从写给死者的信看古埃及妇女的社会地位(公元前2100年至前1300年)

The Social Status of Ancient Egyptian Women as Reflected in Letters to the Dead(2100-1300 BCE)

古埃及流传下来的生者写给死者的信是由死者的亲属在遭遇危险、困难时,或者受到死者的烦扰以后书写的。在儿子写给亡父和寡妇写给亡夫的信中,写信人向死者求助,希望他在来世审判庭代为申诉,或者作为超然的亡灵进行干预。我们从中可以看到,儿子在父亲去世以后在家庭中发挥着主导作用;寡妇不仅在经济上陷入困境甚至绝境,而且还受到包括亲属在内的许多人的欺侮。在鳏夫写给亡妻的信中,前者描述他在妻子在世时给予的恩爱,为自己在妻子死后的行为辩解,试图求得亡妻的宽容。这些信从不同的角度反映了古埃及妇女的地位,尤其是她们丧夫以后的处境。按照德国学者阿斯曼关于显性和隐性文化的理论,这些信属于隐性文化范畴,它们与属于显性文化范畴的神话、说教文、官吏自传等形成鲜明的对照。借助这一理论,我们可以从一个新的视角探讨古埃及妇女地位这个富有争议的话题。

Letters to the dead from ancient Egypt were written by relatives of the dead when they encountered danger or difficulties,or felt disturbed by the dead.In the letters written by the son to the father and the widow to the husband,the sender usually asked for help,hoping that the dead would make appeal in the afterlife court on behalf of the sender,or make intervention as a supernatural being.In these letters,it is observable that the son played the major role in the family after the death of the father;a widow,in contrast,not only ran into financial difficulties but also suffered humiliation from relatives and neighbors.On the contrary,a widower would claim his innocence in the letter to his dead wife,and recall his affection for her when she was alive,or defend his behavior after her death,trying to ask for her forgiveness.These letters reflect the social status,especially the plight after being widowed,of ancient Egyptian women in the family and in the society in general.According to Jan Assmann's theory of cultural memory,these letters were overshadowed by official documents such as myths,doctrinal documents or autobiographies of the officials.This theory provides a brand new perspective for us in analyzing the controversial topic of the social status of women in ancient Egypt.