Republic of the Philippines

Tarlac State University

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
CENTER OF DEVELOPMENT
Lucinda Campus, Tarlac City
Tel. No. (045) 493-0182; Fax No. (045) 982-0110
Re-Accredited Level IV by the Accrediting Agency of Chartered Colleges and Universities of the
Philippines (AACCUP), Inc.

“Egyptian Literature”
A Written Report

In partial fulfillment of the course requirements in

El12: Afro- Asian Literature

Prepared by:

Dianne R. de Vera
Christopher Reginald Daylo III
Shaina Ann David

BSED ENGLISH-2A
 Ms. Frincess T. Flores
El112 Instructor

Republic of the Philippines

Tarlac State University
COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
CENTER OF DEVELOPMENT
Lucinda Campus, Tarlac City
Tel. No. (045) 493-0182; Fax No. (045) 982-0110
Re-Accredited Level IV by the Accrediting Agency of Chartered Colleges and Universities of the
Philippines (AACCUP), Inc.
______________________________________________________________________________
TITLE
Egyptian Literature

I. INTRODUCTION Ancient Egyptian literature, is one of the world's earliest, is

an important component of Ancient Egypt's great
civilization. It is also a great representation of the peoples'
life, culture, and beliefs.

This module provides information regarding Egyptian

Literature and why is it important to learn and consider.

Also, different concepts like its characteristics, cultural

background, forms and type will also be discuss to provide
wider and clearer insights on how it affects people from then
and now.
INSTRUCTION TO THE This paper provides information about Egyptian literature.
LEARNERS Its content, topics, importance and set of exercises and
activities are also provided to understand the lesson better.

1. Preparatory Activities
2. Developmental Activities
3. Closure Activities
4. Synthesis
5. Evaluation

I. LEARNING Learners should be able to:

OBJECTIVES a) To know what is Egyptian Literature, its
characteristics, history, types, forms.
 b) Identify its difference from other literature.
c) Evaluate its importance in our society.
II. CONTENT
A. PREPARATPORY
ACTIVITIES
B. DEVELOPMENT What are the characteristics of Egyptian literature?
AL ACTIVITIES
Ancient Egyptian literature comprises a wide array of
narrative and poetic forms including inscriptions on tombs,
stele, obelisks, and temples; myths, stories, and legends;
religious writings; philosophical works; wisdom literature;
autobiographies; biographies; histories; poetry; hymns;
personal essays; letters and court records.

Although many of these forms are not usually defined as

"literature" they are given that designation
in Egyptian studies because so many of them, especially
from the Middle Kingdom (2040-1782 BCE), are of such
high literary merit. The first examples of Egyptian
writing come from the Early Dynastic Period (c. 6000- c.
3150 BCE) in the form of Offering Lists and
autobiographies; the autobiography was carved on
one's tomb along with the Offering List to let the living
know what gifts, and in what quantity, the deceased was due
regularly in visiting the grave.
Since the dead were thought to live on after their bodies had
failed, regular offerings at graves were an important
consideration; the dead still had to eat and drink even if they
no longer held a physical form. From the Offering List came
the Prayer for Offerings, a standard literary work which
would replace the Offering List, and from the
autobiographies grew the Pyramid Texts which were
accounts of a king's reign and his successful journey to the
afterlife; both these developments took place during the
period of the Old Kingdom (c. 2613-c.2181 BCE).
These texts were written in hieroglyphics ("sacred carvings")
a writing system combining phonograms (symbols which
represent sound), logograms (symbols representing words),
and ideograms (symbols which represent meaning or sense).
Hieroglyphic writing was extremely labor intensive and so
another script grew up beside it known as hieratic ("sacred
writings") which was faster to work with and easier to use.
Hieratic was based on hieroglyphic script and relied on the
same principles but was less formal and precise.
Hieroglyphic script was written with particular care for the
aesthetic beauty of the arrangement of the symbols; hieratic
script was used to relay information quickly and easily. In c.
700 BCE hieratic was replaced by demotic script ("popular
writing") which continued in use until the rise
of Christianity in Egypt and the adoption of Coptic script c.
4th century CE.
MOST OF EGYPTIAN LITERATURE WAS WRITTEN
IN HIEROGLYPHICS OR HIERATIC SCRIPT;
HIEROGLYPHICS WERE USED ON MONUMENTS
WHILE HIERATIC SCRIPT WAS USED IN WRITING
ON PAPYRUS & CERAMICS.
Although the definition of "Egyptian Literature" includes
many different types of writing, for the present purposes
attention will mostly be paid to standard literary works such
as stories, legends, myths, and personal essays; other kinds
or work will be mentioned when they are particularly
significant. Egyptian history, and so literature, spans
centuries and fills volumes of books; a single article cannot
hope to treat of the subject fairly in attempting to cover the
wide range of written works of the culture.

Ancient Egyptian language was written in four different

scripts namely, Hieroglyphs, Hieratic, Demotic, and
Coptic. These scripts did not all appear simultaneously, but
appeared consecutively over the long period that the ancient
Egyptian language existed. It also shows the maturity in
thinking of the ancient Egyptians who knew that the
complexity and development of life would require the
invention of the suitable means of communication to
improve and record the wider and more developed activities.

Hieroglyphic Script
Hieroglyphic script is the first script used by the ancient
Egyptians to write their language. The term is derived from
two Greek words hieros and glyphos. They mean “sacred
inscriptions”, referring to its inscription on the walls of
sacred places such as temple walls and tombs. Hieroglyphic
writing was used for all purposes on: temples, public
monuments, tomb walls, stelae, and objects of all kinds.

Hieratic
The word is derived from the Greek word hieratikos,
meaning “priestly”. It was called "priestly" because in the
Greco-Roman period, this script was the usual writing used
by priests. The name is now been given to all the earlier
styles of script that are cursive enough for the original
pictorial forms of the signs to be no longer recognizable. The
increasing need to document and communicate was the
major factor that resulted in the invention of such simple and
cursive script. It was written mainly on papyrus and ostraca,
however, occasional Hieratic inscriptions also appear on
stone.

Demotic
The word is derived from the Greek demotikos, meaning
“popular”. The name does not mean that the script was only
written by the public, but the name reflects its wide use by
all people. Demotic was a very rapid and simple form of
Hieratic script, that made its first appearance around the
Eighth Century BCE and continued to be used until the Fifth
Century CE. As Hieratic, it was written on papyrus and
ostraca, and occasionally appeared on stone.

Coptic
This script represents the last stage of the development of
Egyptian writing. The word Coptic is probably derived from
the Greek word Aegyptos in reference to the Egyptian
language. In Coptic, vowels were used for the first time.
This might have been of great help in identifying the correct
pronunciation of the Egyptian language. Writing the ancient
Egyptian language with Greek letters was a political need
following the Greek occupation of Egypt. The Egyptian
language was written using the Greek alphabet, in addition
to seven Egyptian sign-letters borrowed from Demotic (to
represent Egyptian sounds which did not appear in Greek),
these are:

Shai

Fai

Khai

Hori
,
GenGia

Tshima

Ti

An important feature of this script is that it renders the

vowels of the language (something which was not in
Hieroglyphics, Hieratic or Demotic) and allows various
highly stylized dialects to be distinguished (Sahidic,
Boharic, Akhmimic, and Fayyumic).

Tale of Sinuhe (Berlin 10499)

The Berlin 10499 papyrus tells the Tale of Sinuhe. It is one
of the most well preserved copies of the story.
The script was written in Hieratic which is roughly a cursive
version of Middle Egyptian. The papyri is also referred to as
the Ramesseum papyri. This section of the papyrus is from
the beginning of the story.

Transliteration from Middle Egyptian to English

nn pDty smA m idHy- There is no desert-nomad who
befriends a marshman
ptr smn idyt m Dw- Does a marsh-reed flourish on the
mountain-side
in iw kA mr.f aHA - Does a bull love to fight,
pry mr.f wHm sA m Hr nt mxA.f sw - Then should a herd-
leader like to turn back in fear of being matched?
ir wnn ib.f r aHA imi Dd n.f xrt-ib.f - If he wishes to fight,
let him be told his wish in
iw nTr xm Sat.n.f rx nt pw mi-m”- Does a god not know
what he ordained? Or a man who knows how it will be?”
sDr.n.i qAs.n.i pDt.i wd.n.i aHAw.i- I went to rest, tied my
bow, sharpened my arrows,
an.i sn n bAgsw.i sXkr.n.i xaw.i- Whetted the blade of my
dagger, arrayed my weapons
HD.n tA rtnw iyt Ddb.n.s wHyt.s- At dawn Syria came, it
roused its people,
THE STORY OF SINUHE REFERS TO A MAN WHO
FLED HIS DUTIES IN EGYPT AND BECAME A
BEDOUIN IN AN ASIATIC TRIBE.

A Summary of The Tale of Sinuhe

During the early years of Sinuhe's exile, he runs into a man
who is a leader of an Asiatic tribe called the Renetu. He is
taken in and Sinuhe marries the leader's eldest daughter and
becomes a leader of his own tribe within the Renetu. After
being chosen as a commander of the military, he completed
the tasks set before him by the leader. These included
battles, taking livestock, and taking prisoners. Sinuhe had
multiple children and raised them into adulthood. As he aged
he began to long to go back home to Egypt.
One fateful night, Sinuhe was confronted by a warrior who
was sent to kill him. The now older Sinuhe accepted the
challenge and duelled with the man. After a hard
fought battle, Sinuhe was victorious. He killed the warrior
and began to think back on his life. He missed Egypt more
than ever and wanted to finish out his life back in his old
home. Fortunately, soon thereafter Sinuhe received a letter
from the King of Egypt, Senusert I. The letter requests him
to return to Egypt and meet with the king. Sinuhe was
excited, yet weary as he fled after the death of Amenemhet I.
After Sinuhe agrees to meet with the king, he leaves his wife
and children behind. He makes his eldest son the new leader
of the tribe.

Amenemhet I Tomb Relief

Sinuhe returns to Egypt and walks through the capital and
meets with the king. The king was pleased to see him and
gave him a place to sleep and to clean up. As a Bedouin,
Sinuhe had tattered clothes, long hair, and a beard. This look
was not acceptable in Egypt as royalty and the upper elites
were clean shaven men. The king forgave Sinuhe for fleeing
his post and gave him the opportunity to become a part of
the Egyptian elite. Sinuhe lives out his life in Egypt and is
buried in a tomb for the elite class.
Today, scholars are still not sure whether or not Sinuhe is a
real individual. The tale was to represent the adventures of
the courier Sinuhe copied from the inscriptions from his
tomb. The rulers and locations described were authentic and
the cultural differences described were also accurate.
Regardless, the tale is one of the oldest forms of fictional
storytelling. The story was written nearly 4,000 years ago,
and interpretations are still created in the modern day. A
20th century CE Finnish writer Mika Waltari wrote a novel
called Sinuhe Egyptiläinen which has been translated by
Naomi Walford.

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. After the person's death, the
autobiography was always written in the first person, as if
the deceased were speaking. Miriam Lichtheim, an
Egyptologist, writes:
The basic aim of the autobiography – the self-portrait in
words – was the same as that of the self-portrait in sculpture
and relief: to sum up the characteristic features of the
individual person in terms of his positive worth and in the
face of eternity. (4)
"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. It was written in prose, while the Catalogue was
written in a formulaic kind of poetry. The Inscription of
Nefer-Seshem-Ra Called Sheshi from the Old Kingdom's 6th
Dynasty is a good example of this:
I have come from my town
I have descended from my nome
I have done justice for its lord
I have satisfied him with what he loves.
I spoke truly, I did right
I spoke fairly, I repeated fairly
I seized the right moment
So as to stand well with people.
I judged between two so as to content them
I rescued the weak from the stronger than he
As much as was in my power.
I gave bread to the hungry, clothes to the naked
I brought the boatless to land.
I buried him who had no son,
I made a boat for him who lacked one.
I respected my father, I pleased my mother,
I raised their children.
So says he whose nickname is Sheshi. (Lichtheim, 17)

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.
According to Prince Hardjedef's Instruction, which was
written somewhere during the 5th Dynasty, and includes
suggestions such as:

Cleanse yourself before your own eyes

Lest another cleanse you.
When you prosper, found your household,
Take a hearty wife, a son will be born to you.
It is for the son you build a house
When you make a place for yourself. (Lichtheim, 58)

The somewhat later Instruction Addressed to Kagemni

advises:

The respectful man prospers,

Praised is the modest one.
The tent is open to the silent,
The seat of the quiet is spacious
Do not chatter!...
When you sit with company,
Shun the food you love;
Restraint is a brief moment
Gluttony is base and is reproved.
A cup of water quenches the thirst,
A mouthful of herbs strengthens the heart. (Lichtheim, 59-
60)

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. Rosalie David, an Egyptologist, says of this
period:

The literature of this era reflected the added depth and

maturity that the country now gained as a result of the civil
wars and upheavals of the First Intermediate Period. New
genres of literature were developed including the so-called
Pessimistic Literature, which perhaps best exemplifies the
self-analysis and doubts that the Egyptians now
experienced. (209)

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. W.K. Simpson, an Egyptologist, has renamed the text
The Man Who Was Weary of Life, arguing that it has
nothing to do with suicide. Simpson says:
This Middle Kingdom text, preserved on Papyrus Berlin
3024, has often been interpreted as a debate between a man
and his ba on the subject of suicide. I offer here the
suggestion that the text is of a somewhat different nature.
What is presented in this text is not a debate but a
psychological picture of a man depressed by the evil of life
to the point of feeling unable to arrive at any acceptance of
the innate goodness of existence. His inner self is, as it were,
unable to be integrated and at peace. (178)
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). Here, Polonius
is encouraging his son not to waste time with people he
doesn't know, but to put his faith in those who have proven
themselves worthwhile. Even the spirit of Amenemhat I
makes it obvious that this is a blunder:
Put no trust in a brother,
Acknowledge no one as a friend,
Do not raise up for yourself intimate companions,
For nothing is to be gained from them.
When you lie down at night, let your own heart be watchful
over you,
For no man has any to defend him on the day of anguish.
(Simpson, 168)

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. Rosalie
David's words are:
New Kingdom literature, developed in a period when Egypt
had founded an empire, displays a more cosmopolitan
approach. This is expressed in texts that seek to promote the
great state god, Amun-Ra, as a universal creator and in the
inscriptions carved on temple walls and elsewhere that
relate the king’s military victories in Nubia and Syria. (210)
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. Chester Beatty IV's Papyrus, according to Lichtheim:
Papyrus Chester Beatty IV is a typical scribal miscellany.
The recto contains religious hymns; the verso consists of
several short pieces relating to the scribal profession.
Among these, one piece is of uncommon interest. It is a
praise of the writer’s profession which goes beyond the
usual cliches and propounds the remarkable idea that the
only immortality man can achieve is the fame of his name
transmitted by his books. Man becomes dust; only the
written word endures. (New Kingdom, 167)
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. Rosalie David discusses the temple's role in
the following way:
The House of Life appears to have been an area of the
temple that acted as a library, scriptorium, and higher
teaching institution, where the sacred writings were
produced and stored and where instruction was given.
Medical and magical texts as well as religious books were
probably compiled and copied there. Sometimes this
institution may have been situated within the temple itself,
but elsewhere it was probably located in one of the buildings
within the temple precinct. Very little is known of its
administration or organization but it is possible that every
sizable town had one. They are known to have existed at Tell
el-Amarna, Edfu, and Abydos. (203)
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.
Generalization
What is Egyptian literature?
Because it is one of the first in humanity, Egyptian literature
is one of the most important manifestations of the literary
world. The use of hieroglyphs, or symbols and figures, is the
most distinctive feature of Egyptian writing. The occupants
would be able to visually recognize and keep various aspects
of their culture and daily routines by using these figures.
The Egyptian literature is thought to be the outcome of the
first known civilizations' popular voice, which is why it
includes the first known manifestations as well as the first
known manifestations from which many others would begin
to work as time passes.
History and origin of literature in Egypt
The capacity and inventiveness that labor in order to get
solutions in relation to the existence of human life and
everything around them, being one of the most essential
grounds of thought, was one of the most important axes of
Egyptian literature that substantially allowed the
development of civilization. The residents' imaginations
begin to operate in the resolution of the unknowns to give
rise to explanations as a result of these concerns.
Before the dynasties, around the end of the fourth
millennium BC, the word "proto-writing" was used to
describe the first writing systems in Egypt, which consisted
of a sequence of symbols and figures. They drew these
symbols on stones, walls, vases, and a variety of other
facades to show off their rituals and practices. As a result,
records were made with the goal of obtaining data about
their activities.
With the development and use of papyrus in the 21st century
B.C., the themes of literary manifestation begin to take on a
new dimension, with funeral texts, epistles, poetry, and
autobiographical inscriptions among them. Furthermore, the
rise of the writing profession has resulted in a significant
increase in the number of texts created at the time. However,
because a big portion of the people was illiterate, they were
unaware of the significance of the papyrus, the wall writing,
and the symbols, and therefore the writing would become a
powerful weapon for the rulers and elite who would profit
much from it.
As time goes on, more and more individuals from all walks
of life will be able to write and interpret figures and
symbols, making it easier to expand the material,
particularly the laws. In addition, many writers begin to
transcribe the old writings to the new ones in order to avoid
losing track of the original manifestations. The well-known
Library of Alexandria, built at the beginning of the 3rd
century B.C. and containing a large amount of papyrus with
information on the advances and knowledge of the time,
began to be compiled and arranged in this way.
What is Egyptian literature?
Development of literature in Egypt
Because Egyptian literature is one of the world's oldest, its
earliest forms occurred long before the invention of writing
as we know it today. Hieroglyphs, a series of symbols, signs,
and figures that allowed these people to transcribe their
customs and culture to the walls, stones, and facades that
surrounded their settlements, will be used to create literary
expressions in Egypt.
Eventually, when various methods for writing hieroglyphs
were developed, literature began to evolve, allowing the
emergence of the earliest subgenres of literature, which
would later be classed. Poems, epistles, burial texts,
autobiographies, letters, and the first narrative developments
are among them. In addition, frequent stylistic resources
such as deity invocation, parallelism, idea and grammatical
structure repetition, and the prevalence of mythological
themes will be seen.
During this time, prophetic prophecies were also written,
based on the residents' initial explanations of the world's
origins. Discourse writing, laments, and, in rare
circumstances, apocalyptic literature are also included.
Thus, Egypt is the birthplace of literature as we know it
today, being the first to develop writing and will become a
fundamental axis for the development of literature in the rest
of the world.
Egyptian letters
The use of writing on papyrus, which was sealed with clay
and transmitted to distant locations, this in the case of the
longest letters, while letters of lesser proportions were also
constructed and distributed to neighboring populations,
resulting in the epistolary subgenre..
Biographies and autobiographies
The first biographies and autobiographies are thought to
have originated in Egypt, particularly in the third millennium
BC. The initial texts were created to praise the dynastic
power's dynastic power's dynastic power's continuance.
They were written in the first person, and their content, as it
is now, was intended to commemorate and immortalize the
protagonists' lives and memories.
Decrees and other texts
Modern historians have evaluated the content generated,
particularly biographies and autobiographies, as a historical
reference to extract a great deal of information about the
time, its culture, and tradition. The study of the royal decrees
issued by the pharaohs in power and in their many instances
and dynasties will be aided by these documents, which will
be added to the discovered lists of kings and chronicles.
Main characteristics of Egyptian literature
Among the most representative features of the literature in
this area, we find the following:
Theme: one of the most important aspects of Egyptian
literature is the variety of themes that were found in the
manifestations. One of the most recurrent themes was
mythology, as well as the customs of the inhabitants, the
laws and some other guidelines of conduct that they had to
follow to become exemplary citizens. Thus, from the laws,
later on, they started with the creation of texts.
Importance of mythology: another fundamental aspect of
Egyptian literature was the importance given to mythology,
since the Egyptian gods became one of the most important
themes affecting the lives of the inhabitants in general. That
is why issues such as curses when the divine commandments
were broken, as well as other consequences, were one of the
most developed issues in order to keep the inhabitants under
control.
Educational purpose: according to the themes that were
developed, years later the need to propose texts for
educational purposes was born, which would facilitate the
transfer of knowledge to other inhabitants.
Material used: the first thing the Egyptians used for writing
were chisels to carve on the stones, although they also used
the calamus, a cut reed similar to a paintbrush. For this they
used pigments such as ochre, a mineral, and carbon black.
Mainly hemp was used for the subsequent writing on
papyrus, however the latter, with the passage of time, came
to have a high cost.
Funerary processes: this practice will be substantial for the
literary development, because from the beliefs and activities,
funeral poems begin to be written, which are considered the
first texts of religious literature, as well as another series of
poems in order to exalt the achievements obtained in life,
hymns and songs to the gods, manifestations that remained
on the walls of the temples.
Writers: those who dedicated themselves to the activity of
writing were known as scribes, a social group in charge of
transmitting, canonizing, storing and writing literary texts.
However, they were not the only ones who knew the art of
writing and reading texts; there was another group of people
 who, although they were not part of the profession, could
also read and had access to texts, often people from the
upper social classes.
Main works and most important authors
We can name Dua-Jeti, a writer from the 19th Dynasty,
Ptahhotep, a writer from the pre-dynastic era, as well as
other important figures such as Ipuur, Kagemni, Ennana, and
Naguib Mahfuz, among others, as key authors of Egyptian
literature. Over time, and notably in modern writing, Egypt
has been a major player in the literary world, with Yaqub
Sannu, one of the founders of Egyptian theater, completing a
collection of representative works inspired by European
models. In the novel, writers such as Mustafa Lutfi al-
Manfalouti and Yuryi Zaydan stood out. As for works or
texts of Egyptian literature are: “The story of a castaway”,
“The story of King Khufu and the magicians”, “The
adventures of Sinuhé”, “The story of the eloquent peasant”,
“The book of the dead” or also known as “Peri Em Heru”,
among others.

C. CLOSURE
ACTIVTIES

SYNTHESIS / The ancient Egyptian literature, which is one of the world's

GENERALIZATION oldest, is a portrayal of the people's life, culture, and beliefs,
and is an important part of the magnificent civilization of
Ancient Egypt.
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.
Great works was also inscribed on papyrus came from
ancient Egypt. For many centuries, these pieces of art were a
success. Literature was seen by the ancient Egyptians as a
source of spiritual nourishment as well as a unique means to
express oneself in a unique way.

III. EVALUATION Multiple choice: Choose the best answer.

1. The manuscript was written on
A. Papirus
B. Papyrus
C. Paparus
D. Parerus
2. Under the world was abode of the dead
 over______reigned.
A. Set
B. Horus
C. Nefertiti
D. Osiris
3. The principal buildings in Egyptian cities and their
splendid ruins covered with inscriptions.
A. Obelisk
B. Tombs
C. Stones
D. Pyramid
4. Most famous tomb.
A. Monolith
B. Megalith
C. Pyramid
D. Obelisk
5. What do you call the great monument that was a
figure of a human head and breast with the body of a
lion, lying down on its stomach with its front paws
stretched before it.
A. Sphinx
B. Pyramid
C. Obelisk
D. Tombs
Identification: Provide the answer needed.
1. Egyptian developed short story in the form of 2
stories which seemed to have been written about
__________ years before Christ
Answer: 3000
2. The most important early written literature of Egypt
were it was a funeral ritual.
Answer: Book of the Dead
3. The manuscript that was written on papyrus buried in
__________ or
4. ____________________ or 5.__________ it is
therefore closely related to the religion of the people.
Answer: 3. tombs 4. beneath the ruins 5. Temples
6. Literature of Egypt consists, for the most part, of
inscriptions ______________ or
7. ____________ on monuments
Answer: 6. Printed 7. Engraved
8. It is said that without this a whole nation would die.
Answer: Nile river
9. A tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which
ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the
top.
 Answer: Obelisk
10. Egyptian literature was written in________.
Answer: hieroglyphics or hieratic script

ASSIGNMENT / Assignment:
AGREEMENT Write a brief reflection about the importance of Egyptian
Literature.

REFERENCES  Mark, J. (2016, November 14). Ancient Egyptian

Literature. World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved February
3, 2022, from
https://www.worldhistory.org/Egyptian_Literature/#:~:text=
on%20papyrus%20%26%20ceramics.-,Most%20of
%20Egyptian%20literature%20was%20written%20in
%20hieroglyphics%20or%20hieratic,papyrus%20scrolls
%20and%20ceramic%20pots.

 Dawud, K. (2011). Script of the Ancient Egyptian

Language. Heiroglyphs step by step. Retrieved February 3,
2022, from
https://www.bibalex.org/learnhieroglyphs/lesson/LessonDet
ails_En.aspx?l=20

 Campell, D. (2016, April 19). The Tale of Sinuhe.

World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved February 3, 2022,
from https://www.worldhistory.org/article/886/the-tale-of-
sinuhe/

 http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/liter.htm
 https://www.worldhistory.org/Egyptian_Literature/
 https://typesofartstyles.com/egyptian-literature/