An oyster with a text fragment
Does the peculiar text describe Pharaoh’s death continues to intrigue historians: has been written during the monarch’s life, or is it a posthumous memory about distrust and caution?
O King Amenemhat I teaching to his son Senusretbetter known as “Amenemhat instructions,” is a controversial Egyptian text with moral teachings and advice.
The poem, written in the period of the Egyptian Middle Empire (between 2050 a.C. e 1710 a.C.)divides archaeologists: while some believe that their origin is in the king himself Amenemhat I, who will have ordered the text to justify a correctness with his son, there are also those who believe it is the order of his own son, Senessed into legitimize his succession to his father. A later tradition attributes it to the scribe Khety.
“It will be the king of the earth. Will rule the banks of the Nile. You will multiply the good deeds ”, are some of the predictions made in the text, quoted by Senusret I.
The oldest known edition of the document is the Papiro de Millingenwhich date of the eighteenth dynasty, but which disappeared in the mid-nineteenth century-however, a handwritten copy was kept. There are also other fragments, such as Ramesside Papyrus Sallier II and various ostracas (ceramic fragments).
And the document even describes its own Morte de Amenemhatthe target of a mysterious conspiracy.
“The attack took place when you weren’t there. I had not made public that you would be my heir, I had not shared the throne with you, ”writes the father, directly to his son.
In fact, Pharaoh was killed during sleep, and the conspiracy of the murder is described in the poem itself: in it, Amenemhat says it was the target of a conspiracy inside the royal harem, An unprecedented act in the history of ancient Egypt.
“It was after dinner, the night had fallen. I granted me a moment of rest on my bed, because I was tired. When my heart began to surrender to sleep, the weapons destined to protect me they got up against me, ”reads the document, which alarms the child to be careful with excess confidence.
There are historians who believe, however, that this description is made by the father still in life, since Pharaoh had suffered a First Murder Attempted that did not lead to his death. If so, Amenemhat could have written the document as a warning to his son.
The poem had a great influence on the history of ancient Egypt, and was used by successive monarchs to consolidate his own authority. More than 1500 years after being written, continues to intrigue historians and to be read and interpreted.
His teachings about confidence and prudence continues today to an important political and literary legacy in the history of Egypt.
