d-book,
but interesting scenes are brought near to us by the writing-reed of
that primaeval Chesterfield. We find ourselves taking supper at the
table of a great man. His subordinates sit round, scarcely daring to
raise their eyes from their food, not speaking to their host until
spoken to. He serves the food that is before him according to his
liking for each guest; and the less favoured find solace in the
reflection that even the distribution of food is {28} according to
Providence. We pass on. Now we are in the hall of council with the
other overseers and officials of the province, and our overlord
presiding. We notice with astonishment the extreme solemnity and
strict observance of custom and precedence in this archaic period.
Many of those who have met report on the matters under their charge,
and others debate on them. The one now speaking is discussing a trade
about which he knows nothing, and an expert rises and makes very short
work of his opponent's arguments. Now we are among some people
dividing up property. One of them has tried, of course, to bully his
friends into giving him more than his due share, and, having failed,
leaves the house in a rage. He will regret it later. And so on.

Nothing definite is known concerning these two nobles beyond what is
said of them in their works. A fine tomb of a certain Ke'gemni exists
at Memphis; his titles, so far as can be ascertained,[11] are: _Judge
of the High Court: Governor of the Land unto its Limit, South and
North: Director of every Command_. He has sometimes been supposed to
be identical with our Ke'gemni; {29} but I am assured by those most
competent to judge that this tomb cannot be earlier than the Fifth
Dynasty (a good three hundred years from the date assigned to the
moralist), so that the theory that they are one person may be dismissed
as highly improbable. No other person of the name is known.

The position is much the same with Ptah-hotep. There are near Memphis
the tombs of several nobles of this name, of whom two lived in the
reign of Isosi; and in this case, again, it has been assumed that
one[12] of these two must be the writer of the Instruction. But in
neither instance do the titles coincide with or include those assigned
to him. The highest title which he bears, _Eldest Son of the King_,
does not anywhere appear in these tombs. It is true that one of these
contemporaries was _Hereditary Chief_; but we know that Ptah-hotep w