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59-570: In Eulogy of Dead Writers , written during the Twentieth Dynasty of the New Kingdom , a stanza lists the names of writers famous for their great works, most of whom are authors of noted sebayt from the Middle Kingdom : Is there anyone here like Hordedef ? Is there another like Imhotep ? There is no family born for us like Neferty , and Khety their leader. Let me remind you of

118-519: A film of the same title . Book of Proverbs The Book of Proverbs ( Hebrew : מִשְלֵי , Mišlê ; Greek : Παροιμίαι ; Latin : Liber Proverbiorum , "Proverbs (of Solomon)") is a book in the third section (called Ketuvim ) of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament traditionally ascribed to King Solomon and his students. When translated into Greek and Latin,

177-662: A Libyan invasion of Egypt by the Libu , Meshwesh and Seped people through Marmarica , who had previously unsuccessfully invaded during the reign of Merneptah . Ramesses III is most famous for decisively defeating a confederacy of the Sea Peoples, including the Denyen , Tjekker , Peleset , Shardana and Weshesh in the Battle of Djahy and the Battle of the Delta during Year 8 of his reign. Within

236-606: A combined land-sea invasion that destabilized the already weakened power base of empires and kingdoms of the old world, and attempted to enter or control the Egyptian territory. While with the victory in the Battle of Djahy and the Battle of the Delta during Year 8 of Ramesses III's reign, Egypt successfully repelled the invading forces of Sea Peoples, the damage that caused the collapse of the Eastern Mediterranean world also damaged

295-634: A later period. The other royal teaching is the Instructions of Amenemhat . This sebayt was reputedly authored by Amenemhat I , the founder of the Twelfth Dynasty, who ruled from 1991–1962 BCE, but was probably composed after his death. It should be mentioned that Amenemhat I was the first pharaoh to rule after the First Intermediate Period, and thus the instructions of Amenemhat are connected to his attempt to consolidate power typified by

354-405: A pattern of life which lasted for more than a millennium. The phrase conventionally used for the title is taken from chapter 1:1, mishley shelomoh , Proverbs of Solomon (the phrase is repeated at 10:1 and 25:1), and is likely more concerned with labeling the material than ascribing authorship. The book is an anthology made up of six discrete units. The Proverbs of Solomon section, chapters 1–9,

413-537: A second-millennium BCE Egyptian work, the Instruction of Amenemope , and may have reached the Hebrew author(s) through an Aramaic translation. Chapter 24:23 begins a new section and source with the declaration, "these too are from the wise". The next section at chapter 25:1 has a superscription to the effect that the following proverbs were transcribed "by the men of Hezekiah", indicating at face value that they were collected in

472-460: A single year. He is only attested at Medinet Habu and through a few plaques. The only monument from his reign is his modest tomb, which was used for Mentuherkhepeshef , son of Ramesses IX, rather than Ramesses VIII himself. During Year 16 and Year 17 of Ramesses IX's reign famous tomb robbery trials took place, as attested by the Abbott Papyrus . A careful examination by a vizierial commission

531-510: A site near the Temple of Hatshepsut . Another smaller temple is associated with Ramesses north of Medinet Habu . Ramesses IV saw issues with the provision of food rations to his workmen, similar to the situation under his father. Ramessesnakht , the High Priest of Amun at the time, began to accompany state officials as they went to pay the workmen their rations, suggesting that, at least in part, it

590-500: Is a translation of the Hebrew word mashal , but "mashal" has a wider range of meanings than the short, catchy saying implied by the English word. Thus, roughly half the book is made up of "sayings" of this type, while the other half consists of longer poetic units of various types. These include "instructions" formulated as advice from a teacher or parent addressed to a student or child, dramatic personifications of both Wisdom and Folly, and

649-408: Is divided into sections: the initial invitation to acquire wisdom, another section focused mainly on contrasting the wise and the fool, and the third being moral discourses on various topics. Chapters 25–29 discuss justice, the wicked, and the rich and poor; chapter 30 introduces the " sayings of Agur " on creation and divine power. The superscriptions divide the collections as follows: "Proverb"

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708-502: Is entitled the Teaching for King Merykara , who lived during the troubled First Intermediate Period (2150–2040 BCE). The document claims to be written by Merykara's father, the preceding monarch. However, since Merykara and his father were kings of the unstable periods of the Ninth through Tenth Dynasties, almost nothing else is known of them, and it is quite likely that the text was composed at

767-636: Is for example comparable with the Old Testament Book of Proverbs which has in part been connected to the Instruction of Amenemope . Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt The Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt (notated Dynasty XX , alternatively 20th Dynasty or Dynasty 20 ) is the third and last dynasty of the Ancient Egyptian New Kingdom period, lasting from 1189 BC to 1077 BC. The 19th and 20th Dynasties together constitute an era known as

826-452: Is merely silly or playful (though see the words of Agur for a "fool" who has wisdom and could be seen as playful). For the most part, Proverbs offers a simplistic view of life with few grey areas: a life lived according to the rules brings reward, and life in violation of them is certain to bring disaster. In contrast, Job and Ecclesiastes appear to be direct contradictions of the simplicities of Proverbs, each in its own way all but dismissing

885-506: Is not much information left to show us why the Sea Peoples began the large scale invasion, the written evidence shows the weakening of central administrations, erosion of political powers, and food shortage might be the reasons. From Ramses III 's mortuary temple at Medinet Habou depicting a chaotic scene of boats and warriors entwined in battle in the Nile delta, it showing that Sea Peoples were seaborne foes from different origins. They launched

944-454: Is told, for example, both to "not answer a fool according to his folly," according to 26:4, and to "answer a fool according to his folly", as 26:5 advises. More pervasively, the recurring theme of the initial unit (chapters 1–9) is that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, but the following units are much less theological, presenting wisdom as a transmissible human craft, until with 30:1–14,

1003-706: The Prophecy of Neferti , as alluded to in the Eulogy. Thus both regnal sebayt are directly connected to the Intermediate Period and its aftermath. Although not attributed to a pharaoh, the Loyalist Teaching stress the virtues of remaining obedient and respectful to the ruler of Egypt. Sebayt were a long-lived genre, with new compositions continuously appearing well into the Roman era . Some individual teachings, such as

1062-660: The High Priests of Amun at Thebes became the de facto rulers of Upper Egypt , while Smendes controlled Lower Egypt even before Ramesses XI's death. Smendes would eventually found the Twenty-First dynasty at Tanis . As happened under the earlier Nineteenth Dynasty , this dynasty struggled under the effects of the bickering between the heirs of Ramesses III. For instance, three different sons of Ramesses III are known to have assumed power as Ramesses IV , Ramesses VI and Ramesses VIII respectively. However, at this time Egypt

1121-635: The Maxims of Good Discourse (the latter being a phrase used as a self-description in the sebayt itself). The teaching appears on the Twelfth Dynasty Prisse Papyrus along with the ending of the Instructions of Kagemni . Another well known sebayt was attributed to the Fourth Dynasty ethicist named Hardjedef. Only a few fragments survive of his Instruction . Two sebayt are attributed to Egyptian rulers themselves. The first of these

1180-623: The Papyrus Harris I , which attests these events in detail, Ramesses is said to have settled the defeated Sea Peoples in "strongholds", most likely located in Canaan , as his subjects. In Year 11 of Ramesses' reign, another coalition of Libyan invaders was defeated in Egypt. Between regnal Year 12 and Year 29, a systematic program of reorganization of the varied cults of the Ancient Egyptian religion

1239-584: The Ramesside period owing to the predominance of rulers with the given name "Ramesses". This dynasty is generally considered to mark the beginning of the decline of Ancient Egypt at the transition from the Late Bronze to Iron Age. During the period of the Twentieth Dynasty, Ancient Egypt faced the crisis of invasions by Sea Peoples . The dynasty successfully defended Egypt, while sustaining heavy damage. After

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1298-629: The Sea Peoples . These invasions formed part of a series of linked crises in numerous Mediterranean civilizations. Together, these crises are often referred to as the Late Bronze Age collapse . The Sea Peoples caused considerable damage to the people of Egypt, visible in the historical record. One inscription reads: "All at once the lands were removed and scattered in the fray. No land could resist their arms, from Hatti, Kode, Carchemish , Arzawa , and Alashiya on – being cut off at one time. A camp

1357-787: The Teaching of Amenemhat I (written c. 1950 BCE) were continuously copied and transmitted for over 1500 years. Most Sebayt are preserved on papyrus scrolls that are copies of earlier works. Four important examples of sebayt are preserved in the Prisse Papyrus , two papyrus scrolls in the British Museum , the Insinger Papyrus and the Carnarvon Tablet 1 in Cairo. This genre has much in common with sapiential literature in other cultures, and

1416-438: The "words of Agur," we return once more to the idea that God alone possesses wisdom. "The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom" (Proverbs 9:10 – the phrase implies submission to God's will). Wisdom is praised for her role in creation ("God by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding, he established the heavens" – Proverbs 3:19). God acquired her before all else, and through her, he gave order to chaos ("When [God] established

1475-498: The "words of the wise" sayings, which are longer than the Solomonic "sayings" but shorter and more diverse than the "instructions." The first section ( chapters 1–9 ) comprises an initial invitation to young men to take up the course of wisdom, ten "instructions", and five poems on personified Woman Wisdom. Verses 1:1-7 constitute an introduction to the whole of this section. Proverbs 10:1–22:16, with 375 sayings, consists of two parts,

1534-570: The Colossians calls Jesus "...image of the invisible God, first-born of all creation...", while the Gospel of John identifies him with the creative word ("In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God"). In the 4th century, when Christianity was caught up in heresies and still developing the creeds which would define its beliefs, Proverbs 8:22 was used both to support and refute

1593-489: The Elephantine stela built by Setnakhte . The circumstances of Twosret's demise are uncertain, as she may have died peacefully during her reign or been overthrown by Setnakhte, who was likely already middle aged at the time. A consistent theme of this dynasty was the loss of pharaonic power to the High Priests of Amun . Horemheb , a pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty , had restored the traditional Ancient Egyptian religion and

1652-472: The Lord!"), wisdom appeals to human reason and observation. The pre-Exilic (i.e. pre-586 BC) Old Testament allowed no equals to YHWH in heaven, despite the continued existence of an assembly of subordinate servant-deities . The post-Exilic writers of the Wisdom tradition developed the idea that Wisdom existed before creation and was used by God to create the universe: "Present from the beginning, Wisdom assumes

1711-524: The Middle Kingdom (c.1991–1786 BCE). This fictitious attribution to authors of a more distant past was perhaps intended to give the texts greater authority. Perhaps the best-known sebayt is the one which claims to have been written by Ptahhotep , the vizier to the Fifth Dynasty pharaoh Djedkare Isesi , who ruled from 2388–2356 BCE. Ptahhotep's sebayt is often called The Maxims of Ptahhotep or

1770-469: The Temple of Amun, and that the Temple had complete control over Egypt's finances. Ramesses VI is best known for his tomb which, when built, inadvertently buried the tomb of pharaoh Tutankhamun underneath, keeping it safe from grave robbing until its discovery by Howard Carter in 1922. Ramesses VII's only monument is his tomb, KV1 . Almost nothing is known about Ramesses VIII's reign, which lasted for

1829-619: The assumptions of the "wise". Noteworthy also is the fact that the "mighty acts of God" ( the Exodus , the giving of the Torah at Sinai, the Covenant between God and Israel, etc.) which make up Israel's history are completely or almost completely absent from Proverbs and the other Wisdom books: in contrast to the other books of the Hebrew Bible, which appeal to divine revelation for their authority ("Thus says

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1888-671: The claims of the Arians . The Arians, assuming that Christ could be equated with the "Wisdom of God" (1 Corinthians 1:24), argued that the Son, like Wisdom, was "created", and therefore subordinate to the Creator; their opponents, who argued that the relevant Hebrew word should be translated as "begot", won the debate, and the Nicene Creed declared that the Son was "begotten, not made", meaning that God and Christ were consubstantial . Online translations of

1947-450: The common ground shared by international wisdom. The wisdom literature of Israel may have been developed in the family, the royal court, and houses of learning and instruction; nevertheless, the overwhelming impression is of instruction within the family in small villages. Along with the other examples of the biblical wisdom tradition – Job and Ecclesiastes and some other writings – Proverbs raises questions of values, moral behavior,

2006-403: The death of the last pharaoh of the 19th Dynasty , Queen Twosret , Egypt entered into a period of civil war . Because of lost historical records, the cause of the civil war is unknown. The war was ended with the accession to the throne by Setnakhte , who founded the 20th Dynasty of Egypt. From the reign of Setnakhte and his son Ramesses III , Egypt faced the crisis caused by the invading of

2065-450: The first part (10–14) contrasting the wise man and the fool (or the righteous and the wicked), the second (15–22:16) addressing wise and foolish speech. Verse 22:17 opens ‘the words of the wise’, until verse 24:22, with short moral discourses on various subjects. An additional section of sayings which "also belong to the wise" follows in verses 24:23-34. Chapters 25–29, attributed to the editorial activity of "the men of Hezekiah ", contrast

2124-510: The heavens… when he drew a circle on the face of the Deeps … when he marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was beside him" – Proverbs 8:27–31). Since humans have life and prosperity by conforming to the order of creation, seeking wisdom is the essence and goal of the religious life. Wisdom, or the wise person, is compared and contrasted with foolishness or the fool, meaning one who is lacking in wisdom and uninterested in instruction, not one who

2183-546: The human condition, although there is no discussion of ontology , epistemology , metaphysics , and the other abstract issues raised by the Greeks. The rabbinic college almost excluded the Book of Proverbs from the Bible in the late first century. They did this because of its contradictions (the result of the book's origins as not just an anthology but an anthology of anthologies). The reader

2242-466: The just and the wicked and broach the topic of rich and poor. Chapter 30:1-4, the "sayings of Agur", introduces creation, divine power, and human ignorance. Chapter 31, "the sayings of King Lemuel — an inspired utterance his mother taught him", describes a virtuous woman, a wife of noble character. It is impossible to offer precise dates for the sayings in Proverbs, a "collection of collections" relating to

2301-413: The meaning of human life, and right conduct, and its theological foundation is that "the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom." Wisdom is personified and praised for her role in creation; God acquired her before all else and gave order to chaos through her. As humans have life and prosperity by conforming to the order of creation, seeking wisdom is the essence and goal of life. The book of Proverbs

2360-433: The meaning of human life, and righteous conduct. The three retain an ongoing relevance for both religious and secular readers, Job and Ecclesiastes through the boldness of their dissent from received tradition, Proverbs in its worldliness and satiric shrewdness. Wisdom is as close as biblical literature comes to Greek philosophy, of which it was a contemporary; it shares with the Greeks an inquiry into values and reflections on

2419-519: The name of Ptahemdjehuty Khakheperraseneb . Is there another like Ptahhotep ? Kaires too? Each of these authors (excepting Imhotep, none of whose works survive) including Ptahemdjehuty, can be attested as authors of various works from the Middle Kingdom. Many of the earliest Sebayt claim to have been written in the third millennium BCE, during the Old Kingdom , but it is now generally agreed that they were actually composed later, beginning in

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2478-715: The pharaohs were buried in the Valley of the Kings in Thebes (designated KV). More information can be found on the Theban Mapping Project website. The Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt was the last of the New Kingdom of Egypt . The familial relationships are unclear, especially towards the end of the dynasty. Pharaoh is a historical novel by Bolesław Prus , set in Egypt at the end of the Twentieth Dynasty, which adds two fictional rulers: Ramesses XII and Ramesses XIII. It has been adapted into

2537-555: The priesthood of Amun after their abandonment by Akhenaten . With the High Priests now acting as intermediaries between the gods and the people, rather than the pharaoh, the position of pharaoh no longer commanded the same kind of power as it had in the past. Setnakhte stabilized the situation in Egypt, and may have driven off an attempted invasion by the Sea Peoples . He ruled for about 3-4 years before being succeeded by his son Ramesses III. In Year 5 of his reign, Ramesses defeated

2596-404: The region. Most of the building projects during Ramesses IX's reign were at Heliopolis . Ramesses X's reign is poorly documented. The Necropolis Journal of Set Maat records the general idleness of the workmen at this time, due, at least in part, to the danger of Libyan raiders. Ramesses XI was the last pharaoh of the 20th Dynasty. During his reign the position grew so weak that in the south

2655-408: The reign of Hezekiah in the late 8th century BCE. Chapters 30 and 31 (the "words of Agur," the "words of Lemuel," and the description of the ideal woman) are a set of appendices, quite different in style and emphasis from the previous chapters. The "wisdom" genre was widespread throughout the ancient Near East , and reading Proverbs alongside the examples recovered from Egypt and Mesopotamia reveals

2714-450: The role of master builder while God establishes the heavens, restricts the chaotic waters, and shapes the mountains and fields." Borrowing ideas from Greek philosophers who held that reason bound the universe together, the Wisdom tradition taught that God's Wisdom, Word and Spirit were the ground of cosmic unity. Christianity in turn adopted these ideas and applied them to Jesus: the Epistle to

2773-422: The royal family, and growing power of the priesthood and nobility. Following the death of Ramesses XI , the last pharaoh of the Twentieth Dynasty, a period of chaos ensued. This was ended by Smendes , a member of the Egyptian nobility, who became the first Pharaoh of the 21st Dynasty. Upon the death of the last pharaoh of the 19th Dynasty, Queen Twosret , Egypt descended into a period of civil war, as attested by

2832-526: The scale of Ramesses the Great's own projects. He doubled the number of work gangs at Set Maat to a total of 120 men and dispatched numerous expeditions to the stone quarries of Wadi Hammamat and the turquoise mines of the Sinai . One of the largest expeditions included 8,368 men, of which some 2,000 were soldiers. Ramesses expanded his father's Temple of Khonsu at Karnak and possibly began his own mortuary temple at

2891-573: The title took on different forms: in the Greek Septuagint (LXX), it became Παροιμίαι ( Paroimiai , "Proverbs"); in the Latin Vulgate , the title was Proverbia —from which the English name is derived. Proverbs is not merely an anthology but a "collection of collections" relating to a pattern of life that lasted for more than a millennium. It is an example of Biblical wisdom literature and raises questions about values, moral behavior,

2950-556: The trade routes of Egypt, as most of their trading partners had been destroyed by Sea Peoples. The pharaohs of the 20th Dynasty ruled for approximately 120 years: from c. 1187 to 1064 BC. The dates and names in the table are mostly taken from "Chronological Table for the Dynastic Period" in Erik Hornung, Rolf Krauss & David Warburton (editors), Ancient Egyptian Chronology (Handbook of Oriental Studies), Brill, 2006. Many of

3009-488: The victory in the Battle of Djahy and the Battle of the Delta during Year 8 of Ramesses III's reign, Egypt successfully repelled the invading Sea Peoples , protecting Egypt from ruin like other Bronze Age civilizations. During the Twentieth Dynasty, many of the temples were built to display the power of Egypt. However, they also indicate the political ascendancy of the priesthood over the pharaoh. The Twentieth Dynasty declined because of drastic climate change, infighting in

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3068-404: The workmen of Set Maat were forced to periodically stop working on Ramesses' KV9 tomb out of "fear of the enemy", suggesting increasing instability in Egypt and an inability to defend the country from what are presumed to be Libyan raiding parties. The Wilbour Papyrus is thought to date from Ramesses V's reign. The document reveals that most of the land in Egypt by that point was controlled by

3127-533: Was also increasingly beset by a series of droughts, below-normal flooding levels of the Nile , famine, civil unrest and official corruption – all of which would limit the managerial abilities of any king. The late 13th century BC was a time of uncertainty and conflict for peoples and polities of the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean due to the invasion by Sea Peoples, which caused the Late Bronze Age collapse . While there

3186-435: Was implicated in an assassination attempt against the king, with the goal of putting her son Pentawer on the throne. The coup was unsuccessful. The king died from the attempt on his life; however, it was his legitimate heir and son Ramesses IV who succeeded him to the throne, who thereafter arrested and put approximately 30 conspirators to death. At the start of his reign Ramesses IV started an enormous building program on

3245-463: Was probably the last to be composed, in the Persian or Hellenistic periods. This section has parallels to prior cuneiform writings. The second, chapters 10–22:16, carries the superscription "the proverbs of Solomon", which may have encouraged its inclusion in the Hebrew canon. The third unit, 22:17–24:22, is headed "bend your ear and hear the words of the wise". A large part of this section is a recasting of

3304-609: Was set up in Amurru . They desolated its people and its land was like that which had never existed. They were coming forward toward Egypt, while the flame was prepared for them." Not only Egypt was affected by the Sea People invasions. The empire of the Hittites , a long-standing rival to Egypt, collapsed, never to rise again. (In the inscription quoted above, the Hittites are called "Hatti".) With

3363-524: Was the Temple of Amun and not the Egyptian state that was responsible for their wages. He also produced the Papyrus Harris I, the longest known papyrus from Ancient Egypt, measuring in at 41 meters long with 1,500 lines of text to celebrate the achievements of his father. Ramesses V reigned for no more than 4 years, dying of smallpox in 1143 BC. The Turin Papyrus Cat. 2044 attests that during his reign

3422-583: Was undertaken of ten royal tombs, four tombs of the Chantresses of the Estate of the Divine Adoratrix , and finally the tombs of the citizens of Thebes . Many of these were found to have been broken into, like the tomb of Pharaoh Sobekemsaf II , whose mummy had been stolen. Ramesses IX's cartouche has been found at Gezer in Canaan , suggesting that Egypt at this time still had some degree of influence in

3481-448: Was undertaken, by creating and funding new cults and restoring temples. In Year 29 of Ramesses' reign, the first recorded labor strike in human history took place, after food rations for the favored and elite royal tomb builders and artisans in the village of Set Maat (now known as Deir el-Medina ), could not be provisioned. The reign of Ramesses III is also known for a harem conspiracy in which Queen Tiye , one of his lesser wives,

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