Historical and Cultural Background of the Egyptian Literature

Stele of Minnakht, Chief of the Scribes

Clio20 (CC BY-SA)
Inscriptions on tombs, steles, obelisks, and temples; myths, stories, and legends; religious
writings; philosophical works; wisdom literature; autobiographies; biographies; chronicles;
poetry; hymns; personal essays; letters; and court records are all examples of ancient Egyptian
literature.
In Egyptian studies, many of these forms are referred to be "literature" since so many of them,
especially those from the Middle Kingdom (2040-1782 BCE), are of such great literary worth.
Early Egyptian writing dates back to the Early Dynastic Period (c. 6000 to 3150 BCE), when
Offering Lists and autobiographies were carved on tombs and the autobiography was used to
inform the living of what gifts and quantities the departed was entitled on a regular basis while
visiting the grave.
Regular offerings at graves were crucial considerations because the dead were supposed to
continue on after their bodies died; even if they no longer had a bodily form, the dead still had to
eat and drink. A regular literary work that would replace the Offering List was the Prayer for
Offerings, and the autobiographies were the Pyramid Texts, which were descriptions of a king's
reign and his victorious voyage to the afterlife; both of these developments took place during the
Old Kingdom period (c. 2613-c.2181 BCE).
Hieroglyphics ("holy carvings"), a writing system that combines phonograms (symbols that
represent sound), logograms (symbols that represent words), and ideograms, were used to create
these inscriptions (symbols which represent meaning or sense). Because hieroglyphic writing
required a lot of time and effort, a new script called hieratic ("sacred writings") arose to replace
it. Hieratic ("sacred writings") was easier to work with and use.
The hieroglyphic script was built on the same concepts as the hieroglyphic writing, although it
was less formal and precise. Hieratic writing was meant to rapidly and simply communicate
information and was written with great attention to the aesthetic beauty of the arrangement of the
symbols. c. c. Dermos ("popular writing") was supplanted by hieratic script approximately 700
BCE, and it remained in use for a long time until Coptic script was adopted. C.E. 4th century.
Hieroglyphics or hieratic script was employed to write the majority of Egyptian literature;
hieroglyphics were used on tombs, obelisks, steles, and temples, while hieratic script was used to
write on papyrus scrolls and pottery pots. Despite the fact that the educated and literate began to
employ hieratic, demotic, and Coptic characters, hieroglyphics were nevertheless used for
massive structures throughout Egypt's history until the early Christian period, when it was
forgotten.
Despite the fact that "Egyptian Literature" encompasses a wide range of writing, for the purposes
of this article, the focus will be on classic literary works such as stories, legends, myths, and
personal essays; other works will be discussed only when they are exceptionally relevant. In
attempting to cover the enormous range of written works of the culture, Egyptian history and
literature span millennia and fill volumes of books; a single article cannot hope to tackle the
subject accurately.
Literature in the Old Kingdom
The first examples of the Egyptian writing system in use are the Offering Lists and memoirs,
however they are not considered "literature." The hetep-di-nesw ("a boon provided by the
monarch") was a short instruction placed on a tomb that detailed food, drink, and other offerings
acceptable for the person buried there.
"The new ability to capture the formless experiences of life in the enduring formulations of the
written word" evolved out of "the new ability to capture the formless experiences of life in the
enduring formulations of the written word" and became known as the Catalogue of Virtues
(Lichtheim, 5). The Catalogue of Virtues emphasized a person's excellent deeds and how
deserving they were to be remembered. The Virtues, she says, were important because they
"reflected society's ethical ideals" while also demonstrating that the deceased had followed them
(5). Inscribed on a false door or around the lintels in certain cases, these autobiographies and lists
of virtues, such as Weni's famous Autobiography, were inscribed on massive monolithic slabs
and were highly elaborate.

The Pyramid Texts of the 5th and 6th dynasties, which were reserved for royalty and told the
story of a king's life, his virtues, and his journey to the afterlife, were based on these
autobiographies and virtue lists. They attempted to encompass the deceased's earthly life as well
as his immortal journey into the land of the gods, and thus recorded early religious beliefs. The
Pyramid Texts contain creation myths such as the renowned account of Atum standing on the
primordial mound amidst the whirling rivers of chaos, weaving creation from nothing. The
narrative of Osiris, his death by his brother Set, his resuscitation from the dead by his sister-wife
Isis, and her care for their son Horus in the Delta marshes are all mentioned in these inscriptions.
Detail from the Sarcophagus of Ankhnesneferibre
Guillaume Blanchard (GNU FDL)

The Instructions in Wisdom, a collection of literature that followed closely on the Pyramid Texts,
was published shortly after. These works, which are often based on the biblical Book of
Proverbs, include pithy maxims on how to live life in a way that anticipates the counsel found in
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Psalms, and other biblical accounts.

There were a number of such texts, all of which were produced in the style of Mesopotamian
Naru Literature, in which a renowned individual is attributed to or prominently included in the
book. Kagemni's Instruction was not written by the real Prince Hardjedef, and neither was
Kagemni's addressed to the real Kagemni. A well-known figure was picked, as in the Naru
literature, to give the information more weight and hence wider acceptance. During the Old
Kingdom, the wisdom literature, the Pyramid Texts, and the autobiographical inscriptions all
evolved greatly and laid the groundwork for the Middle Kingdom's literature.

Middle Kingdom Literature

Egyptian literature was at its most classical during the Middle Kingdom. The script known as
Middle Egyptian was invented at this time, and it is still used today on monuments and other
objects in museums as the highest form of hieroglyphics.

The Pessimistic Literature, as David notes, is some of the Middle Kingdom's greatest work in
that it not only expresses a deep awareness of life's intricacies, but it also does so in a high prose
style. The Dispute Between a Man and His Ba (soul), The Eloquent Peasant, The Satire of the
Trades, The Instruction of King Amenemhet I for his Son Senusret I, the Prophecies of Neferti,
and the Admonitions of Ipuwer are some of the most well-known works in this genre (which is
also known as Didactic Literature because it teaches a lesson).
Egyptian Scribe’s Palette
Mark Cartwright (CC BY-NC-SA)
The Dispute Between a Man and His Ba is regarded as the world's oldest text on suicide. The
composition is a dialogue between a narrator and his soul about life's challenges and how one is
expected to deal with them. The soul tries to console the man in passages reminiscent of
Ecclesiastes or the biblical Book of Lamentations by reminding him of the good things in life,
the goodness of the gods, and how he should enjoy life while he can because he would soon be
dead.
The other works cited show the depth of the conversation between the man and his soul, as well
as the spectrum of life experiences discussed. A poor man who can speak fluently gets plundered
by a wealthy landowner and brings his case to the town's mayor in The Eloquent Peasant.
Because he is so fascinated with his talent to communicate, the mayor continues to refuse him
justice so that he can hear him speak more. Despite the fact that the peasant gets his due in the
end, the play highlights the inequity of having to entertain and entertain people in positions of
power in order to acquire what they should be giving freely.
The Satire of the Trades depicts a dad recommending his son to become a scribe because life is
hard and the best life a man can have is one in which he can spend all day writing. In a life that is
too short and valuable to waste on them, all other trades are depicted as endless toil and agony.
In a number of other works, the idea of a father counselling his son on the best path to take in life
is utilised. The ghost of the assassinated king warns his son not to trust those close to him in the
Instruction of Amenemhat because people are not always what they appear to be; the best course
of action is to follow one's own advice and be careful of others. Because he believed the gods
would reward him for living a good life by surrounding him with people he could trust,
Amenemhat's ghost narrates the narrative of his assassination by those close to him. "Those
friends thou hast, and their adoption tried/ Grapple them to thy soul with hoops of steel/ But do
not weary thy palm with amusement of each new-hatched, unfledged courage," Polonius
instructs his son in Shakespeare's Hamlet (I.iii.62-65).

Amenemhat I (c. 1991-1962 BCE) was the first great monarch of the 12th Dynasty, and he was
slain by people near to him, according to legend. An unnamed scribe later wrote the Instruction
bearing his name, most likely at the behest of Senusret I (c. 1971-1926 BCE) to eulogize his
father and demonize the conspirators. The work Prophecies of Neferti, which foretells the
coming of a king (Amenemhat I) who will be a rescuer to the people, solve all of the country's
problems, and establish a golden period, also praises Amenemhat I. The text was composed after
Amenemhat I's death, but it's presented as if it were a prophecy made before his reign began.
Another characteristic prevalent in Mesopotamian Naru literature is the "false prophesy" — a
vision recorded after the event it apparently prophesies – when historical "facts" are twisted to fit
the writer's objectives. When writing the Neferti Prophecies, the focus of the text is on
Amenemhat I's might, hence the vision of his reign is set further back in antiquity to explain how
the gods picked him to fulfill his destiny and preserve his people. The song also contrasts
Amenemhat I's reign of prosperity, a "golden age," with a prior one of division and instability,
which is a prevalent theme in Middle Kingdom literature.
This topic of a golden age is more fully explored in Ipuwer's Admonitions. The poem, which was
once thought to be historical journalism, has evolved into a didactic literature of order vs. chaos,
in which a time of misery and uncertainty contrasts with a time when everything was fine and
life was simple. People who want to link biblical accounts with Egyptian history often use
Ipuwer's Admonitions as proof of the Book of Exodus' Ten Plagues, however this is not the case.
It is not only unrelated to the signs of the apocalypse in any way, but it is also a sort of literary
work that has been produced by numerous cultures throughout history and even today. It's no
exaggeration to say that everyone has reflected on the past and compared it to the present at
some time in their lives. The Admonition of Ipuwer is merely a record of that experience,
possibly more eloquently than most, and is not intended to be a historical account in any way.

Ipuwer Papyrus
Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden (CC BY)
Besides these prose works, the Middle Kingdom also produced The Lay of the Harper (also
known as The Songs of the Harper), which constantly questioned the existence of a perfect
afterlife and the gods' kindness while simultaneously praising them in hymns to those gods. The
Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor and The Story of Sinuhe, two of Egypt's most famous literary
narratives, both come from the Middle Kingdom. Through the story of a man shipwrecked on an
island who is offered all kinds of prosperity and happiness, but refuses because he understands
that all he wants is to be back in Egypt, The Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor holds Egypt up as
the best of all possible worlds. As a result of the assassination of Amenemhat I, a man is thrown
into exile and longs to return home in Sinuhe's story.
The Middle Period literature represented the problems that Egypt had faced throughout the First
Intermediate Period (2181-2040 BCE). The First Intermediate Period was not a time of anarchy,
darkness, and general hardship, as is currently claimed in Egypt history books; it was just a time
when there was no strong central government. As a result of this circumstance, art and culture
were devalued as various regions formed their own styles, which were appreciated as highly as
royal art was in the Old Kingdom.
The scribes of the Middle Kingdom, on the other hand, considered the First Intermediate Period
as a distinct departure from the Old Kingdom's splendour. Later Egyptologists interpreted works
like Ipuwer's Admonitions as accurate accounts of the chaos and disorder of the pre-Middle
Kingdom era, but the later scribes could never have written the works they did if it hadn't been
for the First Intermediate Period's encouragement of freedom of exploration and expression in
the arts.
In the First Intermediate Period, anyone who could afford to build a tomb, royal or non-royal,
could use the Old Kingdom's royal Memoirs and Offering Lists, which were only available to
kings and nobles. Similar to this, Middle Kingdom literature had works that praised Amenemhat
I or depicted the thoughts and sentiments of a common sailor or narrator who was at odds with
his soul. Without the First Intermediate Period, the Middle Kingdom's literature would not have
been able to broaden the variety of subjects on which one might write, and thus would not have
been feasible without it.
Tale of Sinuhe (Berlin 10499)
L. Baylis (Copyright)
The lesser 13th Dynasty ruled Egypt after the 12th Dynasty, which produced the majority of the
famous works. The Middle Kingdom declined in all aspects during this dynasty, eventually
allowing a foreign people to gain power in lower Egypt: the Hyksos and their period of control,
like the First Intermediate Period, would be vilified by later Egyptian scribes who would again
write of a time of chaos and darkness, just as the First Intermediate Period had been vilified. In
truth, the Hyksos would make significant contributions to Egyptian civilization, despite the fact
that they were omitted from subsequent New Kingdom literature.
Literature in the New Kingdom
The Second Intermediate Period is the period that occurs between the Middle Kingdom and the
New Kingdom era (c. 1782-c.1570 BCE). The foreign monarchs of the Hyksos in Lower Egypt
at Avaris, Egyptian rule from Thebes in Upper Egypt, and the Nubians' dominance of Upper
Egypt's southern reaches were all at war during this time. Ahmose of Thebes (c. 1570-1544
BCE), who founded the New Kingdom, united Egypt and drove the Hyksos and Nubians out of
the country. The "invasion" of the Hyksos remained vivid in Egyptian imaginations and was
reflected in the period's political policies and literature.
This resulted in the Age of Empire for Egypt, which was reflected in a wider scope of content in
literature and art. The early pharaohs of the New Kingdom dedicated themselves to preventing
any kind of incursion like the Hyksos and so embarked on a series of military campaigns to
expand Egypt's borders; this resulted in the Age of Empire for Egypt. It was through the
monuments of the Egyptian gods and their unwavering support for the pharaoh that the country's
superiority over its neighbors was expressed, stories and poems reflected a greater understanding
of the world beyond Egypt's borders, and the old theme of order and orderlessness was
reinvented as a divine struggle. The Middle Kingdom's pessimistic and complex perspectives
were emphasized over these bigger topics. The Hyksos and the Second Intermediate Period did
the same for New Kingdom art and literature as the First Intermediate Period did for the Middle
Kingdom, enriching and complexing the plots, styles, and characters of the works, as the First
Intermediate Period did for the Middle Kingdom.
However, this is only true for the monumental inscriptions and songs. Mainly, the inscriptions
are about the gods, usually Amun or Osiris and Isis, the gods of the two most popular religious
cults of the time, and the inscriptions are religious in nature. The majority of stories and poetry,
on the other hand, continued to deal with the issues that people faced in their lives, such as
dealing with injustice, an unfaithful spouse, and attempting to live completely in the face of
death. In the Middle Kingdom, these themes were discussed or fully addressed, but the New
Kingdom texts indicate an understanding of other civilizations and values outside of the
Egyptian paradigm.

The Seated Scribe

Mindy McAdams (CC BY-NC-ND)
Students studying to be scribes now considered Middle Kingdom literature to be "classical." The
emphasis on the centrality of the scribal tradition in New Kingdom literature is fascinating. The
popularity of The Satire of the Trades demonstrates how readers in the Middle Kingdom
acknowledged the importance of scribes in Egyptian daily life. A scribe, on the other hand, is not
only a revered profession in the New Kingdom, as evidenced by the Papyrus Lansing and the
Papyrus Chester Beatty IV, but also a god-like being who can articulate notions in words, make
something out of nothing, and so become immortal via their work.
In Egypt, the concept of words as sacred has a long history. Thoth, the deity of wisdom and
knowledge, is said to have given humans the written word. The late Pre-Dynastic Period (c.
6000-3150 BCE), when Egyptians first discovered writing, is when Thoth worship began. Thoth
received a consort during the Early Dynastic Period's 2nd Dynasty: his
sometimes-wife/sometimes-daughter Seshat. Known as the goddess of all types of writing,
librarian patroness, and library patroness, Seshat was aware of what was written on the earth and
preserved a copy of the scribe's work in the gods' celestial library as a copy of the scribe's work.
As part of her tasks, Seshat ("the female scribe") also oversaw the creation of religious buildings
and monuments' accounting, record-keeping, census-taking, and measuring. She was routinely
called as part of the "stretching of the cord" ceremony in which the king would measure out the
ground for a temple. She was known as the Mistress of Builders because she was in charge of
measuring the ground and erecting temple foundations. "She appears to have had no temple of
her own," writes Egyptologist Richard H. Wilkinson, "but by virtue of her involvement in the
foundation ceremony, she was part of every temple building" (167). Nonetheless, she continued
to live in a part of the temple complex known as the House of Life after it was founded, and her
involvement in it did not end when it was founded.
The institution's name symbolizes the importance of the printed word in Egypt's culture. Seshat
was in charge of the House of Life, which was a school, library, publishing house, distributor,
and writer's workshop all rolled into one. She made sure to keep copies of everything in her own
celestial library.
These compositions were mostly hymns, prayers, wisdom instructions, praise songs, love poems,
and stories throughout the New Kingdom period, but they did include a few stories as well. In its
evocation of a lover who is beyond compare and deserving of all devotion and sacrifice, the
Egyptian love poem of the New Kingdom is remarkably comparable on many levels to the
biblical Song of Solomon and the far later writings of the troubadors of 12th century CE France.
A lot of the same ideas and imagery that were used in these New Kingdom love poems are still
evident in today's popular music lyrics.

Tale of Two Brothers Papyrus

Unknown Artist (Public Domain)
Later works will be able to recognize the narrative framework of the time's prose works, as well
as some story elements. A decent and noble prince (Truth) is blinded by his evil brother
(Falsehood) who then drives him out of the estate and assumes his role in the narrative of Truth
and Falsehood (also known as The Blinding of Truth by Falsehood). He meets a woman who
falls in love with him and they have a son who, upon discovering his father's noble identity,
avenges him and reclaims his throne from the usurper.
Since then, this plot line has been employed in a variety of works, with slight variations. The
Report of Wenamun, a narrative about an official sent on a modest assignment to procure wood
for a building project, uses the basic plot of any adventure story. Wenamun finds various hurdles
on his way home after what was meant to be a short and easy excursion, but he must conquer
them all in order to attain his goal.
The Prince Who Was Threatened by Three Fates (also known as The Doomed Prince) and The
Two Brothers are two of the most well-known stories (also known as The Fate of an Unfaithful
Wife). The Doomed Prince has all of the elements of later European fairy tales, and it has a
fascinating parallel to the story of the Buddha's awakening: a noble couple has a son, and the
Seven Hathors (who decide one's fate at birth) arrive to tell the king and queen that their son will
be killed by a crocodile, a snake, or a dog, and the king and queen are told that their son will die
by a crocodile In order to keep him safe, his father constructs a stone house in the desert and
isolates him from the rest of the world. Because of the solitude of his home, the prince grows up
in this very safe environment until one day he goes up on top of it and sees the world beyond his
manufactured one.
Then he tells his father that he has to go to meet his fate, whatever it is. On his travels, he
encounters a princess in a lofty castle, surrounded by several suitors who are attempting to kiss
her by jumping high enough to catch the edge of the window. After beating out the others, the
prince wins the father's approval and then has to go through a trial. He marries the princess and
later beats all three of his destiny - the crocodile, snake, and dog – by marrying the princess and
later marrying the princess. The text does not have a conclusion, but based on the narrative
pattern, it is expected that the couple would live happily ever after.
The divine siblings Anubis and Bata, who lived with Anubis' bride, are told in the Two Brothers.
Bata, the younger brother, falls in love with the wife and tries to seduce him one day as he
returns from the fields to the house. Bata turns her down and leaves, swearing never to tell his
brother about the encounter. When Anubis arrives home, he finds his wife unhappy, and she
informs her husband that Bata tried to seduce her because she is afraid that he will not follow his
word. Bata's younger brother is warned by the gods and escapes from Anubis' attempts to slay
him. Anubis plans to kill Bata but the younger brother is warned by the gods and escapes. Before
the brothers are joined and the wife is punished, Anubis learns the truth about his unfaithful wife,
who goes on to cause more troubles for them both. He must make amends before the brothers are
reconciled and the wife is punished.
The Contendings of Horus and Set is a text from the same period, though the actual story is
undoubtedly older. Horus (champion of order) battles his uncle Set (symbolizing chaos) to
avenge his father Osiris and return the kingdom that Set had taken in this divine version of the
Middle Kingdom order vs. chaos motif. Horus, the prince, must avenge his uncle's murder of his
father, and to do so, he must go through a series of trials to prove that he is worthy of the throne.
This is the underlying premise of "the hero's journey," as defined by scholar Joseph Campbell,
and it can be found in stories from all around the world and throughout history. The devotion to
the narrative style and symbolism of this type of story has kept George Lucas' Star Wars films
appealing for so long.
The Contendings of Horus and Set is a predecessor to two of the most well-known and well-
loved plots in western literature: Hamlet and Cinderella, despite the fact that it was probably
never read by later authors. Kurt Vonnegut, an American author, has pointed out that both of
these stories have been reimagined with great success many times before. The story of a
disenfranchised person who, often at great cost, regains what is properly theirs continues to
appeal with audiences today, just as it did for an ancient Egyptian audience in The Contendings
of Horus and Set.

Book of the Dead Papyrus

Mark Cartwright (CC BY-NC-SA)
The Book of Coming Forth by Day, also known as The Egyptian Book of the Dead, is probably
the most well-known piece of New Kingdom literature. The Egyptian Book of the Dead's
doctrines and spells were developed in the Early Dynastic Period and the book was published in
the Middle Kingdom, but it became highly popular in the New Kingdom, and the best-preserved
texts of the work date from that period.
There are a number of "spells" in the Egyptian Book of the Dead, which are instructions for
those who have died in the afterlife to help them negotiate various obstacles and attain eternal
tranquility in heaven. It is neither a "magical literature of spells" nor a "old Egyptian Bible," as
some have claimed. The Egyptian Book of the Dead was established to provide a kind of map to
aid guide and safeguard the deceased's soul in the hereafter, which was evidently an unknown
world.
If it weren't for the fact that ancient Egyptian literature had been lost for centuries and the
language had been forgotten, it would have been a contender as a foundation for later works. The
best argument that can be made is that parts of the biblical accounts were written by Hebrew
scribes who were familiar with these manuscripts and that later writers took storylines and
themes from them, but this is only speculation.
Many times throughout history, different cultures come to similar conclusions, without any
apparent contact, as best demonstrated by the pyramid form of the Maya, Egyptians, and
Chinese. However, it's probable that Egyptian literature influenced or at least influenced biblical
accounts, which were then adapted by succeeding writers in their works. Of course, it's also
possible that the story of a hero who prevails over the powers of darkness and disorder simply
resonates with humanity on a very basic level, and there's no need for later writers to steal from
it.
Following the New Kingdom, Egypt was captured by Rome during the Third Intermediate Period
(c. 1069-525 BCE), followed by the Late Period (525-323 BCE) and the Ptolemaic Dynasty
(323-30 BCE). The Christian Egyptians (known as Copts) established their own writing, a kind
of combination of demotic Egyptian and Greek, around the 4th century CE, and the ancient
hieroglyphic and hieratic script texts were forgotten.
Until the discovery of the Rosetta Stone in 1798 CE and Jean-Francois Champollion's
breakthrough in interpreting hieroglyphics in 1824 CE, all inscriptions on monuments and
temples, as well as all texts in libraries and Houses of Life, remained incomprehensible. As a
result, by the time Champollion unraveled the ancient text's mystery, a whole world of literature
had sprung up without the benefit of these ancient Egyptian works, and yet the plots of these
forgotten stories and poems are found in texts all over the world, proving that these themes are
primal and powerful, touching on the most universal aspects of human experience.

References
TourEgypt (n.d.) Literature in Ancient Egypt:A Prominent Component of Civilization
http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/liter.htm
Mark, J.J. (November, 2016) Ancient Egyptian Literature
https://www.worldhistory.org/Egyptian_Literature/
Types of Art Style (n.d.) Egyptian literature: what it is, literary history, development,
characteristics and more https://typesofartstyles.com/egyptian-literature/