GOVERNMENT AND ADM IN I STRATION. has been conjectured that the nomes or provinces of ancient Egypt represent the remains of a number of independent States which, in course of time, were brought together under a central authority. It is not improbable that such a condition actually existed, but, if so. it must have been at a very remote period of antiquity. Long before the be ginning of the historical period Egypt had ad vanced to another stage of political development, and consisted of two kingdoms, the Delta and the South, with their frontier not far from Memphis. These two kingdoms were united into a single monarchy before the time of the earliest monu ments; but the memory of the union was pre served in the titles of the Egyptian kings down to the period of Roman dominion. As in other Oriental countries, the Government of Egypt was, in theory at least, an absolute despotism; the will of the King was law. But in practice this was modified by various circumstances. At times, for example, the great nobles became al most independent of the Crown, and the central power was correspondingly abridged; and later the ecclesiastical power encroached upon the royal prerogative until it filially usurped the whole authority.
Under the Old Empire the Government of Egypt was organized on the basis of a great bureaucracy. The various governmental depart ments, at the head of which stood that of the Treasury, were systematically arranged and there was a regular gradation of officials, each in trusted with specific duties, and each directly responsible to his immediate superior. The nomes, however, occupied a somewhat peculiar position. Each nome had, to a large extent, its own internal admistration, and formed a copy in miniature of the State. It had its own treasury, its own courts of justice. and its own militia. The nomarchs, or rulers of nomes, were the heads of ancient noble families possessing large landed estates and numerous special privileges. In the troubled period which followed the close of the Old Empire they took advantage of the weakness of the central power to make themselves prac tically independent princes. In this way there arose a feudal system similar to that which pre vailed in medheval Europe. The nomarehs of the Middle Empire acknowledged the King as their suzerain, hut they were no longer his ser vants. Amenemhat I., the founder of the Twelfth Dynasty, was partly successful in his effort to curb the power of these haughty nobles; but he was never able to bring them into complete sub jection, and they maintained their power and their privileges down to the time of the Ilyksos War. But though the bureauerat ie State of the Old Empire gave way to the feudal State of the Middle Empire. there was little change in the ex
ternal form of the Government. the Treasury Department. at least, with its numerous and varied administrative functions, remained un changed.
The Eighteenth Dynasty established a new order of things. The old turbulent nobility had been swept away in the Ilyksos wars, their es tates had fallen into the hands of the Crown, and the 'Ionics were administered by royal governors. The feudal system of the Middle Empire gave way to a highly centralized military government. At the same time there was another nnpurtant feature. Coder the New Empire the priestly class rose greatly in importance. The immense booty derived from the Asiatic wars was lavished upon the temples, which at the same time ac quired extensive landed estates. This was nota bly the ease with priests of the god Ammon of Thebes, and the great WC:I 1 Lb thus accumulated gave the Theban hierarchy so overwhelming an influence that they were at last able to overthrow the royal authority, and to establish a priestly dynasty (the Twenty-first), ruling upon theo cratic principles. In the meantime, the army, largely composed of mercenary troops, had gained in power and importance. Many of the chief offices of the State fell into the hands of mili tary officials, and filially the Libyan mercenaries under Sheshonk drove out the priest-kings, and established Dynasty Twenty-two.
From a very early period the system of laws was highly developed, and the administration of justice played an important part in the State. Diodorns states that the Egyptians possessed sacred books of laws the composition of which they ascribed to the god Thoth, and that other laws were enacted by various monarchs. No col lections of laws have been preserved, though a number of papyri give information as to legal procedure in particular cases, both civil and criminal. Each name had its own court over which the nomarch presided. There were also under the Old Empire six courts of wider juris diction, known as the 'Six Great Houses,' com posed of high nobles with the Vizier at their head as chief justice. Under the New Empire, the Vizier was still the chief justice by virtue of his office, but the institution of the 'Six Great Houses' no longer existed. There were, however, district courts throughout the land. They were composed of certain high officials, and the Gov ernor of the district usually presided. From the decision of these courts there was an appeal to the King. The judges were at all periods under the special protection of Ma't, the goddess of truth and right; they wore her image when on the bench, and many, if not all of them, were her priests.