The “Teaching for King Merikare” is incompletely preserved in three different papyri, all of which are dated to the late 18th Dynasty. The Teaching itself is set in the First Intermediate Period (ca. 2181-2055 BCE) which is a period of unrest between the Old Kingdom and the Middle Kingdom, spanning the Dynsaties nine to the first part of eleven. The rule over Egypt was divided between two centres of power: Herakleopolis in Lower Egypt and rising Thebes in Upper Egypt. The “Teaching for King Merikare” reflects the unstable situation during this time.
Throughout the text King Merikare’s father, as the author of the teaching, refers to the sun-god in his aspect as the creator of the world. In line 136 the sun-god is said to have created „Heka.w“ (the „.w“ stands for the plural of a noun) to the Egyptians:
„He made for them Hekaw as weapons for averting of (the) events of dreams by night as well as (by) day.“
Note: The Egyptian term Heka in this example is used in the plural and it is not determined with a god’s determinative but with the „man with a hand at the mouth“ sign. It was obviously understood here neither as a deity nor as an abstract force, but more likely as applicable rituals or spells.
Aksel Volten, Zwei altägyptische politische Schriften. Die Lehre für König Merikarê (Pap. Carlsberg VI) und die Lehre des Königs Amenemhet. (1945), p. 75.
Image source:
Aksel Volten, Zwei altägyptische politische Schriften. Die Lehre für König Merikarê (Pap. Carlsberg VI) und die Lehre des Königs Amenemhet. (1945), p. 75.
You can download the book for free on archive.org: https://archive.org/details/AnAeg4
But the translation is older and not always precise.