Instruction of Amenemope

The Wisdom of Amenemope is the culmination of surviving texts in the genre of the didactic or hortatory pieces usually called instructions. Amenemope's words strike the reader as offering some of the most mature, apt, and vivid observations on the conduct of life to survive from ancient Egypt. The situation is the usual one in wisdom texts—a father distilling the advice gained over a lifetime of public service and formulating it to pass it on to his son. Amenemope is a high official dealing with the agricultural affairs of the government, while his son, Hor-em-maa-kheru, is a trained scribe in the service of the god Min. Beyond the statements concerning public conduct and behavior, there are broader, more general observations on the conduct and meaning of life which deepen and enrich these maxims.