Analyses concepts and methodologies

Living "The Egyptian Dream" in the Eighteenth Dynasty

This New Kingdom Eighteenth Dynasty Egyptian letter of a father to son is a kind of didactic diatribe. It almost suggests the scene in Shakespeare's Hamlet when Polonius gives a series of cliched bits of advice to his son Laertes, such as 'neither a borrower nor a lender be.' The son, Khonshotep, ends the lecture by his father Any with an epilogue 'reply' that is integrated into the text. This is surprising, as most didactic literature does not seriously entertain an alternative point-of-view. The son honestly answers his father about his ability to obey some of the sage and wise advice he has been given.

Over the course of the letter, the father encourages his son to be fruitful and to multiply, as well as to be pious. Although most parents would not urge a very young child to have grandchildren it is noteworthy that even in modern society, once a child enters his or her late 20s or 30s, and is married, calls for grandchildren are not uncommon! Any does encourage his son not to consort with strange, loose women who are not his wife, and urges him to keep his voice low in the house of God. He wants his son too pray but not be ostentatious about it, and also to be sober in his behavior, particularly in relation to strong drink.

In this latter commandment in particular, there is resonance with a modern, Canadian father exhorting his son to live a good life, perhaps if the boy going away to college for the first time. The father says be true to your values, and don't 'fall in with the wrong crowd,' and 'enjoy yourself too much,' except of course, when watching hockey! All joking aside, what is striking about Any's advice is how it resonates with advice given by parents to children throughout the ages, and how modern it sounds, despite the archaic language. The advice to not drink is particularly practical -- the father reminds the son that when out drinking, men often forget themselves. When one man gets injured, his drunken companions ignore him. Do not say you are too young to be taken from the earth begs the father -- another way of saying that, remember you are mortal, please -- just like every parent prays that their child will not engage in foolish, risk-taking behaviors.

Other bits of advice from the father are also wise on a practical and a metaphorical level. Any tells his son to soberly build a garden and home and tend it, which is true on a literal level about keeping a tidy property, and also a metaphor for an orderly and moral soul. Do not rely on another man's goods, he says. Do not fall into debt -- credit card debit or otherwise. Treat elders with respect -- rise when they come into the room. But do not strike back at a brawler, or reveal too much of yourself.

However, this last bit of advice that stresses the need for social decorum that may reveal something unique about Egyptian society. Clearly ancient Egypt was a hierarchical society, and perhaps highly politically charged. Treating one's social better with deference, and not revealing too much of one's own affairs was integral to one's personal and social survival. But although the political atmosphere in ancient Egypt was no doubt very different than modern society, even this counsel would not necessarily be unwise today. For example, the father tells his son to speak sweetly to superiors. Although a modern-day father might not advise quite such deferential behavior, and be more apt to say 'stick up for yourself,' a father might also counsel an angry child with a tenuous job to tread carefully around his boss, noting that 'you catch more flies with honey, than vinegar.'