Egyptian Law Courts in Pharaonic and Hellenistic Times *

Abstract

Against the background of the relatively well-documented judicial machine of the New Kingdom, a review of the much sparser evidence for the first millennium bc reveals a new terminology in documents from the reign of Psammetichus I onwards: instead of the old qnbt-councils, new idioms are used, apparently indicating real law courts (e.g. nȝ wpty. w, ‘the judges’; 'wi n wpy. t, ‘judgement house’). The consistent use of such terms implies a major reform of the judiciary. It is further argued that the Egyptian law courts appealed to during the Ptolemaic period were the natural continuation of this earlier system.