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[German version] I. Ancient Near East see Divination Römer, Malte (Berlin) [German version] II. Egypt From the New Kingdom to the Roman Period, the oracle is one of the forms of divination. An oracle was the questioning in written or oral form of the deity, mostly performed by a mediating priest. Normally, this took place during religious festivals (Festivals; Feasts), when the cult image of the deity was carried out of the inner sanctuary. Oracles within the inner sanctuary were rare and only limited to kings…

[German version] I. Ancient Near East The Sumerian-Akkadian terminology regarding punishment and criminal law implies that in Mesopotamia, this was already understood to be a consequence of mischief [1. 77 with note 35], directed either against the divine order [2] or the (state-sanctioned) political and social structures [3]. The same is true of Egypt [4. 68]. There was no distinction between civil and criminal law in the modern sense. The relationship between private law and so-called public law (an…

[German version] I. Mesopotamia Income needed to finance tasks of state and general social functions (administration, the military, irrigation, prestige buildings, the court, cults, etc.) did not come from an all-embracing system of taxation levied on individuals, transactions or property, but on a general duty of service and labour on the part of subjects. Under the oikos economy (3rd millennium BC), the palace’s income came predominantly from the domestic operation of the institutional economies of temple and palace. In the tribute-based economy da…