Philosophy
fl. c. 2400 BCE, Memphis, Old Kingdom Egypt (Fifth Dynasty)
The oldest book of wisdom - an Egyptian vizier teaching his son the art of living by <em>ma’at</em>: right order, truth, and justice.
Start learning Ptahhotep →What the Maxims of Ptahhotep are - an ancient Egyptian sebayt , or ‘instruction,’ in which an aged vizier teaches his son the art of living - and why the oldest surviving book of wisdom opens not with a boast but with t…
The single standard beneath every maxim - ma’at , the Egyptian idea of truth, justice, and right order woven into the cosmos itself. ‘Great is Truth,’ Ptahhotep says, ‘never overthrown since the reign of Osiris’: wrongd…
Ptahhotep’s counsel on the hardest of crafts - knowing when to speak and when to hold back. How to argue with a superior, an equal, and an inferior; why ‘fair speech is more rare than the emerald,’ yet may be found even…
Ptahhotep’s counsel for those who hold power - hear the petitioner patiently, for a good hearing soothes the heart; guard against greed, the one disease he calls incurable; and stay humble in success, remembering that h…
The climax of the Maxims : the ‘hearing son’ who listens and is formed by wisdom, against the fool who mistakes knowledge for ignorance and cannot be taught. How conduct toward one’s household and friends completes the…
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