Die Lehre Ptahhoteps und die Tugenden der agyptischen Welt.

AuthorStadler, Martin Andreas
PositionBook review

Die Lehre Ptahhoteps und die Tugenden der agyptischen Welt. By FRIEDRICH JUNGE. Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis, vol. 193. Freiburg, Switzerland: UNIVERSITATSVERLAG, 2003. Pp. 286. FS85.

Returning to a well-known Egyptian text, Friedrich Junge has examined the Instruction of Ptahhotep and presented a monograph on Egypt's oldest wisdom text (dating most probably to the eleventh dynasty/early second millennium B.C.). In a short excursus into the history of philosophy, Junge raises the question of how Ptahhotep fits into Jaspers' idea of the Achsenzeit, according to which a revolution in thinking took place in fifth-century Greece, whereas before that period ethics were basically vulgar. Junge's thesis is that Ptahhotep stands on a higher evolutionary plane and is very complex, despite predating the Achsenzeit. As Junge admits, he is not the first Egyptologist to raise doubts about the Achsenzeit-concept, which Jan Assmann has already rejected (Ma'at: Gerechtigkeit und Unsterblichkeit im Alten Agypten [Munich: C. H. Beck, 1995], esp. 24-28, 273-88).

Any reader who expects a summary of previous research on Ptahhotep, a contextualization of the text within the culture of Middle Kingdom Egypt, or a description of the further development of the genre of wisdom texts in Egypt after Ptahhotep will be disappointed, as Junge has chosen to reach his conclusions through "close reading," i.e., an approach without premises intended to explain the text through itself.

According to Junge, this is legitimate because the instruction follows its own rules and aims at particular goals. The instruction is designed to concretize the abstract and empty principle of the cosmic world order (ma 'at) that also regulates human and social life. The first five chapters of the book present the sections of the instruction, the maxims following a thematic order according to the lines of Junge's argument. In this way he cites from Ptahhotep where appropriate for his reading and comments on the translations by reformulating the messages.

Junge states that the instruction aims at instilling respect toward fellow human beings. This teaching is not just altruistic, making sure that everyone's dignity--even that of those who are subordinate--is preserved, but is intended to protect one's own dignity, which can be damaged if a superior mistreats a person who stands on a lower hierarchical level. However, this practical attitude does not turn the instruction into vulgar ethics, as...

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