The emergence of law in ancient Egypt: The role of Maat

Abstract

In this article, the emergence of ancient Egyptian law out of religion and specifi cally arising from the concept of maat is discussed, as well as the important role played by religion, and specifi cally maat, in the ancient Egyptians' understanding and development of the law. An attempt is made to indicate that the ancient Egyptians indeed had law and to explain what the ancient Egyptians understood by law, followed by a discussion of the development of ancient Egyptian law and key jurisprudence elements of ancient Egyptian law.