AMENEMOPE

ancient Egyptian author of The Instruction of Amenemope, probably composed during the late New Kingdom (13001075 BC). Amenemope's text, similar in content to most of the instruction or wisdom literature written earlier, was a collection of maxims and admonitions setting forth practical injunctions for living. Although the work was first believed to have been derived from the Hebrew Book of Proverbs, most scholars now view the text as the culmination of a long development of Egyptian wisdom literature.