古埃及流传下来的生者写给死者的信是由死者的亲属在遭遇危险、困难时,或者受到死者的烦扰以后书写的。在儿子写给亡父和寡妇写给亡夫的信中,写信人向死者求助,希望他在来世审判庭代为申诉,或者作为超然的亡灵进行干预。我们从中可以看到,儿子在父亲去世以后在家庭中发挥着主导作用;寡妇不仅在经济上陷入困境甚至绝境,而且还受到包括亲属在内的许多人的欺侮。在鳏夫写给亡妻的信中,前者描述他在妻子在世时给予的恩爱,为自己在妻子死后的行为辩解,试图求得亡妻的宽容。这些信从不同的角度反映了古埃及妇女的地位,尤其是她们丧夫以后的处境。按照德国学者阿斯曼关于显性和隐性文化的理论,这些信属于隐性文化范畴,它们与属于显性文化范畴的神话、说教文、官吏自传等形成鲜明的对照。借助这一理论,我们可以从一个新的视角探讨古埃及妇女地位这个富有争议的话题。 The letters that the surviving natives of Ancient Egypt wrote to the dead were written by relatives of the deceased in danger, difficulty, or distress from the dead. In the letter his son wrote to the dead and the widow to write to the deceased, the writer wrote to the deceased for help in the hope that he will interrogate the court in the afterlife or intervene as a detached souls. From this we can see that the son played a leading role in the family after his father’s death; the widow was not only economically distressed or even desperate, but also was bullied by many, including his relatives. In his widow’s letter to his deceased wife, the former described his loving affection when his wife was alive, excused himself after his wife’s death, and tried to obtain the tolerance of his deceased wife. These letters reflect the position of ancient Egyptian women from different perspectives, especially since they were widowed. According to the German scholar Asman’s theory of explicit and implicit culture, these beliefs are in the category of implicit culture in sharp contrast to the myths, preaching texts and official biographies belonging to the dominant categories of culture. With this theory, we can explore the controversial topic of ancient Egyptian women’s status from a new perspective.