Through the Eras

LiteratureB.C.E.). The good includes good character and kindnessaccording to The Teachings for Merykare, The Teachingsof Ptahhotep, and The Teachings of a Man for his Son. Allof these texts remark that good character will be rememberedin the future, while evil men are forgotten.Good character is even more important than good deeds.The stela of a man named Mentuhotep makes this point:“A man’s good character is better than doing a thousanddeeds. People’s testimony is the saying on the lips ofcommoners. His goodness is a man’s monument. Theevil-natured [one] is forgotten.”BASIS FOR THE FUTURE. The earliest autobiographiesinscribed on tomb walls in the Old Kingdom andon stelae during the Middle Kingdom served scribes asthe basis for composing both narratives and teachingsduring the Middle Kingdom. They represent Egyptianauthors’ first experiments with defining justice and thegood. In later narratives, authors both illustrated thesemoral traits and established with the instructional literaturethe best teachings to nurture both the good andthe just within a young man’s character.TJETJI AND TRANSITIONAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY.Tjetji’s autobiography reflects traditions of the late OldKingdom and anticipates the best of Dynasty 11. Itserves as an excellent example of the way autobiographieschanged from the previous time period while still carryingthe tradition forward. It is carved on a stela that isdivided into three unequal fields. At the top is a fourteenline,horizontal, autobiographical inscription readingright to left. The lower left portion depicts Tjetji facingright, in high raised relief, with two members of his staff;a small figure presents offerings before him. The lowerright field is an elaborate, five-line, vertical offeringprayer listing wishes for the afterlife. Tjetji’s autobiographyrevives an Old Kingdom literary tradition nearly200 years after its disappearance. In Tjetji’s era, autobiographiestypically praise provincial leaders’ efforts onbehalf of their provinces. But Tjetji, a court official, returnsto an Old Kingdom theme: the ideal of service tothe king. He makes constant reference to his success atcarrying out the king’s wishes. This ideal continued todominate subsequent autobiographies written during theMiddle Kingdom. Tjetji recounts his service as Overseerof the Seal Bearers of the King to Wahankh Intef II(2065–2016 B.C.E.) and Nakht-neb-tep-nefer Intef III(2016–2008 B.C.E.), establishing for historians the orderof these kings. Tjetji also describes the borders of theTheban kingdom just before the reunification of Egyptunder Nebhepetre Mentuhotep II (2008–1957 B.C.E.).These borders stretch from Elephantine in the south toAbydos in the north. The text is limited in length by thesize of the stela, unlike later, extended autobiographiescarved on tomb walls. Yet Tjetji’s use of the Egyptianlanguage is striking and eloquent. Ronald J. Leprohon,the Canadian Egyptologist, suggested that this elaboratelanguage, structured in tight grammatical patterns, derivesfrom the deceased’s own efforts to attain the ancientEgyptian ideal of “perfect speech.” Tjetji’s stelaclearly demonstrates the high standards of language thathad been established in Thebes before political unificationwith Lower Egypt. These standards and their connectionto the previous period of political unity perhapspoint toward the early Eleventh Dynasty’s conscious politicalplans for reunifying the country.SOURCESJan Assmann, “Der literarische Aspekt des ägyptischenGrabes und sein Funktion im Rahmen des ‘monumentalenDiskurses,’” in Ancient Egyptian Literature: Historyand Forms. Ed. Antonio Loprieno (Leiden, Netherlands:E. J. Brill, 1996): 97–104.Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Autobiographies Chieflyof the Middle Kingdom: A Study and an Anthology(Freiburg & Göttingen: Universitätsverlag, 1988):39–45.—, Moral Values in Ancient Egypt (Fribourg, Switzerland:University of Fribourg Press, 1997).SEE ALSO Philosophy: Maat; Religion: The KingPESSIMISTIC LITERATUREREFLECTING ON CHAOS. The exact cause of the collapseof the central government at the end of the OldKingdom between 2170 and 2130 B.C.E. remains thesubject of debate. Nevertheless, it is clear that the centralgovernment located in Memphis gradually surrenderedits control to local rulers of the provinces duringthis forty-year period. From 2130 to about 2003 B.C.E.,Egypt experienced decentralized, local government witheach province ruled separately by local noble families.This is the period Egyptologists call the First IntermediatePeriod. When Mentuhotep II restored the centralgovernment about 2008 B.C.E., the newly re-establishedcentral bureaucracy, composed of the literate class, generateda literature sometimes called the literature of pessimism.The theme of these works, mostly composed inthe early Twelfth Dynasty, is a reproach or accusationagainst the gods for allowing chaotic conditions betweenthe end of the Old Kingdom and the establishment ofthe Middle Kingdom. The texts include laments aboutthe insecure state of society and nature, and assert thehopelessness of discussing these problems. In general, the128 Arts and Humanities Through the Eras: Ancient Egypt (2675 B.C.E.–332 B.C.E.)