ABSTRACT
If with the correlative recognition of change, one can argue continuity in ancient Egyptian culture, the formative years of the Old Kingdom are key to understanding and appreciating the character and course of ancient Egyptian culture and ethics (Breasted 1934). As James (1979, 44) states, this period "was undoubtedly a great formative time in which the bases of Egyptian civilization were fmnly established." These included concepts of state and kingship, artistic conventions, writing, literary forms, technology, science, medicine and other achievements and disciplines of human knowledge (Assmann 2002, chapter 2; Grima11992, chapters 1-5; Gardiner 1964a, chapter 5; Trigger et al. 1983, chapter 2).
