and skills necessary for their profession… By the way, they wrote hieroglyphs on earthenwary crocks, leather, pieces of limestone. But it was Imhotep who introduced specially processed stems of marsh plant papirus which grew abundantly on the banks of the Nile as a writing material.
“This time and money investment into education of talanted young people justified itself so much that Imhotep managed soon to achieve general opening of such schools in temples where they started to prepare future clerks, lawyers, doctors. And what is most remarkable is that they began to select there also talanted gifted children of common people. And later they opened schools in some state organizations where gifted children (even from poor families) were prepared to the concrete profession chosen in advance by the pupils themselves, for example, profession of sculptor, merchants, bricklayer etc.
“And the more gifted and talented was the young man, the more he was initiated into more profound sciences. Imhotep did so that the youth was itself interested in obtaining solid and high-quality fundament of knowledge. Why? Because the more talented, professional and gifted was the man, the more opened the state career opportunities before him and it improved his life conditions. The most revolutionary was that it didn’t matter to which family a person belonged (a poor or a rich one) since his abilities and high morality were valued most of all. Finally the result of such policy was that people were given a real opportunity to show their better qualities and abilities. For example even an ordinary clerk who had high morality and professional as well as organizational skills had a chance to become a governor of a city (like a royal governor) and even of a nome, that means to join the privileged class. Briefly saying, he was able to realize himself as a Personality, due to his talent.
Do you understand what has happened?! They began to intensively advance talented people, starting from highest layers of power and ending with the lowest, starting from management structures of the state and ending with science, education, medicine and art. It became a fashion to have moral principles, to be polite, clever, educated, to set high goals. And why? Because the state began to actively stimulate moral and intellectual achievements of its citizens.
But Imhotep went even further. Not only that he awoke people’s interest in raising their professionalism, he also increased their significance before other people. He made almost every profession honourable and thus made people respect themselves and their labour, irregardless to which stage of social scale of ranks and to which class they belonged. It improved first of all the culture of communication between people due to it. All layers of society began to keep strict discipline, to respect law and order. Imhotep organized such conditions that people became to be more concerned with improvement of moral and quality of their work. As a result everyone was busy with work for the benefit of the state, starting from the pharaoh who has been dealing with public affairs during the whole day… By the way, it was namely Imhotep who convinced him to stop any wars, since as Imhotep used to say, ‘words are stronger than weapons… Even every prince received his concrete state position in the system of state employment elaborated by Imhotep, and he had to effectively fullfil his duties. Since the pharaoh declared (after he got a hint with this idea from Imhotep) that only the worthy heir will take his place. And it stimulated in its turn the wives of the pharaoh to actively help their sons in public affairs so that it were their sons who would become worthy of enthronement. Thus the state only benefited from the public affairs and everyday employment of the pharaoh’s wives. Since as it is known, lazy mind is a workshop of devil. But this way intrigues and plots were replaced with business efficiency and healthy competition.
“So, everyone was busy, starting from the pharaoh and ending with common people. And there was no place anymore in that country for idlers, lazybones, bribe-takers and thieves since the conditions for their flourishing disappeared and the very society rejected them. It led to the epoche of rushing progress as a result of such wise Imhotep’s policy for people.
“But the most unprecedental thing was that ideology which was formed in the society. Whereas unlike all earlier mentioned merits Imhotep even wasn’t specially occupied with its broad implementation for the masses. He was only the man whose example people wanted to follow: he lived simply, talked wisely and acted fairly and humanly. That’s why he and his world-view became so popular among people.
“Namely due to Imhotep’s popularity and fame his image became an ideal for ancient Egyptians, that is a man who doesn’t speak too much, who is wise and resistant to hardships and strikes of destiny, with humanic views, deeply human, with absolute belief in after-death existence of the soul. Many people from the following generation (not to mention those who lived in his time) were brought up with the following popular Imhotep’s proverbs and sayings:
“It’s better to be poor and to live in a desert but with a lotus in the soul than to be rich and to live among people but with emptiness in the soul”;
“There is no use in freedom for a man if he is blind to his soul”;
“Merits are measured by deeds performed by you”;
“During the time of a trial don’t look for friends and don’t blame enemies but set hopes upon God”;
“Only that man misses slavery who strives to dethrone a king who gave him freedom”;
“Only that man flourishes who helps people in need and not that one who makes others fear him”.
Many other sayings by Imhotep were used by priests and viziers of the next generations in their ‘teachings’ because the words by Imhotep were quite popular among people and were spreaded by word of mouth, from one generation to another.
“Imhotep had a quite tolerant attitude to all religious concepts of the state. He deserved a genuine respect and sympathies not only of the pharaoh but also influential priests of various religions because he acted very wisely and delicately even in respect of the priests’ policy. However his own firm position was belief based on Knowledge. He didn’t have doubts in what he was saying, he wasn’t hypocritical as it was typical to many priests and aristocrats. People felt a Man of Knowledge in him. That’s for why many people who found this invisible but quite perceivable strong belief in him Imhotep became a revealer of Truth. Mainly due to his life style and world view Egyptians got a concept and absolute belief that this life is temporary and it is given for a man to deserve better life in the after-death world by his righteousness, honesty of thoughts and deed before God (and not before people). In that society belief in the after-death life became dominating.
Certainly, this belief was begotten not on the empty place. Belief in the after-death world was inherent to Egyptians from ancient times and, as I have already told you, it was initially based on knowledge. Just with time the knowledge was partially lost and this belief gained a form of confusing and unclear religion. Therefore the majority of people, so to say, worshipped mechanically to ancient gods, mostly without understanding and going deeply into the very religion. It was for them just a tradition heredited from ancestors nothing more. However everything has changed due to invisible work of Imhotep.”
“Invisible work? What do you mean under ‘invisible’?” Kostya asked. He listened to Sensei with the same enthusiasm as we did.
“Wait a minute, I will tell you right now.” Sensei made a few drinks of mineral water and continued his story. “All mentioned merits of Imhotep were only a visible part of that great work he managed to do during his life. But there was more valuable and significant invisible work which was thoroughly hidden from strangers. High position gave Imhotep a real opportunity to contribute his share to realization of the global world architectural project narrated to him by the Sokrovennik. It could bring an invaluable value to the humankind of the far future.”
“I see it was a man of great soul,” Nikolai Andreevich said thoughtfully. “When he was at the top of
