The Mayer Papyri are Ancient Egyptian documents that contain records of court proceedings held in the first year of the reign of Ramesses X. A panel consisting of the vizier of the South and three high officials cross-examined suspects charged with tomb robbery at Deir el-Bahri (cf. also the Abbott Papyrus and the Amherst Papyrus). The interrogation of both suspects and witnesses was preceded by a bastinado and an oath in the name of the king was administered.
The confessions of the six suspects were corroborated by the testimony of the chief of police of the Theban Necropolis and other witnesses, among them the son of one of the thieves who had died in the meantime. This witness had been a child at the time of the crime; still, he was beaten when he was being examined, as was a female witness.
While the ancient Egyptian judicial system was quite brutal and biased against the accused, a verdict of guilty was not a foregone conclusion: The Mayer Papyri record the discharge of five men who had been found to be innocent.
Famous quotes containing the word mayer:
“I had a long day’s work, starting at eight in the morning and ending after nine at night, but in those days [we] ... did not think of our day in terms of hours. We liked our work, we were proud to do it well, and I am afraid that we were very, very happy.”
—Louie Mayer (b. c. 1914)