This paper investigates two New Kingdom Egyptian texts pertaining to labour regulation: the Karnak Decree of Horemheb and the Nauri Decree of Seti I. They focus on combating the unauthorized diverting of manpower and represent the oldest Egyptian texts (fourteenth–thirteenth century BCE) explicitly concerned with the legal dimension of managing the workforce. After a brief historical overview, the paper outlines each text's key content and stylistic features. It shows that while some of these are likely native to Egypt, others may have been imported from Mesopotamia. More specifically, it appears that the sentence structure is native Egyptian, but the sanctions deployed are likely of foreign origin, aligning more closely to the contemporary punitive tradition of Mesopotamia. This is probably no coincidence, given the close contact between Egypt and the broader Near East at that time. This uptake of foreign ideas may have achieved more efficient labour regulation by enforcing stricter rules for non-compliance while simultaneously maintaining a veneer of Egyptian authenticity in line with official state ideology.

本文调查了与劳动法规有关的两部新王国埃及文本：Horemheb 的 Karnak 法令和 Seti I 的 Nauri 法令。它们侧重于打击未经授权的人力转移，代表了明确关注的最古老的埃及文本（公元前十四至十三世纪）与管理劳动力的法律层面。在简要回顾历史之后，本文概述了每个文本的主要内容和文体特征。它表明，虽然其中一些可能原产于埃及，但其他一些可能是从美索不达米亚进口的。更具体地说，句子结构似乎是土生土长的埃及人，但部署的制裁可能来自外国，更接近于当代美索不达米亚的惩罚传统。这应该不是巧合，鉴于当时埃及与更广泛的近东之间的密切联系。通过对违规行为执行更严格的规则，同时保持与官方国家意识形态一致的埃及真实性的外表，这种对外国思想的吸收可能已经实现了更有效的劳动监管。