ka more at home and to assist the dead in their journey into the afterlife.
• Text was read from the 'Book of the Dead' which was a collection of spells, charms, passwords, numbers and magical formulas for the use of the deceased in the afterlife.
MA’AT-symbol of the equilibrium
of the universe
This scene depicts what occurs after a person has died, according to the ancient Egyptians.
• panel of 14 judges• Ka (soul /spiritual duplicate), ba (personality) ankh (form mummy took in
afterlife / the key of life)• Weighing of the heart vs Ma’at• Judgment of scale• record of the outcome
Mummification • Mummification focused on Egyptian belief of the importance of preserving the body
• Afterlife would be spent enjoying best of life experiences
• Body covered with natron and dried for up to 70 days
• Body wrapped in linen coated with resins and oils
• Middle Kingdom became customary to place a mask over the face
• Removal of organs (lungs, stomach, intestines, liver) in Canopic Jars were closed with stoppers fashioned in the shape of four heads -- human, baboon, falcon, and jackal - representing the four protective spirits called the Four Sons of Horus.
• brain was sucked out of the cranial cavity and thrown away because the Egyptian's thought it was useless.
Ancient Egypt’s Economy What made Ancient Egypt wealthy?• Food Supply made up most of Egypt’s wealth (grain, vegetables, fruit, cattle, goats, pigs and fowl).
• Storing and Managing the Food Supply: this measured an Egyptian dynasty’s wealth;
having full granaries, plenty of wildlife and fish, and thriving herds were the signs of prosperity. (These were the images used in the tombs of the Pharaohs to illustrate the wealth of their reigns).
What else made up the Ancient Egyptian Economy? • Mostly based on food production and minerals from desert• Access to the Mediterranean Sea and routes that extended trade as far as Northern Europe,
subtropical Africa and the Near East• Trading was done by bartering goods (grain, oil, wheat)• Taxes, salaries and loans were all paid entirely on goods• Extensive trading made Egypt a powerful influence on culture, art, ideas and technology (ie.
Western calendar was taken from the Romans who had borrowed it from the Egyptians)• Trade eventually grew and expanded, bringing new ideas and goods into Egyptian society
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