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? Amen-em-apt and the "words of the wise" in the Book of Proverbs
The remark of Budge pertaining to the influence of the teaching on Jewish religious literature was taken up and confirmed by Erman, Sethe, Griffith & Simpson (1926). Lichtheim (1976) speaks of a consensus among scholars that there is no priority of the Hebrew text, nor a common lost Semitic text, but a "literary relationship" between the teaching of Amen-em-apt and the Book of Proverbs (the oldest part of which is dated ca.920 BCE, namely chapters 10 to 24). She writes : "it can hardly be doubted that the author of Proverbs was acquainted with the Egyptian work and borrowed from it". Especially Proverbs line 22:21 speaks in that sense, and introduces the Hebrew section on the "words of the wise" : "I have written down thirty sayings for you. They contain knowledge and good advice and will teach you what the truth really is. They when you are sent to find it out, you will bring back the right answer".
Indeed, the proposed literary relationship is most prominent & direct in that section of Proverbs called (in the Massoretic, traditional Hebrew text) "the words of the wise." (chapters 22:17 - 24:22). Here the "remarkable similarity of ideals and ideas" are closest and most numerous, although Simpson remarks that the Hebrew text is less fresher and vigorous, as if in Proverbs the teaching returns in an abbreviated form. Gressman (1925), found a literal "thirty" proverbs in this section of the Hebrew book of Proverbs, and the inference that it was ultimately derived from Amen-em-apt's teaching "would appear to be irresistible".
We invite the reader to read this wisdom section of the Proverbs (22:17 - 24:22, composed ca.920 BCE) and savor the following correspondences :
PROVERBS
| AMEN-EM-APT
| prologue
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30 | prologue
2, 11
9
-
6
-
23
7
11, 12
9
6
30
-
prologue, 1, 30
2
1, 23, 26
-
-
-
9, 3
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
6
2
-
- |
Beside these, the following resemblances are striking (Proverbs in bold) : 6:21 - 1:3-5 ; 15:16 - 6:33-36 ; 16:9 - 13:13-16 ; 16:11 - 16:5-10 ; 17:5 - 25:1-5 ; 18:6 - 9:13 ; 19:21 - 18:4-5 ; 20:19 - 21:13-14 ; 20:22 - 21:1-8. Gressman also discovered other important resemblances in the prophetical, historical & legal literature of the Hebrews, namely Jeremia, 17:5-8, Psalm 1, 1 Samuel, 2:6ff and in the Book of Job (4:17-20).
"The Lord kills and restores to life ;
he sends people to the world of the dead
and brings them back again.
He makes some poor and others rich;
he humbles some and makes others great.
He lifts the poor from the dust
and raises the needy from their misery."
1 Samuel, 2:6ff
"Happy are those
who reject the advice of evil people,
who do not follow the example of sinners;
or join those who have no use for God.
Instead, they find joy in obeying the Law of the Lord,
and they study it day and night.
They are like trees that grow beside a stream,
that bear fruit at the right time,
and whose leaved do not dry up.
They succeed in everything they do.
But evil people are not like this at all ;
they are like straw that the wind blows away.
Sinners will be condemned by God
and kept apart from God's own people.
The righteous are guided and protected by the Lord,
but the evil are on the way to their doom.
Psalm 1
"Can anyone be righteous in the sight of God
or be pure before his Creator ?
God does not trust his heavenly servants ;
he finds faults even with his angels.
Do you think he will trust a creature of clay,
a thing of dust that can be crushed like a moth ?
Someone may be alive in the morning
but die unnoticed before evening comes.
All that he has is taken away,
he dies, still lacking wisdom."
Book of Job, 4:17-20
"The Lord says :
'I will condemn those who turn away from me
and put their trust in human beings,
in the strength of mortals.
They are like bushes in the desert,
which grow in the dry wilderness,
on salty ground where nothing else grows.
Nothing good ever happens to them.
But I will bless those who put their trust in me.
They are like trees growing near a stream,
and sending out roots to the water.
They are not afraid when hot weather comes,
because their leaves stay green ;
they have no worries when there is no rain ;
they keep on bearing fruit."
Jeremiah, 17:5-8.
The influence of Egyptian wisdom teachings on the religious literature of Israel is part of the larger context of the interaction between these two civilizations. We know that it was during the Ramesside age that the tribes of Israel became a nation, and much of Israel's knowledge of Egypt, as reflected in their literature, resulted from contacts with this period. Although these contacts will be the object of a separate study, let us briefly discuss the foundational event of Israel's history : the Exodus.
Historians are far from unanimous concerning the date of the Exodus, the flight of the Jews from the "house of bondage". The "low" hypothesis, situates this founding event in the middle of the fifteenth or sixteenth century BCE, the "high" hypothesis places it in the thirteenth century. Various arguments have been advanced to evidence both positions, but archaeological findings in Canaanite territory as well as biblical chronology (for example the 480 years between the construction of the Temple of Solomon and the Exodus) proved to be inconclusive. As the nature of biblical sources is not historiographic but ideological and etiological, its chronology is seriously in doubt and can not be used.
In line with Modrzejewski (1995), I adhere to the "low" hypothesis on the basis of a single chronological indication furnished by the biblical account which converges with historical data. In Exodus 1:11, we read : "So the Egyptians put slave-drivers over them to crush their spirits with hard labour. The Israelites built the cities of Pithom and Rameses to serve as supply centers for the king." (my italics). This reference is to the new capital of Pharaoh Rameses II (ca.1279 - 1213 BCE), called "Per-Ramesses" (Pa-Ramesses, Peramesse, Piramesse), "the Estate of Ramesses". If we take the biblical account seriously, Pharaoh Rameses II was the "new king, who knew nothing about Joseph" (Exodus, 1:8).
This city was a suburban territory of the ancient capital of the Hyksos, Avaris. Its formal name was "the House of Ramesses, Beloved of Amun, Great of Victories". Its splendor and vitality was great. A large palace, private residences, temples, military garrisons, a harbor, gardens and a vineyard were designed for it. It was the largest and costliest city of Egypt. The original royal palace covered four square miles. Abandoned at the end of the XXth Dynasty, many of its monuments were transported to the nearby city of Tanis.
Another important historical element is the twelve-line poem that ends the famous Stele of Pharaoh Merneptah (ca.1213 - 1203 BCE), the son of Rameses II, also known as the "Stele of Israel" or the "Poetical Stele". In this poem, we read : "Israel is wasted, his seed is bare." The text of the stele celebrates the victories of Pharaoh over the Libyans, and in this brief poetical epilogue sums up the submission of the diverse "Asiatic peoples", with "iisriAr" listed before the Khor (Palestine and part of Syria).
"The princes are prostrate, saying : 'Peace !'
Among the Nine Bows (the nations) none raised his head.
Devastated is Tjehenu (Libya), Khatti at peace.
Canaan is captive with every evil.
Carried off is Ashkelon ; seized upon is Gezer.
Yanoam is made as that which does not exist.
Israel is wasted, his seed is bare.
Widowed is Khor before Egypt.
All who roamed have been subdued,
by the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Banere-meramun,
Son of Re, Merneptah, Content with Maat,
given life like Re every day."
Stele of Merneptah, final poem.
To "iisriAr", sounding something like "eesrah-er", a special determinative was added (T14), indicating the Israelites were a foreign people, a community of wanderers, not a territory or a nation (for which another determinative was used - N25). Furthermore, the determinative for many men and women was added, underlining that Israel was not a nation state. The Israelites were not yet settled in the land of Canaan. The Merneptah Stele dates from the fifth year of the king's reign, i.e. ca. 1208 BCE. At that time, Moses had already left Egypt, crossed the desert and joined other groups of Hebrews. But the "promised land" had not yet been conquered, while Pharaoh Merneptah claimed to have wasted Israel's seed ...
"When all is said and done, the date of 1270 appears to be the best possible hypothesis for their departure from the land of Egypt."
Modrzejewski, 1995, p.16.
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