Court records recovered from an unknown Pharaohs tomb.
Egypt had a very unique system to solving problems compared to other early civilizations. Their judicial system was not a separate entity from the ancient Egyptian government. Egyptians did not have professional judges. Even though no book of laws from ancient Egypt have been found, court records show that Egyptian law was usually based on a common-sense approach. In fact Egyptian law encouraged reaching agreements to resolve conflicts rather than sticking to a complicated set of laws.
The New Kingdom had a council of elders called kenbet. They were responsible for court cases involving small claims and minor disputes. The elders were from regional governments and priests whose official rank in the temples entitled them to be judges. The ancient Egyptian judicial system also had a ÒGreat KenbetÓ which the vizier or pharaoh chaired and the members were high-ranking officials. Usually more serious cases involving murder, major land transactions and tomb robbery were heard at this court. Plaintiffs and defendants represented themselves and much like today, swore an oath that they told the truth.
A common form of execution, decapitation, is inflicted on murderers and grave robbers.
Punishment for minor crimes involved either imposition of fines, beatings, facial mutilation, or exile, depending on the severity of the offense. Serious crimes such as murder and tomb robbery were punished by execution, carried out by decapitation, drowning, or impaling the criminal on a stake. Punishment could also be extended to the criminal's family. Beginning in the New Kingdom, oracles played a major role in the legal system, dispensing justice in both civil and criminal cases. The procedure was to ask the god a "yes" or "no" question concerning the right or wrong of an issue. The god, carried by a number of priests, rendered judgment by choosing one or the other, moving forward or backward, or pointing to one of the answers written on a piece of papyrus or an ostracon (A piece of pottery).