Source Exploration: Perspective and Hierarchy in The Story of Sinuhe Anonymous College

The author of the text from The Story of Sinuhe is someone who worked under the Egyptian pharaoh as a servant and someone who knew Sinuhe well, during the second to third millennium BCE. Evidences are found from the passage when it mentions that “his majesty sent word to me with royal gifts, in order to gladden the heart of this servant like that of a foriegn ruler” (Story of Sinuhe, Sec. 285 in Companion Reader3E, p. 86). From this, it is clear that the author is indirectly calling himself a servant, or someone who is under the pharaoh, as he addresses the pharaoh as “his majesty.” As he sees the royal gifts that the pharaoh sends to him, the author compares himself to a “foreign ruler.” From this drastic social hierarchies, it is clear that the author works under royalty, but also someone who is close to Sinuhe, as the author provides numerous observations about him.

This can be further proven when the text mentions “A funeral procession is made for you on the day of burial; the mummy case is gold, its head of lapis lazuli...sacrifice is made before your offering stone” (Story of Sinuhe, Sec. 285 in Companion Reader3E, p. 87). This section of the text shows how the king had unfair wealth and control over people and materials....