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top of one another. They often regulate themselves without even noticing, having no physical place for concealment, nor even the mental space for anything much in the way of private thoughts. We should recall this whenever we find ourselves making contemptuous use of the word “primitive.” Peoples who pursue such stone-age lifestyles may know nothing of cars or computers, but they know nothing of crime or greed either. All that changed for our distant ancestors with the “Neolithic revolution,” when the domestication of certain animal and plant species encouraged communities to settle down in one place as the first farmers. This enabled the systematic accumu- lation of “riches” in the form of surplus resources, the beginning of differences in wealth and influence. Many evils stemmed from this, from envy and exploitation to robbery and murder. One of the most curious ironies of human history is that we seem to have been at our most “civilized” (in the sense of being humane and generous) in our most “savage” state. It was only when we started building larger communities and states, with such trappings of “civilization” as art and learning and more elaborate religious creeds that we began to reveal our more aggressive, unpleasant side. Hence, the need for bodies of law to keep societies in line and the need to back these laws up with a variety of punishments.

Ox-horned Hathor, goddess of the sky, and the hawk-headed Horus, protector of the pharaoh, both owed homage to the great Osiris, ancient Egyptian god of judgment and the underworld.

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THE HISTORY OF PUNISHMENT