Edict of Horemheb

The Edict of Horemheb, or Great Edict of Horemheb, is an ancient Egyptian legal text inscribed in hieroglyphics on sandstone in the name of Horemheb, the last pharaoh of Egypt's Eighteenth Dynasty, and dictated directly to his scribes. The Egyptologist Gaston Maspero discovered the inscription, damaged with roughly a third of its text missing, near the temple complex of Karnak's tenth pylon in February or March 1882. Issued to address corruption that had spread through Egypt under Horemheb's predecessors, the edict sets out penalties for officials who abuse their authority, including beatings, exile, rhinotomy (the removal of the nose) and death, alongside harsh penalties for army misconduct and measures for personal security and judicial reform; Horemheb also raised government salaries in an attempt to reduce the financial pressure that had been driving officials toward corruption, appointed regional judges and forbade bribery.