 | | Wisdom Literature - moral and ethical values of the ancient Egyptians |
The presentation will give an insight in the different didactic texts subsumed under the literary genre of wisdom texts. These documents provide guidelines for living a life according to Maat, the ancient Egyptian world order, and thus present to the modern reader an insight into the moral, behavioural, and ethical values of the ancient Egyptians. The so-called instructor of these texts is in most cases an older, wiser member of the society who familiarizes his son or pupil with society and its rules presenting examples how to succeed within it. The topics discussed differ from text to text, and comprise themes like morals and rules of etiquette, loyalty to the ruling family, relationship between humans and gods or advice concerning domestic affairs. However, the primary concern of all wisdom texts is the relationship of a person with fellow human beings and the king representing the state. Although these documents are several thousand years old and refer to a society very different from the one we live in today, the modern reader will recognize a lot of similarities concerning ethical and moral values in the ancient Egyptian and modern societies.
About The Speaker: Christina Geisen finished her M.A in Egyptology, Islamic Science and Pre- and Early History at the University of Bonn, Germany in 2002. Her Master's thesis, dealing with the texts and dating of the lost coffin of Queen Mentuhotep, was published as a book. Christina worked at the University of Bonn as a student assistant and tutor for the Egyptian language at the Egyptological Department as well as a scientific assistant and guide at the Egyptian Museum. Since 2005 she has been a PhD student in Egyptology at the Department for Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations at the University of Toronto. Her focus is ancient Egyptian language and religion. In 2007, she gave a Mini-Lecture for the SSEA, and she has presented at the Scholars' Colloquium in 2008 as well. She is currently teaching the first SSEA course ever offered.