Through the Eras

LiteratureBerlin and in the British Museum in London. There arealso many fragments, a copy on a leather roll, threewooden tablets and over 100 ostraca (copies on potsherdsand limestone chips). This text must have been one ofthe most widely read of ancient Egyptian compositionssince so many copies exist. In the text, King AmenemhetI advises King Senwosret I not to trust anyone. Amenemhetsuggests that he was assassinated in spite of hisgood deeds throughout his life. The discourse is surprisinglypessimistic.THE TEACHINGS OF PTAHHOTEP. The author ofThe Teachings of Ptahhotep composed it during the MiddleKingdom, probably during the Twelfth Dynasty(1938–1759 B.C.E.). The author set the text during thereign of King Djedkare Isesy (2415–2371 B.C.E.) duringthe Old Kingdom, approximately 400 years before hisown time. Scribes continued to copy the text into theNineteenth Dynasty (1292–1190 B.C.E.). Four copies onpapyrus have survived to modern times along with fiveostraca and a wooden writing board. This evidence suggeststhat this text was widely read for over 600 years inancient Egyptian schools. The author composed 37 maxims,including both rules of conduct and proverbs. Thetheme throughout the text is the proper conduct thatwill lead to success in life. The narrator, Ptahhotep, arguesthat following these maxims will result both in successand in justice. Yet many of the maxims strike amodern reader as banal; one rule, for example, suggeststhat at the dinner table it is best to wait to serve yourselfuntil after your boss is served.TEACHINGS FOR MERYKARE. This text might havebeen composed during the First Intermediate Period(2130–2008 B.C.E.), perhaps by a king, the father ofKing Merykare (exact dates unknown). Yet the onlycopies of the text date to the Eighteenth and NineteenthDynasties (1539–1075 B.C.E.). The copies include threepapyri now in St. Petersburg and Moscow in Russia,and in Copenhagen in Denmark. An ostracon (a copyon a limestone chip) now in the Cairo Museum originatedin the artists’ village of Deir el-Medina. Thoughthe text seems to include advice from a king to his son,more middle-class Egyptians took an interest in that adviceas much as 800 years later. The narrator discussesthe best ways for a king to win the hearts of his followers,stressing the importance of justice in his dealingswith all.KHUFU AND THE MAGICIANS. The late MiddleKingdom (2008–1630 B.C.E.) author of Khufu and theMagicians set the story in the time of the builder of theGreat Pyramid, King Khufu (2585–2560 B.C.E.). Onlyone manuscript, written during the Hyksos Period(1630–1539 B.C.E.), preserves the story. It is now inBerlin. The story describes a contest conducted amongKhufu’s sons. Each tries to tell a story that will relievethe king’s boredom. The stories all involve miracles performedby magicians. The last story, however, describesthe miraculous birth of triplets who were the kings ofthe Fifth Dynasty (2500–2350 B.C.E.). Such a storywould seem to have a political meaning. Yet it is difficultto understand how the events described here relateto the period when the story was actually written.NEFERKARE AND THE GENERAL SISENE. The MiddleKingdom author set this story in the reign of Pepy I(2338–2298 B.C.E.), though it was written approximately400 years later. There are two manuscripts: one on papyrus,now in Paris, and an ostracon in Chicago. UsingPepy’s throne name, Neferkare, the story describes theking visiting one of his generals late at night, sneakinginto the general’s house through a window. Because bothmanuscripts are very fragmentary, it is not clear what theauthor meant to portray. Some scholars have understoodthe text to describe furtive homosexual activity.PROPHECY OF NEFERTY. The author set TheProphecy of Neferty during the reign of King Khufu(2585–2560 B.C.E.) during the Fourth Dynasty. Yet theauthor probably lived in the reign of King AmenemhetI (1938–1909 B.C.E.) nearly 650 years later. In the text,Neferty explains the future that Egypt will experience.First, the country will fall into chaos, the period thatEgyptologists call the First Intermediate Period(2130–2008 B.C.E.). Then, King Amenemhet I will saveEgypt and reunite it. Clearly the author lived duringAmenemhet’s reign and was adding to the literature thatglorified the beginning of the Twelfth Dynasty(1938–1759 B.C.E.). Yet all the copies known today—apapyrus in St. Petersburg in Russia, writing tablets inCairo and in London, and twenty ostraca—originateduring the New Kingdom (1539–1075 B.C.E.). ThisNew Kingdom interest in the Twelfth Dynasty reflectsthe way the kings of this period used the past to legitimatetheir own rule.THE QUARREL OF APOPHIS AND SEQENENRE.The author of this early Nineteenth-dynasty narrative(1292–1190 B.C.E.) set the story during the reigns ofthe Hyksos king Apophis and the Theban prince Seqenenreabout 1543 B.C.E. At this time the foreignkings called the Hyksos controlled the north and Thebanprinces controlled southern Egypt. The story describesthe quarrel between these two rulers that led tothe war between them. Eventually the historic Thebanprinces expelled the Hyksos from Egypt. In this story,preserved on one manuscript now in London, Apophis146 Arts and Humanities Through the Eras: Ancient Egypt (2675 B.C.E.–332 B.C.E.)