Abstract
The preserved documents attesting to the spread and nature of corruption in ancinet Egypt indicate that it was an omnipresent phenomenon. Egypt seems to have witnessed higher levels of corruption above all in times that were characterized by a high level of political instability (the end of the Old and especially New Kingdoms, intermediate periods, the time immediately following the so-called Amarna revolution).
At the same time, there is a noticeable concentration of evidence in areas distant from the centre(s) of administration – at the very south of Egypt on Elephantine and at Deir el-Madina, which was run mostly by its own administration, the royal residence being located in the Nile Delta. But these data have to be read with care.
The temple archive at Elephantine and Deir el-Medina are the best documented sites of ancient Egypt and the fact that most of our evidence of corruption in Egypt comes from there may be mere coincidence. It would seem that the only remedy against corruptin in Egypt was strict control on several levels – but corruption was never fully eradicated, but at times of political stability and stong central government, it could be held in acceptable levels.