Satire of the Trades

Instruction of Khety, also known as the Instructions of Duauf

attributed to Khety, addressed by his father Duauf · c. 1950-1900 BC (composition); surviving copies New Kingdom · Itjtawy (Egypt) · philosophy

Every trade but the scribe's grinds down the body and dulls the mind, so a father sending his son to scribal school is handing him the only career that turns other men's labor into his own advantage.