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The Autobiography of Harkhuf is a tomb inscription from Ancient Egypt which is significant to Egyptology studies. Harkhuf was a governor of Upper Egypt in the 23rd century BC. His name is sometimes spelled Herkhuf or Hirkhuf. All that is known of Harkhuf's life comes from the inscriptions in his tomb at Qubbet el-Hawa on the west bank of the Nile at Aswan, near the First Cataract of the Nile. He was a native of Elephantine. He was appointed governor of the southern part of Upper Egypt and overseer of caravans under the pharaoh Merenre I, third king of the 6th dynasty. His primary business was trade with Nubia,〔Pascal Vernus, Jean Yoyotte, ''The Book of the Pharaohs'', Cornell University Press 2003. ISBN 0-8014-4050-5. p.122〕 forging political bonds with local leaders,〔Vernus, Yoyotte〕 and preparing the ground for an Egyptian expansion into Nubia. He led at least four major expeditions during his life. On the last expedition, he brought back with him what his correspondence with the young pharaoh Pepi II referred to as a dwarf, apparently a pigmy.〔Vernus, Yoyotte, p.74〕 He travelled a considerable distance to a land called ''Iyam'', which probably corresponds to the fertile plain that opens out south of modern Khartoum, where the Blue Nile joins the White. However, Jean Yoyotte 〔Jean Yoyotte: ''Pour une localisation du pays de Iam,'' BIFAO 52 (1953), p.173ff〕 thought Iyam was located further north in the Libyan Desert. The inscriptions in Harkhuf's tomb reflect changes in the Egyptian world view that were occurring during the Late Old Kingdom and the First Intermediate Period, with the person of the king becoming more human and displaying emotions and interests,〔Maulana Karenga, ''Maat, the Moral Ideal in Ancient Egypt: A Study in Classical African Ethics'', Routledge 2004. ISBN 0-415-94753-7. p.52〕 while commenting on a person leading a moral life by helping his neighbour: ''I gave bread to the hungry, clothing to the naked, I ferried him who had no boat.''〔James Henry Breasted, ''Ancient Records of Egypt'', Part One, Chicago 1906, §§ 325 & §328〕 ==References== ;Notes ;Sources * M. Lichtheim, ''Ancient Egyptian Literature: A Book of Readings'', Vol.1, Berkeley 1973, pp. 23–27 * G.W. Murray, ''Harkhuf's Third Journey'', The Geographical Journal, Vol. 131, No. 1 (Mar., 1965), pp. 72–75 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Autobiography of Harkhuf」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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