Death Without Dishonour:

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1 Death Without Dishonour: Suicide as Punishment in the Judicial Sources of the New Kingdom Ahmad Abo el Magd Minia University Abstract: Suicide as a type of capital punishment in ancient Egyptian judicial sources of the New Kingdom- has been a much debated subject. Supported by data referring to guilty high rank condemned persons in the judicial papyri from the New Kingdom being forced to suicide, this paper argues that suicide, namely permitting the condemned to take his own life as a penalty, was a method of execution used as a capital punishment for some persons in ancient Egypt. This paper discusses the concept of suicide in ancient Egypt, the reasons that force someone to commit suicide, the motivations that encouraged the condemned to put an end to his own life, the differentiation between those who were executed and those who were allowed to commit suicide, the ancient Egyptian attitude towards suicide and the relation between suicide and the afterlife. Keywords: Suicide - capital punishment - Turin judicial papyri Harem conspiracy Introduction: Throughout history, suicide has been both condemned and condoned by various societies. It is generally condemned by Islam, Judaism, and Christianity, and suicide attempts are punishable by law in many countries. (1) This paper about suicide as punishment in the judicial papyri of the New Kingdom proposes suicide as an alternative to dishonour according to the differentiation between those who were executed and those who were allowed to commit suicide by leaving them in the court to take their own life. (2) Those persons who condemned guilty and worthy capital punishment, by impalement, fire or decapitation, but because of their higher status than the other executed guilty criminals, they had the option of keeping their own status by allowing them to take their own lives. (3) Definition: There are many definitions for suicide, regardless to the motivation, totally define it as the act of intentionally taking one s own life. (4) Here are examples of these definitions: Suicide is the act or an instance of intentionally killing oneself. (5) Suicide is defined as the intentional taking of one's own life. (6) Discussion: The taking of one s own life is the most drastic step one can imagine ever taking. It can be the result of moment s impulse or deep and prolonged thought. Likewise, suicide can be completely conscious and well-planned or the result of unconscious, extreme risk- taking behaviour. The Egyptian archaeology yielded very faintest hint even of the possibility that Egyptian suicides were treated as exceptional. The faintness nevertheless glows brighter with papyri. From these we learn of the presence both of suicide, and of an intelligent consciousness of it, in the Egyptian black hole, very rare though one expert estimates actual suicides to have been. (7) One reference mentions persons of despair threw themselves to crocodiles; another, of those who drowned themselves; yet another, reveal that the famous Cleopatra VII was not the first great, highly placed Egyptian to have committed suicide. (8) There is no direct archaeological evidence for suicide in ancient Egypt nor for any discriminatory treatment of people who died at their own hand; archaeologists may more cautiously speak of there being few physical clues in tombs to treatment of suicide as exceptional. (9) 1

2 The textual sources of Suicide: There are many approaches to suicide: some consider suicide as a response to social pressures, other- as the approach of this paper, focused on the legal, judicial approach, i.e. suicide as an alternative of dishonour allowed for some condemned persons to put an end to their lives. Suicide as a response of social pressure: Most of the available material regarding the legal aspects of life in ancient Egypt pertains to contracts and other legal documents, as well as to literary works not directly connected with the legal system. (10) The reference to suicide in ancient Egypt is so scarce that the long history of ancient Egypt yields records of just a handful of suicides. Excluding the reference to suicide in the judicial papyri of the late Ramesside period, there are only two known references to suicide where suicide was a response of social pressure: the Dispute of a Man with His Ba or The Man Who is Tired of Life (11) and The Tale of the Eloquent Peasant. (12) They are ultimately about the advisability of suicide, although the idea of suicide is often implicit rather than openly stated. (13) The main concern of both texts is that there is much to be enjoyed in the present life and the pleasures of the afterlife can be enjoyed in due time, when the one s life is over to start another life after death that offers many pleasures that one must grasp even in the midst of troubles. (14) It is probably no coincidence that so many ancient cultures, such as Assyrian, Babylonian, Greek and Roman, reserved an attractive afterlife for those who lived a righteous life. (15) Suicide in the judicial sources: The main reference of suicide as punishment in the judicial sources is the detailed account of the assassination attempt on Ramesses III known as the Harem Conspiracy. We learn about the conspiracy trials and punishments from three documents: Papyrus Lee, Papyrus Rollin, and the Turin Judicial Papyrus. (16) The former two seem to be brief summaries of small parts of the trial. The latter is a long account of who was investigated and the ensuing punishments. After the mention of the first group of conspirators: those twelve, six men and six women, who were executed for their effort in the plot to kill Ramesses III beside twelve men who had prior knowledge of the plot but had failed to report or concealed it. (17) Another group of six men were accused of collaborating with the original group of conspirators who, after being found guilty, they were left alone in the court where, the text continues: iw.f mwt.n.f Hr Ds.f bw irit DAyt r.f each took his own life, no one had harmed them. (18) The third group to be tried contained one man who had been in collusion, and three who had known of the conspiracy but had not reported it. All of these took their own lives. (19) A fourth group was accused because they had forsaken the good instructions given to them; the women had gone; they reached them at the place where they were; they caroused with them and with Pays. All four of these men were punished by having their noses and ears cut off. One of them, a butler, This punishment was executed upon him; he was left alone; he took his own life. (20) 2

3 It should be noted that Conspirator Pa-bak-kamen is described in Papyrus Rollin as one of those who killed himself: And when he understood that those offences which he had done were worthy of death, he brought death to himself, (21) while in the Judicial Papyrus of Turin he is said to have been executed: they examined his crimes; they found that he had committed them; his crimes seized him; the officials who examined him caused his punishment to overtake him. (22) The most likely reason for this is scribal confusion. It may also be due to an intended punishment being recorded in one text, and then a surprise suicide being recorded in another. The reasons to force someone to commit suicide: There are several issues to deal with in the trial documents of the Harem Conspiracy. The first is the question of why the people involved had to die? Treason or conspiracy against the king was a capital offense punishable with death because it was a clear threat for MAat as the king was the mediator who could establish Maat for both the gods and mankind. (23) It is obvious that the conspiracy against King Ramesses III was against the person who embodies the Maat, an obvious act according to isfet and was a clear crime against the correct social order. In the Judicial Papyrus of Turin each person accused before the council was described as a xrw aa "great enemy". (24) This description is an apt term for one who literally made himself an enemy of order. Papyrus Lee contains the most specific wording as to how the Egyptians themselves viewed this attack on order. It has already been noted that such conspiracy was: bwt ntr nb ntrt nb (t) "the abomination of every god and every goddess". (25) ; furthermore, they were bwt aa pa ta "great abominations of the land. (26) The motivations that encouraged the condemned to put an end to his own life: Now it is the time of the other question: why would one commit suicide? or in other words: what were motivations that encouraged the condemned to put an end to his own life? The Papyrus Rollin provides insight into the that question. There it is recorded that when one criminal was found guilty: iw.f btaw a Ay n mwt n bwt aayn pa ta na irt.f xr ir sw maa m na btaw aay mwt i.t.f iw.f mwt.n.f Ds.f 3

4 Offenses worthy of death, and a great abomination for the land was that which he had done. When he saw that which he had done were great offences worthy of death, he killed himself for his own sake. (27) The text would suggests that upon this criminal's realization of the atrocity of his crime including its abominable effect for the whole country he wanted to take his own life. Of course the realities behind individual situations may have been less simple than this. For example, the man who had not been condemned to die but had lost his ears and nose, and then had committed suicide, may have had several motives. The realization of the odiousness of the crime may have played a part. Perhaps he could not bear the thought of living with the shame of the involvement, or may be with the ignominy of his defacement. Or it may have been that the pain resulting from his mutilation was literally too great for him to live with. The differentiation between those who were executed and those who were allowed to commit suicide. The judicial papyri, also, reveal an important question: why were some allowed to do so while some were executed? The question of differentiation between those who were executed and those who were allowed to commit suicide is more complex. Even the inquiry reveals a presumption that it was better to commit suicide than to be killed by another. Bedell has postulated just this idea, that it was more honourable to commit suicide. (28) Bedell has also argued that because of this, suicide was reserved for those of a higher rank. (29) The evidence does not seem to support Bedell s argument. Among those executed were butlers, a chief of the chamber, an overseer of the royal harem, a scribe of the king's harem, several inspectors of the royal harem, a scribe of the White House, an overseer of the White House, and a captain of the archers in Nubia, and several members of the harem. Among those who committed suicide were a general of the army, a few scribes of the house of sacred writings, an overseer of the [house] of Sekhmet, butlers, a royal son, a deputy of the harem, and a scribe of the royal harem. While the prince was notably of a higher status than others, most of the ranks between the groups are essentially equal. It is especially hard to espouse Bedell's argument in the face of a matching group of butlers, scribes, and harem officials among both those who were executed and those who committed suicide. Bedell also felt that suicide was allowed to some because it was unfitting for someone of a higher rank to be condemned to death by someone of a lower rank. (30) It could be hypothesized that the deciding factor was the nature of a person's involvement in the conspiracy not his social status. This idea is also insupportable. From both groups we find people who were actively involved in the conspiracy and those who heard about it and failed to report it. McDowell has summed up the conundrum well. The two groups appear to have been equally culpable and of equally high rank, and both included active conspirators as well as others who merely knew of the conspiracy and failed to report it. (31) Also suicide may be an option offered to a group of conspirators of high status, including minor wives, concubines and high officials in the court also may be to avoid political turmoil due to the powerful families of the people involved. (32) Attitudes towards suicide Sources about ancient Egyptian attitudes towards suicide are few and ambiguous, which leads some to call them varied. (33) Some claim that suicide was seen as a humane way to escape intolerable hardship and depression, (34) while there are those who think that it was forbidden. (35) The claim has been made that suicides cut themselves off from the gods. (36) If that had been so, the peasant in the Tale of the Eloquent Peasant who threatened to take his complaint before Anubis, i.e. 4

5 to commit suicide and then ask Osiris for justice at his Judgment of the Dead, which might well have repercussions for a magistrate refusing to mete out justice, (37) would hardly have done so, nor would the magistrate have taken the threat seriously. Though the fact that some condemned conspirators against Ramses III were given the option of killing themselves, when others, apparently less favoured, suffered a terrible death probably by impalement which is thought to have prevented them from entering eternal life, may be considered evidence that suicides were still able to enjoy afterlife. (38) The greatest danger threatening the deceased in the afterlife, was the second death by obliteration of his individual existence. This second death threat in particular the destruction or the capture of Ba and shadows that would be prevented from using, to unite with the body. (39) The ancient Egyptians probably had the idea that killing by spearing the body by the fixed pole, the impalement, not only punish the offender but held at the same time his soul and his shadow to the ground so the Ba and shadow lost the ability to leave the body of the offender, which was a precondition for his afterlife. (40) Do the papyri, more eloquent than the tombs, give any hint of it? More than one of the suicide allusions do suggest that suicide was believed to hinder a soul s progress after death, and to constitute a corresponding disqualification from proper burial. (41) The author of the man who is tired of life underlines the ultimate transience even of tombs, as if neutralizing, in himself, a fear that his suicide might exclude him from: those who built in granite and constructed halls in goodly pyramids with fine work, when the builders became gods their stelae were destroyed, like the weary ones who died on the riverbank through lack of survivor [to bury them]. (42) Conclusion: Unlike many approaches to suicide which consider suicide as a response to social pressures, this paper focused on the legal, judicial approach, i.e. suicide as an alternative of dishonour allowed for some condemned persons to put an end to their lives. The reference to suicide in ancient Egypt is so scarce that the long history of ancient Egypt yields records of just a handful of suicides. Unlike the reference to suicide in the earlier sources to suicide like the Dispute of a Man with His Ba or The Man Who is Tired of Life and The Tale of the Eloquent Peasant where the idea of suicide is often implicit rather than openly stated, the judicial papyri of the Ramesside Period gave a clear reference to suicide as an option permitted to some guilty high rank condemned persons to take their own lives as a penalty. It is clear that suicide was a method of execution used as a capital punishment for some persons in ancient Egypt as an alternative of dishonour. The main reason to force the condemned guilty conspirators is that conspiracy against the king was a clear threat for Maat as the king was the mediator who could establish Maat for both the gods and mankind to the extent that the Judicial Papyrus of Turin described each person accused before the council as a "great enemy". There were many motivations behind one s decision to commit suicide: the realization of the odiousness of the crime, he could not bear the thought of living with the shame of the involvement in the conspiracy, or may be with the ignominy of his defacement when would be punished with cutting his ears and nose. Or it may have been that the pain resulting from his destiny to be punished with impalement or his mutilation was literally too great for him to live with. Scholars suggest many arguments about the differentiation criteria between those who were who were executed and those who were allowed to commit suicide: some proposed that high rank of the guilty conspirators was the criteria because it was unfitting for someone of a higher rank to be condemned to death by someone of a lower rank. It could be hypothesized that the 5

6 deciding factor was the nature of a person's involvement in the conspiracy not his social status. Also suicide may be an option offered to a group of conspirators of high status, including minor wives, concubines and high officials in the court also may be to avoid political turmoil due to the powerful families of the people involved. Suicide was believed to hinder a soul s progress after death that suicides cut the persons who commit suicide from the gods, and to constitute a corresponding disqualification from proper burial. So the person who commit suicide will live the state of death without an opportunity to live in the afterlife. While the ancient Egyptians suffered a lot in their lives but suicide was very scarce that they were pious people and, according to the texts of The Man Who is Tired of Life and The Tale of the Eloquent Peasant, the pleasures of the afterlife can be enjoyed in due time, when the one s life is over to start another life after death that offers many pleasures that one must grasp even in the midst of troubles. 6

7 Bibliography Baumgarten, A. I. (eds.) (1998). Self, Soul, and Body in Religious Experience, Brill. Bedell, E. D. (1985). Criminal Law in the Egyptian Ramesside Period, PhD Dissertation, Brandies University. Boochs, W. (1983). "Uber den Starfzweck despfählens", in GM 69, 7-10 Breasted J. (1912). Development of religion and thought in ancient Egypt, New York: Charles Scribner's & Sons. debuck, A. (1937). "The Judicial Papyrus of Turin", JEA 23, no. 2, Devéria, D. (1867). "Le Papyrus judiciaire de Turin et les papyrus Lee et Rollin", Journal Asiatique 10; McCormick, D., (1964).The unseen killer; a study of suicide: its history, causes and cures, Muller. Erich H. Loewy, (1989).Textbook of medical ethics, Springer. Erman A.(1966). The ancient Egyptians: a source book of their writings, New York: Harper Torch books. Goedicke, H. (1963)."Was Magic Used in the Harem Conspiracy Against Ramesses III?" JEA 49, 71-92, pls. X and XI. Holland, G. (2009). Gods in the Desert, religions of the Ancient Near East, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, USA. Hornung, E., (1968). Altagyptische Hollenvorstellungen (AbhLeipzig 59, fascicle 3). Lorton, D. (1977)."The Treatment of Criminals in Ancient Egypt", JESHO 20, McDowell, A. G. (2001). "Crimes and Punishment" in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, ed. Donald B. Redford, London, Oxford University Press. Muhlestein, K. (2003). Violence in the Service of Order: The Religious Framework of Sanctioned Killing in Ancient Egypt, PhD dissertation, University of California at Los Angeles. Murray, A., (2000), Suicide in the Middle Ages: Vol. II: The curse on self-murder, Oxford University Press, p Oldroyd, M. H.; Held, E. F. (1989). Suicide: The Hidden Epidemic, CompCare. Schlichting, R., (1984) Selbstmord, in LÄ 5, col Selin, H., (ed.), (1997) Encyclopaedia of the history of science, technology, and medicine in nonwestern cultures, Springer. Shupak, N.( 1992). A New Source for the Study of the Judiciary and Law of Ancient Egypt: "The Tale of the Eloquent Peasant", in JNES Vol. 51, No. 1 (Jan., 1992),1-18 Taylor, J. H. (2001). Death and the Afterlife in Ancient Egypt, British Museum Press. Thomas, C. (1980). First Suicide Note?, in The British Medical Journal, Vol. 281, No (Jul. 26, 1980), Whelan, C. F., (1993)."Suicide in the Ancient World: A Re-Examination of Matthew 27:3-10" in Laval théologique et philosophique, vol. 49, n 3, Web Sites:

8 1 2 Judicial Papyrus of Turn, V.6. 3 Bedell, E. D. (1985). Criminal Law in the Egyptian Ramesside Period, PhD Dissertation, Brandies University, 169; McDowell, A. G. (2001). "Crimes and Punishment" in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, ed. Donald B. Redford, London, Oxford University Press, Schlichting, R., (1984) Selbstmord, in LÄ 5, col Murray, A., (2000), Suicide in the Middle Ages: Vol. II: The curse on self-murder, Oxford University Press, p ibid 10 Shupak, N.( 1992). A New Source for the Study of the Judiciary and Law of Ancient Egypt: "The Tale of the Eloquent Peasant", in JNES Vol. 51, No. 1 (Jan., 1992), p Thomas, C. (1980). First Suicide Note?, in The British Medical Journal, Vol. 281, No (Jul. 26, 1980), pp Erman A.(1966). The ancient Egyptians: a source book of their writings, New York: Harper Torch books, pp ; Breasted J. (1912). Development of religion and thought in ancient Egypt, New York: Charles Scribner's & Sons, Thomas, C. (1980). First Suicide Note?, op.cit, ; Shupak, N., A New Source for the Study of the Judiciary and Law of Ancient Egypt: "The Tale of the Eloquent Peasant", op.cit., pp Holland, G. (2009). Gods in the Desert, religions of the Ancient Near East, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, USA, Whelan, C. F., (1993)"Suicide in the Ancient World: A Re-Examination of Matthew 27:3-10" in Laval théologique et philosophique, vol. 49, n 3, Published in Devéria, D. (1867). "Le Papyrus judiciaire de Turin et les papyrus Lee et Rollin", Journal Asiatique 10; de Buck, A. (1937). "The Judicial Papyrus of Turin", JEA 23, no. 2, pp Papyri Lee and Rollin reproduced in Goedicke, H. (1963)."Was Magic Used in the Harem Conspiracy Against Ramesses III?" JEA 49, pls. X and XI. 17 debuck, A., op. cit, Judicial Papyrus of Turn, VI.6. See also ibid., Judicial Papyrus of Turin, V Judicial Papyrus of Turin, VI.2; de Buck, A., op. cit, Goedicke, H., op. cit, p de Buck, A., "The Judicial Papyrus of Turin", Lorton, D. (1977)."The Treatment of Criminals in Ancient Egypt", JESHO 20, p De Buck, de Buck, A., "The Judicial Papyrus of Turin", IV 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, pp Papyrus Lee 1,7: Goedicke, H., op. cit, p. 78 and plate XI. 26 Papyrus Lee 2.3-4: ibid. 27 Papyrus Rollin, lines 4-5: ibid p. 72 and plate X. 28 Bedell, E. D. (1985). Criminal Law in the Egyptian Ramesside Period, op.cit ibid. 30 ibid McDowell, A. G. (2001). "Crimes and Punishment" in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, op.cit, Muhlestein, K. (2003). Violence in the Service of Order: The Religious Framework of Sanctioned Killing in Ancient Egypt, PhD dissertation, University of California at Los Angeles, Oldroyd, M. H.; Held, E. F. (1989). Suicide: The Hidden Epidemic, CompCare, Donald McCormick (1964).The unseen killer; a study of suicide: its history, causes and cures, Muller, Selin, H., (ed.), (1997) Encyclopaedia of the history of science, technology, and medicine in non-western cultures, Springer, Erich H. Loewy, (1989).Textbook of medical ethics, Springer, Baumgarten, A. I. (eds.) (1998). Self, soul, and body in religious experience, Brill, Taylor, J. H. (2001). Death and the afterlife in ancient Egypt, British Museum Press, Hornung, E., (1968). Altagyptische Hollenvorstellungen (AbhLeipzig 59, fascicle 3), Boochs, W. (1983). "Uber den Starfzweck despfählens", in GM 69, Schlichting, R., (1984) Selbstmord, in LÄ 5, col Murray, A., 2000). Suicide in the Middle Agesop. cit,

Impalement in ancient Egypt

Impalement in ancient Egypt Ahmad Abo el Magd Minia University Abstract: Impalement as a type of capital punishment in ancient Egypt- has been a much debated subject. Supported by a number of documents