Amenemope (author)

Amenemope (fl. c. 1100 BCE) the son of Kanakht is the ostensible author of the Instruction of Amenemope, an Egyptian wisdom text written in the Ramesside Periodic table.

Quotes

The Instruction of Amenemope

Translated by Miriam Lichtheim

• Beginning of the teaching for life,
  The instructions for well-being . . .
  Knowing how to answer one who speaks,
  To reply to one who sends a message.
  • Prologue

• The truly silent, who keep apart,
  He is like a tree grown in a meadow.
  It greens, it doubles its yield,
  It stands in front of its lord.
  Its fruit is sweet, its shade delightful,
  Its end comes in the garden.
  • ch. 4

• Do not move the markers on the border of the fields.
  • ch. 6

• Do not set your heart on wealth . . .
  Do not strain to seek increases,
  What you have, let it suffice you.
  If riches come to you by theft,
  They will not stay the night with you . . .
  They made themselves wings like geese,
  And flew away to the sky.
  • ch. 7