Stèle juridique

The Stèle juridique was found in 1927 during consolidation work in the Hypostyle Hall in the Karnak Temple (at what is now Luxor in Egypt ). It was installed there in the New Kingdom .

history

The Stèle juridique, whose name is modern, comes from the Second Intermediate Period (around 1650 BC) and dated under King Nebereraw I , whose title appears at the beginning of the stele text . The stele is made of limestone and is 1.18 m high and 0.72 m wide and is inscribed on the front with 28 lines of hieroglyphic text.

content

The text on the stele reports on the sale of the office " Hatia-en - Necheb " (" Gaufürst / Mayor of el-Kab" ). The monument is considered to be one of the most important of its kind for provincial administration in ancient Egypt . It proves the office inheritance, but also the possibility to sell offices .

A certain Kebsi, who holds a military title, had apparently got into financial trouble. He was the designated successor to the office of mayor of el-Kab. In order to get out of his difficult situation, he sold the mayor's office to a certain Sobeknacht I. For this purpose, old documents were obtained from the vizier's office , which proved that Kebsi really was the heir to the office. The whole process was sealed in the vizier's office in the presence of witnesses, whereupon Sobeknacht received the rights to the office and probably also the income associated with it.

literature

• Pierre Lacau : Une Stèle juridique de Karnak (= Egypt .; Maṣlaḥat al-Āthār .; Supplément aux Annales du Service des antiquités de l'Égypte. ). Imprimerie de l'Institut français d'archéologie orientale, Cairo 1949.