| The papyrus documents in ancient Egypt play an important role to study the ancient Egyptian history. These documents will help Egyptologists construct the frame of history, and restore the features of history. We analyse The Journey of Wenamon, namely we study that period of history which the document described in fact. This article starts with The Journey of Wenamon, combines with other information reflecting that period of history, reveals the Egyptian history that the document reflected and enriches the historical materials of that period, in addition to define the research value of The Journey of Wenamon.This article includes the preface, text, and conclusion. Preface determines the time of the study, introduces the internal and international situation of studying The Journey of Wenamon, and points out the lack of present research situation, the existing problems of the document and the research significance of this article. The text of first is a brief introduction to The Journey of Wenamon, including the writing background, the situation of holding and main content of the document.At first, the section points out that The Journey of Wenamon had been written in the final period of the 20th Dynasty of Egypt, when the Egyptian Empire was on the point of decline. Secondly, it introduces the discovery, preservation, translation and the spread of The Journey of Wenamon. Finally, it introduces the main content of the document.The text of second illustrates the value of studying The Journey of Wenamon, mainly expositions on literary value and historical value. The first part is about the value of literature. The Journey of Wenamon is one of the excellent works in ancient Egypt and the world. It is the peak of prose story in ancient Egypt. The second part is about the value for studying history. First of all, it demonstrates that the document is true. Secondly, it illustrates the significance of The Journey of Wenamon for studying particular period. In all, The Journey of Wenamon is a precious historical material.The text of third reveals the historical status in the final period of the 20th Dynasty of Egypt through analysis of The Journey of Wenamon. It is the focus of this article which is divided into four parts to discuss. The first section is about the domestic politics. The last Pharaoh of the Dynasty lost real power, while the high priest of the temple of Amun controlled Thebes and Semendes (the local lord) controlled the Delta. They ruled Egypt together. The second section is about the domestic finance. Financial system divided into three parts. In addition to the central finance, the temple of Amun and local lords had established independent financial system and strength. The third section describes the relation between Egypt and western Asia. During this period, Egypt lost the position of hegemony in western Asia, and the Egyptians'attitude towards the foreign countries had changed. But there were impacts of Egypt on the language, religion, art, and other fields in western Asia. The last section introduces the exchange of the situation in the final period of the 20th Dynasty of Egypt. The problems existing in the final period of the 20th Dynasty of Egypt had become the characteristics in the 3rd intermediate period.Through a full understanding of The Journey of Wenamon, this article shows that the document is not only an excellent literary work, but also a valuable historical material. The domestic politics, domestic finance and external relations in the final period of the 20th dynasty of Egypt are embodied to some extent in this article through historical perspective analysis of the content of The Journey of Wenamon. Because of the time characteristic of content, the document was able to reflect the historical characteristics in the 3rd intermediate period. The collapsed trend of the Egyptian Empire had not reversed. |
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