Ancient Egyptian literature
is characterized by a wide diversity of types and subject matter; it dates
from the Old Kingdom (c. 2755-2255 BC) into the Greco-Roman period (after
332 BC). Such literary devices as simile, metaphor, alliteration, and punning
are found.
Range of Literary Forms
The religious literature
of ancient Egypt includes hymns to the gods, mythological and magical texts,
and an extensive collection of mortuary texts. The range of secular literature
includes stories; instructive literature, known as wisdom texts; poems;
biographical and historical texts; and scientific treatises, including
mathematical and medical texts. Notable also are the many legal, administrative,
and economic texts and private documents such as letters, although not
actually literature. The individual authors of several compositions dating
from the Old Kingdom and the Middle Kingdom (2134-1668 BC) were revered
in later periods. They came from the educated class of upper-level government
officials, and their audience was largely educated people like themselves.
Indeed, many literary compositions of the Middle Kingdom were composed
as political propaganda, to teach the students who learned to read and
write by copying them (on tablets and ostraca) to be loyal to the ruling
dynasty. Many of these same wisdom texts were still copied by New Kingdom
(1570-1070 BC) schoolchildren more than 500 years later, along with more
contemporary texts designed to undermine the glamour of the new military
profession. Some of the stories include elements of mythology and may owe
much to an oral storytelling tradition.
Old Kingdom
The oldest literature
preserved, the Pyramid Texts, are mortuary texts carved inside the pyramids
of kings and queens of the later part of the Old Kingdom; they were designed
to ensure the dead ruler's rightful place in the afterlife. These texts
incorporate mythology, hymns to the gods, and daily offering rituals. Many
autobiographical inscriptions from private tombs recount the deceased's
participation in historical events. Although no stories or wisdom texts
are preserved from the Old Kingdom, some Middle Kingdom manuscripts may
be copies of Old Kingdom originals; an example is The Instruction of the
Vizier Ptahhotep, composed of maxims illustrating basic virtues (such as
moderation, truthfulness, and kindness) that should govern human relations
and describing the ideal person as a just administrator
.
First Intermediate Period
Following the breakdown
of the Old Kingdom, the Pyramid Texts were appropriated by private individuals;
supplemented with new incantations, these texts were painted on coffins,
from which the name Coffin Texts is derived. Private individuals also continued
to have their tombs inscribed with autobiographical texts, which often
recounted their exploits during this time of political unrest. To this
First Intermediate period (c. 2255-2035 BC) are attributed various laments
over the chaotic state of affairs. One of these, The Dialogue of a Man
with his Ba (soul), is a debate on suicide; another, the earliest example
of the songs sung by harpists at funerary banquets, advises Eat, drink,
and be merry, before it's too late!
Middle Kingdom
In addition to Coffin
Texts, Middle Kingdom religious literature comprises numerous hymns to
the king and various deities including a long hymn to the Nile and ritual
texts. Private autobiographies containing historical information continued
to be inscribed, and rulers began setting up stelae (stone slabs) on which
their important deeds were recorded. From both the First Intermediate period
and the Middle Kingdom come instructional texts, each written in the name
of a reigning king, telling his son and successor how various specific
historic events influenced the kingship and how the son should profit by
the father's mistakes. The Satire on Trades stresses the bad aspects of
all possible occupations in contrast to the easy life of the scribe. Among
the stories composed during the Middle Kingdom are The Story of Sinuhe,
a palace official who fled to Syria at the death of King Amenemhet I and
became a rich and important man there; The Tale of the Eloquent Peasant,
a man who made such eloquent pleas for the return of his stolen donkeys
that he was kept in protective custody for some time so that the officials
in charge could enjoy his orations; The Story of the Shipwrecked Sailor,
which recounts a fabulous encounter with a giant snake on a lush island;
and The Story of King Khufu and the Magicians. The earliest preserved medical
and mathematical papyri also date from this period.
New Kingdom
New Kingdom mortuary
texts, especially one called the Book of the Dead, were written on papyrus
for inclusion in tombs. Among the most famous hymns from the period are
those from the reign of Akhenaton dedicated to the sun god as sole deity.
King Kamose (reigned about 1576-1570 BC), at the end of the Second Intermediate
period (1720-1570 BC), recorded the early stages of driving the Hyksos
out of Egypt (1600 BC). After the early New Kingdom, the number of such
royal historical inscriptions increased greatly, while private autobiographical
texts gave way to religious texts. Thutmose III recorded his various wars
in Syria both on a freestanding stela (called the Poetical Stela) and on
the walls of the temple at El-Karnak. Both records describe how the king
calls in his advisers, apprises them of the difficulty of their situation,
is advised to try the easy solution, and proceeds to tell them that he
is not afraid and will dare the more dangerous route; the king of course
succeeds. Late New Kingdom rulers, especially Ramses II and Ramses III,
also left extensive records of their military exploits; both poetic accounts
and chronicles of the deeds of Ramses II at the Battle of Kadesh against
the Hittites have been preserved. The instructive texts, now directed at
lower ranks in the bureaucracy, were no longer based on the assumption
that right thinking and just action automatically lead to wordly success,
but instead counsel contemplation and endurance. Among the many stories
that involve mythological characters are The Contendings of Horus and Seth;
The Destruction of Mankind, in which human beings are spared from annihilation
by getting the goddess Hathor drunk on blood-colored beer; and The Tale
of the Two Brothers, a story of a good younger brother betrayed by his
suspicious elder brother. The Report of Wenamun recounts the trials and
tribulations of an envoy sent to purchase wood in Byblos. Several collections
of love poems exist from this period as well.
Late Period
From the subsequent centuries,
into the Greco-Roman era, examples from the full range of Egyptian literary
forms are known; these include new religious compositions, private and
royal historical records, instructions, stories, and scientific treatises
such as medical, mathematical, and astronomical papyri. The Instructions
of Onchsheshongy, a collection of largely pragmatic maxims, many of which
sound like proverbs, and The Instructions of Papyrus Insinger, which portrays
the wise person as being moral and pious, contrast sharply with the earlier
expressions of belief in rewards in this life. Stories were written in
this period about the adventures of various magicians, as was a cycle recounting
the exploits of a legendary king, Petubastis. One largely mythological
tale consists of a series of animal fables. Contacts with contemporary
Greek literature are evident both in the epic cycle and the fables, in
Egyptian texts (including prophetic literature) translated into Greek,
and in a range of magical texts known in both Greek and Egyptian.
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