The ''Instruction of Hardjedef'', also known as the ''Teaching of Hordedef'' and ''Teaching of Djedefhor'', belongs to the
didactic
Didacticism is a philosophy that emphasises instructional and informative qualities in literature, art, and design. In art, design, architecture, and landscape, didacticism is a conceptual approach that is driven by the urgent need to explain.
...
literature of the Egyptian
Old Kingdom
In ancient Egyptian history, the Old Kingdom is the period spanning –2200 BC. It is also known as the "Age of the Pyramids" or the "Age of the Pyramid Builders", as it encompasses the reigns of the great pyramid-builders of the Fourth Dynast ...
. It is possibly the oldest of all known
Instructions, composed during the 5th Dynasty according to
Miriam Lichtheim, predating ''The
Instructions of Kagemni'' and ''
The Maxims of Ptahhotep''. Only a few fragments from the beginning of the text have survived on a handful of
New Kingdom ostraca
An ostracon (Greek language, Greek: ''ostrakon'', plural ''ostraka'') is a piece of pottery, usually broken off from a vase or other earthenware vessel. In an archaeology, archaeological or epigraphy, epigraphical context, ''ostraca'' refer ...
and a
Late Period wooden tablet.
The first lines of the text establish Prince
Djedefhor,
Khufu
Khufu or Cheops (died 2566 BC) was an ancient Egyptian monarch who was the second pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt, Fourth Dynasty, in the first half of the Old Kingdom of Egypt, Old Kingdom period (26th century BC). Khufu succeeded his ...
's son, as the author of the ''Instruction''. In antiquity Djedefhor enjoyed a reputation for wisdom, his name appears in the
Westcar Papyrus
The Westcar Papyrus (inventory-designation: ''P. Berlin 3033'') is an ancient Egyptian text containing five stories about miracles performed by priests and magicians. In the papyrus text, each of these tales are told at the royal court of King ...
, and according to the ''Harper's lay from the tomb of King Intef'', a copy of which survives in
Papyrus Harris 500, he is mentioned in the same breath as
Imhotep, his maxims having survived while his tomb had been lost. His fame was especially great during periods of classicistic revival, when he and other Old Kingdom sages became role models for aspiring scribes.
[Katheryn A. Bard, ''Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt'', Routledge 1999, p.41]
References
*Lichtheim, Miriam, ''Ancient Egyptian Literature'', Volume I, 1973, pp. 58f.
{{AncientEgypt-stub
Ancient Egyptian instruction literature