It is commonly believed that the Egyptians did not have philosophy and that philosophy began with the ancient Greeks. However, some of the greatest Greek philosophers, including Thales, Pythagoras, and Plato, have stated that they owe much of their knowledge and ideas to the Egyptian sages. For example, Plato spent thirteen years studying under Egyptian priests in Heliopolis.
The difficulty that modern scholars face is that we do not have records of discursive Egyptian philosophy, or philosophy in the form that we are accustomed to thinking about it today. However, according to Pierre Hadot, the author of Philosophy as a Way of Life, philosophy was perceived in a completely different way in the ancient world. According to him, it was characterized by two principles: learning how to live and learning how to die. In other words, it was highly practical on one hand and highly metaphysical on the other. In Egyptian philosophy, we find both of these opposites: their wisdom literature or moral philosophy dealt with the learning of ethical principles and practical wisdom, while their religious and cosmological texts explored the nature of the universe and the afterlife. their way of life, their funeral texts were concerned with teaching about how to die.
One example of an Egyptian moral philosopher is Ptahotep, who wrote his Maxims at the age of 110! According to Will Durant, Ptahotep is probably the first philosopher in the world, and perhaps the oldest. The principle on which the moral philosophy of the ancient Egyptians was based was called Maat. Maat was personified by a goddess whose symbol was a feather. She represented the universal cosmic order, the law of life. Human beings also had to adhere to this law: we must learn to live in accordance with our higher mind that the Greeks called nous, and the Egyptians ba.
The principle of Maat resulted in a strong ethic of duty and responsibility characterized by a benevolent attitude. We also see a concern for personal development and a remarkable humility expressed by Ptahotep in the following way: Do not be arrogant when it comes to your knowledge or your learning because art has no limits and no artist ever reaches perfection.
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As the Greeks knew well, the immortal divine nature is not achieved through contemplation alone (theoria), but also through practice (praxis), organizing and harmonizing one’s own life, purifying flaws and impurities – so that our heart becomes as light as the feather of Maat. Hence, the importance of moral living as a necessary foundation for higher wisdom.