DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5066#0073
44 THE MAXIMS OF PTAII-IIOTEP ch. hi.
Assa, | I-"-1
It is again the Wady-Magharah that
gives us information about this king, testifying that
new mines were excavated in the mountain when Assa
sat on the throne of his fathers. The name ' beautiful'
(nefer), I Jl, was given to his pyramid, and in ancient
days holy men consecrated their services to his memory.
A record worthy of remembrance is preserved in
an ancient papyrus written by Assa's son, Ptah-hotep.1
It is without doubt the oldest manuscript in existence,
and contains wise instruction and admonition, praises
the practice of virtue and good manners, and points
out the path which leads to honour and a happy end.
The king's son must have been very aged when he
wrote this book, for he speaks of decrepit old age as
one who felt it himself.
' The two eyes,' thus writes the wise man, ' are drawn small, the
ears are stopped up, and what was strong becomes continually weak.
The mouth becomes silent, it speaks no clear word ; the memory is
dulled, it cannot recall past days ; the bones refuse their service.
The good has changed to bad. Even the taste is long since gone.
In every way old age makes a man miserable. The nose is stopped
without air.'
After unfolding some of his deepest thoughts in
very simple language he adds—
If thou hast become great after thou hast been lowly, and if
thou hast amassed riches after poverty, so that thou hast become,
because of this, the first in thy city ; and if the people know thee on
account of thy wealth, and thou art become a mighty lord, let not
thy heart be lifted up because of thy riches, for the author of them
is God. Despise not thy neighbour who is as thou wast, but treat
him as thy equal.
Let thy countenance shine joyfully as long as thou livest; did
a man ever leave the coffin after having once entered it 1
1 The Prisse Papyrus, now in the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris.
Assa, | I-"-1
It is again the Wady-Magharah that
gives us information about this king, testifying that
new mines were excavated in the mountain when Assa
sat on the throne of his fathers. The name ' beautiful'
(nefer), I Jl, was given to his pyramid, and in ancient
days holy men consecrated their services to his memory.
A record worthy of remembrance is preserved in
an ancient papyrus written by Assa's son, Ptah-hotep.1
It is without doubt the oldest manuscript in existence,
and contains wise instruction and admonition, praises
the practice of virtue and good manners, and points
out the path which leads to honour and a happy end.
The king's son must have been very aged when he
wrote this book, for he speaks of decrepit old age as
one who felt it himself.
' The two eyes,' thus writes the wise man, ' are drawn small, the
ears are stopped up, and what was strong becomes continually weak.
The mouth becomes silent, it speaks no clear word ; the memory is
dulled, it cannot recall past days ; the bones refuse their service.
The good has changed to bad. Even the taste is long since gone.
In every way old age makes a man miserable. The nose is stopped
without air.'
After unfolding some of his deepest thoughts in
very simple language he adds—
If thou hast become great after thou hast been lowly, and if
thou hast amassed riches after poverty, so that thou hast become,
because of this, the first in thy city ; and if the people know thee on
account of thy wealth, and thou art become a mighty lord, let not
thy heart be lifted up because of thy riches, for the author of them
is God. Despise not thy neighbour who is as thou wast, but treat
him as thy equal.
Let thy countenance shine joyfully as long as thou livest; did
a man ever leave the coffin after having once entered it 1
1 The Prisse Papyrus, now in the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris.