The Instruction of Ptah-hotep and the Instruction of Ke'gemni: The Oldest Books in the World!

Translated from the Egyptian with an introduction and appendix by Battiscombe G. Gunn. 75, [1] + [4] ad pp. 16.5x11.8 cm (6½x4¾"), cloth. First edition, 1906. Very scarce.

About this book

Very rare printing of ancient Egyptian wisdom text, which many scholars deem to be the "oldest books in the world." The Maxims of Ptahhotep. Ptahhotep was the city administrator and vizier (first minister) during the reign of Djedkare Isesi in the 5th Dynasty (late 25th century BC and early 24th century BC). He is credited with authoring The Instruction of Ptahhotep, an early piece of Egyptian "wisdom literature" meant to instruct young men in appropriate behavior. Ptahhotep's grandson, Ptahhotep Tshefi, is traditionally credited with being the author of the collection of wise sayings known as The Maxims of Ptahhotep, whose opening lines attribute authorship to the vizier Ptahhotep: Instruction of the Mayor of the city, the Vizier Ptahhotep, under the Majesty of King lsesi. They take the form of advice and instructions from a father to his son and are said to have been assembled during the late Old Kingdom. However, their oldest surviving copies are written in Middle Egyptian dating to the late First Intermediate Period' of the Middle Kingdom.The 1906 translation by Battiscombe Gunn was made directly from the papyrus in Paris, rather than from copies. A manuscript copy, the Prisse Papyrus, is on display at the Louvre.

The Instructions of Kagemni is an ancient Egyptian instructional text of wisdom literature which belongs to the st ('teaching') genre. Although the earliest evidence of its compilation dates to the Middle Kingdom of Egypt, its authorship has traditionally yet dubiously been attributed to Kagemni,[1] a vizier who served during the reign of the Pharaoh Sneferu (r. 2613–2589 BC), founder of the Fourth Dynasty (belonging to the Old Kingdom). (Wikipedia)