Ancient Egyptian literature

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Inscribed hieroglyphics cover an obelisk in foreground. A stone statue is in background.
Egyptian hieroglyphs with cartouches for the name "Ramesses II", from the Luxor Temple, New Kingdom

Ancient Egyptian literature was written with the

Egyptian literature. Along with Sumerian literature, it is considered the world's earliest literature.[1]

hymns and poems, and commemorative autobiographical texts recounting the careers of prominent administrative officials. It was not until the early Middle Kingdom (21st century BC to 17th century BC) that a narrative Egyptian literature was created. This was a "media revolution" which, according to Richard B. Parkinson, was the result of the rise of an intellectual class of scribes, new cultural sensibilities about individuality, unprecedented levels of literacy, and mainstream access to written materials.[2] The creation of literature was thus an elite exercise, monopolized by a scribal class attached to government offices and the royal court of the ruling pharaoh. However, there is no full consensus among modern scholars concerning the dependence of ancient Egyptian literature
on the sociopolitical order of the royal courts.

The Loyalist Teaching. By the New Kingdom period, the writing of commemorative graffiti on sacred temple and tomb walls flourished as a unique genre of literature, yet it employed formulaic phrases similar to other genres. The acknowledgment of rightful authorship remained important only in a few genres, while texts of the "teaching" genre were pseudonymous
and falsely attributed to prominent historical figures.

Ancient Egyptian literature has been preserved on a wide variety of media. This includes papyrus scrolls and packets, limestone or ceramic ostraca, wooden writing boards, monumental stone edifices and coffins. Texts preserved and unearthed by modern archaeologists represent a small fraction of ancient Egyptian literary material. The area of the floodplain of the Nile is under-represented because the moist environment is unsuitable for the preservation of papyri and ink inscriptions. On the other hand, hidden caches of literature, buried for thousands of years, have been discovered in settlements on the dry desert margins of Egyptian civilization.

Scripts, media, and languages

Hieroglyphs, hieratic, and Demotic

Neferetiabet (dated c. 2590–2565 BC), from her tomb at Giza, with hieroglyphs carved and painted on limestone[3]

By the

Predynastic Egypt, combines the hieroglyphs for catfish and chisel to produce the name of King Narmer.[7]

The Egyptians called their hieroglyphs "words of god" and reserved their use for exalted purposes, such as communicating with

his or her soul of the ability to read the funerary texts and condemn that soul to an inanimate existence.[11]

A faded document with cursive hieratic handwriting in black ink, slightly torn and fragmented on the right
Abbott Papyrus, a record written in hieratic script; it describes an inspection of royal tombs in the Theban Necropolis and is dated to the 16th regnal year of Ramesses IX, c. 1110 BC.

Hieratic is a simplified, cursive form of Egyptian hieroglyphs.

mathematical treatises, and instructional guides.[15] Hieratic could be written in two different styles; one was more calligraphic and usually reserved for government records and literary manuscripts, the other was used for informal accounts and letters.[16]

By the mid-1st millennium BC, hieroglyphs and hieratic were still used for royal, monumental, religious, and funerary writings, while a new, even more cursive script was used for informal, day-to-day writing:

Coptic alphabet, a revised version of the Greek alphabet.[17] Coptic became the standard in the 4th century AD when Christianity became the state religion throughout the Roman Empire; hieroglyphs were discarded as idolatrous images of a pagan tradition, unfit for writing the Biblical canon.[17]

Writing implements and materials

Twenty-first dynasty of Egypt
, c. 1070–945 BC

Egyptian literature was produced on a variety of

ostraca.[19] It is thought that papyrus rolls were moderately expensive commercial items, since many are palimpsests, manuscripts that have had their original contents erased or scraped off to make room for new written works.[20] This, along with the practice of tearing pieces off of larger papyrus documents to make smaller letters, suggests that there were seasonal shortages caused by the limited growing season of Cyperus papyrus.[20] It also explains the frequent use of ostraca and limestone flakes as writing media for shorter written works.[21] In addition to stone, ceramic ostraca, and papyrus, writing media also included wood, ivory, and plaster.[22]

By the

Roman period of Egypt, the traditional Egyptian reed pen had been replaced by the chief writing tool of the Greco-Roman world: a shorter, thicker reed pen with a cut nib.[23] Likewise, the original Egyptian pigments were discarded in favor of Greek lead-based inks.[23] The adoption of Greco-Roman writing tools influenced Egyptian handwriting, as hieratic signs became more spaced, had rounder flourishes, and greater angular precision.[23]

Preservation of written material

Underground Egyptian tombs built in the desert provide possibly the most protective environment for the preservation of papyrus documents. For example, there are many well-preserved Book of the Dead funerary papyri placed in tombs to act as afterlife guides for the souls of the deceased tomb occupants.[24] However, it was only customary during the late Middle Kingdom and first half of the New Kingdom to place non-religious papyri in burial chambers. Thus, the majority of well-preserved literary papyri are dated to this period.[24]

Most settlements in ancient Egypt were situated on the

El-Hiba.[26]

Nineteenth dynasty
)

Writings on more permanent media have also been lost in several ways. Stones with inscriptions were frequently re-used as building materials, and ceramic ostraca require a dry environment to ensure the preservation of the ink on their surfaces.

wills and testaments.[28] Penelope Wilson describes this archaeological find as the equivalent of sifting through a modern landfill or waste container.[28] She notes that the inhabitants of Deir el-Medina were incredibly literate by ancient Egyptian standards, and cautions that such finds only come "in rarefied circumstances and in particular conditions."[29]

John W. Tait stresses, "Egyptian material survives in a very uneven fashion ... the unevenness of survival comprises both time and space."[27] For instance, there is a dearth of written material from all periods from the Nile Delta but an abundance at western Thebes, dating from its heyday.[27] He notes that while some texts were copied numerous times, others survive from a single copy; for example, there is only one complete surviving copy of the Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor from the Middle Kingdom.[30] However, Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor also appears in fragments of texts on ostraca from the New Kingdom.[31] Many other literary works survive only in fragments or through incomplete copies of lost originals.[32]

Classical, Middle, Late, and Demotic Egyptian language

Two stone columns supporting a roof, painted with faded colors and incised with writing of Egyptian hieroglyphs
Columns with inscribed and painted Egyptian hieroglyphs, from the hypostyle hall of the Ramesseum (at Luxor) built during the reign of Ramesses II (r. 1279–1213 BC)

Although writing first appeared during the very late 4th millennium BC, it was only used to convey short names and labels; connected strings of text did not appear until about 2600 BC, at the beginning of the

vernacular language as early as 1600 BC, but was not used as a written language until c. 1300 BC during the Amarna Period of the New Kingdom.[34] Late Egyptian evolved into Demotic by the 7th century BC, and although Demotic remained a spoken language until the 5th century AD, it was gradually evolved into Coptic beginning in the 1st century AD.[35]

Hieratic was used alongside hieroglyphs for writing in Old and Middle Egyptian, becoming the dominant form of writing in Late Egyptian.

ancient Egyptian history, Middle Egyptian became a classical language that was usually reserved for reading and writing in hieroglyphs[37] and the spoken language for more exalted forms of literature, such as historical records, commemorative autobiographies, hymns, and funerary spells.[38] However, Middle Kingdom literature written in Middle Egyptian was also rewritten in hieratic during later periods.[39]

Literary functions: social, religious and educational

Fifth dynasty of Egypt
(25th to 24th centuries BC)

Throughout ancient Egyptian history, the ability to read and write were the main requirements for serving in public office, although government officials were assisted in their day-to-day work by an elite, literate social group known as scribes.[40] As evidenced by Papyrus Anastasi I of the Ramesside Period, scribes could even be expected, according to Wilson, "...to organize the excavation of a lake and the building of a brick ramp, to establish the number of men needed to transport an obelisk and to arrange the provisioning of a military mission".[41] Besides government employment, scribal services in drafting letters, sales documents, and legal documents would have been frequently sought by illiterate people.[42] Literate people are thought to have comprised only 1% of the population,[43] the remainder being illiterate farmers, herdsmen, artisans, and other laborers,[44] as well as merchants who required the assistance of scribal secretaries.[45] The privileged status of the scribe over illiterate manual laborers was the subject of a popular Ramesside Period instructional text, The Satire of the Trades, where lowly, undesirable occupations, for example, potter, fisherman, laundry man, and soldier, were mocked and the scribal profession praised.[46] A similar demeaning attitude towards the illiterate is expressed in the Middle Kingdom Teaching of Khety, which is used to reinforce the scribes' elevated position within the social hierarchy.[47]

Old Kingdom, from Saqqara
, c. 2500 BC

The scribal class was the social group responsible for maintaining, transmitting, and canonizing literary classics, and writing new compositions.

Wisdom texts of the "teaching" genre represent the majority of pedagogical texts written on ostraca during the Middle Kingdom; narrative tales, such as Sinuhe and King Neferkare and General Sasenet, were rarely copied for school exercises until the New Kingdom.[50] William Kelly Simpson describes narrative tales such as Sinuhe and The Shipwrecked Sailor as "...instructions or teachings in the guise of narratives", since the main protagonists of such stories embodied the accepted virtues of the day, such as love of home or self-reliance.[51]

There are some known instances where those outside the scribal profession were literate and had access to classical literature. Menena, a draughtsman working at Deir el-Medina during the

Eloquent Peasant and Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor in an instructional letter reprimanding his disobedient son.[31] Menena's Ramesside contemporary Hori, the scribal author of the satirical letter in Papyrus Anastasi I, admonished his addressee for quoting the Instruction of Hardjedef in the unbecoming manner of a non-scribal, semi-educated person.[31] Hans-Werner Fischer-Elfert
further explains this perceived amateur affront to orthodox literature:

What may be revealed by Hori's attack on the way in which some Ramesside scribes felt obliged to demonstrate their greater or lesser acquaintance with ancient literature is the conception that these venerable works were meant to be known in full and not to be misused as quarries for popular sayings mined deliberately from the past. The classics of the time were to be memorized completely and comprehended thoroughly before being cited.[52]

A stone fragment with brightly painted colors and raised-relief images of Egyptian hieroglyphs, written in vertical columns, set against a beige background
Hieroglyphs from the Mortuary Temple of Seti I, now in the British Museum

There is limited but solid evidence in Egyptian literature and

biographies, letters, and spells.[54] Singing (ḥsj) was meant for praise songs, love songs, funerary laments, and certain spells.[54] Discourses such as the Prophecy of Neferti suggest that compositions were meant for oral reading among elite gatherings.[54] In the 1st millennium BC Demotic short story cycle centered on the deeds of Petiese, the stories begin with the phrase "The voice which is before Pharaoh", which indicates that an oral speaker and audience was involved in the reading of the text.[55] A fictional audience of high government officials and members of the royal court are mentioned in some texts, but a wider, non-literate audience may have been involved.[56] For example, a funerary stela of Senusret I (r. 1971–1926 BC) explicitly mentions people who will gather and listen to a scribe who "recites" the stela inscriptions out loud.[56]

Literature also served religious purposes. Beginning with the Pyramid Texts of the Old Kingdom, works of funerary literature written on tomb walls, and later on coffins, and papyri placed within tombs, were designed to protect and nurture souls in their afterlife.[57] This included the use of magical spells, incantations, and lyrical hymns.[57] Copies of non-funerary literary texts found in non-royal tombs suggest that the dead could entertain themselves in the afterlife by reading these teaching texts and narrative tales.[58]

Although the creation of literature was predominantly a male scribal pursuit, some works are thought to have been written by women. For example, several references to women writing letters and surviving private letters sent and received by women have been found.[59] However, Edward F. Wente asserts that, even with explicit references to women reading letters, it is possible that women employed others to write documents.[60]

Dating, setting, and authorship

stela of Minnakht, chief of the scribes, hieroglyph inscriptions, dated to the reign of Ay
(r. 1323–1319 BC)

Ludwig D. Morenz write that ancient Egyptian literature—narrowly defined as belles-lettres ("beautiful writing")—was not recorded in written form until the early Twelfth dynasty of the Middle Kingdom.[61] Old Kingdom texts served mainly to maintain the divine cults, preserve souls in the afterlife, and document accounts for practical uses in daily life. It was not until the Middle Kingdom that texts were written for the purpose of entertainment and intellectual curiosity.[62] Parkinson and Morenz also speculate that written works of the Middle Kingdom were transcriptions of the oral literature of the Old Kingdom.[63] It is known that some oral poetry was preserved in later writing; for example, litter-bearers' songs were preserved as written verses in tomb inscriptions of the Old Kingdom.[62]

Dating texts by methods of

in illo tempore (in an indeterminable era) and usually contain timeless themes.[68]

Parkinson writes that nearly all literary texts were pseudonymous, and frequently falsely attributed to well-known male protagonists of earlier history, such as kings and viziers.[70] Only the literary genres of "teaching" and "laments/discourses" contain works attributed to historical authors; texts in genres such as "narrative tales" were never attributed to a well-known historical person.[71] Tait asserts that during the Classical Period of Egypt, "Egyptian scribes constructed their own view of the history of the role of scribes and of the 'authorship' of texts", but during the Late Period, this role was instead maintained by the religious elite attached to the temples.[72]

There are a few exceptions to the rule of pseudonymity. The real authors of some Ramesside Period teaching texts were acknowledged, but these cases are rare, localized, and do not typify mainstream works.[73] Those who wrote private and sometimes model letters were acknowledged as the original authors. Private letters could be used in courts of law as testimony, since a person's unique handwriting could be identified as authentic.[74] Private letters received or written by the pharaoh were sometimes inscribed in hieroglyphics on stone monuments to celebrate kingship, while kings' decrees inscribed on stone stelas were often made public.[75]

Literary genres and subjects

Modern Egyptologists categorize Egyptian texts into genres, for example "laments/discourses" and narrative tales.[76] The only genre of literature named as such by the ancient Egyptians was the "teaching" or sebayt genre.[77] Parkinson states that the titles of a work, its opening statement, or key words found in the body of text should be used as indicators of its particular genre.[78] Only the genre of "narrative tales" employed prose, yet many of the works of that genre, as well as those of other genres, were written in verse.[79] Most ancient Egyptian verses were written in couplet form, but sometimes triplets and quatrains were used.[80]

Instructions and teachings

New Kingdom copy on papyrus of the Loyalist Teaching, written in hieratic
script

The "instructions" or "teaching" genre, as well as the genre of "reflective discourses", can be grouped in the larger corpus of

didactic in nature and is thought to have formed part of the Middle Kingdom scribal education syllabus.[82] However, teaching texts often incorporate narrative elements that can instruct as well as entertain.[82] Parkinson asserts that there is evidence that teaching texts were not created primarily for use in scribal education, but for ideological purposes.[83] For example, Adolf Erman (1854–1937) writes that the fictional instruction given by Amenemhat I (r. 1991–1962 BC) to his sons "...far exceeds the bounds of school philosophy, and there is nothing whatever to do with school in a great warning his children to be loyal to the king".[84] While narrative literature, embodied in works such as The Eloquent Peasant, emphasize the individual hero who challenges society and its accepted ideologies, the teaching texts instead stress the need to comply with society's accepted dogmas.[85]

Key words found in teaching texts include "to know" (rḫ) and "to teach" (sbꜣ).[81] These texts usually adopt the formulaic title structure of "the instruction of X made for Y", where "X" can be represented by an authoritative figure (such as a vizier or king) providing moral guidance to his son(s).[86] It is sometimes difficult to determine how many fictional addressees are involved in these teachings, since some texts switch between singular and plural when referring to their audiences.[87]

Examples of the "teaching" genre include the

Twelfth dynasty official Sehetepibre.[91] Merykare, Amenemhat, and Hardjedef are genuine Middle Kingdom works, but only survive in later New Kingdom copies.[92] Amenemope is a New Kingdom compilation.[93]

Narrative tales and stories

The genre of "tales and stories" is probably the least represented genre from surviving literature of the Middle Kingdom and Middle Egyptian.

Nineteenth Dynasty) and Inaros (First Persian Period) into fictional, legendary heroes.[99] This is contrasted with many stories written in Late Egyptian, whose authors frequently chose divinities as protagonists and mythological places as settings.[51]

Light gray stone surface with carved and painted images of two woman, a falcon-headed god, a black-haired man with a long goatee, a jackal-headed god, and Egyptian hieroglyphs inscribed along the top
A raised-relief depiction of Amenemhat I accompanied by deities; the death of Amenemhat I is reported by his son Senusret I in the Story of Sinuhe.

Parkinson defines tales as "...non-commemorative, non-functional, fictional

coregent, and successor Senusret I (r. 1971–1926 BC) to the army in the beginning of Sinuhe is "...excellent propaganda".[102] Morenz describes The Shipwrecked Sailor as an expeditionary report and a travel-narrative myth.[100] Simpson notes the literary device of the story within a story in The Shipwrecked Sailor may provide "...the earliest examples of a narrative quarrying report".[103] With the setting of a magical desert island, and a character who is a talking snake, The Shipwrecked Sailor may also be classified as a fairy tale.[104] While stories like Sinuhe, Taking of Joppa, and the Doomed prince contain fictional portrayals of Egyptians abroad, the Report of Wenamun is most likely based on a true account of an Egyptian who traveled to Byblos in Phoenicia to obtain cedar for shipbuilding during the reign of Ramesses XI.[105]

Narrative tales and stories are most often found on papyri, but partial and sometimes complete texts are found on ostraca. For example, Sinuhe is found on five papyri composed during the

Twentieth dynasties, with one ostraca containing the complete text on both sides.[106]

Laments, discourses, dialogues, and prophecies

The Middle Kingdom genre of "

Roman period of Egypt with works such as the Demotic Chronicle, Oracle of the Lamb, Oracle of the Potter, and two prophetic texts that focus on Nectanebo II (r. 360–343 BC) as a protagonist.[111] Along with "teaching" texts, these reflective discourses (key word mdt) are grouped with the wisdom literature category of the ancient Near East.[81]

Egyptian soul that is discussed in the Middle Kingdom discourse Dispute between a man and his Ba

In Middle Kingdom texts, connecting themes include a pessimistic outlook, descriptions of social and religious change, and great disorder throughout the land, taking the form of a

First Intermediate Period, only to be restored to its former glory by a righteous king— Ameny—whom the ancient Egyptian would readily recognize as Amenemhat I.[115] A similar model of a tumultuous world transformed into a golden age by a savior king was adopted for the Lamb and Potter, although for their audiences living under Roman domination, the savior was yet to come.[116]

Although written during the Twelfth dynasty, Ipuwer only survives from a

Egyptian soul) on whether to continue living in despair or to seek death as an escape from misery.[120]

Poems, songs, hymns, and afterlife texts

feather of truth. If his heart is lighter than the feather, he is allowed into the afterlife; if not, his heart is swallowed by Ammit
.

The funerary stone

raised-relief artwork with inscriptions bearing the name of the deceased, their official titles (if any), and invocations.[121]

Funerary poems were thought to preserve a monarch's soul in death. The

Litany of Ra, and Amduat written on papyri from the New Kingdom until the end of ancient Egyptian civilization.[125]

Poems were also written to celebrate kingship. For example, at the Precinct of Amun-Re at Karnak, Thutmose III (r. 1479–1425 BC) of the Eighteenth dynasty erected a stela commemorating his military victories in which the gods bless Thutmose in poetic verse and ensure for him victories over his enemies.[126] In addition to stone stelas, poems have been found on wooden writing boards used by schoolboys.[127] Besides the glorification of kings,[128] poems were written to honor various deities, and even the Nile.[129]

Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt
, 15th century BC

Surviving hymns and songs from the Old Kingdom include the morning greeting hymns to the gods in their respective temples.

Harper's Song, the lyrics found on a tombstone of the Middle Kingdom and on Papyrus Harris 500 from the New Kingdom, was to be performed for dinner guests at formal banquets.[133]

During the reign of Akhenaten (r. 1353–1336 BC), the Great Hymn to the Aten—preserved in tombs of Amarna, including the tomb of Ay—was written to the Aten, the sun-disk deity given exclusive patronage during his reign.[134] Simpson compares this composition's wording and sequence of ideas to those of Psalm 104.[135]

Only a single poetic hymn in the Demotic script has been preserved.[136] However, there are many surviving examples of Late-Period Egyptian hymns written in hieroglyphs on temple walls.[137]

No Egyptian love song has been dated from before the New Kingdom, these being written in Late Egyptian, although it is speculated that they existed in previous times.[138] Erman compares the love songs to the Song of Songs, citing the labels "sister" and "brother" that lovers used to address each other.[139]

Private letters, model letters, and epistles

A stone fragment with cursive hieratic handwriting in black ink
Hieratic script on an ostracon made of limestone; the script was written as an exercise by a schoolboy in Ancient Egypt. He copied four letters from the vizier Khay (who was active during the reign of Ramesses II).

The ancient Egyptian model letters and epistles are grouped into a single literary genre. Papyrus rolls sealed with mud stamps were used for long-distance letters, while ostraca were frequently used to write shorter, non-confidential letters sent to recipients located nearby.[140] Letters of royal or official correspondence, originally written in hieratic, were sometimes given the exalted status of being inscribed on stone in hieroglyphs.[141] The various texts written by schoolboys on wooden writing boards include model letters.[89] Private letters could be used as epistolary model letters for schoolboys to copy, including letters written by their teachers or their families.[142] However, these models were rarely featured in educational manuscripts; instead fictional letters found in numerous manuscripts were used.[143] The common epistolary formula used in these model letters was "The official A. saith to the scribe B".[144]

The oldest-known

Heqanakht papyri, written by a gentleman farmer, date to the Eleventh dynasty and represent some of the lengthiest private letters known to have been written in ancient Egypt.[69]

During the late Middle Kingdom, greater standardization of the epistolary formula can be seen, for example in a series of model letters taken from dispatches sent to the

The epistolary Satirical Letter of

western Asia".[153] Moreover, Wente calls this a "polemical tractate" that counsels against the rote, mechanical learning of terms for places, professions, and things; for example, it is not acceptable to know just the place names of western Asia, but also important details about its topography and routes.[153] To enhance the teaching, the text employs sarcasm and irony.[153]

Biographical and autobiographical texts

Catherine Parke, Professor Emerita of English and Women's Studies at the

biographies written today.[155]

period.

Olivier Perdu, a professor of

autobiographical.[156] Edward L. Greenstein, Professor of Bible at the Tel Aviv University and Bar-Ilan University, disagrees with Perdu's terminology, stating that the ancient world produced no "autobiographies" in the modern sense, and these should be distinguished from 'autobiographical' texts of the ancient world.[157] However, both Perdu and Greenstein assert that autobiographies of the ancient Near East should not be equated with the modern concept of autobiography.[158]

In her discussion of the

Henry Adams, and so on".[159] Koosed asserts that the use of first-person "I" in ancient Egyptian commemorative funerary texts should not be taken literally since the supposed author is already dead. Funerary texts should be considered biographical instead of autobiographical.[158] Koosed cautions that the term "biography" applied to such texts is problematic, since they also usually describe the deceased person's experiences of journeying through the afterlife.[158]

Beginning with the funerary stelas for officials of the late

Sixth dynasty that narratives of the lives and careers of government officials were inscribed.[161] Tomb biographies became more detailed during the Middle Kingdom, and included information about the deceased person's family.[162] The vast majority of autobiographical texts are dedicated to scribal bureaucrats, but during the New Kingdom some were dedicated to military officers and soldiers.[163] Autobiographical texts of the Late Period place a greater stress upon seeking help from deities than acting righteously to succeed in life.[164] Whereas earlier autobiographical texts exclusively dealt with celebrating successful lives, Late Period autobiographical texts include laments for premature death, similar to the epitaphs of ancient Greece.[165]

Decrees, chronicles, king lists, and histories

Annals of Pharaoh Thutmose III at Karnak

Modern historians consider that some biographical—or autobiographical—texts are important historical documents.

Hittites include, for the first time in Egyptian literature, a narrative epic poem, distinguished from all earlier poetry that served to celebrate and instruct.[169]

Other documents useful for investigating Egyptian history are ancient

Palermo stone.[170] These documents legitimated the contemporary pharaoh's claim to sovereignty.[171] Throughout ancient Egyptian history, royal decrees recounted the deeds of ruling pharaohs.[172] For example, the Nubian pharaoh Piye (r. 752–721 BC), founder of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty, had a stela erected and written in classical Middle Egyptian that describes with unusual nuances and vivid imagery his successful military campaigns.[173]

An Egyptian historian, known by his Greek name as

Ptolemy II (r. 283–246 BC) and used The Histories by the Greek Herodotus (c. 484 BC–c. 425 BC) as his main source of inspiration for a history of Egypt written in Greek.[174] However, the primary sources for Manetho's work were the king list chronicles of previous Egyptian dynasties.[171]

Tomb and temple graffiti

Surface of a stone wall with incised graffiti artwork of a dog, highlighted by angled late afternoon light
Artistic graffiti of a canine figure at the Temple of Kom Ombo, built during the Ptolemaic dynasty

Fischer-Elfert distinguishes ancient Egyptian

Deir el-Bahri, a modified saying from The Maxims of Ptahhotep is incorporated into a prayer written on the temple wall.[178] Scribes usually wrote their graffiti in separate clusters to distinguish their graffiti from others'.[175] This led to competition among scribes, who would sometimes denigrate the quality of graffiti inscribed by others, even ancestors from the scribal profession.[175]

Legacy, translation and interpretation

After the

Ali Baba in One Thousand and One Nights.[181] It has been conjectured that Sinbad the Sailor may have been inspired by the pharaonic Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor.[182] Some Egyptian literature was commented on by scholars of the ancient world. For example, the Jewish Roman historian Josephus (37–c. 100 AD) quoted and provided commentary on Manetho's historical texts.[183]

A large, ancient, black-colored stone block with written inscriptions covering one side of its surface, with pieces clearly broken off with now missing text
The trilingual Rosetta Stone in the British Museum

The most recently carved hieroglyphic inscription of ancient Egypt known today is found in a temple of

Hellenized Egyptian Horapollo compiled a survey of almost two hundred Egyptian hieroglyphs and provided his interpretation of their meanings, although his understanding was limited and he was unaware of the phonetic uses of each hieroglyph.[185] This survey was apparently lost until 1415, when the Italian Cristoforo Buondelmonti acquired it at the island of Andros.[185] Athanasius Kircher (1601–1680) was the first in Europe to realize that Coptic was a direct linguistic descendant of ancient Egyptian.[185] In his Oedipus Aegyptiacus, he made the first concerted European effort to interpret the meaning of Egyptian hieroglyphs, albeit based on symbolic inferences.[185]

It was not until 1799, with the Napoleonic discovery of a trilingual (i.e. hieroglyphic, Demotic, Greek) stela inscription on the Rosetta Stone, that modern scholars had the resources to decipher Egyptian texts.[186] The key breakthroughs were made more than twenty years later, in the work of Jean-François Champollion in deciphering hieroglyphs and Thomas Young in deciphering Demotic.[187] By the time of Champollion's death in 1832, it was possible to discern the general sense of Egyptian texts.[188] The first scholar able to read an Egyptian text in full was Emmanuel de Rougé, who published the first translations of Egyptian literary texts in 1856.[189]

Before the 1970s, scholarly consensus was that ancient Egyptian literature—although sharing similarities with modern literary categories—was not an independent discourse, uninfluenced by the ancient sociopolitical order.

case studies for reconstructing the main features of ancient Egyptian literary discourse.[191]

Notes

  1. ^ Foster 2001, p. xx.
  2. ^ Parkinson 2002, pp. 64–66.
  3. ^ Forman & Quirke 1996, p. 26.
  4. ^ Wilson 2003, pp. 7–10; Forman & Quirke 1996, pp. 10–12; Wente 1990, p. 2; Allen 2000, pp. 1–2, 6.
  5. ^ Wilson 2003, p. 28; Forman & Quirke 1996, p. 13; Allen 2000, p. 3.
  6. ^ Forman & Quirke 1996, p. 13; for similar examples, see Allen (2000: 3) and Erman (2005: xxxv-xxxvi).
  7. ^ Wilkinson 2000, pp. 23–24; Wilson 2004, p. 11; Gardiner 1915, p. 72.
  8. ^ Wilson 2003, pp. 22, 47; Forman & Quirke 1996, pp. 10; Wente 1990, p. 2; Parkinson 2002, p. 73.
  9. ^ Forman & Quirke 1996, p. 10.
  10. ^ Wilson 2003, pp. 63–64.
  11. ^ a b c Wilson 2003, p. 71; Forman & Quirke 1996, pp. 101–103.
  12. ^ Erman 2005, p. xxxvii; Simpson 1972, pp. 8–9; Forman & Quirke 1996, p. 19; Allen 2000, p. 6.
  13. ^ a b Forman & Quirke 1996, p. 19.
  14. ^ Wilson 2003, pp. 22–23.
  15. ^ Wilson 2003, pp. 22–23, 91–92; Parkinson 2002, p. 73; Wente 1990, pp. 1–2; Spalinger 1990, p. 297; Allen 2000, p. 6.
  16. ^ Parkinson 2002, pp. 73–74; Forman & Quirke 1996, p. 19.
  17. ^ a b Forman & Quirke 1996, p. 17.
  18. ^ Forman & Quirke 1996, pp. 17–19, 169; Allen 2000, p. 6.
  19. ^ Forman & Quirke 1996, pp. 19, 169; Allen 2000, p. 6; Simpson 1972, pp. 8–9; Erman 2005, pp. xxxvii, xlii; Foster 2001, p. xv.
  20. ^ a b Wente 1990, p. 4.
  21. ^ a b Wente 1990, pp. 4–5.
  22. ^ Allen 2000, p. 5; Foster 2001, p. xv; see also Wente 1990, pp. 5–6 for a wooden writing board example.
  23. ^ a b c Forman & Quirke 1996, p. 169.
  24. ^ a b Quirke 2004, p. 14.
  25. ^ Wente 1990, pp. 2–3; Tait 2003, pp. 9–10.
  26. ^ Wente 1990, pp. 2–3.
  27. ^ a b c Tait 2003, pp. 9–10.
  28. ^ a b Wilson 2003, pp. 91–93.
  29. ^ Wilson 2003, pp. 91–93; see also Wente 1990, pp. 132–133.
  30. ^ Tait 2003, p. 10; see also Parkinson 2002, pp. 298–299.
  31. ^ a b c Fischer-Elfert 2003, p. 121.
  32. ^ Simpson 1972, pp. 3–4; Foster 2001, pp. xvii–xviii.
  33. ^ a b c Allen 2000, p. 1.
  34. ^ Allen 2000, p. 1; Fischer-Elfert 2003, p. 119; Erman 2005, pp. xxv–xxvi.
  35. ^ Allen 2000, p. 1; Wildung 2003, p. 61.
  36. ^ Allen 2000, p. 6.
  37. ^ Allen 2000, pp. 1, 5–6; Wildung 2003, p. 61; Erman 2005, pp. xxv–xxvii; Lichtheim 1980, p. 4.
  38. ^ Allen 2000, p. 5; Erman 2005, pp. xxv–xxvii; Lichtheim 1980, p. 4.
  39. ^ Wildung 2003, p. 61.
  40. ^ Wente 1990, pp. 6–7; see also Wilson 2003, pp. 19–20, 96–97; Erman 2005, pp. xxvii–xxviii.
  41. ^ Wilson 2003, p. 96.
  42. ^ Wente 1990, pp. 7–8.
  43. ^ Wente 1990, pp. 7–8; Parkinson 2002, pp. 66–67.
  44. ^ Wilson 2003, pp. 23–24.
  45. ^ Wilson 2003, p. 95.
  46. ^ Wilson 2003, pp. 96–98.
  47. ^ Parkinson 2002, pp. 66–67.
  48. ^ Fischer-Elfert 2003, pp. 119–121; Parkinson 2002, p. 50.
  49. ^ Wilson 2003, pp. 97–98; see Parkinson 2002, pp. 53–54; see also Fischer-Elfert 2003, pp. 119–121.
  50. ^ Parkinson 2002, pp. 54–55; see also Morenz 2003, p. 104.
  51. ^ a b Simpson 1972, pp. 5–6.
  52. ^ Fischer-Elfert 2003, p. 122.
  53. ^ Parkinson 2002, pp. 78–79; for pictures (with captions) of Egyptian miniature funerary models of boats with men reading papyrus texts aloud, see Forman & Quirke 1996, pp. 76–77, 83.
  54. ^ a b c Parkinson 2002, pp. 78–79.
  55. ^ Wilson 2003, p. 93.
  56. ^ a b Parkinson 2002, pp. 80–81.
  57. ^ a b Forman & Quirke 1996, pp. 51–56, 62–63, 68–72, 111–112; Budge 1972, pp. 240–243.
  58. ^ Parkinson 2002, p. 70.
  59. ^ Wente 1990, pp. 1, 9, 132–133.
  60. ^ Wente 1990, p. 9.
  61. ^ Parkinson 2002, pp. 45–46, 49–50, 55–56; Morenz 2003, p. 102; see also Simpson 1972, pp. 3–6 and Erman 2005, pp. xxiv–xxv.
  62. ^ a b Morenz 2003, p. 102.
  63. ^ Parkinson 2002, pp. 45–46, 49–50, 55–56; Morenz 2003, p. 102.
  64. ^ a b Parkinson 2002, pp. 47–48.
  65. ^ Parkinson 2002, pp. 45–46; Morenz 2003, pp. 103–104.
  66. ^ Parkinson 2002, p. 46.
  67. ^ Parkinson 2002, pp. 46–47; see also Morenz 2003, pp. 101–102.
  68. ^ Morenz 2003, pp. 104–107.
  69. ^ a b Wente 1990, pp. 54–55, 58–63.
  70. ^ Parkinson 2002, pp. 75–76.
  71. ^ Parkinson 2002, pp. 75–76; Fischer-Elfert 2003, p. 120.
  72. ^ Tait 2003, pp. 12–13.
  73. ^ Parkinson 2002, pp. 238–239.
  74. ^ Wente 1990, p. 7.
  75. ^ Wente 1990, pp. 17–18.
  76. ^ Fischer-Elfert 2003, pp. 122–123; Simpson 1972, p. 3.
  77. ^ Fischer-Elfert 2003, pp. 122–123; Simpson 1972, pp. 5–6; Parkinson 2002, p. 110.
  78. ^ Parkinson 2002, pp. 108–109.
  79. ^ Foster 2001, pp. xv–xvi.
  80. ^ Foster 2001, p. xvi.
  81. ^ a b c d Parkinson 2002, p. 110.
  82. ^ a b Parkinson 2002, pp. 110, 235.
  83. ^ Parkinson 2002, pp. 236–237.
  84. ^ Erman 2005, p. 54.
  85. ^ Loprieno 1996, p. 217.
  86. ^ Simpson 1972, p. 6; see also Parkinson 2002, pp. 236–238.
  87. ^ Parkinson 2002, pp. 237–238.
  88. ^ Parkinson 2002, pp. 313–319; Simpson 1972, pp. 159–200, 241–268.
  89. ^ a b c d Parkinson 2002, pp. 235–236.
  90. ^ Parkinson 2002, pp. 313–315; Simpson 1972, pp. 159–177.
  91. ^ Parkinson 2002, pp. 318–319.
  92. ^ Parkinson 2002, pp. 313–314, 315–317; Simpson 1972, pp. 180, 193.
  93. ^ Simpson 1972, p. 241.
  94. ^ Parkinson 2002, pp. 295–296.
  95. ^ a b c Parkinson 2002, p. 109.
  96. ^ Fischer-Elfert 2003, p. 120.
  97. ^ Parkinson 2002, pp. 294–299; Simpson 1972, pp. 15–76; Erman 2005, pp. 14–52.
  98. ^ Simpson 1972, pp. 77–158; Erman 2005, pp. 150–175.
  99. ^ Gozzoli 2006, pp. 247–249; for another source on the Famine Stela, see Lichtheim 1980, pp. 94–95.
  100. ^ a b Morenz 2003, pp. 102–104.
  101. ^ Parkinson 2002, pp. 297–298.
  102. ^ Simpson 1972, p. 57.
  103. ^ Simpson 1972, p. 50; see also Foster 2001, p. 8.
  104. ^ Foster 2001, p. 8.
  105. ^ Simpson 1972, pp. 81, 85, 87, 142; Erman 2005, pp. 174–175.
  106. ^ a b Simpson 1972, p. 57 states that there are two Middle-Kingdom manuscripts for Sinuhe, while the updated work of Parkinson 2002, pp. 297–298 mentions five manuscripts.
  107. ^ Simpson 1972, pp. 6–7; Parkinson 2002, pp. 110, 193; for "apocalyptic" designation, see Gozzoli 2006, p. 283.
  108. ^ Morenz 2003, p. 103.
  109. ^ Simpson 1972, pp. 6–7.
  110. ^ Parkinson 2002, pp. 232–233.
  111. ^ Gozzoli 2006, pp. 283–304; see also Parkinson 2002, p. 233, who alludes to this genre being revived in periods after the Middle Kingdom and cites Depauw (1997: 97–9), Frankfurter (1998: 241–8), and Bresciani (1999).
  112. ^ Simpson 1972, pp. 7–8; Parkinson 2002, pp. 110–111.
  113. ^ Parkinson 2002, pp. 45–46, 49–50, 303–304.
  114. ^ Simpson 1972, p. 234.
  115. ^ Parkinson 2002, pp. 197–198, 303–304; Simpson 1972, p. 234; Erman 2005, p. 110.
  116. ^ Gozzoli 2006, pp. 301–302.
  117. ^ Parkinson 2002, pp. 308–309; Simpson 1972, pp. 201, 210.
  118. ^ Parkinson 2002, pp. 111, 308–309.
  119. ^ Parkinson 2002, p. 308; Simpson 1972, p. 210; Erman 2005, pp. 92–93.
  120. ^ Parkinson 2002, p. 309; Simpson 1972, p. 201; Erman 2005, p. 86.
  121. ^ Bard & Shubert 1999, p. 674.
  122. ^ a b c Forman & Quirke 1996, pp. 48–51; Simpson 1972, pp. 4–5, 269; Erman 2005, pp. 1–2.
  123. ^ Forman & Quirke 1996, pp. 116–117.
  124. ^ Forman & Quirke 1996, pp. 65–109.
  125. ^ Forman & Quirke 1996, pp. 109–165.
  126. ^ Simpson 1972, p. 285.
  127. ^ Erman 2005, p. 140.
  128. ^ Erman 2005, pp. 254–274.
  129. ^ Erman 2005, pp. 137–146, 281–305.
  130. ^ Erman 2005, p. 10.
  131. ^ a b Simpson 1972, p. 279; Erman 2005, p. 134.
  132. ^ Erman 2005, p. 134.
  133. ^ Simpson 1972, p. 297; Erman 2005, pp. 132–133.
  134. ^ Erman 2005, pp. 288–289; Foster 2001, p. 1.
  135. ^ Simpson 1972, p. 289.
  136. ^ Tait 2003, p. 10.
  137. ^ Lichtheim 1980, p. 104.
  138. ^ Simpson 1972, pp. 7, 296–297; Erman 2005, pp. 242–243; see also Foster 2001, p. 17.
  139. ^ Erman 2005, pp. 242–243.
  140. ^ Wente 1990, pp. 2, 4–5.
  141. ^ Wilson 2003, pp. 91–92; Wente 1990, pp. 5–6.
  142. ^ Erman 2005, p. 198; see also Lichtheim 2006, p. 167.
  143. ^ Erman 2005, pp. 198, 205.
  144. ^ Erman 2005, p. 205.
  145. ^ Wente 1990, p. 54.
  146. ^ Wente 1990, pp. 15, 54.
  147. ^ Wente 1990, p. 15.
  148. ^ Wente 1990, p. 55.
  149. ^ Wente 1990, p. 68.
  150. ^ Wente 1990, p. 89.
  151. ^ Wente 1990, p. 210.
  152. ^ Wente 1990, p. 98.
  153. ^ a b c Wente 1990, pp. 98–99.
  154. ^ Parke 2002, pp. xxi, 1–2.
  155. ^ a b Parke 2002, pp. 1–2.
  156. ^ Perdu 1995, p. 2243.
  157. ^ Greenstein 1995, p. 2421.
  158. ^ a b c Koosed 2006, p. 29.
  159. ^ a b Koosed 2006, pp. 28–29.
  160. ^ Breasted 1962, pp. 5–6; see also Foster 2001, p. xv.
  161. ^ Breasted 1962, pp. 5–6; see also Bard & Shubert 1999, pp. 36–37.
  162. ^ Breasted 1962, pp. 5–6.
  163. ^ Lichtheim 2006, p. 11.
  164. ^ Lichtheim 1980, p. 5.
  165. ^ Lichtheim 1980, p. 6.
  166. ^ Gozzoli 2006, pp. 1–8.
  167. ^ Breasted 1962, pp. 12–13.
  168. ^ Seters 1997, p. 147.
  169. ^ Lichtheim 2006, p. 6.
  170. ^ Gozzoli 2006, pp. 1–8; Brewer & Teeter 1999, pp. 27–28; Bard & Shubert 1999, p. 36.
  171. ^ a b Bard & Shubert 1999, p. 36.
  172. ^ Lichtheim 1980, p. 7; Bard & Shubert 1999, p. 36.
  173. ^ Lichtheim 1980, p. 7.
  174. ^ a b Gozzoli 2006, pp. 8, 191–225; Brewer & Teeter 1999, pp. 27–28; Lichtheim 1980, p. 7.
  175. ^ a b c Fischer-Elfert 2003, p. 133.
  176. ^ Fischer-Elfert 2003, p. 131.
  177. ^ a b Fischer-Elfert 2003, p. 132.
  178. ^ Fischer-Elfert 2003, pp. 132–133.
  179. ^ Bard & Shubert 1999, p. 76.
  180. ^ Simpson 1972, p. 81.
  181. ^ Mokhtar 1990, pp. 116–117; Simpson 1972, p. 81.
  182. ^ Mokhtar 1990, pp. 116–117.
  183. ^ Gozzoli 2006, pp. 192–193, 224.
  184. ^ Wilson 2003, pp. 104–105; Foster 2001, pp. xiv–xv.
  185. ^ a b c d Wilson 2003, pp. 104–105.
  186. ^ Allen 2000, p. 8
  187. ^ Allen 2000, pp. 8–9Thompson 2015, p. 123
  188. ^ Gardiner 1915, p. 62
  189. ^ Bierbrier 2012, p. 476
  190. ^ Loprieno 1996, pp. 211–212.
  191. ^ a b c Loprieno 1996, pp. 212–213.
  192. ^ Loprieno 1996, pp. 211, 213.

References

External links