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Maat in Egyptian Autobiographies and Related Studies

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Maat in Egyptian Autobiographies and Related Studies Zurich Open Repository and Archive University of Zurich Main Library Strickhofstrasse 39 CH-8057 Zurich www.zora.uzh.ch Year: 1992 Maat in Egyptian Autobiographies and Related Studies Lichtheim, Miriam Abstract: The first of five studies explores ”Maat”, the Egyptian term for the moral order thatgoverned men and gods in their respective spheres. The growth of the concept of Maat is traced from the Old Kingdom to the Late Period by a sequence of autobiographical and other texts in which individual Egyptians define and declare their understanding of, and adherence to, the code of right actionwere truthfulness and fairness. Adherence to Maat created the good order of society, while abandoning Maat plunged society into chaos. Man’s knowledge of right, and his ability to do it, were defined as originating in his heart and in his nature: virtue was innate and inner-directed. In the texts of the New Kingdom the gods came to be addressed as partners of man’s rightdoing by providing inspiration and guidance. At no time, however, were the gods given the role of formulating moral precepts. Man remained the maker of his ethos. The second study demonstrates that the ”Negative Confessions” of the Book of the Dead were based squarely on the moral declarations of autobiographical inscriptions, declarations which the scribes of the Book of the Dead rephrased in negative terms, in keeping with the BD’s ritual-magical purpose. The third study pinpoints in vocabulary form the principal terms for the virtues and vices used in the texts cited. The fourth study shows that the grammatical constructions of the ”Appeal to the Living” - the request by the deceased for the prayers of the living - underwent changes which scholars have failed to recognize, a failure resulting in unwarranted emendations and faulty translations. Lastly there is a grave stela of Polemaic date with a text which, instead of the usual hopefulness, records a long cry of despair. Posted at the Zurich Open Repository and Archive, University of Zurich ZORA URL: https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-152368 Monograph Published Version Originally published at: Lichtheim, Miriam (1992). Maat in Egyptian Autobiographies and Related Studies. Freiburg, Switzerland / Göttingen, Germany: Universitätsverlag / Vandenhoeck Ruprecht. Miriam Lichtheim Maat in Egyptian Autobiographies and Related Studies ORBIS BIBLICUS ET ORIENTALIS Published by the Biblical Institute of the University of Fribourg Switzerland the Seminar für Biblische Zeitgeschichte of the University of Münster i.W. Federal Republic of Germany and the Schweizerische Gesellschaft für orientalische Altertumswissenschaft Editor: Othmar Keel Coeditors: Erich Zenger and Albert de Pury The Author: Miriam Lichtheim grew up in Berlin. She studied Semitic languages, Egypt­ ology, and Creek atthe Hebrew University in Jerusalem, finishing with a M.A. degree in 1939. Continuing at the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, she obtained a Ph. D. in Egyptology in 1944. Subsequently she became a professional librarian, working first at Yale University and later at the University of California, Los Angeles. There, until her retirement, she held the dual position of Near Eastern bibliographer and lecturer in ancient Egyptian history. Apart from articles, her publications include: Demotic Ostraca from Medinet Habu, 1957, the three-volume Ancient Egyptian Literature, 1973-1980, Late Egyptian Wisdom Literature in the International Context, OBO 52 (1983) and Ancient Egyptian Autobiographies Chiefly of the Middle Kingdom. A Study and an Anthology, OBO 84 (1988). Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis 120 Miriam Lichtheim Maat in Egyptian Autobiographies and Related Studies Universitätsverlag Freiburg Schweiz Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht Göttingen Die Deutsche Bibliothek - CIP-Einheitsaufnahme Lichtheim, Miriam: Maat in Egyptian Autobiographies and Related Studies / Miriam Lichtheim. - Freiburg, Schweiz: Univ.-Verl.; Göttingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, 1992 (Orbis biblicus et orientalis; 120) ISBN 3-525-53754-9 (Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht) ISBN 3-7278-0846-2 (Univ.-Verl.) NE: GT Die Druckvorlagen wurden von der Verfasserin als reprofertige Dokumente zur Verfügung gestellt © 1992 by Universitätsverlag Freiburg Schweiz Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht Göttingen Paulusdruckerei Freiburg Schweiz ISBN 3-7278-0846-2 (Universitätsverlag) ISBN 3-525-53754-9 (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht) Digitalisat erstellt durch Florina Tischhauser, Religionswissenschaftliches Seminar, Universität Zürich 5 CONTENTS PREFACE 7 1. MAAT IN EGYPTIAN AUTOBIOGRAPHIES 9 1. Basic Recognitions 9 2. Exploring the Self 20 3. Justice 33 4. Ethics and Piety in 18th DynastyAutobiographies 48 5. Ramesside Ethics and Piety 66 6. The Theban Clergy of Amun 81 7. "Principium Sapientiae Timor Domini" 90 II. AUTOBIOGRAPHIES AND "NEGATIVE CON- FESSIONS" 103 III. THE MORAL VOCABULARY, AN ANNOTATED INDEX 145 IV. THE "APPEAL TO THE LIVING" THROUGH THE AG~ 1~ V. THE STELA OF PADISOBEK, A CHILDLESS MAN 191 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 203 A SHORT BIBLIOGRAPHY OF MAAT STUDIES 205 ABBREVIA TIONS AND BIBLIOGRAPHY 207 ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA TO MY ANCIENT EGYPTIAN AUTOBIOGRAPHIES CHIEFLY OF THE MDDLE KINGDOM 211 7 PREFACE Not formally but in effect, this book is a sequel to my Ancient Egyptian Autobiographies Chiefly of the Middle Kingdom (Fribourg 1988). Its five studies deal with certain aspects of Egyptian Autobiography, and the time span now is predomi­ nantly that of the New Kingdom and the Late Period. 1. The essay on Maat was prompted by observing the imbal­ ance between the· plethora of broad treatments of the topic "Maat" and the lack of detailed textual studies. My enterprise is an assem­ blage and paraphrase of texts, mostly autobiographic ones, ar­ ranged in chronological sequence, in which the Egyptians declare and define their doing and thinking of Maat. While the word "maat" translates readily into "right/rightness", "truth", and "justice", Egyptian thinking about Maat resulted in formulating the systematized attitudes which in modern languages are called "ethics" and "morality". Studying the ethics of the ancient Egyp­ tians means examining Maat in the context of the Egyptian experience with "knowledge/wisdom" (r!]) and with the Egyp­ tian 's sense of the divine, his piety. Thus, in the sources here assembled the triangle ethics-wisdom-piety will be in constant view. 2. The second study traces the connection between autobio­ graphic self-praises and the "Negative Confessions" of chapter 125 of the Book of the Dead. And since the "Negative Confessions" were motivated by the idea of a "Judgment of the Dead", the auto­ biographic texts are also examined for their bearing on the concept of that "Last Judgment". 3. The brief third study is in the form of an annotated Index, which assembles and translates the moral vocabulary of the texts cited in Studies 1 & 2 and draws some conclusions about the rank­ ing of moral values in Egyptian thought. 4. The fourth study is a grammatical investigation of the por­ tion of Autobiographies known as the "Appeal to the Living". lt 8 reaches certain conclusions about changes in the grammatical struc­ ture and meaning of the "Appeal" which have hitherto not been recognized. 5. Lastly, there is a new edition of the text on the verso of the Ptolemaic stela of Padisobek (Cairo JE 44065) which was first pub­ lished by Daressy in Recueil de Travaux 36, 1914, 73ff. Known as the stela of the "childless man", it has an unusual autobiographic text on its verso which has been discussed by several scholars; but no photographs were published and Daressy"s unreliable printed text prevented a clear understanding. The photographs here pub­ lished now allow an almost complete reading, and some im­ provements over what I have read and understood could still be made. The camera-ready copy of my typescript was computer-typed with care and competence by Hanna Jenni of Basel. And once again I thank Prof. Othmar Keel for the hospitality of his OBO series. Jerusalem, July 1991 Miriam Lichtheim 9 MAAT IN EGYPTIAN AUTOBIOGRAPHIES 1. Basic Recognitions The earliest statements of "doing Maat" occur near the end of the 5th dynasty. 1) Tomb inscription of the priest Wr-.Qww from Giza. (Urk. I, 46.Sff.; Baer, Rank and Title, no. 118; end of 5th dyn.) pr (.i) m niwt(.i) h3.n(.i) m sp3t(.i) g_d.n(.i) m3ct im ir.n(.i) m3ct im n sp ir(.i) snnt rm! nb n sp di(.i) sg_r s nb spt ir(.i) }:lr bt nb g_r mswt(.i) I went from my town and have descended from my nome, having spoken Maat there, having done Maat there. I never did what is hurtful to people, I never let a man spend the night angry with me about something, since I was born. 2) Tomb inscription of Ssm-nfr from Giza. (Urk. I, 57.llff.; Baer, Rank and Title, no. 479; end of 5th dyn. or later) iy.n(.i) m niwt(.i) pr.n(.i) m sp3t(.i) 10 qrs(.i) m is pn g_d.n(.i) m3ct mrrt n!r r nb bwnfrpw wn(.i) gd(.i) hr nswt 3h n rm! n sp gd(.i) ht nb gw r rm!_ nb hr }:lm n nb(.i) I have come from my town, I have gone from my nome, I am buried in this tomb, having spoken Maat, the god's wish, daily - it is the good. I used to tel1 the king what serves people, I never told an evil thing against people to the majesty of my lord. In both texts the affirmation of having done and spoken Maat comes after the "1-came-from-my-town" opening, and is followed by specifications of what the doing and speaking of Maat is. Such tripartite declarations became standardized as the non-narrative part of the autobiography, the part that outlined the moral person­ ality. As for the motivation of acting by Maat, the second text states it tersely: the god loves/desires it, and "it is the good".
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