Hieratic copy of the Teaching of Amenemhat I

Hieratic copy of the Teaching of Amenemhat I

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This extract from a strikingly dramatic poem was written on the sherd of a large jar. In the story, a vision of the dead king Amenemhat I speaks to his son and warns him of the burden of kingship. He describes a night when he was attacked and apparently killed by his bodyguard. Although it may have been composed in the Eighteenth Dynasty, the poem provides a vivid picture of kingship centered on Middle Kingdom rulers.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Hieratic copy of the Teaching of Amenemhat IHieratic copy of the Teaching of Amenemhat IHieratic copy of the Teaching of Amenemhat IHieratic copy of the Teaching of Amenemhat IHieratic copy of the Teaching of Amenemhat I

The Met collection of ancient Egyptian art consists of approximately 30,000 objects of artistic, historical, and cultural importance, dating from about 300,000 BCE to the 4th century CE. A signifcant percentage of the collection is derived from the Museum's three decades of archaeological work in Egypt, initiated in 1906 in response to increasing interest in the culture of ancient Egypt.