What is it about?
The ancient Egyptian poem "The Teaching of Amenemhat" seems to describe the murder of a king--or does it? Modern readers disagree, and apparently so did ancient readers. I examine how a Nubian pharaoh, Taharqo, used quotations of the poem in his temple in Kawa, Sudan, and argue that in his interpretation, the king survived.
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Why is it important?
This pharaoh's new reading of the poem has important implications for how his dynasty saw themselves in relation to the histories of both ancient Egypt and ancient Nubia. It also shows that--contrary to longstanding views of ancient Nubian culture--Taharqo was not simply imitating Egyptian culture, but actively engaging with it and adapting it to fit his own political, religious, and cultural goals.
Perspectives
I wrote this article in honor of my professor and advisor, James Allen, whom I admire greatly. He and I have very different interpretations of "The Teaching of Amenemhat" (he thinks the king survived, I think the king was murdered), so it was really gratifying to find that it's not just us--even ancient readers understood the poem in different ways!
Margaret Geoga
University of Pennsylvania
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: The Teaching of Amenemhat at the Temple of Kawa, November 2022, Brill,
DOI: 10.1163/9789004459533_019.
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