Ptahhotep

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ptahhotep, sometimes known as Ptahhotpe or Ptah-Hotep, was an ancient Egyptian official during the 24th century BC. He was vizier to Djedkare Isesi of the Fifth dynasty of Egypt. He had a son named Akhethotep, who was also a vizier. He and his descendants were buried at Saqqara. Ptahhotep's tomb is located in a mastaba in North Saqqara where he was laid to rest by himself. His grandson Ptahhotep Tshefi, who lived during the reign of Unas, was buried in the mastaba of his father.^[1] Their tomb is famous for its outstanding depictions.^[2]

[edit] The Maxims of Ptahhotep

Ptahhotep's grandson, Ptahhotep Tshefi, is traditionally credited with being the author of the collection of wise sayings known as The Maxims of Ptahhotep,^[3] 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. ^[4] They have the form of advice and instructions from a father to his son and are said to have been assembled during the late Old Kingdom, but their oldest surviving copies are written in Middle Egyptian dating to the late First Intermediate Period' of the Middle Kingdom.^[5]

A manuscript copy, the Prisse Papyrus, is on display at the Louvre.

[edit] References

The tomb of Ptahhotep was used as a setting in an episode of Quantum Leap (TV series).
Nicholas Grimal, A History of Ancient Egypt, Blackwell Publishing, 1992

^ Grimal, op.cit., p.79
^ Dieter Arnold, The Encyclopaedia of Ancient Egyptian Architecture, I.B.Tauris 2003, ISBN 1860644651, p.182
^ Grimal, op.cit., p.79
^ M. Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, p.61
^ James P. Allen, Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs, Cambridge University Press 2000, ISBN 0521774837, p.259