the instructions of amenemope gunerorucu[1]

7/26/2019 The Instructions of Amenemope GunerOrucu[1]

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The Instructions of Amenemope

IntroductionThe composition of this work is usually assigned to the Ramesside

period that is between 1295-1069 BC, although all the manuscript copies thathave reached us are of later date. This was the time that the tribes of Israelbecame a nation. There had been some contacts between the works of Israeland Egypt. Its seen that the Instruction of Amenehope is embedded in theBook of Proverbs of Judaism. It can hardly be doubted that the author ofProverbs was acquainted with the Egyptian work and borrowed from it.

The Instruction of Amenemope is completely preserved in the BritishMuseum Papyrus 10474. The papyrus was discovered in a Theban tomb andpresented to the British Museum by W. Budge in 1888. It was recognized that

a wooden writing tablet at the Turin Museum contained thirty lines of the sametext. H. O. Lange translated the Turin tablet into Germany.The work is divided into thirty numbered chapters.In the prologue, its written that Amenemope is the son of Kanakht.He also tells us why he wrote these instructions; they are for well-

being, for relations with elders, to know how to speak, to be prosper uponearth, for the clearing of evil, for the officers who control measure, set theharvest-dues, register the lands, record the markers on the borders of fields.

In the first chapter, it signifies that to understand these sayings, thereader has to give his ears and heart. If the reader makes his life with these inhis heart then he will find it a success, he says. To put the teaching in the

heart signifies the learning way of Disciple that is to live them in the soul or tomake them a part of his soul.

These are advices for a corrupted society or a society falling intocorruption so very helpful for the societies of our time.

About abusing of power.There are some advices not to abuse our power over the weak people

such as a wretch, a cripple, an old man and an elder. Its sin to rob a wretch,to attack a cripple or an old man, to talk to an elder man rudely. Todays worldis full of abusing of the power; the political power, the economical power, thephysical power and the mental power are used to enslave and to use the

others for their own benefits. This kind of people chooses to rise up bystanding on the others. They only think themselves. They are in ignorant ofknowing that mankind is a great family. To have more power means havingmore profit.

If the man has a power in government or rhetoric then hes advised notto use that power on poor people to gain profit for himself because Better ispraise with the love of man than wealth in the storehouse, better is bread witha happy heart than wealth with vexation1 says Amenemope. Its worth tohave a happy heart instead of satisfying a desire with suffering heart.

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On the other side, do not accept bribes or gifts to change your altitude isanother advise for officers in a corrupted society otherwise all laws are appliedfor the interest of rich people by the officers who have the responsibility toapply the laws.

Its a virtue to protect poor and weak people. Amenemope tells us that

if there is a large debt against a poor man, divide it into three and forgive twoof them. In corrupted societies, greedy directors put the burden on the poorand weak people by taxes etc and it becomes unbearable for the poor peopleto live in those conditions.

About Anger.Its difficult to talk to an angry person so its advised not to quarrel, not

to needle him with words. Its better to withdraw from him, leave him aloneinstead of struggling with him because hes like a fire that burns whatevertouches him but the gods know how to answer him.

Not to make mistakes in words, its better to pause and think before

talking. When we are angry, the words fly away from our mouth and generallytheyre the words of anger not us. The words can be like arrows hurtingpeople very deeply.

About GreedGreed is another disease of middle ages. Greed causes corruption in

the society because the greedy people in the power abuse the power theyhave. They abuse the laws for their personal interests. There are someadvices for the greedy people who think to change the measures and rations.If you falsify the temple rations, do not think that youll get profit. To live in thesilent is better than to live in messy is the advice of Amenemope. Silence isthe medium where you find life, you feel God.

Some other frauds are the changing of field borders, cheating inmeasuring, telling lies for their own benefits. A terror is waiting for such aperson. Amenemope advises us not to set our heart on wealth.

Greedy people are oppressor of the weak. The advice is that; Better isa basket given by the god than five thousand through wrongdoing. Better ispoverty in the hand of the god than wealth in the storehouse; better is breadwith a happy heart than wealth with vexation.2. Happy heart is much moreworth than having a wealth in terror and remorse.

The wealth that will come by fraud does not stay a night with you. The

things we posses without deserving can fly away from us any time. Its a kindexpression for the Karma Law. Its also a sin to complain of being poorbecause its a sign of being slave of greed.

In chapter eleven and twelve, Amenemope warns the greedy peoplenot to steal from the poor and the rich one. He says; A poor mans goods area block in the throat

3.He advises the man to guard the poor one. Do not

desire a nobles wealth4is another advice for the greedy one.

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The wealth is always a weakness for man for all ages. He is temptedby wealth, forgetting all good deeds advised by sages. There is a very clearadvice about this; God prefers him who honours the poor to him whoworships the wealthy

5.So the man who is after wealth is not worthy as the

man helping to the poor people before God.

About the sins of tongue.He explains the sins committed by tongue like saying lies or harmful

speech. It stresses the control of tongue as not give free rein to youranswer

6.The falsifying of words is also a great sin that is mentioned as God

hates the falsifier of words, He greatly abhors the dissembler7. This isespecially for the sacred words, which people falsify for their interests.

Some other sins committed by tongue are to insult and to offendpeople. Tongue is a tool to build up and at the same time to destroy so itsadvised not to use tongue to destroy.

By tongue, man can cause his brothers to quarrel. A man can sow

hatred seeds in a society with his tongue and those seeds can be verydestructive.Tongue is so fast to be caught like the mind so we need much practising tocontrol it.

Telling lies in the courts is also reproached. Another day, anotherperson can tell lies about you to put you guilty.

About the Scribes.The Egyptian grain redistribution system was administered by scribal

functionaries of various ranks. Scribes were responsible for overseeing theweighing and measuring of each years harvest. Amnemope addresses scribalcorruption in close detail that caused a grain crisis in that time because it wasa serious and widespread problem.

8 So there are some advices for the

scribes; Do not dip your pen to injure a man. The finger of the scribe is thebeak of the Ibis When he sees one who cheats with his finger, He carrieshis livelihood off in the flood.

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The other advices for the scribes are about the weights and measuring;not move the scales, nor alter the weights, nor diminish the fractions of themeasure. If you do such things, you will be rich in grief. These are theinstructions for the officers that have responsibilities in governing the state.The use of fraudulent weights also appears in the list of sins in the negative

confession of the Book of Dead.Thoth is invoked here in the forms of the Ibis and Ape. By identifyingthe finger of scribe with the beak of the Ibis, Amenemope illustrates thegravity of the scribes responsibility. The god works through the hand of

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scribe; if he uses his pen falsely, he brushes aside the instrument of thegod.

10Scribe is also the officer who records the markers on the borders of the

fields so Amenemope gives instructions to preserve the land boundaries.

About the appearances of man.This advice is seen clearly in Stoics too; Do not incline to the well-

dressed man, and rebuff the one in rags. Dont accept a gift of a powerfulman, and deprive the weak for his sake.

11 People are impacted by the

appearances. When we wait for a reward for our action as Bhagavad Gitasays then we behave differently to the rich people than to the poor ones. If weare officers, we are inclined to take decisions for the advantage of rich people.Today we can see how some people changes easily before the people whohas money and fame. If these people are officers that it is a sign of acorruption in the state.

Wrongdoings in sacred things.There is a very strong and precise statement that covers many things;

Dont falsify the oracles in the scrolls, and thus disturb the plans of god12

. Tobe against to plans of god means to be against to Dharma, the harmony ofNature in other words to live by transgressing the laws of Nature. And themisfortunes befallen to us may be good in a medium or long term because wedont know the plans of god. So try to find out the good side of misfortunesyou have in the life.

Another strong teaching that Amenemope left us is to give in the will ofGod. This means to live with the will of god thats to live completely inaccordance of Dharma. Here is the statement; Settle in the arms of the god,your silence will overthrow them13.

About heart.In another part, the importance of heart is mentioned; Lest your

heart be aggrieved. The heart of man is a gift of god, beware of neglectingit

14. The heart of man can sense the difference between good and bad. That

is the place where we feel remorse and that remorse can only be healed bydoing good deeds. Heart is a gift from God and the means to reach God. If welearn to listen our heart, we can hear the voice of inner Master, which is theclosest part of us to God.

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ConclusionThe pilot who sees from afar, He will not wreck his boat

15. The

advices coming from wisdom give man that capacity he needs to foresee. Thewords of wisdom are the signs on the life that warns us when we need.

The last chapter that is thirty expresses the goal of these chapters.

They inform, they educate; they are the foremost of all books, they make theignorant wise Be filled with them, put them in your heart

16.As we see in

the advises of other sacred books, we should put the teachings into our heartthat is to apply them in our lives otherwise they won't be more than words.The words of wisdom can only be understood by heart, by experiencing them,by living them.

Amenemope left wise words to guide man in his dark ages. These wisewords would be the torches in the night if we know to walk towards them, andgive them the value and importance they deserve.

Guner Orucu

2005

BibliographyAncient Egyptian Literature Volume II, Miriam Lichtheim, 1976, University ofCalifornia Press.Wealth and Poverty in the Instruction of Amenemope and The HebrewProverbs, Harold C. Washington, 1994, Scholars Press

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the instructions of amenemope gunerorucu[1]

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