One of his letters, written in hieratic, a cursive from of hieroglyphics.
Hekanakhte (circa -1960), also spelled Hekanakht or Heqanakht, was a priest and farmer who lived in Ancient Egypt. All we have left of him are eight pieces of papyrus discovered in +1921. They were accidentally buried at a building site near where he worked as a priest. They contain business accounts and some letters that were never sent. They inspired Agatha Christie to write a murder mystery: “Death Comes as the End” (1944).
Excerpt: To Merisu, his steward, probably his son by his first wife:
“Now, expel that housemaid Senen from my house! Beware, on the day Sihathor [the scribe] reaches you (with the letter), she shall spend (only) one (more) day in my house. Is it really you who lets her do ill to my second wife. Have I ever allowed ill to be done to you? What did she do against (any of) you, you (Merisu) who hates her?
And greetings to my mother Ipi a thousand times, a million times. And greetings to Hetepet [older female relative, maybe his aunt], and the whole household, and Nofret [daughter]. Now, what shall be done about these bad deeds committed against my second wife? Do your duty. Are you not established as my partner? How good it would be for you to stop it (i.e. the evil deeds).
His second wife was considered to be a slut and did not get on well with the rest of his extended-family household of 17 other relatives and dependents and three servants.
The letters were written between the year 5 and 7, probably meaning the reign of Senusret I. That would be between about -1960 and -1958, give or take 60 years (that is how uncertain dates are that far back). Some are business letters written in a formal style by professional scribes, others are letters home written by himself in an informal style, something approaching spoken Egyptian with some old-timey expressions, like “they are eating people here”. His letters are used at university to teach Egyptian!
His farm was in Nebsyt, probably somewhere near Memphis. It was big enough to have sharecropping families. It raised cattle, barley, emmer wheat and flax, and produced linen (from the flax) and processed copper. His letters are full of concerns about debt, leasing land, and the yearly flood. The Nile flooded every year, leaving a rich layer of top soil – and the water to irrigate it with. The higher the flood, the more land that could be farmed. But if it was too high, it could spell disaster. Or, if too low, famine. Hekanakhte: “I’ve managed to keep you all alive all these years”.
Money: Hekanakhte mainly uses barley as a medium of exchange – for rations, paying off debt, etc. His large reserves of barley from the good years were like money in the bank.
His day job: Hekanakhte also worked as a priest some 500 km away down south in Thebes. He was a ka-priest (mortuary priest) in the cult of Ipi, who was a vizier (a top civil administrator) under Mentuhotep II in the -2000s. Hekanakhte’s priestly duties helped to keep the soul of the dead old vizier alive and well.
– Abagond, +2023.
See also:
- century readings
- Egypt: a brief history
- Egyptian – the language
- papyrus
- ka – part of the soul
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Abagond 
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