Capital punishment in Egypt can be traced back to the ancient Egyptian civilization, where the death penalty was carried out against those who broke the Ma'at, a law which forbade crimes such as murder, theft, sacrilege, attempts on the life of the Pharaoh, and spying. Methods of execution included beheading, sacrifice, and drowning in the Nile in a closed sack. According to Amnesty International, the death penalty in Egypt is currently reserved for crimes under anti-terrorism legislation, as well as "premeditated murder, rape and drug related offences." There are currently two methods of execution in Egypt. The first and more commonly used is hanging (the gallows), which is used on civilian criminals. The second is the firing squad, which is specifically used for soldiers and military personnel who commit capital crimes.
In addition, capital punishment can also be meted out for high treason.
Famous quotes containing the words capital punishment, capital, punishment and/or egypt:
“Capital punishment kills immediately, whereas lifetime imprisonment does so slowly. Which executioner is more humane? The one who kills you in a few minutes, or the one who wrests your life from you in the course of many years?”
—Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)
“Woman—with a capital letter—should by now have ceased to be a specialty. There should be no more need of “movements” on her behalf, and agitations for her advancement and development ... than for the abolition of negro slavery in the United States.”
—Marion Harland (1830–1922)
“Going to the opera, like getting drunk, is a sin that carries its own punishment with it.”
—Hannah More (1745–1833)
“It is evident, from their method of propagation, that a couple of cats, in fifty years, would stock a whole kingdom; and if that religious veneration were still paid them, it would, in twenty more, not only be easier in Egypt to find a god than a man, which Petronius says was the case in some parts of Italy; but the gods must at last entirely starve the men, and leave themselves neither priests nor votaries remaining.”
—David Hume (1711–1776)