Stelae

Abstract

The 12th Dynasty (Middle Egytian) judicial system was surprisingly modern in its approach and composition, but our knowledge is assembled by a process of deduction. Most of the key evidentiary sources are testimonial stelae which list the titles held by senior officials during their lifetimes. The nature of an individual’s role in the judicial process can be postulated from the combination of titles held, in turn allowing a picture of the overall operation of kingly justice to emerge. “The paper considers the titles and history of two such individuals, comparing and contrasting the titles they held to build a picture which reveals the existence of investigative judicial processes. [more…]