Back

Home

 

 

Ancient Man and His First Civilizations

 

 

FROM THE BOOK OF THE DEAD:

(Compilation of writings)

The “Book of the Dead” is the name given to a genre of mortuary spells, magical texts, and accompanying illustrations called vignettes. These were written on sheets of papyrus, the walls of tombs and coffins. They were placed with the dead in order to help them pass through the dangers of the underworld and attain an afterlife of bliss in the Field of Peace. The various texts were composed over thousands of years, and total nearly two hundred, no one media contains them all. {Field of Peace -Variously translated as the Field of Offerings, Field of Reeds, or Blessed Fields, the place that preserves the pleasures of ancient Egyptian life for eternity}. 

The declaration of innocense.

Hail to thee, great lord of justice. I have come to you, my lord, that

thou may bring me so that I may see your beauty, for I know thou and I

know your name, and I know te names of the fourty-two Gods of those

who are with thou in this Hall of Justice. Lord of Truth is thy name.

Behold, I have come to you, I have brought you truth, I have repelled

falsehood for you. I have not done falsehood against men; I have not

impoverished my associates; I have done no wrong in the Place of

Truth, I have not learned that which is not; I have done no evil; I

have not daily made labor in excess of what is due to be done for me;

my name has not reached the offices of those who control slaves; I

have not slandered a servant to his master; I have not caused pain; I

have not made hungry; I have not made to weep; I have not killed; I

have not commanded to kill; I have not made suffering for anyone.

I am pure, pure, pure.

Ten of the 42 commandments, 1500 years before Moses

I have not done inequity.

I have done no murder; I have done no harm.

I have not committed fornication.

I have not defiled the wife of any man.

I have never cursed or opposed Neter.

I have not polluted myself.

I have not acted with insolence.

I have not stirred up strife.

I have not plundered the Neter.

I have not spoken lies.

The Negative confession from the Book of the Dead

Hail, Usekh-nemmt, who comest forth from Anu, I have not committed sin.

Hail, Hept-khet, who comest forth from Kher-aha, I have not committed robbery with

violence.

Hail, Fenti, who comest forth from Khemenu, I have not stolen.

Hail, Am-khaibit, who comest forth from Qernet, I have not slain men and women.

Hail, Neha-her, who comest forth from Rasta, I have not stolen grain.

Hail, Ruruti, who comest forth from heaven, I have not purloined offerings.

Hail, Arfi-em-khet, who comest forth from Suat, I have not stolen the property of God.

Hail, Neba, who comest and goest, I have not uttered lies.

Hail, Set-qesu, who comest forth from Hensu, I have not carried away food.

Hail, Utu-nesert, who comest forth from Het-ka-Ptah, I have not uttered curses.

Hail, Qerrti, who comest forth from Amentet, I have not committed adultery, I have not

lain with men.

Hail, Her-f-ha-f, who comest forth from thy cavern, I have made none to weep.

Hail, Basti, who comest forth from Bast, I have not eaten the heart.

Hail, Ta-retiu, who comest forth from the night, I have not attacked any man.

Hail, Unem-snef, who comest forth from the execution chamber, I am not a man of

deceit.

Hail, Unem-besek, who comest forth from Mabit, I have not stolen cultivated land.

Hail, Neb-Maat, who comest forth from Maati, I have not been an eavesdropper.

Hail, Tenemiu, who comest forth from Bast, I have not slandered [no man].

Hail, Sertiu, who comest forth from Anu, I have not been angry without just cause.

Hail, Tutu, who comest forth from Ati (the Busirite Nome), I have not debauched the wife

of any man.

Hail, Uamenti, who comest forth from the Khebt chamber, I have not debauched the wife

of [any] man.

Hail, Maa-antuf, who comest forth from Per-Menu, I have not polluted myself.

Hail, Her-uru, who comest forth from Nehatu, I have terrorized none.

Hail, Khemiu, who comest forth from Kaui, I have not transgressed [the law].

Hail, Shet-kheru, who comest forth from Urit, I have not been wroth.

Hail, Nekhenu, who comest forth from Heqat, I have not shut my ears to the words of

truth.

Hail, Kenemti, who comest forth from Kenmet, I have not blasphemed.

Hail, An-hetep-f, who comest forth from Sau, I am not a man of violence.

Hail, Sera-kheru, who comest forth from Unaset, I have not been a stirrer up of strife.

Hail, Neb-heru, who comest forth from Netchfet, I have not acted with undue haste.

Hail, Sekhriu, who comest forth from Uten, I have not pried into matters.

Hail, Neb-abui, who comest forth from Sauti, I have not multiplied my words in speaking.

Hail, Nefer-Tem, who comest forth from Het-ka-Ptah, I have wronged none, I have done

no evil.

Hail, Tem-Sepu, who comest forth from Tetu, I have not worked witchcraft against the

king.

Hail, Ari-em-ab-f, who comest forth from Tebu, I have never stopped [the flow of] water.

Hail, Ahi, who comest forth from Nu, I have never raised my voice.

Hail, Uatch-rekhit, who comest forth from Sau, I have not cursed God.

Hail, Neheb-ka, who comest forth from thy cavern, I have not acted with arrogance.

Hail, Neheb-nefert, who comest forth from thy cavern, I have not stolen the bread of the

gods.

Hail, Tcheser-tep, who comest forth from the shrine, I have not carried away the khenfu

cakes from the Spirits of the dead.

Hail, An-af, who comest forth from Maati, I have not snatched away thebread of the

child, nor treated with contempt the god of my city.

Hail, Hetch-abhu, who comest forth from Ta-she (the Fayyum), I have not slain the cattle

belonging to the god.

Transgressions Against Mankind

1. I have not committed murder, neither have I bid any man to slay on my behalf;

2. I have not committed rape, neither have I forced any woman to commit fornication;

3. I have not avenged myself, nor have I burned with rage;

4. I have not caused terror, nor have I worked affliction;

5. I have caused none to feel pain, nor have I worked grief;

6. I have done neither harm nor ill, nor I have caused misery;

7. I have done no hurt to man, nor have I wrought harm to beasts;

8. I have made none to weep;

9. I have had no knowledge of evil, neither have I acted wickedly, nor have I wronged the people;

10. I have not stolen, neither have I taken that which does not belong to me, nor that which belongs

to

another, nor have I taken from the orchards, nor snatched the milk from the mouth of the babe;

11. I have not defrauded, neither I have added to the weight of the balance, nor have I made light the weight in the scales;

12. I have not laid waste the plowed land, nor trampled down the fields;

13. I have not driven the cattle from their pastures, nor have I deprived any of that which was rightfully theirs;

14. I have accused no man falsely, nor have I supported any false accusation;

15. I have spoken no lies, neither have I spoken falsely to the hurt of another;

16. I have never uttered fiery words, nor have I stirred up strife;

17. I have not acted guilefully, neither have I dealt deceitfully, nor spoken to deceive to the hurt another;

18. I have not spoken scornfully, nor have I set my lips in motion against any man;

19. I have not been an eavesdropper;

20. I have not stopped my ears against the words of Right and Truth;

21. I have not judged hastily, nor have I judged harshly;

22. I have committed no crime in the place of Right and Truth;

23. I have caused no wrong to be done to the servant by his master;

24. I have not been angry without cause;

25. I have not turned back water at its springtide, nor stemmed the flow of running water;

26. I have not broken the channel of a running water;

27. I have never fouled the water, nor have I polluted the land;

Sins

28. I have not cursed nor despised God, nor have I done that which God does abominate;

29. I have not vexed or angered God;

30. I have not robbed God, nor have I filched that which has been offered in the temples;

31. I have not added unto nor have I minished the offerings which are due;

32. I have not purloined the cakes of the gods;

33. I have not carried away the offerings made unto the blessed dead;

34. I have not disregarded the season for the offerings which are appointed;

35. I have not turned away the cattle set apart for sacrifice;

36. I have not thwarted the processions of the god;

37. I have not slaughtered with evil intent the cattle of the god;

Personal Transgressions

38. I have not acted guilefully nor have I acted in insolence;

39. I have not been overly proud, nor have I behaved myself with arrogance;

40. I have never magnified my condition beyond what was fitting;

41. Each day have I labored more than was required of me;

42. My name has not come forth to the boat of the Prince;

The abridge negative confession

I have not committed sin.

I have not committed robbery with violence.

I have not stolen.

I have not slain men and women.

I have not purloined offerings.

I have not uttered lies.

I have not carried away food.

I have not uttered curses.

I have not committed adultery,

I have not lain with men.

I have made none to weep.

I have not eaten the heart.

I have not attacked any man.

I am not a man of deceit.

I have not stolen cultivated land.

I have not been an eavesdropper.

I have not slandered [no man].

I have not been angry without just cause.

I have not debauched the wife of any man. I have not polluted myself.

I have terrorized none.

I have not transgressed [the law].

I have not been wroth.

I have not shut my ears to the words of truth.

I have not blasphemed.

I am not a man of violence.

I have not been a stirrer up of strife.

I have not acted with undue haste.

I have not pried into matters.

I have not multiplied my words in speaking.

I have wronged none, I have done no evil.

I have not worked witchcraft against the king.

I have never stopped [the flow of] water.

I have never raised my voice.

I have not cursed God.

I have not acted with arrogance.

I have not stolen the bread of the gods.

I have not snatched away the bread of the child

Wisdom from the temples:

The best and shortest road towards knowledge of truth [is]

Nature.

For every joy there is a price to be paid.

If his heart rules him, his conscience will soon take the place

of the rod.

What you are doing does not matter so much as what you

are learning from doing it. · It is better not to know and to

know that one does not know ,than presumptuously to

attribute some random meaning to symbols.

If you search for the laws of harmony, you will find

knowledge.

If you are searching for a Neter, observe Nature!

Exuberance is a good stimulus towards action, but the inner

light grows in silence and concentration.

Not the greatest Master can go even one step for his

disciple; in himself he must experience each stage of

developing consciousness. Therefore he will know nothing

for which he is not ripe.

The body is the house of God. That is why it is said, "Man

know thyself."

True teaching is not an accumulation of knowledge; it is an

awakening of consciousness which goes through successive

stages.

The man who knows how to lead one of his brothers

towards what he has known may one day be saved by that

very brother.

People bring about their own undoing through their tongues.

If one tries to navigate unknown waters one runs the risk of

shipwreck.

Leave him in error who loves his error.

Every man is rich in excuses to safeguard his prejudices, his

instincts, and his opinions.

To know means to record in one's memory; but to

understand means to blend with the thing and to assimilate it

oneself.

There are two kinds of error: blind credulity and piecemeal

criticism. Never believe a word without putting its truth to

the test; discernment does not grow in laziness; and this

faculty of discernment is indispensable to the Seeker. Sound

skepticism is the necessary condition for good discernment;

but piecemeal criticism is an error.

Love is one thing, knowledge is another.

True sages are those who give what they have, without

meanness and without secret!

An answer brings no illumination unless the question has

matured to a point where it gives rise to this answer which

thus becomes its fruit. Therefore learn how to put a

question.

What reveals itself to me ceases to be mysterious-for me

alone: if I unveil it to anyone else, he hears mere words

which betray the living sense: Profanation, but never

revelation.

The first concerning the 'secrets': all cognition comes from

inside; we are therefore initiated only by ourselves, but the

Master gives the keys.

The second concerning the 'way': the seeker has need of a

Master to guide him and lift him up when he falls, to lead him

back to the right way when he strays.

Understanding develops by degrees.

As to deserving, know that the gift of Heaven is free; this gift

of Knowledge is so great that no effort whatever could hope

to 'deserve' it.

If the Master teaches what is error, the disciple's submission

is slavery; if he teaches truth, this submission is ennoblement.

There grows no wheat where there is no grain.

The only thing that is humiliating is helplessness.

An answer if profitable in proportion to the intensity of the

quest.

Listen to your conviction, even if they seem absurd to your

reason.

Know the world in yourself. Never look for yourself in the

world, for this would be to project your illusion

To teach one must know the nature of those whom one is

teaching.

In every vital activity it is the path that matters.

The way of knowledge is narrow.

Each truth you learn will be, for you, as new as if it had

never been written.

The only active force that arises out of possession is fear of

losing the object of possession.

If you defy an enemy by doubting his courage you double it.

The nut doesn't reveal the tree it contains.

For knowledge ... you should know that peace is an

indispensable condition of getting it.

The first thing necessary in teaching is a master; the second

is a pupil capable of carrying on the tradition.

Peace is the fruit of activity, not of sleep.

Envious greed must govern to possess and ambition must

possess to govern.

When the governing class isn't chosen for quality it is chosen

for material wealth: this always means decadence, the lowest

stage a society can reach.

Two tendencies govern human choice and effort, the search

after quantity and the search after quality. They classify

mankind. Some follow Maat, others seek the way of animal

instinct.

Qualities of a moral order are measured by deeds.

One foot isn't enough to walk with.

Our senses serve to affirm, not to know.

We mustn't confuse mastery with mimicry, knowledge with

superstitious ignorance.

Physical consciousness is indispensable for the achievement

of knowledge.

A man can't be judge of his neighbor' intelligence. His own

vital experience is never his neighbor's.

No discussion can throw light if it wanders from the real

point.

Your body is the temple of knowledge.

Experience will show you, a Master can only point the way.

A house has the character of the man who lives in it.

All organs work together in the functioning of the whole.

A man's heart is his own Neter.

A pupil may show you by his own efforts how much he

deserves to learn from you.

Routine and prejudice distort vision. Each man thinks his

own horizon is the limit of the world.

You will free yourself when you learn to be neutral and

follow the instructions of your heart without letting things

perturb you. This is the way of Maat.

Judge by cause, not by effect.

Growth in consciousness doesn't depend on the will of the

intellect or its possibilities but on the intensity of the inner

urge.

Every man must act in the rhythm of his time ... such is

wisdom.

Men need images. Lacking them they invent idols. Better

then to found the images on realities that lead the true seeker

to the source.

Maat, who links universal to terrestrial, the divine with the

human is incomprehensible to the cerebral intelligence.

Have the wisdom to abandon the values of a time that has

passed and pick out the constituents of the future. An

environment must be suited to the age and men to their

environment.

Everyone finds himself in the world where he belongs. The

essential thing is to have a fixed point from which to check

its reality now and then.

Always watch and follow nature.

A phenomenon always arises from the interaction of

complementaries. If you want something look for the

complement that will elicit it. Set causes Horus. Horus

redeems Set.

All seed answer light, but the color is different.

The plant reveals what is in the seed.

Popular beliefs on essential matters must be examined in

order to discover the original thought.

It is the passive resistance from the helm that steers the boat.

The key to all problems is the problem of consciousness.

Man must learn to increase his sense of responsibility and of

the fact that everything he does will have its consequences.

If you would build something solid, don't work with wind:

always look for a fixed point, something you know that is

stable ... yourself.

If you would know yourself, take yourself as starting point

and go back to its source; your beginning will disclose your

end.

Images are nearer reality than cold definitions.

Seek peacefully, you will find.

Organization is impossible unless those who know the laws

of harmony lay the foundation.

It is no use whatever preaching Wisdom to men: you must

inject it into their blood.

Knowledge is consciousness of reality. Reality is the sum of

the laws that govern nature and of the causes from which

they flow.

Social good is what brings peace to family and society.

Knowledge is not necessarily wisdom.

By knowing one reaches belief. By doing one gains

 

 

 

 

 

INSTRUCTIONS FROM PETOSIRIS:

You, the living who are on earth, who will see this dwellling of eternity and will walk by it, come, and I will guide you in the way of life. If you listen to my words, if you understand and observe their meaning, you will find that this attitude will be beneficial to you.

Great is the Law of Ma-at, Its efficiency lasting. The Law has not been disturbed since the time of Osiris. When the end comes, The Law will remain.

Keep closed to the law, Never overstep it.

Injustice exists in abundance, But evil can never succeed in the long run.

Punish with principle, Teach meaningfully. The act of stopping evil leads to the lasting establishment of virtue.

Follow your heart all your life, Do not commit excess with respect to what has been ordained. Do not cut short the time for following your heart. To waste a single moment of actions of the heart is an insult to the Ka, your soul. Do not divert your daily routine excessively to support your household. When things happen, follow your heart. The negligent will never profit.

If he who listens, listens fully, Then he who listens becomes he who understands. When hearing is good, speech is good. He who listens becomes the master of what is profitable. Listening benefits the listener. To listen is better than anything. Thus is perfect love born.

As for the ignorant man who does not listen, He accomplishes nothing.

Do not be proud of being wise. Consult with the ignorant as with the wise. The limits of art have not been attained; there is no artist fully equipped with his excellence. Perfect speech is concealed, more than turquoise; yet it is found among the maids at millstones.

 

 

 

MERIKARE:

Keep the the teaching of the Ancients, to those who came before you. Their words are lost in their books. Open them, Read and copy their knowledge, Since only a being who knows how to learn becomes skillful.

Righteousness is fitting for a Pharoah. It is the interior of the household that makes you respect the exterior.

The Pharaonic institution is the perfect way to govern.

He who rules over the Two Lands is a wise man. Master of the nobility, Pharoah cannot be an ignorant man. He was alread wise at his mother's breast, Since God has chosen him from millions of men.

Pharoah is he who increases wealth and knows how to give. Pharoah is the lord of joy. He who rebels against him would pull down Heaven.

All through your earthly life, Accomplish righteousness. Do not oppress the widow, Do not drive a man from the land of his father, Do not hinder the great from fulfilling their duties, Do not punish people unjustly.

The character of a righteous man is more agreeable to God than the sacrifice of a dozen oxen from an evil man.

Celebrate the monthly ceremony of the Servant of God, Put on your sacred sandals, Go to the temple, Enter the Sanctuary, Eat the bread of the Temple of God, Renew the libations on the altar, Add to the offerings, Take good care of your monuments as a duty of your power, A single day can be the equivalent of Eternity, A single hour can suffice for the future, Since God knows who acts for Him.

Venerate God on your road, Whatever form He may take, Whether it be of precious stones or embodied in a copper statue. One form will replace another form, As the annual floods replace the annual floods.

There is no river in existence that allows itself to be hidden, for it will destroy the dam that conceals it.

To have strength, be a craftsman with words. The power of a man lies in his language and words are more effective that any other forms of fighting.

Give your love to the whole world. Since a happy personality is remembered When the years have long rolled by.

Do not make a difference between rich and poor but value people according to how they act.

A man must accomplish what is useful and sacred to his Ba.

 

 

  

AMENEMOPE:

Read these texts well: They inform and they educate. If you read them to an ignorant man, He will be enlightened thanks to them. Fill yourself with these texts, Keep them in your heart.

THE INSTRUCTIONS OF AMENOPE:

Beginning of the teaching for life, the instruction for well being, every rule for relations with elders, for conduct towards magistrates; knowing how to answer to one who speaks, to reply to one who sends a message. So as to direct him on the paths of life, to make him prosper upon earth; to let his heart enter his shrine, steering clear of evil.

2. Beware of robbing a wretch, of attacking a cripple; don't stretch your hand out to touch an old man, nor open your mouth to an elder. Don't let yourself be sent on a mischievous errand, nor be as friends with one who does it. Don't raise an outcry against one who attacks you, nor answer him yourself. He who does evil, the shore rejects him, its floodwaters carry him away. The north wind descends to end his hour, it mingles with the thunderstorm, the storm clouds thunder, the crocodiles are vicious, You Heated Man, how are you now?

3. Don't start a quarrel with a hot-mouthed man, nor needle him with words. Pause before a foe, bend before an attacker, sleep on it before speeking. A storm that bursts like fire through straw, such is the heated man in his hour. Withdraw from him, leave him alone, the God knows how to answer him.

4. The truly silent, who keeps apart, He is like a tree grown in a meadow. It greens, it doubles its yield, It stands in front of His lord. Its fruits are sweet, its shade is delightfull, Its end comes in the garden.

5. Cling to be silent, then you'll find life. Your being will prosper upon earth.

6. Better is poverty in the hand of the God, than bread in a storehouse; Better is bread with a happy heart, than wealth with vexation.

7. Do not set your heart on wealth, there is no ignoring Fate and Destiny; do not let your heart go straying, every man comes to his hour. Do not strain to seek increase, what you have, let it suffice you. If riches come to you by theft, they will not stay the night with you. Comes day they aren't in your house, their place is seen but they are not there: Earth opened his mouth, levelled them, swallowed them.

8. Keep your tongue free from evil words, and you will be loved by men. Put the good remark in your tongue, while the bad is concealed in your belly.

9. Do not befriend the heated man, nor approach him in conversation. Swift is the speech of one who is angered, more than wind over water. He tears down, he builds up with his tongue, when he makes his hurtfull speech.

10. Do not sever your heart from your tongue, that all your strivings may succeed. You will be weighty before the others, and secure in the hand of God. God hates the falsifier of words, he greatly abhors the dissembler.

11. Where there is fraud, success is feeble, the Bad spoilts the Good.

12. If a man is observed on a fraudulent errand, he will not be sent on another occasion.

13. Do not cheat a man through pen upon scroll, the God abhors it; do not bear witness with false words, so as to brush aside another with your tongue. Do not asses a man who has done nothing, and thus falsify your pen. If you find a large debt against a poor man, make it into three parts; forgive two, let one stand. You will find it a path of life.

15. Do the good and you will prosper, do not dip your pen to injure a man.

16. What good is one dressed in finery, if he cheats before the God? Faience, disguished as gold, comes day, it turns to lead.

17. A measurer who indulges in cheating, His Eye seals the verdict against him.

18. Do not lie down in fear of tomorrow: "Comes day, how will tomorrow be?" Man ignores how tomorrow will be; God is ever in His perfection, Man is ever in his failure.

If one strains to seek perfection, in a moment he has marred it. Keep firm your heart, steady your heart, do not steer with your tongue; if a man's tongue is the boat's rudder, the Lord of All is yet its pilot.

The words men say are one thing, the deeds of the God are another. Do not say: "I have done no wrong and than strain to seek another quarrel.

19. Do not go to court before an official, in order to falsify your words; do not vaccilate in your answers, when your witnesses accuse.

20. Do not confound a man in the law court, in order to brush aside on one whose right. Do not incline to the well dressed man, and rebuff the one in rags. Don't accept the gift of a powerfull man, and deprive the weak for his sake.

21. Broadcast not your words to others, nor join one who bares his heart. Better is one whose speech is in his belly than he who tells it to cause harm.

22. Indeed you should not know the plans of God, and should not weep for tomorrow.

23. An official is great in his office, as a well is rich in drawing water.

24. The heart of a man is a gift of God, beware of negleckting it.

25. Man is clay and straw, the God is his builder.

26. The pilot who sees from far, he will not wreck his boat.

27. Do not revile one older than you, he has seen Ra before you.

28. God prefers him who honors the poor to him who worships the wealthy.

30. Look at these thirty chapters, they inform, they educate; they are the foremost books, they make the ignorant wise.

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE THIRTY INSTRUCTIONS:

9. He who knows how to hold his heart has the equivalent of every teaching.

12. One does not discover the heart of a man in its character if one has not sent him on a mission. One does not discover the heart of a wise man if one has not tested him in any matter. One does not discover the heart of an honest man if one has not sought something from him. One does not discover the heart of a trustworthy man if one has not consulted him in any deliberation. One does not discover the heart of a friend if one has not consulted him in anxiety. One does not discover the heart of a brother if one has not begged from him in want.

15. Do not be greedy, lest your name stink. The wealth of the generous man is greater than the wealth of the greedy. Greed puts strife and combat in the house. Greed removes shame, mercy and trust from the heart. Money is the snare the God had placed on earth for the impious man so that he should worry daily. He who gives food to the poor, the god takes himself in boundless mercy. The goods of the greedy are ashes driven by the wind.

16. Death and life of tomorrow, we do not know their nature. Today with its livelihood is what the wise man asks for. Neither the impious nor the godly man can alter the lifetime that was assigned to him.

17. Do not let worry flourish lest you become distraught. If the heart worries about its owner it creates illness for him. When worry has arisen, the heart seeks death itself. One day is not like another for him whose heart cares.

19. Gentleness in every kind of behavior makes the praise of the wise man. A loud voice causes harm to the parts of the body just like illness. The counsel that occurs to the fool is as weightless as the wind. Praise is given to the wise man because of his calm. Do not give your tongue often away to advise when you have not been asked.

20. The heart in its smallness sustains its owner. Many are the small things that are worthy of respect. A small benefaction is not hidden from the God. A small good news makes the heart live. The small document has great benefit. The small falsehood makes trouble for him who commits it. The little bee brings the honey. Few are the great things that are worthy of admiration.

21. In a town in which you have no family, your heart is your family. A man's good character makes company around him. Do not be close to one in whose heart is hatred. Better death in want than life in shamelessness. When a wise man is stripped he gives his clothes and blesses.

23. What comes from earth returns to it again. He who thinks of the good is one who masters it. The evil man whose heart loves evil will find it.

24. Heart and tongue of the wise man, the greatness of their dwelling -place is being that of the God. When heart and tongue are blameless, steering results from it. The work of a God is a joke to the heart of a fool. The life of the fool is a burden to the God himself. The fate and fortune that come, it is the God who sends them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

INSTRUCTIONS FROM PTAHOTEP:

When the listening is good, life is good.

He who listens in the master of what is beneficial.

Listening is benficial to the listener.

Listening is better than anything else.

That is how perfect love is born.

Do not be proud of being wise.

Consult with the ignorant as with the wise. The limits of art have not been attained;

there is no artist fully equipped with his excellence.

Perfect speech is concealed, more than turquoise;

yet it is found among the maids at millstones.

Greed is an incurable sickness....it is the amalgam of all sorts

of evil, it is a bag holding all this is hateful.

The greedy man will have no tomb.

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE INSTRUCTIONS OF ANY:

Do not vex your heart. He will return to praise you soon, when your

hour of rage has passed. If your words please the heart, the heart

tends to accept them: choose silence for yourself, submit to what He

does.

A man's belly is wider than a granary, and full of all kinds of

answers; choose the good one and say it, while the bad one is shut in

your belly.

Do not eat bread while another stands by without extending your hand

to him. As to food, it is here always, it is a man who does not last;

One man is rich, another poor; but food remains for him who shares it.

As to him who was rich last year, he is a vagebond this year; do not

be greedy to fill your belly, should you become in want, another may

do good to you.

A quarrelsome man does not rest on the morrow. Keep away from the

hostile man. Do not let him become your comrade; befriend one who is

straight and true, one whose actions you have seen. If your rightness

matches this, the friendship will be balanced.

Learn about the way of a man who undertakes to found his household.

Make a garden, enclose a patch, in addition to your own plough land;

set out trees within it, as shelter about your house. Fill your hand

with all the flowers that your eye can see; one has need of all of

them, it is a good fortune not to loose them.

Double the food your mother gave you, support her as she supported

you; she had a heavy load in you, but she did not abandon you, when

you were born after your months, She was yet yoked to you, her breast

in your mouth for three years.

Behold, I gave you these usefull counsels, for you to pounder your

heart; do it and you will be happy, all evils will be far from you.

Guard against the crime of fraud, against words that are not true,

Conquer malice in yourself.