Egyptology | Chapter 17: Conscience & Moral Values
Conscience and Moral Values in Ancient Egyptian Literature
From Ancient Egyptian Literature
With the dawn of ancient Egyptian civilisation, the dawn of conscience also rose, expressing the existence of man and his movement upon the surface of the earth in order to place his feet upon the first step of the ladder of civilisation, advancing along two parallel lines: the material line and the moral line. He realised that no civilisation can create except through both the material and the moral structures, for balance between them is necessary for the continuation of life and the continuation of achievement.
With the passage of time man realised that conscience is the guardian and the guarantee of the continuity and immortality of man, and consequently of the immortality of his creations represented in every aspect of civilisation. Man realised that when conscience is alert and effective, the structure comes at the same level; and when conscience falls, everything falls, principles, values and ethics collapse, and the structure collapses.
The beginning was when prehistoric man (or Stone Age man) settled upon the land of Egypt and left evidence of his presence in the final stages of the prehistoric periods in many places in the Egyptian Delta – at Merimde Beni Salama near El-Khattatba, at Maadi and Helwan near Cairo, at Kafr Hassan Dawud in Ismailia, at Minshat Abu Omar in Sharqiya, in the Fayum in Middle Egypt, at El-Badari and Deir Tasa in Assiut, at Naqada in Qena, and elsewhere in Upper Egypt. These remains highlighted his capacity for building, expression and creation, and on the other side highlighted his belief in life after death – that is, in resurrection and immortality – a matter for which he had to make preparation in this world, for there is no possibility of immortality except through righteous work that expresses an alert conscience.
Before man reached this civilisational stage, he had passed over thousands of years through a stage known as the food-gathering stage – a stage in which man’s sole preoccupation was the search for his daily sustenance through land or river hunting, or plants whose roots he dug up here and there.
He had no fixed shelter to which he could resort, nor clothing with which to cover his nakedness, and he continued thus to wander about the desert until he succeeded in achieving three leaps in his life: the kindling of fire, the domestication of animals, and the knowledge of agriculture.
With these three leaps came the great transition in the life of man – the life of stability, and of attachment to the land, to the family, to the place and to the dwelling.
Thus man moved from the stage of food-gathering to the stage of its production, and then gradually began to pass beyond the stage of material satisfaction to the stage of mental, intellectual, religious and artistic satisfaction.
Within the framework of logic in every time and place we cannot imagine that a hungry man would be prepared to listen to music. Therefore, after the priorities had been secured for him, the Egyptian began to think about what was happening around him in the universe, and he began to contemplate the manifestations of death and life in everything. Everything around him is born, then passes through a cycle of life before it is overtaken by a temporary end, then reappears and lives again, then is overtaken by end again. From this – as we have explained in detail earlier – came man’s belief in life after death, and the two magical words in ancient Egyptian thought were resurrection and immortality.
From the standpoint of belief in life after death, man’s sole preoccupation in his first life was preparation for life after death – materially, morally, ethically and spiritually. The splendid, massive and carefully fortified tombs were for the preservation of the body of the deceased.
The Egyptian practised mummification so that the body might remain sound, until the spirit could recognise it when the time of resurrection arrived.
The Egyptian believed that the spirit (which takes the form of a bird with a human head) would separate from the body of its owner after death and proceed to the northern corner of the sky, and that every man has a ka that lives with him in the tomb and receives the food and drink by which it guarantees for itself and for its owner the continuation of life. Above all this, man had to arm himself with conscience, because conscience is the judge and the guardian of the ethics of man, and it is man’s refuge for reaching the shore of safety.
Egyptian religious thought was clear on this issue. From the dawn of history conscience was born, which showed man the good that he must do and the evil that he must avoid. Man realised that conscience is the path of safety, and it is the path to the Fields of Iaru (paradise). From the dawn of history it became clear to man that he must live his life in this world under the protection of a conscience that drives him towards adherence to all principles, values, ethics and ideals, realising that there is no possibility of building himself and his society except through conscience, through loyalty, through truthfulness, through honesty, through piety and through faith – so that he does good and treats people well. Conscience was the vessel that contains everything that is good; indeed, it is the good that will bring its owner to psychological and spiritual peace in both his worldly and otherworldly realms.
The Egyptian realised that the building of his country must move along two parallel lines: the material line (the building of the state) and the moral line (the building of man), by means of which the state flourishes and is secure, realising that if ethics and principles spread, society stabilises and flourishes and achieves all its ambitions.
In the shadow of this orientation the ancient Egyptian believed that there was no escape from adherence to conscience in this world in order to live contentedly, and in order likewise to secure the peace of paradise in the hereafter.
For this reason we see him in everything he recorded elevating the status of values, warning against departure from them, and alerting those who deviate from principles and ideals that there are the ruling powers of the universe, which reward good and punish evil. Therefore the Egyptian, as he felt his way upon the surface of the earth and within the framework of clear religious beliefs, began to establish the constants in the field of values, ethics, ideals and principles – the values of goodness, justice, uprightness, truthfulness, loyalty, honesty, sincerity, humility, excellence in the performance of work, the preservation of public property, and others – and to place the dots on the letters.
Thus the ancient Egyptian became attached to manners and behaviours, such as the manners of speech, dealing with superiors and subordinates, the manners of dealing with father and mother, table manners and others, and his behaviour in the family and at work with society. Thus it became clear in Egyptian thought that there is good and evil, and consequently there is reward and punishment. He depicted for us the struggle between good and evil, which began with the gods in the story of the conflict between Osiris (good) and Seth (evil). The latter triumphed over his brother, who passed to the underworld (the world of the dead) to take charge of its administration, so that it became settled in the certainty of man that he would be guaranteed justice when he dies and is transferred to the world of Osiris, and that he would receive a fair trial.
The image of the progress of the defence of good was completed, and he had the victory in the end so that he might assume the throne of this world, confirming to the children of man that good must triumph in the end.
The ancient Egyptian adopted all ways and means to guarantee the immortality of the body, but he became certain that immortality would be more guaranteed for the spirit which, together with the pure heart, secures for him the eternal soul after which there is no death.
Out of man’s realisation that he must defend himself before Osiris in confirmation of his innocence and in the hope of obtaining eternity, the Books of the Dead were filled with what is called the negative confessions, in which the deceased denies with all firmness that he has not stolen and has not oppressed – a matter that confirms man’s fear that his conscience may have been negligent for a moment and that he may have committed something that could lead him to annihilation.
In the shadow of this religious thought and these beliefs that became firmly established with the passage of time, it was inevitable that we should expect man’s care in this world, through his daily practice, to emphasise adherence to values, ideals and ethics, and good conduct and behaviour. The sages of Egypt throughout the different periods expressed this; their maxims and advice came truthful, pure and clean, and they competed in urging people to adhere to values in every aspect of their lives.
Here is one of the sages expressing with clarity the power of the creator god who shows the creature the path of good and the path of evil, and leaves to his conscience the matter of choosing one of them, when he says that God has taken exceeding care of His flock: He created the heavens and the earth for their sake, relieved thirst with water, and created plants, cattle, birds and fish as food for them; and He is likewise the one who punishes the wrongdoer, so that he may do what is good for his soul and his spirit.
Looking at some of the values that laid the foundations of Egyptian civilisation and wrote immortality for it, we glimpse the attention paid to the value of justice. Here is a sage saying to his son:
“Work to spread justice. The virtue with which a man is adorned must have its value in the eyes of the father, and good character remains a thing remembered. The just man – his spirit will enjoy the continuous survival of his virtue upon the earth. The man who has taken justice as his standard and walked according to its excellence is of firm standing. Establish justice so that you may obtain your place upon the earth… The virtue of the upright man is more beloved to God than an ox offered as a sacrifice by the unjust man.”
Concerning the value of truthfulness the sage says:
“Truthfulness is beautiful, and its value is eternal, and it has not shifted from its place since the beginning of creation. Misfortunes may take away wealth, but truthfulness does not go away; rather it remains and endures… The upright man says of truthfulness that it is property which I have inherited from my father.”
And:
“Speak the truth before the judge and you will be saved from the torment of the god.”
Concerning purity of tongue the sage says:
“Keep your tongue sound from foul words, and thereby you will become preferred among others, you will be respected in your old age, you will be wrapped in your shroud, and you will be safe from the power of the gods. Do not associate with the foolish man, and keep your tongue sound when conversing with your superior.”
And:
“Do not say ‘Peace be upon you’ to anyone hypocritically when there is hatred in your heart, and do not speak with a lying man, for that is what the god detests.”
Concerning the value of contentment and avoidance of greed the sage says:
“Do not let your heart rush after wealth, and do not exhaust yourself in seeking more, for wealth that comes to you by way of theft will not remain with you for the darkness of a single night. Do not shift the boundary between the fields, and do not covet the cultivation of another’s land.”
Concerning the value of honesty he says:
“Do not play with the pan of the balance, do not tamper with the scales, and do not diminish the portions of the measures of grain.”
Concerning the value of respect for people he says:
“Do not mock a blind man, do not ridicule a dwarf, and do not spoil the intention of a lame man.”
In the field of respect for superiors at work the sage says:
“If your superior was formerly of humble origin, you must ignore his previous lowliness and respect him according to what he has reached. Keep silence… and speak when you are asked to give your opinion.”
A sage says:
“I did not direct my eyes towards my superior for moments; rather I cast my face to the ground when he spoke to me. The humble man (remains beloved). He who is upright in his dealings is praised, and he who is cautious in his speech is given a wide place. The knife is sharpened for him who turns aside from the straight path.”
Within the framework of urging contentment and warning against gluttony, the sage says:
“Do not be greedy in the division, do not be rapacious in what is right, and do not covet the property of your relatives, for the little that is stolen breeds enmity. If you wish your reputation to be praiseworthy and to free yourself from everything that is ugly, beware of gluttony, for it is an incurable disease, and friendship with it is impossible, because it makes the sweet friend bitter and separates the husband from his wife; it is a bundle containing every kind of evil.”
In the field of table manners the sage says:
“If you sit with many people to take food, look at the food with indifference, even if you desire it, for self-control costs a man no more than a moment, and it is a disgrace for a man to be greedy. If you sit with a greedy man, do not eat until he has finished his meal; and if you sit with a drunkard, do not take of the drink until he has satisfied his desire. Do not fall upon the meat; take when it is offered to you.”
Within the framework of confirming that positions do not make the man, but rather it is he who makes them, he says:
“If you become great after you were of small standing, and become the owner of wealth after you were in need, do not forget how your condition was in the past time, and do not boast of your wealth which has come to you as a gift from the god. You are not better than your peers upon whom poverty has fallen. Satisfy your friends with what has newly come to you, for there is no man who knows his destiny when he thinks of tomorrow. You must retain the affection of friends for the time of the anger that threatens a man; but you will see afterwards that when your steps go wrong, your virtue will be above your friends.”
The sage advises that a man should examine the character of his friends, saying:
“If you are seeking the character of one whom you wish to befriend, do not ask, but draw near to him, keep silence, and test his heart by conversation. If he produces something he has seen or something that makes you ashamed of him, then beware even of greeting him.”
The sage advises “the ruler,” saying to him:
“If you are a ruler, be compassionate when you hear the words of the complainant, and do not mistreat him. It is a virtue of the heart to listen compassionately.”
He recommends to the husband good treatment of his wife, saying:
“Fill her belly, clothe her back; the treatment of her limbs is oil. Make her heart joyful as long as you live, for she is a fruitful field for her lord.”
The sage urges eloquence, saying:
“Be a maker of speech so that you may be strong before people, for the strength of a man is the tongue, and speech is more dangerous than every war.”
Concerning the manners of entering the houses of others and not divulging the secrets of others he says:
“Do not enter the house of another and examine closely the contents of the house, and do not let the tongue criticise what the eye sees. Keep silence, and do not speak of secrets to another outside.”
Concerning the manners of prayer and drawing near to the gods he says:
“The house of God detests uproar. Pray with a loving heart, and do not raise your voice in your prayer; thereby you will accomplish all your needs, and God will hear what you say and accept your offering.”
The sage warns against the foreign woman, saying:
“Take heed of the foreign woman, that one who is not known in her town. She is like deep water whose currents a man does not know.”
Concerning a man’s reputation the sage says:
“Do not go in and out of the court of justice lest the odour of your name spread, and do not speak much; be silent so that you may be happy, and do not be a chatterer.”
The sage warns against abstaining from drinking beer, saying:
“Do not boast that you can drink a jug of beer, for speech without meaning will come out of your mouth; and if you stagger and fall and break your leg, you will not find anyone to stretch out his hand to you.”
Module Key Takeaways
- Conscience was the guardian of moral life, the path to paradise, and the foundation of both personal integrity and civilisational achievement.
- Ancient Egyptian sages codified a comprehensive ethical system covering justice, truthfulness, honesty, respect, and proper conduct in all aspects of life.
- The belief in judgment after death drove the Egyptian to adhere strictly to moral values, ensuring that good triumphed over evil and securing eternal life.