This isn't actually advice to his son (who was also destined to be vizier, and thus lots of this advice wouldn't apply to him). It's "wisdom literature", as was fairly common among the royalty and elites of old (i.e. people who have little to no knowledge of what the life of the underclass is like).<p>It would be like Jeff Bezos or Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan releasing a worldly advice and self-help book for the commoners.
It's interesting how similar most of this is to more modern advice. The main differences seem to regard humane treatment of your servants, and of women upon whom you've brought public disgrace for 'wanton behavior' -- neither of which are all that relevant today.
One of these life lessons was made into a great movie.<p>It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), fantasy directed by Frank Capra:<p>35. Maintain a good reputation. One day, when you’re in trouble, your good repute will turn out to be your saving grace.
I'm sure that this was the source, in part, for other religions.<p>Specifically the 613 laws <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/613_commandments" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/613_commandments</a>
I found this other translation to be closer to the original, while more comprehensible than the link in the article:<p><a href="http://maat.sofiatopia.org/ptahhotep.htm" rel="nofollow">http://maat.sofiatopia.org/ptahhotep.htm</a>
Beautiful set of maxims. I love these outtakes from another time. Many of these rules also seem applicable while discussing issues and being considerate.