Chapter V - Philosophic Texts

The aim of this song is to inculcate a philosophy of life. But the question whether and in what manner life is to be enjoyed was not the only one that occupied the ancient Egyptian. As he brooded over life and its conditions other philosophical problems came within the range of his speculation. Such questions were discussed by the Egyptians in the form of a dialogue—a form chosen for similar purposes in other literatures and even by such a master of pointed style as Plato. The matter at issue is subjected to question and counter-question, sometimes before a large assembly, until at length the correctness of some disputed principle is acknowledged by the side originally opposing it.

A papyrus of the Middle Kingdom (dating about 2500 B.C.), now in the Berlin Museum, is the most ancient text of this kind that has been preserved in the Nile Valley. The subject is an attempt at the justification of suicide. The speakers are a man and his Khou, his luminous immortal cgo_t which, according to a well-known Egyptian conception, formed a complete and independent personality, as did also the other various parts of the human soul. Thus, as a man could play draughts with his Ba, talk and exchange gifts with his Ka, so he could find himself at variance and come to agreement with his Khou.

The man who figures in our text is weary of life and has made up his mind to suicide when he is seized with fear as to his future lot, if there should be no one to attend to his burial. In the lost beginning of the dialogue the soul had evidently argued against suicide in general, but the man turns to it with the entreaty that it wrll perform for him the duties of a kinsman. The soul, however, steadily refuses, pointing out that with death the remembrance of the departed speedily fades away, even the memory of those who have erected monuments of granite. It is wise, therefore, for a man to forget his care, and to make the day of his life a happy one. Thus the poor man may live in spite of all the labour and sorrow that fall to his lot.—But the man will not hearken to this counsel.

He loudly bewails his misery, and declares that his name is more utterly contemned than that of the filthiest and most loathsome wretch on earth, and that his brothers and friends have forsaken him. He laments that everywhere on earth the meek are oppressed and the insolent triumph; that dishonesty prevails and the wicked man succeeds; that there are no just men; that none are content. Therefore, he says, does death appear to him in the guise of all that is most pleasing to his soul—the fragrance of myrrh, repose in the cool air, the intoxication of the feast, the fulfilment of the heart’s desire.— These long-drawn-out details produce the desired effect. The soul ceases to resist and promises the man that he shall indeed journey to the west, the realm of the dead, and that his limbs shall be laid in the earth. Then, when he at last is at rest, the soul shall descend to him, and together they will prepare for themselves an abiding-place.

A demotic papyrus in the Leyden Museum contains another philosophical text, but its value is diminished by the fact that it was written down within the Christian era. It may be assumed that here Greek ideas arc found side by side with those of Egypt. Some have even maintained that Christian influences can be detected, but little evidence has been adduced in support of this somewhat improbable theory. The discussion is in the form of a dialogue between a gigantic cat, the representative of the goddess Bast, and a small jackal. The former, speaking from the orthodox standpoint, maintains that this world is ruled and guided by the gods, that good triumphs, and that evil sooner or later meets with due punishment. Retribution must follow if violence be inflicted on so much as a lamb, for even the mightiest among men cannot drive God forth from his house. The sky may at times be overclouded, the thunder-storm may blot out the light for a moment, morning clouds may veil the sunrise; but, nevertheless, the sun will eventually scatter the darkness and light and joy return with his beams.

In contrast to this spirit of resignation to the gods and to destiny, the jackal paints life from the realistic point of view, maintaining that the right of the stronger prevails on earth. The lizard devours the insect, the bat the lizard, the snake prejs upon the bat and is' in its turn preyed upon by the hawk, and thus it goes on throughout the whole scale of creation. It is said, indeed, that vengeance must one day overtake the sinner, but no man can see how that may come to pass; no prayer has power to slay an evildoer.