The Instruction of Ptah-hotep and the Instruction of Kegemni

read more than its daily newspaper and its weekly novel has denounced—or almost dismissed—them, along with many other noble and wonderful things, as “unpractical,” whatever that vague and hollow word may mean.

Regarding matters that lie in the very distant past—the lands of several thousand years ago—it is generally held that they are the proper and exclusive province of specialists, “dry-as-dusts,” and persons with an irreducible minimum of human nature. It is thought that knowledge concerning them—rather than the blank ignorance that prevails almost everywhere—is something to be ashamed of, a detrimental possession. In a word, it is thought that the subject is not only unprofitable (a grave offense), but also uninteresting and therefore contemptible. This is an accurate summary of general opinion, although there are those who will, for their own sake, contradict it.

When, therefore, I state that one of the writings translated here is nearly six thousand years old, and that another is only five hundred years younger, many will likely find this sufficient reason to stop reading, deeming it impossible that such things can possess any attraction for someone who is not an enthusiast. Yet, so few are the voices that reach us across such a great span of years that those who have anything to tell us should be welcomed exceedingly; whereas, for the most part, they have cried in the