Tuesday, May 12, 2026 · 天火 · tianmu.org
Wisdom and Instruction
Egyptian wisdom literature and instruction texts on speech, justice, humility, silence, and right conduct.
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Texts
The Instruction of AmenemopeThirty chapters of Egyptian wisdom on silence, justice, and the quiet life — composed by Amenemope son of Kanakht for his youngest son, and preserved on a single papyrus scroll now in the British Museum.The Instruction of PtahhotepThe oldest surviving book of wisdom literature in human history — thirty-seven maxims on justice, humility, and right conduct, composed by the vizier Ptahhotep in the Fifth Dynasty of Egypt. Translated by Battiscombe G. Gunn, 1906.