提 要：古代埃及官吏讲求说话艺术。他们追求的不是以美丽的辞藻说服对方，也不是以高超的辩术驳倒敌手，而是少说话、不到万不得已的时候不说话、说话时找准时候和分寸。对于以国王为代表的统治阶层来说，要求年轻的官吏们遵循这种说话艺术有利于维持由来已久的等级制和防止因言语不当而发生的矛盾和纠纷，对于初入仕途的年轻人来说，掌握说话的技巧和规则有助于他们理顺与上级和下级之间的关系，以免招致上司的厌恶和属下的不满。古代埃及说教文在培养年轻人以符合官场规则说话方面发挥了重要作用，而官吏的自传则揭示了他们身体力行说教文所灌输的劝诫的原因和目的。

关键词：古代埃及官吏 说教文 自传 说话艺术

Title:The Ancient Egyptian Officials’ Art of Speaking

Author: Jin Shoufu, Professor, Department of History, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China

Abstract: The didactic literature of ancient Egypt were instructions written by kings, princes and high officials for young people who were to step in their career. The ancient Egyptian officials wrote autobiographies in which they claimed to have led a moral life. This paper analyses the phrases and sentences in the didactic literature and autobiographies concerning the art of speaking. The author describes the social background in which the phrases and sentences had their roots and comments on the relationship between the didactic literature and the autobiographies.

Key words:ancient Egyptian officials didactic literature autobiography art of speech