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Vizier ptahhotep

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Teaching of Ptahhotep

The Introduction

The Teaching is set at court, with the highest official ('vizier' in Egyptological translation), a man named Ptahhotep, requesting retirement from the king. The official paints a bleak picture of old age, evidently to convince the king that retirement is necessary, and asks that he be replaced in office by his son as 'staff of old age', a term also found in a late Middle Kingdom legal document to denote a son taking the office of his father, presumably on condition that he continues to support the father (UC 32037). This term, the Middle Egyptian syntax and the late Middle Kingdom date of the two earliest surviving manuscript copies, point to a Twelfth Dynasty date of composition.

The king consents to the request of Ptahhotep, with the observation that the young cannot be born with wisdom - by implication they need the experience given by advanced age. The Teaching presents then both a positive and the dramatised negative aspects of growing old in ancient Egyptian society.

 

Background information for Middle Kingdom compositions

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The Maxims of Ptahhotep

Ancient Egyptian literary composition by Vizier Ptahhotep

The Maxims of Ptahhotep or Instruction of Ptahhotep is an ancient Egyptian literary composition by the VizierPtahhotep around 2375–2350 BC, during the rule of King Djedkare Isesi of the Fifth Dynasty.[1] The text was discovered in Thebes in 1847 by Egyptologist M. Prisse d'Avennes.[2] The Instructions of Ptahhotep are considered didactic wisdom literature belonging to the genre of sebayt.[3] There are four copies of the Instructions, and the only complete version, Papyrus Prisse, is located in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris.[4] According to William Kelly Simpson, scholars tend to believe that the Instructions of Ptahhotep were originally composed during the Middle Kingdom, specifically the Twelfth Dynasty. The earliest extant copies of the text were altered to make them understandable for the Egyptians of the New Kingdom.[4] The text presents a very good picture of the general attitudes of that period.[4] The Instructio

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The Teachings of Ptahhotep: The Oldest Book in the World

February 1, 2018
When you realize that this book was written in 2350BC, then you understand where the later civilizations sourced the inspiration and knowledge of ethics from. These maxims may sound a bit naive for a modern reader, but if you put the passed 4360 years between you and the book, you realize that you owe a bow to the author for his wisdom. The Hebrews, the Romans and then the Greeks have all benefitted enormously from the originality of Egyptian thoughts but are retold in their own lands today.

"If you meet an opponent in his moment Your equal, a man from your levels, silence is how you establish your superiority over him, while he is bad mouthing, greatly to the disgust of the assessors, and your name is the good one in the mind of the officials."

"If you are weak, follow a man of excellence and all your conduct will be good before god."

"Follow your heart as long as you live. Do not make a loss on what is said, do not subtract time from following the heart. Harming its time is an offence to the ka. Do not

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