“Strengthen your borders, your frontier patrols;
It is good to work for the future.
One respects the life of the foresighted,
While he who trusts fails.
Make people come [to you] through your good nature,
A wretch is who desires the land [of his neighbor],
A fool is who covets what others possess.
Life on earth passes, it is not long,
Happy is he who is remembered,”
Source: Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“On the day of judging the miserable,
In the hour of doing their task.
It is painful when the accuser has knowledge,
Do not trust in length of years,
They view a lifetime in an hour!”
Source: Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“Beware of subjects who are nobodies,
Of whose plotting one is not aware.
Trust not a brother, know not a friend.
Make no intimates, it is worthless.
When you lie down, guard your heart yourself.”
Source: Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“Trust not the morrow before it has come; none knows the trouble in it.”
Source: Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“THE INSTRUCTION OF PTAHHOTEP
Part II
If you are one among guests
At the table of one greater than you,
Take what he gives as it is set before you;
Look at what is before you,
Don’t shoot many glances at him,
Molesting him offends the ka.
Don’t speak to him until he summons,
One does not know what may displease;
Speak when he has addressed you,
Then your words will please the heart.
The nobleman, when he is behind food,
Behaves as his ka commands him;
He will give to him whom he favors,
It is the custom when night has come.
It is the ka that makes his hands reach out,
The great man gives to the chosen man;
Thus eating is under the counsel of god,
A fool is who complains of it.
If you are a man of trust,
Sent by one great man to another,
Adhere to the nature of him who sent you.
Give his message as he said it.
Guard against reviling speech,
Which embroils one great with another;
Keep to the truth, don't exceed it,
But an outburst should not be repeated.
Do not malign anyone,
Great or small, the ka abhors it.
If you plow and there’s growth in the field,
And god lets it prosper in your hand,
Do not boast at your neighbors’ side,
One has great respect for the silent man:
Man of character is man of wealth.
If he robs he is like a crocodile in court.
Don’t impose on one who is childless,
Neither decry nor boast of it;
There is many a father who has grief,
And a mother of children less content than another;
It is the lonely whom god fosters,
While the family man prays for a follower.
If you are poor, serve a man of worth,
That all your conduct may be well with the god.
Do not recall if he once was poor,
Don’t be arrogant toward him
For knowing his former state;
Respect him for what has accrued to him.
For wealth does not come by itself.
It is their law for him whom they love,
His gain, he gathered it himself ;
It is the god who makes him worthy
And protects him while he sleeps.
Follow your heart as long as you live,
Do no more than is required,
Do not shorten the time of “follow-the-heart,”
Trimming its moment offends the ka
Don’t waste time on daily cares
Beyond providing for your household;
When wealth has come, follow your heart,
Wealth does no good if one is glum!
If you are a man of worth
And produce a son by the grace of god,
If he is straight, takes after you,
Takes good care of your possessions.
Do for him all that is good,
He is your son, your ka begot him,
Don’t withdraw your heart from him.
But an offspring can make trouble:
If he strays, neglects your counsel,
Disobeys all that is said,
His mouth spouting evil speech,
Punish him for all his talk
They hate him who crosses you,
His guilt was fated in the womb;
He whom they guide can not go wrong,
Whom they make boatless can not cross.
If you are in the antechamber,
Stand and sit as fits your rank
Which was assigned you the first day.
Do not trespass — you will be turned back,
Keen is the face to him who enters announced,
Spacious the seat of him who has been called.
The antechamber has a rule,
All behavior is by measure;
It is the god who gives advancement,
He who uses elbows is not helped.
If you are among the people,
Gain supporters through being trusted
The trusted man who does not vent his belly’s speech,
He will himself become a leader,
A man of means — what is he like ?
Your name is good, you are not maligned,
Your body is sleek, your face benign,
One praises you without your knowing.
He whose heart obeys his belly
Puts contempt of himself in place of love,
His heart is bald, his body unanointed;
The great-hearted is god-given,
He who obeys his belly belongs to the enemy.”
Source: Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“He who reaches them without having done wrong
Will exist there like a god.
Free-striding like the lords forever!”
Source: Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“Lo, justice flees from you.
Expelled from its seat!
The magistrates do wrong,
Right-dealing is bent sideways,
The judges snatch what has been stolen.”
“Though the face of the steersman is forward, the boat drifts as it pleases.
Though the king is in the palace,
though the rudder is in your hand,
wrong is done around you.
Long is my plea, heavy my task,
“What is the matter with him ?“ people ask.
Be a shelter, make safe your shore,
See how your quay is infested with crocodiles!
Straighten your tongue, let it not stray,
A serpent is this limb of man.
Don’t tell lies, warn the magistrates,
Greasy baskets are the judges.”
Source: Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“If you avert your face from violence,
who then shall punish wrong doing ?”
Source: Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“THE INSTRUCTION OF PTAHHOTEP
Part V
Know your helpers, then you prosper,
Don’t be mean toward your friends,
They are one’s watered field,
And greater then one’s riches.
For what belongs to one belongs to another.
The character of a son-of-man is profit to him;
Good nature is a memorial,
Punish firmly, chastise soundly;
Then repression of crime becomes an example;
Punishment except for crime
Turns the complainer into an enemy.
If you take to wife a Spnt
Who is joyful and known by her town,
If she is fickle and likes the moment.
Do not reject her, let her eat,”
Source: Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“One would say; “He is the herdsman of all; there is no evil in his heart.
His herds are few, but he spends the day herding them.
There is fire in their hearts!
If only he had perceived their nature in the first generation!
Then he would have smitten the evil, stretched out his arm against it, would have destroyed their seed and their heirs!
But since giving birth is desired, grief has come and misery is everywhere.
So it is and will not pass, while these gods are in their midst.
Seed comes forth from mortal women ;
it is not found on the road.
Fighting has come, and the punisher of crimes commits them!
There is no pilot in their hour.
Where is he today? Is he asleep ?
Lo, his power is not seen!”
Source: Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“The day in school will profit you
Its works are for ever.”
Source: Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“If you leave the schoolhouse when midday is called and go roaming in the streets, all will scold you in the end.
When an official sends you with a message,
Tell it as he told it,
Don’t omit, don’t add to it.
He who neglects to praise, his name will not endure ; he who is skilled in all his conduct, from him nothing is hidden, he is not 'opposed anywhere.”
Source: Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“I’ll tell you also other things, so as to teach you knowledge.
Such as; if a quarrel breaks out,do not approach the contenders!
If you are chided and don’t know how to repel the heat, call the listeners to witness and delay the answer.”
Source: Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“Is there [a man] who lives forever ?
He who comes with Osiris passes,
Just as he leaves who indulged himself.
Advance your officials, so that they act by your laws.
He who has wealth at home will not be partial.
He is a rich man who lacks nothing.
The poor man does not speak justly,
Not righteous is one who says, “I wish I had,”
He inclines to him who will pay him.”
Source: Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“Endow your monuments according to your wealth.
Even one day gives to eternity,
An hour contributes to the future,
God recognizes him who works for him.”
Source: Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“Poor men have become men of wealth,
He who could not afford sandals owns riches.”
Source: Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“Princes in the workhouse,
He who did not sleep on a box owns a bed.
See, the man of wealth lies thirsting.
He who begged dregs has overflowing bowls.
See, those who owned robes are in rags,
He who did not weave for himself owns fine linen.
See, he who did not build a boat for himself owns ships,
Their owner looks at them: they are not his.”
Source: Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“See, he who slept wifeless found a noblewoman,
He who was not seen stands.
See, he who had nothing is a man of wealth. The nobleman sings his praise.
See, the poor of the land have become rich, The man of property is a pauper.
See, cooks have become masters of butlers,
He who was a messenger sends someone else.
See, he who had no loaf owns a barn.
His storeroom is filled with another’s goods. See, the baldhead who lacked oil
Has become owner of jars of sweet myrrh.
See, she who lacked a box has furniture.
She who saw her face in the water owns a mirror.”
Source: Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“The arbitrator is a robber,
The remover of need orders its creation.
The town is a floodwater,
The punisher of evil commits crimes!”
Source: Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“You should be the model for all men,
But your affairs are crooked!
The standard for all men cheats the whole land!
The vintner of evil waters his plot with crimes,
Until his plot sprouts falsehood,
His estate flows with crimes!”
Source: Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“There was retribution for what I had done, For it is evil to destroy,
Useless to restore what one has damaged, To rebuild what one has demolished.”
Source: Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“To whom shall I speak today ?
Brothers are mean,
The friends of today do not love.
To whom shall I speak today?
Hearts are greedy,
Everyone robs his comrade's goods.
To whom shall I speak today ?
Kindness has perished,
Insolence assaults everyone.
To whom shall I speak today ?
One is content with evil,
Goodness is cast to the ground everywhere. To whom shall I speak today?
He who should enrage men by his crimes — He makes everyone laugh at his evildoing. To whom shall I speak today ?
Men plunder,
Everyone robs his comrade.
To whom shall I speak today ?
The criminal is one’s intimate,
The brother with whom one dealt is a foe.
To whom shall I speak today ?
The past is not remembered,
Now one does not help him who helped.
To whom shall I speak today ?
Brothers are mean,
One goes to strangers for affection.
To whom shall I speak today?
Faces are blank,
Everyone turns his face from his brothers.
To whom shall I speak today ?
Hearts are greedy,
No man’s heart can be relied on.
To whom shall I speak today ?
None are righteous,
The land is left to evildoers.
To whom shall I speak today ?
One lacks an intimate,
One resorts to an unknown to complain.
To whom shall I speak today ?
No one is cheerful,
He with whom one walked is no more.
To whom shall I speak today ?
I am burdened with grief
For lack of an intimate.
To whom shall I speak today ?
Wrong roams the earth,
And ends not.”
Source: Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“See, their words endure in books,
Open, read them, copy their knowledge,
He who is taught becomes skilled.
Don’t be evil, kindness is good,
Make your memorial last through love of you.
Increase the [people], befriend the town,..”
Source: Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“Copy your fathers, your ancestors,
See, their words endure in books,
Open, read them, copy their knowledge,
He who is taught becomes skilled.
Don’t be evil, kindness is good..”
Source: Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“Life is a passage ; trees fall.
Tread on the evil, put down my misery!”
Source: Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“THE INSTRUCTION OF PTAHHOTEP
Part III
Report your commission without faltering,
Give your advice in your master’s council.
If he is fluent in his speech,
It will not be hard for the envoy to report,
Nor will he be answered, "Who is he to know it ?”
As to the master, his affairs will fail
If he plans to punish him for it.
He should be silent upon (hearing): "I have told.”
If you are a man who leads.
Whose authority reaches wide,
You should do outstanding things,
Remember the day that comes after.
No strife will occur in the midst of honors,
But where the crocodile enters hatred arises.
If you are a man who leads.
Listen calmly to the speech of one who pleads;
Don’t stop him from purging his body
Of that which he planned to tell.
A man in distress wants to pour out his heart
More than that his case be won.
About him who stops a plea
One says: “Why does he reject it ?”
Not all one pleads for can be granted,
But a good hearing soothes the heart.
If you want friendship to endure
In the house you enter
As master, brother, or friend,
In whatever place you enter,
Beware of approaching the women!
Unhappy is the place where it is done.
Unwelcome is he who intrudes on them.
A thousand men are turned away from their good:
A short moment like a dream,
Then death comes for having known them.
Poor advice is “shoot the opponent,”
When one goes to do it the heart rejects it.
He who fails through lust of them,
No affair of his can prosper.
If you want a perfect conduct,
To be free from every evil,
Guard against the vice of greed:
A grievous sickness without cure,
There is no treatment for it.
It embroils fathers, mothers,
And the brothers of the mother,
It parts wife from husband;
It is a compound of all evils,
A bundle of all hateful things.
That man endures whose rule is rightness,
Who walks a straight line;
He will make a will by it,
The greedy has no tomb.
Do not be greedy in the division.
Do not covet more than your share;
Do not be greedy toward your kin.
The mild has a greater claim than the harsh.
Poor is he who shuns his kin,
He is deprived of 'interchange'
Even a little of what is craved
Turns a quarreler into an amiable man.
When you prosper and found your house,
And love your wife with ardor,
Fill her belly, clothe her back,
Ointment soothes her body.
Gladden her heart as long as you live,
She is a fertile held for her lord.
Do not contend with her in court,
Keep her from power, restrain her —
Her eye is her storm when she gazes —
Thus will you make her stay in your house.
Sustain your friends with what you have,
You have it by the grace of god;
Of him who fails to sustain his friends
One says, “a selfish ka".
One plans the morrow but knows not what will be,
The ( right) ka is the ka by which one is sustained.
If praiseworthy deeds are done,
Friends will say, “welcome!”
One does not bring supplies to town,
One brings friends when there is need.
Do not repeat calumny.
Nor should you listen to it,
It is the spouting of the hot-bellied.
Report a thing observed, not heard,
If it is negligible, don’t say anything.
He who is before you recognizes worth.
lf a seizure is ordered and carried out,
Hatred will arise against him who seizes;
Calumny is like a dream against which one covers the face.
If you are a man of worth,
Who sits in his master’s council.
Concentrate on excellence,
Your silence is better than chatter.
Speak when you know you have a solution,
It is the skilled who should speak in council;
Speaking is harder than all other work.
He who understands it makes it serve.”
Source: Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“All forms of evil which people hate have been suppressed.
THE FIRST PART OF THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ANKHTIFI”
Source: Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“As for any people who would enter this tomb unclean and do something evil to it, there will be judgment against them by the great god.
INSCRIPTION OF HETEP-HER-AKHET”
Source: Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“Keep away from wrongdoing!
When goodness is good it is truly good.
For justice is for eternity:
It enters the graveyard with its doer.
When he is buried and earth enfolds him.
His name does not pass from the earth;
He is remembered because of goodness,
That is the rule of god’s command.”
Source: Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“Not speaks one who spoke,
There speaks one who wilt speak,
May another find what he will speak!
Not a teller of tales after they happen.
This has been done before ;
Nor a teller of what might be said,
This is vain endeavor, it is lies.
And none will recall his name to others.
I say this in accord with what I have seen:
From the first generation to those who come after,
They imitate that which is past.”
“THE INSTRUCTION OF PTAHHOTEP
Part IV
If you are mighty, gain respect through knowledge
And through gentleness of speech.
Don’t command except as is fitting,
He who provokes gets into trouble.
Don't be haughty, lest you be humbled,
Don’t be mute, lest you be chided.
When you answer one who is fuming,
Avert your face, control yourself.
The flame of the hot-heart sweeps across.
He who steps gently, his path is paved.
He who frets all day has no happy moment,
He who’s gay all day can’t keep house.
Don’t oppose a great man’s action.
Don’t vex the heart of one who is burdened;
If he gets angry at him who foils him,
The ka will part from him who loves him.
Yet he is the provider along with the god,
What he wishes should be done for him.
When he turns his face back to you after raging,
There will be peace from his ka;
As ill will comes from opposition,.
So goodwill increases love.
Teach the great what is useful to him,
Be his aid before the people;
If you Set his knowledge impress his lord,
Your sustenance will come from his ka
As the favorite's belly is filled.
So your back will be clothed by it,
And his help will be there sustain you.
For your superior whom you love
And who lives by it,
He in turn will give you good support.
Thus will love of you endure
In the belly of those who love you,
He is a ka who loves to listen.
If you are a magistrate of standing.
Commissioned to satisfy the many,
Hew a straight line,
When you speak don't lean to one side.
Beware lest one complain:
“Judges, he distorts the matter!”
And your deed turns into a judgment (of you).
If you are angered by misdeed.
Lean toward a man account of his rightness;
Pass it over, don’t recall it,
Since he was silent to you the first day
If you are great after having been humble,
Have gained wealth after having been poor
In the past, in a town which you know,
Knowing your former condition.
Do not put trust in your wealth,
Which came to you as gift of god;
So that you will not fall behind one like you,
To whom the same has happened,
Bend your back to your superior,
Your overseer from the palace;
Then your house will endure in its wealth.
Your rewards in their right place.
Wretched is he who opposes a superior,
One lives as long as he is mild,
Baring the arm does not hurt it
Do not plunder a neighbor’s house,
Do not steal the goods of one near you,
Lest he denounce you before you are heard
A quarreler is a mindless person,
If he is known as an aggressor
The hostile man will have trouble in the neighborhood.
This maxim is an injunction against illicit sexual intercourse. It is
very obscure and has been omitted here.
If you probe the character of a friend,
Don’t inquire, but approach him,
Deal with him alone,
So as not to suffer from his manner.
Dispute with him after a time,
Test his heart in conversation;
If what he has seen escapes him,
If he does a thing that annoys you,
Be yet friendly with him, don’t attack;
Be restrained, don’t let fly,
Don’t answer with hostility,
Neither part from him nor attack him;
His time does not fail to come,
One does not escape what is fated
Be generous as long as you live,
What leaves the storehouse does not return;
It is the food to be shared which is coveted.
One whose belly is empty is an accuser;
One deprived becomes an opponent,
Don’t have him for a neighbor.
Kindness is a man’s memorial
For the years after the function.”
Source: Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“Do not answer with the answer of silence!
Do not attack one who does not attack you.”
Source: Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“Would that I knew what others ignore,
Such as has not been repeated,
To say it and have my heart answer me,
To inform it of my distress.
Shift to it the load on my back,
The matters that afflict me.
Relate to it of what I suffer
And sigh “Ah" with relief!
of meditate on what has happened,
The events that occur throughout the land: Changes take place, it is not like last year,
One year is more irksome than the other.
The land breaks up, is destroyed.
Becomes [a wasteland].
Order is cast out,
Chaos is in the council hail ;
The ways of the gods are violated,
Their provisions neglected.
The land is in turmoil.
There is mourning everywhere;
Towns, districts are grieving,
All alike are burdened by wrongs.
One turns one’s back on dignity.
The lords of silence are disturbed;
As dawn comes every day.
The face recoils from events.
I cry out about it,
My limbs are weighed down,
I grieve in my heart.
It is hard to keep silent about it,
Another heart would bend;
But a heart strong in distress:
It is a comrade to its lord.
Had I a heart skilled in hardship,
I would take my rest upon it.
Weigh it down with words of grief.
Lay on it my malady!
He said to his heart:
Come, my heart, I speak to you.
Answer me my sayings!
Unravel for me what goes on in the land,
Why those who shone are overthrown.
I meditate on what has happened:
While trouble entered in today,
And turmoil will not cease tomorrow,
Everyone is mute about it.
The whole land is in great distress,
Nobody is free from erime;
Hearts are greedy.
He who gave orders takes orders,
And the hearts of both submit.
One wakes to it every day.
And the hearts do not reject it.
Yesterday's condition is like today’s
None is wise enough to know it,
None angry enough to cry out,
One wakes to suffer each day.
My malady is long and heavy.
The sufferer lacks strength to save himself
From that which overwhelms him.
It is pain to be silent to what one hears,
It is futile to answer the ignorant.
To reject a speech makes enmity;
The heart does not accept the truth,
One cannot bear a statement of fact,
A man loves only his own words.
Everyone builds on crookedness,
Right-speaking is abandoned.
I spoke to you, my heart, answer you me,
A heart addressed must not be silent,
Lo, servant and master fare alike,
There is much that weighs upon you!”
Source: Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“Do not build your tomb out of ruins,
(Using) what had been made for what is to be made.
Behold, the king is lord of joy,
You may rest, sleep in your strength,
Follow your heart, through what I have done, There is no foe within your borders.”
Source: Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“It is however good when people get drunk. When they drink miyet with happy hearts.
It is however good when mouths shout for joy.”
Source: Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“He who grieved goes out in joy.”
Source: Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“The cardinal virtues are self-control, moderation,
kindness, generosity, justice, and truthfulness tempered by discretion”
Source: Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“Truly, he who is yonder will be a living god, Punishing the evildoer's crime.”
Source: Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“Men’s slaves, their hearts are greedy,
The great do not mingle with their people when they rejoice.”
Source: Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“Forgetfulness profits you,
Follow your heart as long as you live!”
Source: Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“Do your things on earth as your heart commands!
When there comes to you that day of mourning,
The Weary-hearted hears not their mourning, Wailing saves no man from the pit!”
Source: Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“I am knowing to him who lacks knowledge,
One who teaches a man what is useful to him.
I am a straight one in the king’s house,
Who knows what to say in every office.
I am a listener who listens to the truth,
Who ponders it in the heart.
I am one pleasant to his lord’s house,
Who is remembered for his good qualities.
I am kindly in the offices,
One who is calm and does not roar.
I am kindly, not short-tempered,
One who does not attack a man for a remark.
I am accurate like the scales.
Straight and true like Thoth.
I am firm-footed, well-disposed,
Loyal to him who advanced him.
I am a knower who taught himself knowledge,
An advisor whose advice is sought.
I am a speaker in the hall of justice,
Skilled in speech in anxious situations.”
Source: Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“Each man’s heart is for himself.”
Source: Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“Hearts have quite abandoned it”
Source: Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“Speech falls on the heart like fire,
One cannot endure the word of mouth.”
Source: Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“Lo, gold, lapis lazuli, silver, and turquoise, Carnelian, amethyst, ibht- stone and
Are strung on the necks of female slaves. Noblewomen roam the land.
Ladies say, “We want to eat!”
Lo, noblewomen,
Their bodies suffer in rags,
Their hearts shrink from greeting
[each other].
Lo, chests of ebony are smashed.”
Source: Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“Happy is the heart of the king when gifts come to him.
And when every foreign land [comes],
that is our success, that is our fortune.
What shall we do about it ? All is ruin!”
Source: Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“Lo, all beasts, their hearts weep.”
Source: Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms
“It pleases the heart to ignore it.
You have done what pleases their hearts.
You have sustained people among them.
Yet they cover their faces in fear of tomorrow.
There was an old man who was about to die, while his son was a child without knowledge.”
Source: Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I: The Old and Middle Kingdoms