THE MORAL TEACHINGS OF

PTAH-HOTEP
(Kartikeya Senapati)
Introduction:

This ancient work of moral teachings belongs to the so-called "Instructions": these are the texts
concerning ethics and morality, and all the matters related to virtue and vice, law and injustice.
It was written during the reign of the King Djed-ka-Ra Isesi ("The Ka of Ra Endureth"; known as
"Tancheres" in Manetho's Aegyptiaca) of the V dinasty (2414–2375 bc), by the "Tjati" (Prime
Minister or Vizier) Ptah-hotep (“Ptah is satisfied”). He has been identified with the Ptah-hotep of
the mastaba D64 (a double Mastaba, as Ptah-hotep shares it with his father Akhet-hotep, who was
also a tjati), located in the necropolis of Saqqara, to the west of the pyramid of Djoser. Ptah-hotep
was "Inspector of the Priests of the pyramid of Isesi, of the Wab-Priests of the pyramid of Niuser-Ra
and of the Priests of the pyramid of Menkauhor", and above all he was a Priest of Maat.

The entrance to the “House of Eternity” of Ptah-hotep and Akhet-hotep

Plan of the “House of Eternity” of Ptah-hotep and Akhet-hotep
Reconstruction of the west wall of the “House of Eternity” of Ptah-hotep
The “False-Door” on the north-wall
Reconstruction of the “False-Door” on the south-wall

The “False-Door” on the south-wall

(On the left jamb of the door it is written:

“Enter in his House of Eternity in perfect peace,
being a Blessed-one at the presence of Osiris”;
on the right jamb of the door the text recites:
“Crossing the water in perfect peace, and His
Fathers take him by the hands”

and at the centre it is written:

“May the King give you a royal offering”

The Priests are the mouth of the Gods, so to read and to hear these instructions is as to listen to the
sacred words of Maat, the Goddess of Truth and Justice. She who, through Her sacred Priests,
describes Herself, while teaching to us all how to worship and to please Her, by our actions and
behavior on this Earth. Maat is the basis and the foundation of All. Whitout Maat doesn't exist any
devotion to the Gods, without Maat our souls are condemned to fall deeper and deeper into the
bottomless abyss of ignorance ad unrighteousness, away from the eternal and everlasting blissfull
source of the Gods. Victory and Glory be to Her, forever and eternally!

Ra and Maat, from the “House of Eternity” of Queen Tauseret SeteptenMut,

"The Powerful-one, chosen by Mut" (ca. 1190-1188 bc)
THE PRECEPTS OF THE OVERSEER OF THE CITY AND TJATI
PTAH-HOTEP, UNDER THE MAJESTY OF THE KING OF THE
SOUTH AND THE NORTH, ISESI, LIVING FOREVER AND
ETERNALLY

The Overseer of the City and Tjati Ptah-hotep declares:

“O Sovereign, my Lord,

old age has struck, the progress of age changes into senility,

feebleness has arrived, and decline takes the place of youth.

Weakness is upon him in discomfort all day,

sight fails, ears deaf,

his strength dissolves without ceasing.

The mouth is silent, unable to speak,

the mind decays, remembering not the day before.

The whole body suffers,

goodness has turned to evil,

all taste is gone.

Old age makes a man altogether miserable,

the nose is blocked, unable to breathe,

how old it feels standing or sitting.

Let a staff of old age be decreed to be made for this humble servant.

Who will cause me to have authority to speak,

that I may declare to him the words of those who have heard the counsels of the former days?

And the counsels heard of the Gods, who will give me authority to declare them?

Strife will be removed from the people, and the Two Shores will work hard for You”.
Then the Majesty of this God said:

“Teach him then the speech from the past,

that he may provide the example for the children of the great.

May hearing enter into him,

all that which comes from the soul penetrates him who hears it,

and that which it says produces no satiety.

Speak to him. For noone can be born wise”.

Beginning of the collection of fine words spoken by the noble lord of the elite,
foremost of arm, Divine father, beloved of Ptah, to the eldest son of the King of
His body; overseer of the city, Tjati Ptah-hotep, in teaching the ignorant to be
wise according to the rules of fine words.
Something useful to whoever heeds,and something harmful to whoever
transgresses it.

Then he addressed His son:

“Do not be proud on account of your knowledge,

but discuss with the ignorant as with the wise.

The limits of art are not closed,

there is no artist whose talent is fulfilled.

But good words are more difficult to find than the emerald,

for it is by slaves that that is discovered among the rocks of pegmatite.

If you meet an opponent while he is angry,

one who is superior to you,

bend your arms and bow;

do not take up your heart against him,

for he will not be swayed for you.

You can belittle bad speaking

by not clashing with him

It is utterly wrong to interrupt him;

that proclaims that you are incapable of keeping yourself calm, when you are contradicted.

If then you have to do with a disputant while he is angry,

imitate one who does not stir.

You have the advantage over him if you keep silence when he is uttering evil words.

"The better of the two is he who is impassive," say the bystanders,

and you are right in the opinion of the great.

If you meet an opponent while he is angry,

your equal, a man from your levels,

silence is how you establish your superiority over him,

while he is bad mouthing,

greatly to the disgust of the assessors,

and your name is the good one in the mind of the officials.

Do not despise him because you are not of the same opinion.

Be not angry against him when he is wrong; away with such a thing.

He fights against himself; require him not further to flatter your feelings.

Do not amuse yourself with the spectacle which you have before you;

it is odious, it is mean, it is the part of a despicable soul so to do.

As soon as you let yourself be moved by your feelings,

combat this desire as a thing that is reproved by the great.

If you meet an opponent while he is angry,

who is a poor man, and not your equal,

do not vent your hear on him by his wretchedness.

Put him on land for him to oppose himself.

Do not pour out your heart at the man facing you.

The demolition of a wretched heart is a difficult matter.

What you wish will be done;

beat him with the hostility of the officials.

If you are to be among leaders

at a command of a great number of men,

seek the most perfect manner of doing so that your own conduct may be without reproach.

Justice is great, invariable, and enduring.

It has not been overturned since the time of Osiris.

The one who overlooks laws is punished;

To throw obstacles in the way of the laws is to open the way before violence.

It is the small-minded that seize riches,

but crime never managed to land its rewards.

The limits of Justice are invariable; such is the instruction which every man receives from his
father.

Inspire not men with fear,

else the God will fight against you in the same manner.

If any one asserts that he lives by such means,

the God will take away the bread from his mouth;

if any one asserts that he enriches himself thereby,

the God says: I may take those riches to myself.

Anyone who say “I can be powerful”

will have to say "” snare against myself by my cleverness”.

Anyone who says he will strike another,

will end by being given to a stranger.

If any one asserts that he beats others, the God will end by reducing him to impotence.

Let no one inspire men with fear; this is the will of the God.

Let one provide sustenance for them in the lap of peace;

it will then be that they will freely give what has been torn from them by terror..

If you are a man at a sitting

at the table place of one greater than you,

take whatever he causes to be set before you,

bowing to the ground.

Do not stare at what is before him,

do not pierce it with many glances

Pressing it is an offence to the Ka.

Do not speak to him until he has requested:

for one knows not what may be displeasing to him.

Speak when he questions you,

and your worth will be pleasing.

As for the great man who has plenty of means of existence,

his conduct is as he himself wishes,

he does that which pleases him;

if he desires to repose, he realizes his intention.

The great man stretching forth his hand does that to which other men do not attain.

But as the means of existence are under the will of the God, one can not rebel against it.
If you are one of those who bring the messages of one great man to another,

conform yourself exactly to that wherewith he has charged you;

perform for him the commission as he has enjoined you,

carry out the mission for him as he says.

Beware of altering in speaking the offensive words which one great person addresses to another;

he who perverts the trustfulness of his way,

in order to repeat only what produces pleasure in the words of every man, great or small,

is a detestable person.

If you are a farmer,

gather the crops in the field which the Great God has given you,

do not boast in the house of your neighbors.

To inspire awe by being silent is greater,

and it is better to make oneself dreaded by one's deeds.

As for him who, master of his own way of acting, being all-powerful,

seizes the goods of others like a crocodile in the midst even of watchment,

his children are an object of malediction, of scorn, and of hatred on account of it,

while his father is grievously distressed,

and as for the mother who has borne him, happy is another rather than herself.

But a man becomes a God when he is chief of a tribe which has confidence in following him.

If you are weak, follow a man of excellence,

and all your conduct will be good before the Gods.

Do not be proud against him,

from what you knew of him before.

Respect him according to what he has become.

Knowing who you ought to obey and who you ought to command,
do not lift up your heart against him.

As you know that in him is authority, be respectful toward him as belonging to him.

Wealth comes only at Gods' own good-will, and this is the law.

It is the God who makes him excellent,

and protects him while he sleeps.

Follow your heart as long as you live.

Do not make a loss on what is said,

do not subtract time from following the heart.

Harming its time is an offence to the Ka.

Do not deflect the moment of every day

beyond establishing your heart.

As things happen, follow your heart.

There is no profit in things if it is stifled.

If you are a wise man, a man of excellence

bring up a son who shall be pleasing to the Gods,

if he follows precisely the outline of your character,

and ties your things to their proper place,

do everything good for him,

for he is your son, he belongs to the shooting of your Ka.

Do not separate your heart from him.

Seed may make a disputant;

if he wanders, and breaks your advice,

and has rebelled against all that is said,

if he rejects all counsel,

and his mouth wanders into evil speech,

battle him in all his words.

If you are in the approach hall

stand and sit at every step

as was ordered to you on the first day.

Do not waver - that causes your expulsion.

The sight of the one who enters to report is keen,

the space of the one he has summoned is broad.

The approach hall follows regulations,

every move according to the measure.

It is the God who promotes a place

Those who push forward are not made.

If you are to be with people

appoint for yourself people you can trust,

and be trustworthy.

The man without speech running through his body

is the one who becomes a commander himself.

A master of goods - what is he like?

Your good name is that you do not speak.

Your body is fattened for you more than your contemporaries.

You receive praise from those you do not know.

When a heart heeds only its belly,

it puts resentment of it in place of love of it.

His heart is afflicted, his body unkempt.

The great of heart is the gift of the Gods,

the one who obeys his body belongs to the enemy.

Report your matters without hesitating,

give your advice in the council of your master.

Anyone fully fluent in speaking

will find no difficulty in being a messenger in reporting.

Noone will contest "but who can know it?"

It is the one who exceeds his field who comes unstuck -

if he intends to prevail by it,

he has to be silent at the words "I said so".

If you are a leader,

setting forward your plans according to that which you decide,

perform perfect actions which posterity may remember,

without letting the words prevail with you which multiply flattery,

which excite pride and produce vanity.

If you are to be a leader

be patient in your hearing when the petitioner speaks.

Be not abrupt with him; that would trouble him.

Say not to him: "You have already recounted this."

Indulgence will encourage him to accomplish the object of his coming.

Do not halt him until his belly is emptied

of what he had planned to have said.

The victim loves to sate his heart

even more than accomplishing what he came for -

if a petition is halted, people say "but why did he break that rule?"

Not everything for which he petitions can come to be,

but a good hearing is soothing for the heart.

If you wish respect and friendship to last

within a house you may enter,

as master, as brother, or as friend,

anywhere you may enter,

keep yourself from making advances to a woman,

for there is nothing good in so doing.

There is no prudence in taking part in it,

and thousands of men destroy themselves in order to enjoy a moment, brief as a dream,

while they gain death, so as to know it.

It is a villainous intention, that of a man who thus excites himself;

if he goes on to carry it out, his mind abandons him.

For as for him who is without repugnance for such an act,

there is no good sense at all in him.

If you wish your conduct to be good

and to save yourself from all evil,

resist the opportunity of greed.

It is a sore disease of the worm,

no advance can come of it.

It is a fatal malady which leads to discord,

and there is no longer any existence for him who gives way to it.

For it introduces discord between fathers and mothers,

as well as between brothers and sisters;

it causes the wife and the husband to hate each other;

it contains all kinds of wickedness,

it embodies all kinds of wrong,

it is a levy of all evils,

a bundle of all hatefulness.

The man endures whose guideline is Righteousness,

who proceeds according to his paces.

He can draw up a will by it.

There is no tomb for the greedy hearted.

Do not be greedy over a share,

do not be jealous of what is not your due,

do not be greedy against your kin.

The mild man receives more respect than the strong.

The one who goes out under his kin is a miserable man, deprived of the profit of speech.

A fraction of the object of greed

creates a quarreler out of a cool temperament.

If you are wise and excellent,

found your household, and love your wife.

Fill her belly, clothe her back,

ointment is the remedy for her body.

These are the cares to be bestowed on her person.

Gladden her heart as long as you live,

caress her, fulfil her desires during the time of her existence.

She is a field of benefit for her lord.

Be not brutal; tact will influence her better than violence;

behold to what she aspires, at what she aims, what she regards.

It is that which fixes her in your house;

if you repel her, it is an abyss.

Open your arms for her, respond to her arms; call her, display to her your love.
Treat your dependents well, in so far as it belongs to you to do so;

and it belongs to those whom the Gods have favored.

If any one fails in treating his dependents well, it is said: "He is a spirit of hoarding."

Noone know what is coming, when planning tomorrow.

The spirit of the correct man is the spirit that brings happiness.

When there comes the necessity of showing zeal,

it will then be the dependents themselves who say: "Come on, come on,"

if good treatment has not quitted the place; if it has quitted it, the dependents are defaulters.

Do not repeat slanders

and do not listen to it.

It is the result of the hot-headed.

If it is repeated, look, without hearing it, toward the earth;

say nothing in regard to it.

Slander is like a moment of dreaming,

see what is the remedy for the dream - concealment.

Cause him who speaks to you to know what is right,

even him who provokes to injustice;

cause that which is right to be done, cause it to triumph.

As for that which is hateful according to the law, condemn it by unveiling it.

If you are as a wise man of excellence,

sitting in the council of his master,

direct your thought toward that which is wise,

rally every heart to excellence.

Your silence is more benefit than creeping talk.

When you speak, know that which can be brought against you.
To speak in the council is an art,

and speech is criticized more than any other labor.

If you are powerful respect knowledge and calmness of language.

Command only to direct.

The aggressive man ends up in trouble.

Let not your heart be haughty, or it will be brought down.

Do not let your orders remain unsaid,

but cause your answers to penetrate;

speak without heat, assume a serious countenance.

When you answer the speech of a fiery man,

distance your sight, restrain yourself.

The spear of a hothead flies past,

but a fine mover has his path smoothed:

the gentle man overcomes all obstacles.

A man who worries all day long

will never be allowed a good moment.

A man who lazes all day long

will never have a solid house.

A shot filled is like an oar abandoned on the ground,

when another is taken,

his heart has obeyed the wish 'if only I had...'

Do not block the moment of a great man,

do not disturb him,

do not constrain the desire of one who is laden down.

His care is to embrace his task, and he strips his person through the love which he puts into it.
Barriers from him arise against the one who disputes with him,

there is release for the Ka with the one who shows love for him.

This is the gift of sustenance, this and the Gods.

What the Gods loves is action for him.

When the face is turned back to you, after a storm,

there follows peace before your Ka,

and barriers before the enemy.

Planting love brings sustenance.

Teach others to render homage to a great man.

If you gather the crop for him among men,

cause it to return fully to its owner,

at whose hands is your subsistence.

The gift of affection is worth more than the provisions with which your back is covered.

For that which the great man receives from you will enable your house to live,

without speaking of the maintenance you enjoy, which you desire to preserve;

it is thereby that he extends a beneficent hand,

and that in your home good things are added to good things.

Let your love pass into the heart of those who love you;

cause those about you to be loving and obedient.

Instruct the great in what is useful for him.

Foster his image in the sight of people,

cause his wisdom to fall in front of his lord,

and there may be rewards for you too before his Ka.

The stomach of the loved will be content,

your back will be clothed by it,

his image will be over you for the life of your house,

Your noble, the one you love,

he is alive by it.

When he makes a good gesture, do not be silent.

This is indeed the guarantee of your love in the body of those who love you.

See, it is the Ka that loves to listen.

If you are among the guardians deputed to watch over the public tranquillity,

execute your commission also without knowing its meaning,

and speak with firmness.

Substitute not for that which the instructor has said what you believe to be his intention;

the great use words as it suits them.

Your part is to transmit rather than to comment upon.

If you have become great after having been little,

if you have become rich after having been poor,

when you are at the head of the city,

do not place your trust in your wealth.

It came to you by the gifts of the Gods.

Know how not to take advantage of the fact that you have reached the first rank,

harden not your heart because of your elevation;

you are become only the administrator, the prefect, of the provisions which belong to the Gods.

Bend your back to your superior,

your overseer of the King's domain,

and your house will be fixed on its goods,

your rewards in their place.

The man who struggles with the superior is an irritant.

You live as long as the superior is pleased with you.

The shoulder is not injured by being exposed.

Do not plunder the house of your neighbours,

do not seize by force the goods which are beside you,

do not suppress anything close to you,

it gives no results in anything.

Let him not speak ill of you before you have heard.

A troublemaker is a man with no mind.

Whoever is known as a quarreller,

there is trouble for the struggler in places near to him.

If you seek out the character of a friend,

do not make your own enquiries, go direct to him,

make the case with him alone

to avoid suffering in his matter.

Debate with him after a period of time,

and try his heart in the matter of the case.

If what he has seen come out through him,

and he does the matter that angers you about him,

or that makes him a friend,

do not seize the sight,

be collected, do not deluge him with words,

do not reply with a slight,

do not react against him by destroying him.

His moment cannot fail to come.

Noone can escape from what is fated for him.

Let your face be bright as long as you live.

Whoever leaves, cannot enter.

A man with an empty stomach is a man to complain;

the opponent is born out of impoverishment.

Favour is the memory of a man

in the years after ruin.

Know those who are faithful to you,

and your property will last.

Do not be mean in your character towards your friends.

They are your river field when it floods, more important than your riches.

They are the property of one for another.

The quality of a son of a someone is good for him;

good character will be remembered

Punish from the head, teach by character.

The force against a criminal will be a model example.

Any instance except for results

is what makes a moaner turn into an active opponent.

If you marry a good woman

A joyful woman known to her town,

Let her be more contented than any of her fellow-citizens.

She will be attached to you doubly, if the chain of love is pleasant.

Do not repel her; grant that which pleases her, let her enjoy;

joyfulness is what marks calm water.

If you heed these things that I have told you

all your conduct will move forward,

and your wisdom will be fully advanced.

Although these teachings are the means for arriving at Maat,

and it is that which makes them precious,

their memory would recede from the mouth of men.

But thanks to the beauty of their arrangement in rhythm

all their words will now be carried without alteration over this Earth eternally.

After having listened to them the pupil will become a master:

it is good to speak to posterity, for it will hear it.

Let him win success by placing him in the first rank:

that is for him a position perfect and durable,

and he has nothing further to desire forever.

By knowledge his path is assured,

and all his wisdom will last forever:

he is made happy by it on the earth.

The wise man is satiated by knowledge:

he nourishes his soul by establishing Maat on Earth.

His tongue is in accord with his mind;

righteous are his lips when he speaks,

his eyes when he gazes,

his ears when he hears.

He who does what is righteous, is free from falsehood.

Hearing is good for a son who hears,

hearing enters into the hearer.

The hearer becomes one who is heard.

Hearing is good, as speech is good.

The hearer is the master of what is useful.

Hearing is good for the hearer,

hearing is better than any other thing,

and the love of the righteous good comes into being.

How beautiful it is when a son receives and accomplishes the teachings of his father.

Old age is achieved for him by it.

The hearer is one whom the God loves:

what the Gods love is that one should attend.

The one whom the God hates does not hear.

And if one attends not, it is abhorrent to the Gods.

The heart is the creator of its master.

Do not hear from the one who does not hear.

A man's heart is his life, prosperity and health.

It is the hearer who hears the speaker,

the one who acts according to what is said is the one who loves hearing.

How good when a a son listens to his father.

How joyful is the one to whom this is said.

A son who is handsome is a hearing lord.

The hearer to whom it is said is effective in the body.

The recollection of it is preserved

in the mouth of the living who exist upon this Earth,

and the memory of him is in the mouth of those who are on Earth,

and those who will be.

When a son receives and accomplishes the teachings of his father,

There can be no wavering for any of his plans.

Instruct your son to be a good hearer,

whose wisdom is agreeable to the Great God,

and who will be excellent in the hearts of the officials,

guiding his mouth according to what he has been told and seen as a hearer.

The son who excels, his steps are distinguished,

but there is no straight way in for the one who fails to hear.

The morning of the wise man will be his security,

while the fool is pressed down:

tomorrow knowledge will support him, while the ignorant will be destroyed.

As for the fool unable to hear,

nothing can ever be done for him.

He sees wisdom as ignorance,

and what is good as what is painful.

He lives on that which is mortal, in this fashion.

Corrupt speech is his food.

He commits every error,

to be accused of it each day.

That which the great know to be mortal he lives upon every day,

flying from that which would be profitable to him,

because of the multitude of errors which present themselves before him every day.

His character in this is well-known to the officials,

saying 'living death' each day.

A son who hears is a follower of Horus

It is good for him after he hears.

In his old age he achieves revered status.

He can gives the same lessons to his children,

renewing the teaching of his father.

Every man teaches by his deeds.

He tells on to the children,

and they can tell their children.

Show character, do not pass on your weaknesses.

Securing what is right, is the life of your children

As for the principal who arrives with wrongdoing,

people say what they see

'that is exactly how that man is'

to say to those who will hear

'that is exactly how that man is' too.

Their everyone sees, and the multitude is pacified.

There is no profit in riches without them.

Do not remove a word from the ancient teachings, do not add it.

Do not put one thing in place of another.

Beware of the rebellious ideas which arise in you

and teach according to the words of the wise.

Guard against a man of experience saying

"listen up, if you wish to be secure

in the mouth of those who hear;

speak up when you have penetrated the case of the craftsman".

You speak at the case of closure, and all your plans will fall into place.
Flood your heart, let your thoughts be abundant, but restrain your mouth,

then your plans will be among the great officials.

Be straight in character before your lord,

put yourself in unison with the ways of your master;

cause him to say: "He is my son,"

so that those who shall hear it shall say

"Praise be to her who has borne him to him!"

Say things of distinction,

speak only of perfect things,

so that the great officials who shall hear you say

"Twice good and perfect is the issue of his mouth".

Do as your master has said for you.

Twice perfect and good is one instructed by his father

when he emerged from him out of his body.

What he tells us, let it be fixed in our heart;

to satisfy him greatly let us do for him more than he has prescribed.

Verily a good son is one of the gifts of the God,

a son who does even better than he has been told to do.

He does what is right,

putting himself with all his heart on the part of Maat (the Goddess of Righteousness and Truth):

his heart has acted according to the set steps of his master.

So I shall bring it about that your body shall be healthful,

that the King shall be satisfied and content with you in all circumstances,

and that you shall obtain years of life without default.

What I have done on earth is not little.

I took 110 years of life

by the grant of the King to me,

favour ahead of the ancestors,

from doing what is right and satisfying so the King until the stage of revered status."

-"It is finished, from its beginning to its end, according to that which is found in writing"

Rasmses IV offering a statue of the Goddess Maat to Amon-Ra, from the Temple of Khonsu at Ipet-Sut