Stefanović Danijela: Pouka za Merikanrea

Danijela Stefanović:

Ancient Egyptian treatise on government

This excellent book is a synthetic and critical study of "Lessons for Mericare". After a long series of years of study, today these lessons are defined as popular, didactic works that were written as a kind of royal instructions for successors. The original was probably created during the First Intermediate Period (around 2160 - 2025 BC). In it, the old unnamed king addresses his successor and son, Merikare. The old pharaoh is probably Heti Uanhkare, one of the weak rulers of the Xth Dynasty from Heracleopolis (21st century BC). Some experts assume that Hetti was not the author of this text, but that it was written during the reign of Mericare to justify his rule, or that the text was written during the Middle Kingdom. The most important parts of the text are devoted to the thesis about how the king must recognize dissidents and conspirators and how he should rule against rebels and other subjects.

And now a few words about the book itself. In the introductory text "About the lesson", the author explains and analyzes the previous research and translates "The lesson for Mericare", giving the text very detailed comments and remarks in which previous reference studies and translations of the mentioned work are listed. In the following, in the subchapter "Historical metrics", the author presents the historical background of the creation of the Lesson and provides a historical reconstruction of the first medieval period and the early Middle Kingdom. The text analyzes the previous knowledge about the kings of Herakleopolis and their rule professionally and with great abilities. In the last part of the introductory study, the author provides an overview of the current knowledge about the reign of the Hittite Uankhkara and his son Merikare. In the final part of the review, important observations are made about the Lesson itself and its importance for understanding the past of the mentioned period. Although some experts believe that the work was created in the period of the XII Dynasty, the author correctly believes that the core of the text must have been formed precisely at the time of the Hittite Wanhkara.

The central segment of the book is a translation of "Lessons from Mericare". The translation is based on the text preserved on papyrus Ermitraz 1116A, which is kept today in the collection of the museum of the same name. As a world-renowned Egyptologist, Danijela Stefanović prepared an excellent translation of this original. The translation contains the hieroglyphic text, its transliteration and a translation into Serbian. This work deals with selected questions in a complete and comprehensive way and accurately, following the postulates of the Egyptological profession, translates the ancient Egyptian original. The list of bibliographic references at the end of the book contains a list of the most important studies to date and translations of the originals.

Until now, no translation from the original Lessons for Merikare or other ancient Egyptian texts has been published in the former Yugoslavia, which makes this work even more valuable. Since this study and translation contain the original results of the author's work, it represents a valuable contribution to Egyptology in Serbia and the countries of Southeast Europe.