古埃及流傳下來的生者寫給死者的信是由死者的親屬在遭遇危險、困難時,或者受到死者的煩擾以后書寫的。在兒子寫給亡父和寡婦寫給亡夫的信中,寫信人向死者求助,希望他在來世審判庭代為申訴,或者作為超然的亡靈進行干預。我們從中可以看到,兒子在父親去世以后在家庭中發揮著主導作用;寡婦不僅在經濟上陷入困境甚至絕境,而且還受到包括親屬在內的許多人的欺侮。在鰥夫寫給亡妻的信中,前者描述他在妻子在世時給予的恩愛,為自己在妻子死后的行為辯解,試圖求得亡妻的寬容。這些信從不同的角度反映了古埃及婦女的地位,尤其是她們喪夫以后的處境。按照德國學者阿斯曼關于顯性和隱性文化的理論,這些信屬于隱性文化范疇,它們與屬于顯性文化范疇的神話、說教文、官吏自傳等形成鮮明的對照。借助這一理論,我們可以從一個新的視角探討古埃及婦女地位這個富有爭議的話題。

Letters to the dead from ancient Egypt were written by relatives of the dead when they encountered danger or difficulties,or felt disturbed by the dead.In the letters written by the son to the father and the widow to the husband,the sender usually asked for help,hoping that the dead would make appeal in the afterlife court on behalf of the sender,or make intervention as a supernatural being.In these letters,it is observable that the son played the major role in the family after the death of the father;a widow,in contrast,not only ran into financial difficulties but also suffered humiliation from relatives and neighbors.On the contrary,a widower would claim his innocence in the letter to his dead wife,and recall his affection for her when she was alive,or defend his behavior after her death,trying to ask for her forgiveness.These letters reflect the social status,especially the plight after being widowed,of ancient Egyptian women in the family and in the society in general.According to Jan Assmann’s theory of cultural memory,these letters were overshadowed by official documents such as myths,doctrinal documents or autobiographies of the officials.This theory provides a brand new perspective for us in analyzing the controversial topic of the social status of women in ancient Egypt.