Laudator Temporis Acti

Plutarch, Isis and Osiris 8 (Moralia 354A-B; tr. Frank Cole Babbit):

Moreover, they relate that the ancient Egyptians put from them luxury, lavishness, and self-indulgence, to such a degree that they used to say that there was a pillar standing in the temple at Thebes which had inscribed upon it curses against Meinis, their king, who was the first to lead the Egyptians to quit their frugal, thrifty, and simple manner of living. It is said also that Technactis, the father of Bocchoris, when he was leading his army against the Arabians, because his baggage was slow in arriving, found pleasure in eating such common food as was available, and afterwards slept soundly on a bedding of straw, and thus became fond of frugal living; as the result, he invoked a curse on Meinis, and, with the approval of the priests, had a pillar set up with the curse inscribed upon it.

ἀλλὰ τρυφήν τε καὶ πολυτέλειαν καὶ ἡδυπάθειαν οὕτω προβάλλεσθαι τοὺς παλαιοὺς λέγουσιν, ὥστε καὶ στήλην ἔφασαν ἐν Θήβαις ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ κεῖσθαι κατάρας ἐγγεγραμμένας ἔχουσαν κατὰ Μείνιος τοῦ βασιλέως, ὃς πρῶτος Αἰγυπτίους τῆς ἀπλούτου καὶ ἀχρημάτου καὶ λιτῆς ἀπήλλαξε διαίτης. λέγεται δὲ καὶ Τέχνακτις ὁ Βοκχόρεως πατὴρ στρατεύων ἐπ᾽ Ἄραβας, τῆς ἀποσκευῆς βραδυνούσης, ἡδέως τῷ προστυχόντι σιτίῳ χρησάμενος, εἶτα κοιμηθεὶς βαθὺν ὕπνον ἐπὶ στιβάδος, ἀσπάσασθαι τὴν εὐτέλειαν: ἐκ δὲ τούτου καταράσασθαι τῷ Μεινίῳ, καὶ τῶν ἱερέων ἐπαινεσάντων στηλιτεῦσαι τὴν κατάραν.

J. Gwyn Griffiths ad loc.:

It is easy to understand how Menes, the first king of the First Dynasty (c. 3000 B.C.) became a symbol of the sophistication which followed primitive simplicity. Menes is credited with two main achievements: the foundation of Memphis and the institution of the Apis-cult. Derchain, Rev. d'égyptol. 18 (1966), 31-6, shows that these actions were embodied in the coronation rites, and he makes the acute suggestion that in the temple archives the relevant documents would be prepared either with a blank space for the King's name or with a mn, 'so and so, such a one', and that the name Menes may have emerged erroneously from this practice. In PSBA 34 (1912), 300 Wiedemann suggests that certain Roman terra-cotta reliefs of the time of Augustus, in which an Egyptian landscape accompanies a figure lying on a couch, reflect the recumbent position connected with Mnes (cf. the tables and couches mentioned by Diod. Sic. 1.45.1); the Roman custom of accubitio may rather be involved. The story of the curses recorded against Menes, told also by Diod. Sic. 1.45, reminds one of the Greek approach to the traditions of frugality and extravagance among the Persians. Egyptian literature¹ does not often point the contrast, and the story is probably of Greek origin. The Saïte king Tekhnactis (or Tefnakhte)² ruled in parts of Egypt c. 730-720 B.C. Curses against previous rulers are not attested, but condemnation is sometimes shown by expunging the royal name from monuments, as in the case of Akhenaten. Trespassers or violators of tombs or of royal and divine property are often threatened with curses, and in Schott, Kanais, 185 Sethos I threatens impious kings in this way.

¹ Occasionally the wisdom literature warns against covetousness, e.g. E.-B. Lit Eg. 60 (19).

² See Moret, De Bocchori Rege (Paris, 1903), 2ff.; Kienitz, Geschichte, 6.