Order In The Tale Of Sinuhe

In the “Tale of Sinuhe,” the protagonist, Sinuhe, is a servant of the god-king, who rules with divine jurisdiction. Sinuhe’s self perception is defined by his sub-ordinal relationship to the pharaoh. At the start of the tale, Sinuhe describes himself to the readers as “a follower who followed his lord” (Sinuhe, 27). Here, Sinuhe is identifying himself as someone who is ruled by another’s will rather than his own. When Sinuhe learns of the death of his lord, his identity and purpose are shattered. Sinuhe even suggests that he feels that he has lost his reason to live. The death of the king severes Sinuhe’s connection to to his master, king, and even god as the egyptian Pharaohs ruled as intermediaries between man and god. Sinuhe becomes …show more content…
By examining the architectonics of the architecture and landscaping of the great pyramid complex of Giza a model of the egyptian ideal of order similar to the one portrayed in the “Tale of Sinuhe” comes into view. Looking at the “Plan of Giza” map from the Reed Classics Image Database, the size discrepancy between the three main pyramids (Khufu, Khafra, and Menkaura) is immediately apparent. Khufu, the largest of the three pyramids, is also the most northeastern of the structures. Slightly to the southwest of Khufu lies Khafra, the second largest pyramid. In keeping with a pattern, the smallest of the main pyramids of Giza, Menkaura, is also to the southwest of Khafra. The pyramids are organized in such a way that, when viewed from directly east or west of the pyramid of Khafra, they appear to be organized by descending size from north to south. This layout indicates that Egyptian society placed a lot of value in hierarchical structures. Even their burial grounds are organized in such a way that hints at the presence of a …show more content…
Along the Nile, to the east of the pyramids of Giza, were cities inhabited by ancient Egyptian citizens. The westward position of the complex relative to the Nile and Egyptian population centers is telling because it affects how the pyramids would have looked to the ancient peoples. From the position of the egyptian cities, the light of the rising sun would have reflected off of the smooth white limestone, throwing glaringly bright light back in the direction of the sun and the Egyptian cities. The sun was very important to Egyptian religion and society because the main god, Amun, was the “sun god.” The reflection of sunlight off of the pyramids would have emphasized Amun’s greatness and power to the Egyptian peoples. Additionally, the orientation of the pyramids to allow for the maximal amount of light to hit them creates a link between the pyramids and tombs and Amun. The larger the pyramid is, the more light is reflected. Due to this the Khafa pyramid would be most strongly connected to