910 scandals and corruption: Egypt Napata, where a great religious complex had been built The chief temple was dedicated to Egypt’s chief god, Amun, who was also at that time Kush’s chief god The queens of Kush would go into the depths of the temple of Amun to give birth, implying that Amun was the father of their children, linking themselves with a tradition of Egyptian religion that Amun recognized his children in their wombs An oracle also resided in the temple A statue of Amun spoke to people, telling them the god’s will Priests conveyed Amun’s words to the outside world Thus, the priests had great power Their temples and dwellings at Jebel Barkal were covered in gold, silver, and gems Hallways were dazzling with their glittering walls and many statues of Egyptian gods The statue of Amun even foretold when kings were to die In fact, the priests actually ordered a king to commit suicide, on Amun’s orders, and he obeyed Then came King Aspelta (r 593–568 b.c.e.) The outset of his reign must have been very challenging because a revitalized Egypt had sent an army into Kush, and it had sacked Napata in about 593 b.c.e Then the priests of Amun declared that the god had said Aspelta was to die Perhaps not as gullible as his predecessors, or perhaps not as faithful, Aspelta not only refused to commit suicide but also conspired with one of his generals to have the buildings and caves of Jebel Barkal seized and the priests killed Apparently, nearly every priest was killed, helping to end the importance of Jebel Barkal Perhaps the invasion by Egypt had soured public sentiment against all things Egyptian enough for Aspelta to get away with such sacrilege He moved his court to Meroë, farther south along the Nile, formerly an Egyptian military outpost but by then a thriving trading center He and his successors promoted a lion god as their new chief god EGYPT BY AMR KAMEL Ancient Egypt, like any other place ancient or modern, was not an ideal society People who engaged in bribery and all manner of crime and corruption existed alongside people who were humble, law-abiding, and religious The Egyptians attempted to hold their society together using a group of fundamental principles called maat, which eventually came to represent the cosmic order as well, since Egyptians believed their land to be the center of the world Maintaining maat was the major duty of Egyptian kings, and it was the subject of many ancient Egyptian teachings Any abuse of power by an official could be controlled only if there was ethical awareness and a sense of loyalty in the community When these faltered, officials increasingly took advantage of their positions, especially when the purchase of offices and the abuse of oracles were concerned These abuses become apparent notably from the Nineteenth Dynasty (ca 1307–ca 1196 b.c.e.) forward Desiring reform, Horemheb, the last king of the Eighteenth Dynasty (ca 1550–ca 1307 b.c.e.), conscientiously enforced maat, issuing a royal decree against bribery and cor- ruption that can still be read on the 10th pylon at Karnak In the decree Horemheb states that corrupt behavior on the part of the authorities represents an offense and warns that these offenses “from today onward” will be punished by such penalties as flogging and cutting off of noses and, in some cases, will require the redress of any damage inflicted on an individual He advises his newly appointed officers: “Do not compromise yourselves with people! Do not accept rewards from others!” Nonetheless, such instructions did not guarantee a peaceful life Ancient Egyptian literature refers from time to time to scandals, corrupt people, and other illegal behavior The earliest example was mentioned in the biography of Weni, an important Sixth Dynasty (ca 2323–ca 2150 b.c.e.) officer There appears to have been an unsuccessful conspiracy against Pepi I plotted by one of his numerous wives Weni seems to have been singled out to hear about that confidential matter when he was in the royal women’s quarters From the same Sixth Dynasty period, a scene in the Saqqara mustaba of the vizier Khentika depicts the judgment and corporal punishment of five district governors brought before the vizier and charged with corruption in collecting taxes All were punished swift ly and harshly Egyptian texts not mention other cases of immoral behavior until late in the New Kingdom, when abundant evidence of corruption appears, possibly because of a deficiency in the administration The inscription of Mes, engraved in his tomb at Saqqara from the Nineteenth Dynasty, describes a lawsuit about the ownership of some fields inherited by various members of the family to which Mes belonged The text refers to a certain Khay, who originally was not a family member but who claimed his right based on forged documents that he submitted to the highest law court in Egypt, presided over by the vizier who pronounced his judgment in favor of Khay A literary document dating from the late Nineteenth Dynasty describes the career of a corrupt man named Paneb— the foreman of a group of workers at Deir el-Medina—who, with his son Aapehti, committed several crimes Paneb is accused of having obtained his position by bribing the vizier Paneb stole some statues from the temple of King Seti I, with the intention of decorating his own tomb He then went on to murder his adoptive father, Neferhotep He was arrested and sent for trial before the vizier Amenope Nonetheless, by the exercise of some influence or chicanery, he was able to secure his acquittal and not only obtained the murdered Neferhotep’s position but also eventually had himself buried in a handsome tomb He and his son made love with five of his colleagues’ wives and their daughters He was also accused failing to pay for clothes that had been made for him and of drunkenness In the reign of Ramses III legal documents describe a trial of persons who planned the murder of the king The principal defendant was the secondary queen Tiy, who apparently wanted the throne for her son Pentewere The jury was composed of 14 officials, four of whom were convicted of having sexual intercourse with the wives of some of the defendants and were accordingly deprived of their titles and punished