This article describes & analyzes what is perhaps the earliest known suicide note in existence. It was written by an Egyptian man approximately 4000 years ago. The note includes 5 poems, which the author of this article believes show the Egyptian to be a severely psychotically depressed man with feelings of persecution & self-depreciation. He concludes that although the content is not entirely the same as written by people in depressive states today, the illness is remarkably similar. (VM)