El paso del tiempo y el recuerdo del pasado en el antiguo Egipto

Abstract

In Ancient Egypt one finds two different yet complementary perceptions of the passage of time: one cyclical, characteristic of a religious context, the other linear, distinctive of a secular, civil context. However, both perceptions implied a permanent look onto the past, either because it was taken as a model for the present or because it was regarded as a standard that needed to be surpassed. The political use of history did much for keeping, and transforming, the past in the present; as did personal convenience when it came to autobiographical narratives and even the composition of works of fiction. Given this major concern for the past and for history, one might ask why then history as a scholarly discipline failed to emerge in the land of the Pharaohs? The answer to this question might be that Egyptian society felt no need for such scholarly endeavor, precisely because it developed surrounded by historical texts, which even included Instruments to check on their truthfulness.