Ancient Egyptian philosophy refers to thephilosophical works and beliefs ofAncient Egypt. There is some debate regarding its true scope and nature.[1]
One Egyptian figure sometimes considered an early philosopher isPtahhotep.[2] He served as vizier to thepharaoh in the late 25th, early 24th century BC. Ptahhotep is known for his work onethical behavior, calledThe Maxims of Ptahhotep. The work, which is believed to have been compiled by his grandsonPtahhotep Tjefi, is a series of 37 letters or maxims addressed to his son,Akhethotep, speaking on such topics as daily behavior and ethical practices.[3][4]
Dag Herbjørnsrud, writing for theAmerican Philosophical Association, describes the 3200-year-old manuscript "The Immortality of Writers", or "Be a Writer" (c. 1200 BC), as a "remarkable example of classical Egyptian philosophy."[5] The manuscript, attributed to the writer Irsesh, states:
Man perishes; his corpse turns to dust; all his relatives return to the earth. But writings make him remembered in the mouth of the reader. A book is more effective than a well-built house or a tomb-chapel, better than an established villa or a stela in the temple! [...] They gave themselves a book as their lector-priest, a writing-board as their dutiful son. Teachings are their mausolea, the reed-pen their child, the burnishing-stone their wife. Both great and small are given them as their children, for the writer is chief.[6]
Herbjørnsrud writes:
Theology and cosmology were central concerns in Egyptian thought. Perhaps the earliest form of amonotheistictheology also emerged in Egypt, with the rise of theAmarna theology (or Atenism) ofAkhenaten (14th century BCE), which held that the solar creation deityAten was the only god. This has been described as a "monotheistic revolution" byegyptologistJan Assmann, though it also drew on previous developments in Egyptian thought, particularly the "New Solar Theology" based aroundAmun-Ra.[7][8] These theological developments also influenced the post-AmarnaRamesside theology, which retained a focus on a single creative solar deity (though without outright rejection of other gods, which are now seen as manifestations of the main solar deity). This period also saw the development of the concept of theba (soul) and its relation to god.[8] According to Goldwasser (2006) theHyksos kingApophis (c. 1550 BC) may have been "the first to introduce into the history of ideas, the option of a "single god and no other," the first step on the long winding road of monotheism".[9]
Several of theancient Greek philosophers regarded Egypt as a place of wisdom and philosophy.Isocrates (b. 436 BC) states inBusiris that "all men agree the Egyptians are the healthiest and most long of life among men; and then for the soul they introduced philosophy's training, a pursuit which has the power, not only to establish laws, but also to investigate the nature of the universe. "[10] He declares that Greek writers traveled to Egypt to seek knowledge. One of them wasPythagoras of Samos who "was first to bring to the Greeks all philosophy," according toIsocrates.
Plato states inPhaedrus that the EgyptianThoth "invented numbers and arithmetic... and, most important of all, letters.”[11] In Plato'sTimaeus,Socrates quotes the ancient Egyptian wise men when the law-giverSolon travels to Egypt to learn: "O Solon, Solon, you Greeks are always children."[12]Aristotle attests to Egypt being the original land of wisdom. He stated inPolitics that "Egyptians are reputed to be the oldest of nations, but they have always had laws and a political system."[13]
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