19 Marriage, Divorce, and Other Arrangements

Advice on matters of the heart was offered in both wisdom literature, written in the form of proverbs or maxims, and in stories that illustrated common or uncommon human dilemmas. This lecture opens with readings from the Egyptian wisdom text the Instructions of Ankhsheshonq, which consists of a fathers advice to his son. Among its maxims: Do not dwell in a house with your inlaws and If you find your wife with her lover get yourself a bride to suit you. Issues of family discord and disaster are treated differently and in a novelistic manner in the Tale of the Two Brothers, an Egyptian story of jealousy, rivalry, murder, and revenge. We will examine the I3lh text of that story and conclude the lecture with observations on parallels between its plot and the biblical story of Joseph and Potiphars wife.