أول ثورة في التاريخ

مقالة بعنوان /
أول ثورة اجتماعية في التاريخ
( الثورة الاجتماعية الأولى )

بقلم /
جيهان عرفات
حاصلة على ليسانس الآثار من جامعة القاهرة





The First social revolution in the history.
History repeats itself. If the sage Ipuwer- who lived in ancient Egypt around the first intermediate period- were living among us in twenty-first century Egypt, he would find that the present day situation is similar to what our ancestors suffered thousands of years ago.
Ipuwer explained it in detail, in his famous papyrus, the reasons that forced our forebears to carry out the revolution and are identical to those that caused today’s Egyptians to begin their modern revolution on January 25, 2011.
The demands are the same – the people need a strong, just and honest governor to rule the country and bring prosperity and stability to Egypt instead of misery. The dialogue in the papyrus is the oldest in world literature to record a confrontation between the sage and the king over the king’s mistakes. Its official designation is Papyrus Leiden I 344 recto. It is housed in the Dutch National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, Netherlands. The papyrus measures 378 centimeters in length.
We are looking forward to and hoping for the discovery of another papyrus on the same theme as the one in our possession is badly damaged. However, it holds a unique picture of the situation and it is as if we are watching a play detailing the long history of our forebears and the circumstances in which we find ourselves.
The theme of this work describes the First Intermediate Period (2150-2040), the fall of the Old Kingdom and the invasion of the foreigners to Egypt. Here are some phrases of its contents.

Ipuwer papyrus
"The door [keepers] say: "Let us go and plunder."
"A man regards his son as his enemy. The tribes of the desert have become Egyptians everywhere. The land is full of confederates, and a man goes to plough with his shield"
"Indeed, [the face] is pale; the bowman is ready, wrongdoing is everywhere, and there is no man of yesterday. And the servant takes what he finds.
Indeed, the Nile overflows, yet none plough for it. Everyone says: "We do not know what will happen throughout the land."Khnum fashions (men) no more because of the condition of the land. Indeed, poor men have become owners of wealth, and he who could not make sandals for himself is now a possessor of riches.
blood is everywhere Indeed, many dead are buried in the river.
Indeed, noblemen are in distress, while the poor man is full of joy. Every town says: "Let us suppress the powerful among us."
Indeed, the land turns around as does a potter's wheel.
Indeed, the ship of [the southerners] has broken up; towns are destroyed and Upper Egypt has become an empty waste.
Indeed, crocodiles [are glutted] with what they have captured, for men go to them of their own accord "
"Indeed, the well-born man [. . .] through lack of recognition and the child of his lady has become the son of his maidservant.
Forsooth, the Desert is throughout the Land. The districts are laid waste. A foreign tribe
from abroad has come to Egypt. Forsooth people come…There are no Egyptians anywhere

Forsooth. Gold and Lapis lazuli, silver and Malachite, Carnelian and Bronze are fastened on the necks of female slaves.
Forsooth, the builders of Pyramids have become field-labourers.
Men don't sail northwards to [Bybios] today. What shall we do for cedars for our mummies, for the produce of which priests are buried, and with the oil of which [chiefs] are embalmed.
Glad indeed is the heart of the king, when Truth comes to him.
Oh, every foreign country comes That is our water, That is our happiness, What shall we do.
In respect thereof! All is ruin!
Forsooth, all dead are like those who live? Those who were Egyptians have become
Foreigners?......."
"Indeed, the hot-headed man says: "If I knew where God is, then I would worship Him."
Indeed, all animals, their hearts weep; cattle moan because of the state of the land.
Indeed, the children of princes are dashed against walls,
men sit in the bushes until the benighted traveler comes in order to plunder his burden, and what is upon him is taken away. He is belabored with blows of a stick and murdered.
Would that there was an end of men, without conception, without birth! Then would the land be quiet from noise and tumult is no more.
Indeed, [men eat] herbage and wash [it] down with water; neither fruit nor herbage can be found [for] the birds, and [. . .] is taken away from the mouth of the pig. No face is bright which you have [. . .] for me through hunger..Would that I had raised my voice at that moment that it might have saved me from the pain in which I am.
Indeed, the children of magnates are ejected into the streets;
Indeed, those who were in the place of embalmment are laid out on the high ground, and the secrets of the embalmers are thrown down because of it.
Behold, the fire has gone up on high, and its burning goes forth against the enemies of the land.
Behold, things have been done which have not happened for a long time past; the king has been deposed by the rabble.
Behold, he who was buried as a falcon [is devoid] of biers, and what the pyramid concealed has become empty. .
Behold, the secret of the land whose limits were unknown is divulged, and the Residence is thrown down in a moment.
Behold, the possessors of tombs are ejected on to the high ground, while he who could not make a coffin for himself is now [the possessor] of a treasury."
Behold, he who was ignorant of the lyre is now the possessor of a harp, while he who never sang for himself now vaunts the Songstress-goddess.
Behold, he who slept wifeless through want [finds] riches, while he whom he never saw stands making dole.
Behold, he who had no property is now a possessor of wealth, and the magnate praises him.
Behold, serving-men have become masters of butlers, and he who was once a messenger now sends someone else.
Behold, he who did not know his god now offers to him with incense of another [who is] not known [to him].
Behold, he who could not slaughter for himself now slaughters bulls,

Behold those who once owned beds are now on the ground, while he who once slept in squalor now lays out a skin-mat for himself.
Behold, a man is slain beside his brother, who runs away and abandons him to save his own skin."
Advices for the king to destroy the enemies, and be kind with people then making offerings to the gods.

"Destroy the enemies of the august Residence, splendid of magistrates; indeed, the Governor of the City goes unescorted.
Remember to immerse [. . .] him who is in pain when he is sick in his body; show respect, because of his god that he may guard the utterance, his children who are witnesses of the surging of the flood.
Remember to fumigate with incense and to offer water in a jar in the early morning.
Remember [to bring] geese, and ducks and to offer god's offerings to the gods.
Remember to erect flagstaffs and to carve offering stones, the priest cleansing the chapels and the temple being plastered (white) like milk; to make pleasant the odor of the horizon and to provide bread-offerings."
Qualification of the expecting king
"He brings coolness upon heat; men say: "He is the herdsman of mankind, and there is no evil in his heart." Though his herds are few, yet he spends a day to collect them".
Reproof to the king
"Combat has gone forth, and he who should be a redresser of evils is one who commits them; neither do men act as pilot in their hour of duty. Where is he today? Is he asleep? Behold, his power is not seen."
Authority, knowledge, and truth are with you, yet confusion is what you set throughout the land, also the noise of tumult. Behold, one deals harm to another, for men conform to what you have commanded. If three men travel on the road, they are found to be only two, for the many kill the few? Then may you command reply to be made, is there a herdsman that like death? ; It means that their existences are few everywhere; it means that you have acted so as to bring those things to pass. You have told lies, and the land is like the flaming straw, and a man is murdered on his housetop .Oh may you taste a little of the misery of it!
The great expectation for future
"It is indeed good when the hands of men build pyramids, when ponds are dug and plantations of the trees of the gods are made.
It is indeed good when men are drunk; and their hearts are happy.
It is indeed good when rejoicing is in men's mouths, when the magnates of districts stand looking on at the rejoicing in their houses, clad in a cloak,
It is indeed good when beds are prepared and the headrests of magistrates are safely secured. Every man's need is satisfied with a couch in the shade, and a door is now shut on him who once slept in the bushes".
Egypt's foreign affairs
"Everyone fights for his sister , he protect himself Are they Negros? Then we protect ourselves; warriors are made many in order to ward off foreigners. Is it Libyans? Then we will turn away. The Medjay are pleased with Egypt. The Metaw who are friends with Egypt say: How should every man slay his own brother? The troops which we recruited for ourselves are become foreigners, and have come to destroy? What has happened to cause the Asiatic to know the condition of the land? All foreign tribes are full of its fear."
The king's ignorance.
"What Ipuwer said when he addressed the Majesty of the Lord of All: [. . .] all herds? It means that ignorance of it is what is pleasing to the heart. You have done what was good in their hearts and you have nourished the people with it. They cover their faces through fear of the morrow"
Blame for arresting and capturing who try to speak about the condition of Egypt
"That is how a man grows old before he dies, while his son is young and without understanding; he does not open [his] mouth to speak to you, but you seize him in the doom of death ".
At the end we read words indicates that the theme still exist and didn't come to an end
"If men call to [. . .] weep [. . .] them, who break into the tombs and burn the statues [. . .] the corpses of the nobles [. . .. . .] of directing work"
The text is finished because the papyrus is damaged, but Ipuwer the honest man still rumor …
At last, our forebears has succeeded in their revolution, finding the just and fair king to rule them, and their great expectation bring prosperous to Egypt to inherit us this admirable history .
References
Gardiner, the admonitions of an Egyptian sage
M. Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume I, p.150
Erman, the literature of the ancient Egyptians, pp.92ff
Breasted, the dawn of conscience pp.194ff
سليم حسن، مصر القديمة، الجزء السابع عشر، الأدب فى مصر القديمة.صـــــ294