CC BY
0PAPYRI OF TOMB ROBBERIES
Mohamed Elgammal
Inspector of Antiquities - Ministry Of Tourism and Antiquities https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11219086
Abstract. The thefts of tombs were the most dangerous and famous during ancient Pharaoh's history, so that most of the tombs revealed in modern times had already been opened and looted during ancient times themselves.
The economic conditions at the beginning of the 19th Dynasty were prosperous and economically booming, and since the second half of the reign of King Ramesses II, the economic collapse began. We find an inscription in the Karnak Temple that represents a joint defense text between Egypt and the Hittites, which led to the exhaustion of Egypt's economic and military powers.
Also, the military campaigns carried out by King Merneptah as a result of the Ramesses II agreement with the Hittites, and the meaning that he witnessed, which led to the deterioration of the economic and military conditions in Egypt in that period.
In the era of King Ramesses III, he introduced the Sea Peoples as mercenaries into the Egyptian army, who hadpriority in receiving salaries over the rest of the Egyptian army members, which led to the deterioration of economic conditions in that period.
During his reign, the workers of Deir al-Medina went on strike because they did not receive their salaries for three months and after six months. Therefore, they decided to go on strikes, which led to poor economic and social conditions, the spread of famine, and high prices, which led to the theft of graves, and this is what we will discuss in this article.
Keywords: Tomb Robbery Papyrus - Deir al-Medina - Ramesses III - Abbott papyrus -Amherst papyrus - Harris papyrus - Mayer papyrus.
INTRODUCTION
Egypt witnessed a long period of prosperity after its kings expanded its territory. They began launching campaigns against neighboring countries, bringing from them great wealth. The wealth of the Egyptian people increased after those nations submitted.
King Ramesses II consumed the state's resources in his giant constructions. King Ramesses III followed the same policy until Egypt witnessed an economic crisis at the end of his reign, which extended for approximately thirty years. With his death, Egypt began to lose its Asian possessions little by little, until Ramesses during his reign, we find that Egypt completely lost its international status and prestige, and perhaps the story of Wn-Amun is the best evidence of that.
Poverty spread throughout Egypt to the point that some of its people violated taboos and made numerous attempts to steal, whether from temples or from royal and non-royal tombs.
Through the documents of that period, we can discover that there were some statesmen involved in thefts, and we can also infer the extent of the government's weakness to which it failed to provide protection for the most sacred places, which are temples and cemeteries alike.
Definition and contents of papyri:
The tomb robbery papyri are a series of hieratic texts that list the official investigations at the end of the 20th Dynasty. These papyri are the largest collection of evidence recorded about
them in royal tombs. The papyri record realistic events that contain no propaganda or glorification.1
These papyri do not contain a sequential story about the thefts, but they mention some incidents and their perpetrators in more than one document. It gives us a rare insight into Egyptian legal procedures, and is the largest body of evidence recorded about them in royal and private tombs, which is familiar to me. The prospector, the verbatim report of the interrogations, the spread of such cases, and the news of the social and economic conditions in Thebes, let us place them among the most important and most humane ancient records.
At the time when these papyri were written, the cemetery area on the west bank of the Nile was an independent administrative region known as (West Thebes) under the administration of its mayor, who was independent from (The Mayor of Thebes).
The oldest group of texts refers to incidents that occurred in the sixteenth year of the rule of (Nefer Ka Raa) Ramesses IX, but before this date thefts occurred, at least in the tombs of nobles, and the evidence is that these are confessions by the thief who was proud that he was doing exactly what he was doing.2
1.1 Abbott Papyrus:
Abbott's paper is from the British Museum, No. 10221. Its first edition was published for the first time in 1860 AD. We do not know where it was found. It is about 218 cm long and 425 cm wide.3(fig.1)
1.2 Content of the Abbott Papyrus:
The events of this papyrus date back to the reign of "King Nefer Ka Raa" Ramesses IX, and its events begin from the 18th to the 21st day of the flood season of the sixteenth year.
The events begin on the eighteenth day, when "We sent a committee composed of the observers of the cemetery book, in addition to the minister's clerk, and the supervising clerk of the Pharaonic treasury, to examine the tombs of the sacred kings, and the tombs of the blessed who lived in former times, located in the west of the city. This committee has It was sent by the minister, "Kha-Em-Was," the cupbearer of the pharaoh, "Ness-Amun," the director of the house of the divine worshiper, and the royal cupbearer, "Nefer Ka Raa-Mber-Amun." The reason for sending it was a report submitted jointly by "Boraa," the prince or mayor of the western part of the city of Thebes. With the chief of police of the cemetery, to the minister and supervisor, and the king's cupbearer - about the thieves, and I wrote a list of the names and members of the committee, headed by "Boraa" himself.4
There is a list of the names of the tombs that were examined, and it contains two tombs from the Fourteenth Dynasty tombs, seven tombs from the Seventeenth Dynasty kings, and one tomb from the Eighteenth Dynasty, which belongs to King Amenhotep I. The mayor of Eastern Thebes, Ba-Ser, had informed the officials about it. The four previous greats who sent a committee to investigate, as well as the nobles, said that it had been looted, but in any case, after some examination, it was found intact.
There is no doubt that Ba-Ser highlighted in particular the tomb of Amenhotep I and other tombs of other kings because they were considered the holiest thing among the workers of Deir
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el-Medina. The reason for this is that Amenhotep I was considered a god by the workers and their protector. And in the theft of the tomb of Amenhotep, there was a clear condemnation of the workers because he was their idol. It examined the tombs of other kings, and nothing was found looting except the tomb of Prince Shebeksaf. It examined the tombs of four singing girls in the house of the divine worshiper and found two of them had been tampered with, and the tombs of individuals were found vandalized. The committee that was sent to examine everything they saw was informed of what they had seen. Four great officials, as well as some of the supervisors, "Boraa" confronted the thieves and they confessed to it and were imprisoned after that.5
On the nineteenth day, Minister Khaa-Em-Was and the Pharaoh's cupbearer, Ness-Amun, went to the Valley of the Queens' Tombs to examine the tombs of individuals, wives, and royal mothers. They took with them a coppersmith named "Be-Khal," who had been arrested with two others close to this place. The tombs, and in the fourteenth year he was investigated by Minister Neb-Maat Ra Nakht.The coppersmith admitted in the current investigation that he had committed theft crimes in the tomb of Queen Isis, wife of Pharaoh Ramesses III. Upon his arrival in the valley, he asked to guide them to the stolen tomb, but he did not. He was unable to guide them, despite the beating he had been subjected to, and he guided them to a grave that had not been used before.6 The seals of the tombs in the Valley of the Kings were examined and they were all found to be intact. Accordingly, he ordered the supervisors, inspectors, and cemetery workers to circumambulate "Western Thebes." They continued their circumambulation until Eastern Thebes in a great procession or joyful demonstration, expressing the innocence of the cemetery's guards and the safety of the tombs.
On the same day, the Emir of Thebes met with Mayor Ba-Ser, along with the Pharaoh's butler and some of the workers in the cemetery. He discussed with them extensively, and pointed out to them that the demonstration they carried out was in fact directed at someone. Then he said: "The reason for their joy was less than they imagined, because the cemetery was destroyed." He told him about the serious incidents of plunder that would be reported to Pharaoh.7
On the twentieth day, after this conversation, it reached "Bo-Raa," who wrote a detailed report and placed them before the minister. It was more detailed than the conversation and included an accusation against the cemeteries writers because they had placed the accusations before "Baser" instead of the minister as is usual, and He asked to be examined immediately.
On the twenty-first day, after that, he requested the formation of a court, of which Ba-Ser was a member, and the coppersmith and his two partners. The minister said that Ba-Ser reported on the looting of the tombs of the Valley of the Queens, and the minister says that when I went there and examined the tombs that he spoke about, "Ba-Ser" said that it was looted and found intact, and that everything Ba-Ser said was incorrect. After that, an investigation was conducted with the coppersmiths and it became clear that they did not know the location of the grave. Thus, the coppersmith was released and they wrote a report on the measures that had been taken.8 2.1 Amherst Papyrus and Leopold II:
The Amherst papyrus contains eight sides of the papyrus, about eight inches long and eight and a half inches wide. It consists of the lower halves of four pages, the fourth of which is the end of the paper. The paper that Kabar found was inside a small wooden statue that King Leopold II
5 Eric Peet: - The great tomb robberies of the twentieth Egyptian dynasty, P. 30: 31 , Printed in great Britain.
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of Belgium gave to the Brussels Museum. It was the one that completed the missing part of the Amherst paper, and Kabar named the new part "Leopold II." With this new revelation, the paper became complete except for words that did not greatly affect the meaning, and we will call it "Amherst and Leopold II."9(fig.2)
The Abbott and Amherst papyri are considered among the most important papyri, and many of them are closely related to each other. The first one talked about the inspection of the royal tombs and others, and the impetus for those reports that reached the ruling authority was about the looting of some of these tombs, as well as some special incidents. Looking for the inspection that led to the involvement of various kind employees and some workers in the cemetery.
As for the "Amherst" papyrus and the missing part of it that was recently found and called the "Leopold II" papyrus, it recorded the trial of some thieves who plundered the tomb of King Shebeksaf and his wife, who had previously been examined and found to have been plundered.10
2.2 Content of the Amherst Papyrus and Leopold II:
It contains part of the thieves' confession about the theft of the "Shebeksaf11 cemetery and the thieves' statement of the location of the crime on the nineteenth day, which was completed by the "Abbott Papyrus." We do not know whether these are the same thieves who were investigated in "Abbott" or those who committed crimes in the small cemeteries. And they were arrested, too.
The investigations dealt with the thieves who plundered the tombs in western Thebes, and received their confessions about robbing the tombs in Thebes, as well as the pyramid of "Sekhm-Raa-Shed- Tawy" son of Raa Shebeksaf.
It contains the names of the eight thieves who were in this pyramid, and it also shows the presence of bribes to some employees. After the arrest of one of the thieves, he took part of the gold and gave it to the writer in berth Thebes, who released him until he was arrested again. A report was made for this investigation and sent to the king.11
3.1 Mayer papyrus (A, B):
Mayer (A) - written in hieratic script. It is now known as the Mayer paper A and B and is now preserved in the Liverpool Museum. It was donated to this museum by Mr. Mayer in 1867 AD.
Its history dates back to the first year of the Renaissance era, which corresponds to the nineteenth year of the reign of Pharaoh Ramesses II. The paper in its current state contains a single papyrus, about 143 mm long and 425 mm wide, and it was cut into two parts. (fig.3)
Mayer (B) - The text of this paper contains fourteen horizontal lines and some pieces that are useless due to lack of understanding. The paper was a piece of a large sheet of paper, the first and last of which were lost, and in its current state it does not contain a date.12
3.2 Content of the Mayer Papyrus (A, B):
Mayer (A) - It includes an interrogation of a person named Mwt-Nefer, who was a guard and asked about some thefts that had occurred in a temple on the western mainland.13
It contains documents that came after these same investigations, and it also contains part of the investigation into the thieves from the treasure chests mentioned in the "Abbott" schedules. This paper contains a series of small documents related to two separate trials, one of which was
9 The Amharest Papyrus, 1899.
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charged with stealing or receiving items. One stolen from the cemetery, and the other stolen on charges of destroying and stealing some treasure chests.
Mayer (B) - A fragment of the thieves' confession regarding the theft of the tomb of Ramesses VI.14
4.1 Harris papyrus:
It is a papyrus dating back to the Twentieth Dynasty, specifically the end of the reign of King Ramesses III, and it is written in a very clear handwriting, but in different handwritings because more than one person participated in writing it.
It is about one meter and 5 cm long and about 42 cm wide. It was found in 1855 AD on the western mainland, close to the Deir el-Bahari Temple behind the Habu Temple. Lord Harris bought it and divided it into 79 pages, and it was published by the archaeologist Press, Secretary of the British Museum.15
Scientists have disagreed about the date of writing of this papyrus. The first group, represented by Erman, believes that it was written after the death of Ramesses III and was dated to the day of his death. The second group, represented by Estroff, believes that it was written during the reign of Ramesses IV. (fig.4)
The importance of the papyrus is due to the fact that it sheds light on many aspects of that period, including the economic and religious aspects, management systems, temples and military aspects, in addition to the historical events. It included an explanation of the most important workers' strike during the reign of Ramesses III, its development and the role of the papyrus. The state, whether police or priests, is responsible for handling these strikes.16
5.1 Reasons for the spread of tombs robberies:
A- The weakness of the ruling authority: as an inevitable result of the transfer of the seat of government from Thebes to Pr-Rameses in the Nineteenth Dynasty, which led to the weakening of administrative control over Thebes, and after that a succession of weak kings took over the throne after Ramesses III until their traces almost disappeared, and this rapid succession led to Unstable matters.
B- Corruption spread in the governmental apparatus: it reached its furthest limits. Bribery and embezzlement spread, and the justice that had preserved the country's existence in previous eras collapsed.
C- The collapse of religious values and morals: The influence of religion weakened after the people saw the corruption of the priests and their eagerness to collect wealth, which led some priests to actually participate in the theft of tombs, according to Papyrus Harris No. 10054 in the British Museum.17
D- The economic crisis:
It reached its peak in the last half of the Twentieth Dynasty, due to several reasons, including the weakness of the ruling authority, which led to the weakness of the state. The country's resources were cut off, and the arrival of tribute from the Asian emperors was not guaranteed. Likewise, the Bronze Age ended and the Iron Age began, so Egypt had to buy it from
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abroad, and mines also stopped. Copper in Sinai went out of work, as well as the great inflation in grain prices, which began in 1160 BC, shortly before the death of Ramesses III.18
In addition to his wars against the Libyans and the Sea Peoples, and his wars in Asia, despite the Asian spoils and tribute, which could not save the country from the economic crisis, especially with the temples absorbing the country's wealth, especially the temples of Amun, to finance its estates and mines, and increasing religious services by increasing the number of priests and administrators.
The economic conditions continued to deteriorate, and we find forgery and manipulation carried out by the captain of the ship, Khnum-hotep, during the reign of Ramesses IV, which indicates the bad state that the regime has reached.
There was also a violent famine, one of the years of which was called the Year of the Hyena, and food prices rose more than three or five times.19
Although the major temples were contributing a share to state projects, this was not done properly, and only a small amount reached the state treasury, as a result of the fallacies of the priests, especially with their influence extending to most of the state administrations and their accompaniment.
In addition to the peace treaty of the twenty-first year of the reign of Ramesses II, which obligated Mern-ptah to send forces to defend Syria, sending shipments of wheat to help the Hittites in their struggle against the Sea Peoples, and also the presence of unproductive classes such as priests and temple employees, and the entry of un-loyal foreigners into the army. They were left without salaries or clothing to occupy them, so they began looting the place.20
Among the causes of thefts are also the slaves used in the manufacture of entertainment goods for the royal court, and also the infiltration of Libyans from the end of the modern state without committing to join the army or forced labor due to the weakness of the central authority of the state, as they are an unproductive class of slaves and foreigners.21
The rupture of the state's centralization due to the deterioration of its power, the deterioration of the sacred center of the king, and the emergence of new powers, namely the priests of Amun in Thebes, affected the economy, which relied on centralization to collect goods and find their distribution among state employees and the rest of the place, and Egypt's use of gold to finance its trade with Syria after the gradual decline of the Egyptian empire in Asia, in addition to the decline in local production from the mines of Nubia and Qeft.22 E- Workers strikes:
This severe economic crisis led to the government refraining from paying the wages of the cemetery workers. They went on strike and the condition of the Thebes region worsened. It is clear to us from the Turin Papyrus and the workers' strike paper that the payment of workers' salaries was delayed by more than one part during the twenty-ninth year of the reign of Ramesses III (1170 BC). The month of Tuba passed and the workers did not receive their decisions. On the tenth day of the month of Amshir, they organized a protest, which was the first strike of which we have
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received news from history. The collapse of the Ramesside era, from the seventh to the ninth, reached an extent that it had not reached before or after.23
The clerk of the secret grave, the representatives of the workers, the foremen, and two of the officers came to the workers and asked them to leave, and that they had an order from the king to solve their problems, but they refused and remained until the end of the day, but this amounted to a peaceful protest (civil disobedience), but it seemed that they had realized that This peaceful solution was useless. The next day, they stormed the Ramesseum, and the officials rushed to them and gave them their decisions from the previous months, which encouraged them to carry out a revolution at the western fort of Thebes, to which the police chief accompanied them, for fear that they would do something that threatened security and order. The workers realized from this that the strikes and it was a successful way to meet their demands and pay their dues, which turned into something resembling a comprehensive revolution. The strikes during the reign of Ramesses IX reached a dangerous level, and the prices of commodities such as wheat rose sharply. The tombs were stormed from the sixteenth year of his reign, and the kings were unable to prevent the violation of the sanctity of the tombs of their ancestors.24
We find the "Shabas-Lebelin" papyrus, which dates back to the third year of the reign of Ramesses
"Let the vizier carry King Nefer-ka-Raa's clothes and the caulking wood as well."
In the third year of the reign of Ramesses
"Go and get the vizier's grains and give the men of the cemetery their supplies."
Nubian raids also occurred from time to time during the reign of Ramesses IX on the territory of Thebes, and thus work on the Theban cemetery stopped in most cases altogether.25
The wave of poverty during the reign of Ramesses IX led people to disbelieve in everything, even their kings, and they sold their kings' possessions to satisfy their needs.
It has become impossible for this hungry people to sleep on these treasures when they cannot find anything to satisfy their needs, so their religious sanctities collapsed and they rushed to the cemeteries to steal what was in them.
We do not deny that robbing graves has been a normal thing since ancient times. It appeared in that era and spread as a successful means against poverty, and because the success of societies comes from a dynamic between classes and a person rises from one class to another by work because it refines morals, and if it were not by work and effort, society would be. He is not adaptive, and the value of the work will be lost, and the one who works will become like the one who does not work, but rather the one who does not work will be better.26
5.2 The beginning of tombs robberies:
The thefts of tombs began a long time ago, and we find several examples from the Old Kingdom, such as the tomb of HETEP-HERES in Dahshur, which appears to have been stolen during the reign of her son Khufu, so his furniture was transported to Giza secretly.
We also find a number of warning texts for those who rob tombs, such as an inscription by the high priest during the reign of MAN-KAW-RAA, "He who loves the king and the god Anubis who is on a mountain peak will not steal the contents of this tomb." Likewise, inscriptions from
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1960 , P.273 .
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the tombs of the princes of the Fifth and Sixth Dynasties, "He will be judged for his actions before the great deity."
Ni-Ankh-Pepi, one of the greats during the reign of Pepi I, also recorded on the walls of his tomb at Saqqara:
Concerning those whose tomb is disturbed, "I will seize their necks like a bird's neck. I will spread in them the terror that was sent in me so that the living can see that they will fear a powerful and active spirit."27
At the end of the Old Kingdom, during the social revolution, the revolutionaries stormed the graves of kings, princes, and senior statesmen, looted them, and tampered with everything in them.
Likewise, the tombs and pyramids of the Middle Kingdom kings were not spared from plundering and looting, despite all the precautions they took to mislead the thieves by changing the usual entrance to the pyramid, the depth of the wells, and the many passages. We take the pyramid of Amenemhat III in Hawara as an example of this, as the thieves succeeded in making a hole in it. The large group arrived at the king's tomb, took what they wanted, and set fire to the entire room in retaliation for the trouble they had incurred, so what was in it was burned, along with the mummy of the king himself.28
Robbery and looting continued throughout the ages. At the end of the reign of Ramesses IX, we find widespread thefts of the royal tombs and public cemeteries, until we find in the sixteenth year of his reign that the thefts were accurately recorded in the Deir el-Medina diary, and the documents indicate the infiltration of a gang of thieves in the ninth year. From the reign of Ramesses IX to the tomb of Ramesses VI, but they disagreed about dividing the spoils, so one of them threatened his colleagues with revealing their secret. They were five thieves who kept coming for four days and then seized all the valuables in it. Then the gangs attacked the tombs of the kings of the seventeenth century and the tombs in the Valley of the Queens. The examination and investigation committees in the tombs also revealed attempts to steal some other tombs, such as the cemetery of "Intef V," "Intef VI," and "Sobek em Saf II," which the thieves entered, looted the jewelry, and set fire to the coffin to distract those who wanted to track them down and hide traces. Their crime, on the other hand, was also the case in the tomb of Queen "Nub Khas." During the reign of "Ramesses of silver, they forcibly removed it from the body, which is one of the most horrific crimes according to the ancient Egyptians.29
6.1 Stolen items and the most famous thieves and merchants:
There were no thefts of tombs during the New Kingdom, except for individual cases, and there is no clear or confirmed evidence about them. We find that many kings during this period took many security measures, including King Merneptah, from whose reign we found ostraca on which texts were engraved regarding the tomb of Merneptah. The preparations that were taken to prepare the tombs gave an idea of the system of guarding the tombs. The guarding of the tombs was in the hands of the police to preserve the valuable furniture in them for fear of thieves tampering with them.30
6.2 Stolen items:
29 Jan Assman , " When Justice fails"
London 1992 ) .
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The looting of tombs and temples in that era was common among the residents of Western Thebes and elsewhere, and that thieves were looting these sacred places, taking care only of their own means of accessing their belongings, whether these places belonged to gods, kings, or wealthy individuals, and all classes participated in these crimes. The people in that region, especially the clergy, who were charged with guarding and preserving those places.31
The most important stolen items are through the tomb robbery papyri, and we will discuss them in general through the Abbott, Amherst, Leopold II, Harris A, and Mayer A papyri, and some papers found in the British Museum. The stolen items were generally wealth represented in funerary relics and amulets. Some of them looted the silver shroud and forcibly removed it from the body, which is one of the most heinous crimes among ancient Egyptians.32
Bronze pots and basins, gold and silver metals, and jewelry buried with the mummies were also stolen. They also stole golden masks, amulets, wooden boxes, clothes, and decorations.33 6.3The most important tombs that were stolen:
Documents indicate that in the ninth year of the reign of Ramesses IX, a gang of thieves infiltrated the tomb of "Sebek-Im-Saf," one of the kings of the Fourteenth Dynasty. In the sixteenth year of the reign of Ramesses IX, as mentioned in the Abbot Papyrus, they stole its funerary furniture, tampered with the mummy of the king and his wife, and took possession of it. On her jewelry and set fire to the tomb.
We were also saddened by the loss of the belongings of the tombs of the great kings of Egypt, such as Hatshepsut, Thutmose III, Amenhotep III, Hur-Im-Heb, Ramesses II, Mern-Ptah, Ramesses III, and others.
Documents and investigations also indicated some other cemeteries, such as the cemeteries of "Antef V" and "Antef VI".34 7.1 Laws and trials:
The law, from the terminological point of view, is a set of general, abstract rules that are binding on individuals in a particular society. However, from the historical, social, and intellectual point of view, it depicts the reality of life in a society, and in a specific period of time, and shows, from the point of view of the legislator, at the very least, a different Aspects of the lives of individuals and groups, private and public, their relationship with each other, their relationship with authority, and their position in relation to each other.
However, through studying the history of ancient Egypt, we cannot use the word law until this moment, but when we shed light on the trials conducted for thieves who committed thefts, most of them were from the tombs of kings, but each case was mostly from the tombs of kings, but each case was examined within the framework of its circumstances. And without there being any regulating rules that have a continuous nature.35
Any theft cannot be examined or investigated without submitting a report. This report dates back to the sixth year of the reign of Ramesses IX, around 1100 BC. There was a conflict between the ruler of Eastern Thebes, "Baser," and the ruler of Western Thebes, and Baser was defeated. In his office on the eastern bank, there is information about a theft occurring in the cemeteries of the western bank in the area supervised by a colleague, "Bu-Raa," the mayor of western Thebes.36
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It is the same report mentioned by the Abbott Papyrus, which talks about the thefts of the tombs of kings and queens during the reign of Ramesses IX. Among the most important of them is the theft of a number of tombs of kings and queens, the most important of whom is Amenhotep I, which Baser, the mayor of Eastern Thebes, hastened to report to the minister, Hwm-waset, the cupbearer of the pharaoh. Nes-Amun, the royal cupbearer, Nefer ka Raa-Mpr-Amun, and the director of the house of the divine worshiper, who in turn sent a committee to investigate without verifying his information about these thefts, but Bu-Raa hurried to submit a report on these thefts so as not to leave an opportunity for "Baser" to report his negligence and columns on Minister Khaa im Wass's support for him.37
We have the report mentioned in the British Museum papyrus "10383", which was submitted by the priest "Amenmu-si" bin Taka, "priest of the temple and secret of Maat-Re-Meri-Amun" in the House of Amun, about the theft of gold and silver from the same temple, and the examination resulted that it was Of the tombs mentioned in the Abbott Papyrus, only the tombs of Shebaksaf and his wife and two tombs of the worshiping female singers were stolen. As for the tombs of individuals, they were all vandalized and a tomb with a pyramid out of nine tombs with pyramids.38
7.2 Investigations and confessions:
The investigation procedures were simple, as the accused appeared before the court, and if he did not confess, he was subjected to torture, either by heating the heel or twisting the arm. The use of these two methods was often successful and made the guilty person change his mind and shout, "Stop, I will say everything." If his next confession was unsatisfactory. He exposes himself to torture a second time, which leads the accused not only to fully confess his role in the incident, but also reveals the names of their accomplices, their share of the spoils, and how he disposed of it. Sometimes one acknowledges with contradictory statements that the accused was questioned, found to be ineligible, and was released. The records do not contain the sentences issued to the guilty party, but the guilty parties swear that they will tell the truth if the punishment is exile to Nubia, or mutilation, or placing them on top of a tree (perhaps it was intended to refer to the impalement), or tying them with a chain.39
Through the report contained in the Abbott Papyrus, it resulted in the formation of a committee to investigate, inspect, inspect, and identify the thefts. This committee was composed of three great princes, namely (the prince of the cemetery, "Bu-Raa," himself, two officers from the police, the minister's writer, and another writer from The treasury administration and two senior priests were assisted by policemen, and the method of investigation was inspection to confirm the facts of the crimes referred to.40
Therefore, the committee was tasked with moving to the western mainland, and they began examining each tomb. After examining the tombs of the kings, the committee moved on to investigating the accusations of the theft of tombs in the Valley of the Queens and in the tombs of the nobles, and it prepared a detailed report on the result of its work.
We had another type of investigation, where the investigator would say what he wanted and then make the accused believe what he said, even if it was forceful. An example of this is "Bikhal from the Abbott Papyrus, where he confessed that he was the one who stole the tomb of
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Isis, the wife of Ramesses III, and it became clear from this papyrus that he He did not do that, and that the person who committed the theft was "Amun bn Mafr," and we also know that from the "Amherst" papyrus.41 CONCLUSION
1- Through our study of the papyri, we concluded that the circumstances that preceded that period were among the most important reasons that led to tomb thefts.
2- Through these papyri, we learned about the weakness of the rulers in that period, which led to social and economic collapse by allowing foreigners to enter the country and enjoy its benefits, which led to workers' strikes in Deir el-Medina, and this caused the thefts of tombs in which senior statesmen and workers were exploited. The kings became weak and stole those tombs.
3- We found some reports and the methods used during investigations to follow up on those reports.
4- Insight into the law in ancient Egypt, which criminalized the theft of tombs, and considered it directed against the Egyptian state.
5- Some laws against the thief include amputation of hands or beatings with a hundred lashes, and sometimes they amount to death, but only in the case of exposure to the body of a dead person.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:
I thank Prof. Joseph Hoffmann (Provost and Vice Rector, Academic Affairs at the "Silk Road" International University of Tourism and Cultural Heritage), and Prof. Mastura Sidikova (Head of Department History and Cultural Heritage at the "Silk Road" International University of Tourism and Cultural Heritage), who supported us and helped us a lot during the season.
REFERENCES
1. Breasted J.H, Geschichte Agyptens Mit Einenbilderanhang Die Agyptische Kunst, Phaidon verlagkoln, Mai , 1960.
2. Eric Peet, The great tomb robberies of twentieth Egyptian dynasty, printed in Great Britain.
3. Jan Assman , " When Justice fails", Jurisdiction and Imprecations in Ancient Egypt and Near East , JEA78 , London 1992 ) .
4. N.Strudwick , Masterpieces of ancient Egypt .
5. The Amharest Papyri, Newberry Percy. E, London 1899.
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fig.1: Abbott papyrus
fig.3: Mayer papyrus
fig.4: Harris papyrus
