The Tale of Sinuhe is set at the time of the death of King Amenemhat I, 1908 BC; but it was written 100 years later. The royal courtier, Sinuhe, is on military campagin in Libya to the west, when he hears of his king's unfavorable death. He panics and is afraid that he can also be crushed in the moves of the power politics to come. He escapes to the region of Lebanon and southern Syria to live with the 'Sand-farers' or in a Bedouin tribe. It is a great culture shock and a come-down for a man of his standing, used to good living in the most sophisticated society of that time. When he reaches old age, he returns and completes his life in Egypt. The significance of this text goes beyond the structure and writing techniques of the
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As the story begins, Sinuhe is a coward who deserts his king out of fear of losing his own life. His action nearly costs him his life, but he is rescued by a Bedouin chief, a man whom Sinuhe would never have recognized as an equal earlier in his life. When Sinuhe meets Amunenshi, he feigns ignorance of his reasons for leaving Egypt, claiming that it was the act of a god. The real turning point in Sinuhe’s life comes when an unnamed “hero” challenges him to single battle. Despite the fact that Sinuhe is smaller, he effectively conquers the ''hero'' through physical strength. This scene witnesses Sinuhe's change from the quitter who surrendered Senwosret to an effective agent himself. Sinuhe recognizes the change himself in the poem he recites after his victory over the hero. In the poem, Sinuhe remembers the story of his life and contrasts his cowardly escape from Egypt with his current situation as a conqueror. With his transformation from cowardly nobleman to victorious hero now complete, Sinuhe is ready to return to his
As the story begins, Sinuhe is a coward who deserts his king out of fear of losing his own life. His action nearly costs him his life, but he is rescued by a Bedouin chief, a man whom Sinuhe would never have recognized as an equal earlier in his life. When Sinuhe meets Amunenshi, he feigns ignorance of his reasons for leaving Egypt, claiming that it was the act of a god. The real turning point in Sinuhe’s life comes when an unnamed “hero” challenges him to single battle. Despite the fact that Sinuhe is smaller, he effectively conquers the ''hero'' through physical strength. This scene witnesses Sinuhe's change from the quitter who surrendered Senwosret to an effective agent himself. Sinuhe recognizes the change himself in the poem he recites after his victory over the hero. In the poem, Sinuhe remembers the story of his life and contrasts his cowardly escape from Egypt with his current situation as a conqueror. With his transformation from cowardly nobleman to victorious hero now complete, Sinuhe is ready to return to his