Egyptian

Literature
 Introduction
Ancient Egyptian literature was written in the
Egyptian language from Ancient Egypt's
pharaonic period until the end of Roman
domination. It represents the oldest corpus of
Egyptian literature, along with Sumerian
literature, it is considered the world's earliest
literature. both hieroglyphic and hieratic—first
appeared in the late 4th millennium BC during the
late phase of pre-dynasty in Egypt. By the Old
Kingdom , literary works included funerary text,
epistles and letters, hymns and poems, and
commemorative autobiographical texts recounting
the careers of prominent administrative officials.
 Introduction
Ancient Egypt was the source of great
works written on papyrus or on the walls
of temples, tombs, pyramids, obelisks,
portraits and monuments. These works
of art succeeded for many centuries.
 Introduction
Ancient Egyptian literature rose and grew in
the bosom of religious beliefs, but it quickly
evolved to deal with mans ordinary day-to-
day life. Literary works occupied a
distinguished position in the ancient
Egyptian thought and civilization. The
ancient Egyptians viewed literature as a
source of spiritual nourishment and a unique
way to elevate style of expression. Refined
literary style was a source of pride for the
writer and appreciation and enjoyment for
the reader.
Table of Contents

Types and forms of

Tales and love
Egyptian literature
01 02 songs

Myths and
03 legends 04 References
01
Types and forms of
Egyptian Literature
Types and forms of literature

Ancient Egyptians wrote plays, dramatic

poetry, songs, religious hymns and love
poetry, in addition to description of
nature, panegyrical poems to glorify their
kings and their glorious battles, and songs
for workers and farmers and others to be
sung in parties.
Types and forms of literature

Inscriptions on tombs, stele,

obelisks, and temples;
myths, stories, and legends; The c
o rrect
ans wer i
s:
religious writings; John
philosophical works;
autobiographies;
biographies; histories;
poetry; hymns; personal
essays; letters and court
records
Egyptian
mythology The collection of myths from ancient
Egypt, which describe the actions of the
The c
o rrect Egyptian gods as a means of
ans wer i
s: understanding the world. The beliefs that
The l these myths express are an important part
etter of ancient Egyptian religion. Myths
M appear frequently in Egyptian writings
and art, particularly in short stories and in
religious material such as hymns, ritual
texts, funerary texts, and temple
decoration. These sources rarely contain a
complete account of a myth and often
describe only brief fragments.
Novels
The ancient Egyptians excelled
The c
in novel writing. This is
o rrect
ans wer i
s:
reflected in the great number of
The l stories left behind. In some of
etter these stories, a well-traveled
M hero tells us about his
adventures such as the story of
the drowned sailor and the
dangers he witnessed on the
mythical island of snakes.
The Egyptian
dramaThe c The ancient Egyptians were the first to write
o rrect
ans wer i
s:
drama. An Egyptian document dating back to
The l king Menes (Narmer); of the 32nd Century BC
etter shows the first dramatic text along mans history
on earth. The document, kept at present at the
M British Museum in London contains dramatic
philosophical dialogue between Egypts ancient
deities on the process of creating the world and
the cosmic system of things and creatures.
Love poetry
The ancient Egyptians excelled in writing
romantic love poetry. In addition
The c
o rrect eulogies to Nile River and its merits,
ans wer i
s: there were many love poems that
The l expressed not only vehement poison
etter surging the heart of a lover, but also
M delicate emotions. Sentiments of love
were couched in beautiful similes derived
from the aesthetic aspects of Egyptian
environment.
Cinderella in ancient
Egyptian literature Cinderella's story with the same central themes
can be traced in some literary works appearing
on the ancient Egyptian papyri in different
names and styles.
The l
The c
o rrect The first reference of this story dates back to the
etterans wer i
s: era of the fourth Dynasty in the 26th Century
BC. Then, a copy of this story, dating back to
M the Modern Kingdom between 16th and12th
centuries BC., was found. This copy contains a
detailed description of the humiliation and
torture inflicted on Cinderella by her step-
mother. Another papyrus dating back to the
 02
Tales and love
songs
 One Thousand and One Nights
Many tales of the One Thousand and One Nights
(Arabian Nights) can be traced to medieval The c
o rrect
Egyptian storytelling traditions. These tales were ans wer i
s:
probably in circulation before they were collected
and codified into a single collection. Medieval
Egyptian folklore was one of three distinct layers
of storytelling which were incorporated into the
Nights by the 15th century, the other two being
ancient Indian and Persian folklore, and stories
from Abbasid-era Baghdad.
 The Tale of Sinuhe
• The Story of Sinuhe is considered one of the finest works of Ancient
Egyptian literature.
• Narrative set in the aftermath of the death of Pharaoh Amenemhat I,
founder of the 12th dynasty of Egypt, in the early 20th century BC. • only
shortly albeit the earliest extant manuscript is from the reign of
Amenemhat III, c. 1800 BC.
• Anonymous author has been described as the "Egyptian Shakespeare"
whose ideas have parallels in biblical texts. "Sinuhe" is considered to be a
work written in verse and it may also have been performed.
• Great popularity of the work is witnessed by the numerous surviving
fragments
 The Tale of the Shipwrecked
Sailor: An Egyptian Epic
• The Tale of The Ship-Wrecked Sailor is a text dated to the Middle
Kingdom of Egypt (2040-1782 BCE).

The story:
An official of the king returns home from a venture which did not go well. He has to
report the bad news to the king and is obviously worried about what might happen to
him at the meeting. His servant, trying to cheer him up, tells him a story of something
which once happened to him. The servant, who was once a sailor, tells of his own
expedition which was a complete failure, much worse than that which his master has
experienced, but led to a great adventure. He tells his master how he survived the
shipwreck and came ashore on an amazing island where he met a great talking
serpent who called himself the Lord of Punt. All good things were on the island and
the sailor and the snake converse until a ship is hailed and he can return to Egypt
 Love songs from Ramesside Egypt
• Among ancient Egypt manuscripts, love songs survive from only one time
and place: the Ramesside Period community of elite craftsmen working
on the tomb of the king (Deir el-Medina, 13th-12th centuries BC).
• The contents of the songs have been taken to indicate an even more elite
setting, the palace and court of the king: the centres of power of
Ramesside Egypt were all in the north, at Per-Ramses, Memphis and the
palace of the court women at Gurob. These may be the places where the
songs were composed and sung originally. Although no manuscripts
survive from the palace sites themselves, the songs seem to echo the
figures of singing women on late Eighteenth Dynasty and Nineteenth
Dynasty cosmetic equipment and vessels produced for the highest level
of society
 Great Hymen to the Aten
• In ancient Egypt, long poems, or hymens, were written to the God of Aten,
and were attributed to King Akhenaten. This king changed the traditional
forms of Egyptian religions, in which they worshipped many Gods, and
replaced it with Atenism. This hymen shows the brilliance and artistry of
the era. The hymen was said to be “one of the most significant and
splendid pieces of poetry to survive from the pre-Homeric world”
according to English Egyptologist, Toby Wilkinson. It was also turned to a
musical by American composer, Philip Glass, in his opera Akhnaten.
 The Maxims of Ptahhotep
• Maxims of Ptahhotep, also called the Instructions of Ptahhotep, is a
collection of teaching advice about social virtues, kindness, modesty, and
justice. The literary work remains currently in many papyrus texts,
including two manuscripts housed at the British Museum, as well as the
Prisse Papyrus that goes back to the Middle Kingdom, housed at
Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris.
 The Westcar Papyrus
• This is one of Ancient Egypt’s texts that contains five stories narrated at
the royal court of King Khufu (Cheops) by his sons about priests and
magicians and their miracles, and is also known as “King Cheops and
Magicians.” The papyrus is now located at the Egyptian Museum of Berlin
and it is exhibited there under low-light conditions.
03
Myths and
legends
 Egyptian mythology
• Egyptian mythology was the belief
The c
structure and underlying form of ancient o rrect
ans wer i
Egyptian culture from at least c. 4000 BCE s:

(as evidenced by burial practices and tomb

paintings) to 30 BCE with the death of
Cleopatra VII, the last ruler of the
L ig h
Ptolemaic Dynasty of Egypt. Every aspect t
of life in ancient Egypt was informed by
the stories which related the creation of the
world and the sustaining of that world by
the gods.
 Egyptian gods and goddesses

• Egypt had one of the largest and most The c

o rrect
complex pantheons of gods of any ans wer i
s:
civilization in the ancient world.
Over the course of Egyptian history
hundreds of gods and goddesses were
worshipped. The characteristics of L ig h
t
individual gods could be hard to pin
down.
 Egyptian Gods and Goddesses
Osiris
Osiris, one of Egypt’s most
important deities, was god of the
underworld. He also symbolized
death, resurrection, and the cycle
of Nile floods that Egypt relied on
for agricultural fertility.
Isis
As the wife of the god of the underworld,
Isis was also one of the main deities
concerned with rites for the dead. Along
with her sister Nephthys, Isis acted as a
divine mourner, and her maternal care
was often depicted as extending to the
dead in the underworld.
 Egyptian Gods and Goddesses
Horus
Depicted as a falcon or as a man with
a falcon’s head, Horus was a sky god
associated with war and hunting. He
was also the embodiment of the
divine kingship, and in some eras the
reigning king was considered to be a
manifestation of Horus.
Seth
Seth was the god of chaos, violence,
deserts, and storms. In the Osiris myth, he
is the murderer of Osiris (in some versions
of the myth, he tricks Osiris into laying
down in a coffin and then seals it shut.)
 Egyptian Gods and Goddesses
Ptah
Ptah was the head of a triad of gods
worshipped at Memphis. The other
two members of the triad were Ptah’s
wife, the lion-headed goddess
Sekhmet, and the god Nefertem, who
may have been the couple’s son
Re
Re was usually represented with a human
body and the head of a hawk. It was
believed that he sailed across the sky in a
boat each day and then made a passage
through the underworld each night, during
which he would have to defeat the snake
god Apopis in order to rise again.
 Egyptian Gods and Goddesses

Hathor Anubis

The goddess Hathor was usually Anubis was concerned with funerary
depicted as a cow, as a woman with practices and the care of the dead. He
the head of a cow, or as a woman was usually represented as a jackal or as
with cow’s ears. Hathor embodied a man with the head of a jackal.
motherhood and fertility, and it was
believed that she protected women in
childbirth.
 Egyptian Gods and Goddesses
Thoth
Thoth, the god of writing and wisdom,
could be depicted in the form of a baboon
or a sacred ibis or as a man with the
head of an ibis. He was believed to have
invented language and the hieroglyphic
script and to serve as a scribe and
adviser for the gods
Bastet
In her earliest forms, the cat goddess
Bastet was represented as a woman with
the head of a lion or a wild cat. She took
the less ferocious form of a domestic cat
in the first millennium BCE.
Egyptian Gods and Goddesses

Amon

The god Amon was worshipped locally in the

southern city of Thebes. Amon was a god of the
air, and the name probably means the “Hidden
One.” He was usually represented as a man
wearing a crown with two vertical plumes.
Examples of Egyptian Myths: 8 Famous Ancient
Stories
The c
o
• Egyptians used mythology rrect
ans wer i
s:
to try to explain the world
around them.
• Egyptian myths explained
nature's phenomena, L ig h
t
The Story of Ra: Creation Myth

On a Primeval hill, Ra created out of himself the first gods, Shu (Dryness and Air), and his
partner Tefnut (Humidity), who would engender other gods to complete the Cosmos: Geb
the Earth god and Nut the Sky goddess. In turn, these two birthed the Principles of life,
namely Osiris the Perfect Being, who eventually would rule over the rest of the world—
which Ra was busy creating by naming the elements. And by the way, humankind happened
out of the tears of his eyes.

Read here for more

https://www.arce.org/resource/ra-creator-god-ancient-
egypt#:~:text=On%20a%20Primeval%20hill%2C%20Ra,and%20Nut
%20the%20Sky%20goddess.
The Story of Ra: Creation Myth

Not only is Ra credited with creating all the gods of the earth, he also traveled across the sky
every day as the sun. At night, Ra would journey to the underworld, defeating the allies of
chaos. Ra also ruled on Earth as the first Pharoah. Egyptian kings claimed they were
descended from Ra, thus giving credence to their seat on the throne. They called themselves
"The Son of Ra".
 Isis and Osiris: Murder and
Revenge
Isis and Osiris were two of the four children of Nut, the earth goddess. Isis and Osiris were
married. As the eldest child, Osiris ascended the throne and the people loved him, but his
brother, Set, was jealous of this and sought revenge. Set killed Osiris, cut him into pieces,
and disperse the pieces all over Egypt.

Isis, however, had great magical powers. She traveled across the land, collected all the
pieces of Osiris, breathed life back into them, and resurrected him. Soon, they
conceived a child together, Horus, but Osiris could not return to the land of the living
and went on to rule the underworld.
 Horus and Set: A Mythical
Murder Plot Continues
When Horus grew to be a man, he challenged Set to the throne. A series of battles ensued
but, to no surprise, Set didn't play fair and kept coming out the victor.

Eventually, Isis stepped in to help Horus. She set a trap for Set, but he begged her for his life
and she let him go. This infuriated Horus. His rage was so strong that it even upset the other
gods. In a final match, a boat race, it looked like Horus was going to be the victor.
Infuriated, Set turned into a hippopotamus and attacked Horus' boat. Yet another fight
ensued and their fellow gods declared the match a tie.

In the end, Osiris was consulted to see who should be king. Osiris declared that no man
should take the throne through murderous ways, as Set had. In the end, Horus took his
rightful place, while his father continued to rule the underworld.
Ma'at: The Goddess of Morality
Ma'at was the goddess of truth, justice, and morality. She was the daughter of Ra and
wife of the moon god, Thoth. She weighed the hearts of the dead to decide who should
have eternal joy in the afterlife.

Her Feather of Truth was the determining factor. Once placed on a scale, if the
deceased's heart was heavier than her feather, they would not be permitted to journey
to paradise. If the heart was deemed too heavy, a demon would devour it, causing the
deceased to die a second time.
 Anubis: A Death Myth
Anubis was an ancient Egyptian god who had many roles around death. He was
initially the lord of the dead but as Osiris became more popular he took over that role.
Anubis' story was then changed and he came Osiris' son and helper in the afterlife.

Anubis was the protector of tombs and inventor of mummification. He was also tasked
with taking the dead souls to the underworld and overseeing the weighing of the heart.
 The Book of Thoth
The Book of Thoth contained all the knowledge of the gods. It was nestled in the
bottom of the Nile and locked in a series of boxes guarded by serpents. Many
pharaohs tried to gain access to it during their reign, but it was never opened.

It's said that the knowledge in there was never meant to be possessed by mere
mortals. Perhaps this helped the Egyptians make sense of the things they still
couldn't quite understand. Somewhere - out there in the bottom of the Nile - lay
all the answers.
 The Girl With the Rose-Red
Slippers: A Myth About Love
Ever wonder where Cinderella originated? Well, this is the tale of a Greek girl
named Rhodopis who was sold into slavery in Egypt. A very kind man bought her
and, in turn, provided her with a home and showered her with beautiful gifts.
One day, an eagle swooped down and stole one of her rose-red slippers. It was
delivered to the pharaoh Amasis. Amasis asked to meet the owner of that slipper
and the rest, shall we say, is history. The two fell so deeply in love they even died
on the same day.
 The Princess of Bekhten: A God
who Saved a Princess
Pharaoh was visiting Nehern, collecting his annual tributes, when the prince of
Bekhten presented him with his eldest daughter. Pharaoh accepted the princess and
took her back to Egypt, making her the chief royal wife. She was named Ra-neferu.

Years later, her sister Bent-Reshet became ill. The prince of Bekhten asked Pharaoh
for help. He sent a physician but her illness was the work of an evil spirit. Pharaoh
then went to the temple of Khonsu Nefer-hetep and asked the god to heal her. The god
confronted the evil spirit, immediately causing it to leave Bent-Reshet.

The prince tried to keep the powerful Khonsu in Bekhten but after three years he
returned home. The prince felt ashamed for trying to keep the god there and thanked
him by sending many gifts and offerings. When the tribute arrived in Egypt the
pharaoh placed it at the foot of the statue of Khonsu in the Great Temple.
Famous Writer
Naguib Mahfouz
Naguib Mahfouz(11 December 1911 – 30 August
2006) was an Egyptian writer who won the 1988
Nobel Prize for Literature. He is regarded as one of
the first contemporary writers of Arabic literature,
along with Tawfiq el-Hakim, to explore themes of
existentialism. He published 34 novels, over 350
short stories, dozens of movie scripts, and five
plays over a 70-year career. Many of his works
have been made into Egyptian and foreign films.
 Resources
• http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/liter.htm
• https://www.ancient.eu/Egyptian_Literature/#:~:text=Ancient%20Egyptian%20literature
%20comprises%20a,essays%3B%20letters%20and%20court%20records.
• https://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-egyptian-myths.html
• https://www.slideshare.net/mobile/rodylynvelasquez/egyptian-lit
• https://www.slideshare.net/mobile/avigailgabaleomaximo/egypt-background-literature
• https://www.britannica.com/list/11-egyptian-gods-and-goddesses
• https://www.ancient.eu/article/180/the-tale-of-the-shipwrecked-sailor-an-egyptian-epi/
• https://theculturetrip.com/africa/egypt/articles/ancient-egyptian-literature-you-should-know-about/
• https://www.ancient.eu/Egyptian_Mythology/
• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Naguib-Mahfouz
Thanks

Please keep this slide for attribution

CREDITS: This presentation template was created by Slidesgo, including
icons by Flaticon, and infographics & images by Freepik.