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EGYPTIAN LITERATURE

EGYPTIAN LITERATURE

Objectives:
1. Characterize Egyptian Literature
2. Trace the historical background of Egyptian Literature
3. Enumerate and identify the different forms of Egyptian Literature
4. Discuss religious literature
5. Find pleasure in reading their literary pieces
INTRODUCTION

Egypt
Official Name : Arab Republic of Egypt
Capital : Cairo
Population : 54.6 million (2001)
Currency : Egyptian Pound
Official Language :Arabic
Occupying the northeast corner of Africa, Egypt is bisected by the highly fertile Nile
valley which separates its arid western desert from the smaller semi-arid eastern
desert. Egypts 1979 peace treaty with Israel brought security, the return of the Sinai,
and large injections of U.S. aid. Its essentially pro-Western military-backed regime is
now being challenged by an increasingly influential Islamic fundamentalist movement.
EGYPTIAN LITERATURE

Ancient Egyptian literature is characterized by a wide diversity of types and


subject matter. It dates from the old Kingdom (2755-2255 B.C) into the Greco-
Roman period (after 332 B.C) Such literary devices as simile, metaphor,
alliteration, and punning are found.
RANGE OF LITERARY FORMS

The religious literature of ancient Egypt includes hymns to the gods, mythological and
magical texts, and extensive collection of mortuary texts. The range of secular
literature includes stories; instructive literature, known as wisdom text; poems;
biographical and historical texts; and scientific treatises, including mathematical and
medical texts. Notable also are the many legal, administrative, and economic texts and
private documents such as letters, although not actually literature.
The individual authors of several compositions dating from the Old Kingdom and the
Middle Kingdom were revered in later periods. They came from the educated class of
upper-level government officials, and their audience was largely educated people like
themselves.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

A. Old Kingdom- Very few literary texts survived from the Old Kingdom. Among the
most important works of the period were: Pyramid texts which include nonliterary
and highly poetic spells; Cannibal texts , a vivid bits of poetry representing the dead
King attaining power in the afterlife by devouring the gods; and the Proverbs of
Ptahotep, a book of sound but worldly advice.
B. Middle Kingdom- This is the classic age of Egyptian literature which saw the
flourishing of works which became popular for hundreds of years. Among these are:
Tale of Senuhe, which relates the flight of a refugee courtier, Sinuhe, from Egypt to Syria
for political reasons, his life in exile and his homecoming; the Shipwrecked Sailor, a
simple folk tale of a sailor who meets an old fatherly serpent on an island; and King
Cheops and the Magicians, several folk tales given in a frame work story.
C. New Kingdom- During this period, the style of writing changed and the language of
the day was used, which brought forth a more natural manner of writing, replacing the
artificialities of the Middle Kingdom. Among the famous writings of this period were:
The Story of King Apohis and Sekenenre, which concerns war expelling the Hykos;
Voyage of Wenamon, a tale of an official sent to Lebanon for cedar wood; The Tale of
the Two Brothers; The Enchanted Prince; Hymn to the Sun, to name a few. The new
Kingdom saw increased concern over the dangers after death and many spells and
rituals were composed for use of the dead.
D. Late Period- The literature of the late period differs greatly from that of the earlier
times because it was written in demotic, the simplified egyptian language of that time.
Works like The Lamentations of Isis and Nephtys and Setna and The Magic Book
were popular during this period.
TYPES OF EGYPTIAN LITERATURE

Most of the Egyptian writings fall into one of the five types:
Wisdom literature, religious literature, tales, love lyrics,
and pessimistic literature.
RELIGIOUS LITERATURE

Religious literature predominates in Egypt. This is always the case when the
priest are the only persons who can write and make records and it is rare that
any secular literature survives from an early period. In Egypt, the earliest body of
texts that can be called literature is entirely religious and comprises a series of
hymns and spells sculptured on the walls of the burial chambers in the pyramids
of the five kings of the sixth dynasty.
These are known as the pyramid text. They have clearly been copied and
recopied so many times that often the language is too corrupt to be
comprehensible. It is however, possible to translate the greater part of the
inscription though many of the allusions are baffling.
The Pyramid Texts consist of hymns and spells for the benefit of the dead, and as
they are the earliest literary liturgy and exposition of religion in the world, they
throw a great light on the primitive beliefs and official creeds.
The knowledge of them was handed down undoubtedly by words of mouth
till the time of the 12th dynasty when many of the texts appear on the printed
and sculptured coffins of the period. These we now call the Coffin Texts. The
early spells occur in the interesting compilation to which the misleading title of
the Book of the Dead was given by early Egyptologists.
SOME OF THE SURVIVING LITERARY PIECES OF THE
EGYPTIANS

1. The Book of the Dead (religious)


2. Hymn to the Sun-God Ra (Religious)
3. Hymn to Osiris (religious)
4. The Tale of Two Brothers (Tale)
5. Maxims and Instructions (Wisdom Lit.)
6. The Teaching of Amenomopet (Wisdom Lit.)
7. The Story of the Eloquent Peasant (Tale)
8. Dialogue of a Pessimist with His Soul (Pessimistic Lit.)
9. Admonition of an Egyptian Sage ( Pessimistic Lit.)
10. Bridal Songs ( Love Songs)
TO WHOM SHOULD I SPEAK TODAY?
BY: T. ERIC PEET

To whom should I speak today?


Brothers are evil;
The friends of today love not.

To whom should I speak today?


Hearts are covetous
Every man plundereth the goods of his fellow.

To whom should I speak today?


The peaceful man is in evil case;
Good is cast aside everywhere.

To whom should I speak today?


Yesterday is forgatten;
Men do not as they were done by nowadays.
T o whom should I speak today?
The righteous are no more;
The land is given over to evil-doers.

To whom should I speak today?


There is lack of confidants;
Men have recourse to a stranger to tell their troubles.

To whom should I speak today?


I am laden with misery.
And am without a comforter.
GUIDE QUESTIONS FOR THE POEM

1. Enumerate the reasons why the poet distrusts his fellowmen?


2. Today, do we have to trust or distrust our fellowmen? Support your answer.
3. Cite instances/practical situations why our brothers are considered evil?
4. Can we still rectify these problems in human relations? How?
5. Dramatize/role play some evils of our society and the corresponding remedy
or remedies to those maladies.
EGYPTIAN
THE BOOK OF THE DEAD
Book of the Dead is the common name for
ancient Egyptian funerary texts known as The
Book of Coming or Going Forth By Day. The name
"Book of the Dead" was the invention of the
German Egyptologist Karl Richard Lepsius, who
published a selection of some texts in 1842.
The Books were text initially carved on the exterior of the deceased person's
sarcophagus, but was later written on papyrus now known as scrolls and buried
inside the sarcophagus with the deceased, presumably so that it would be both
portable and close at hand. Other texts often accompanied the primary texts
including the hypocephalus (meaning 'under the head') which was a primer version
of the full text.
Books of the Dead constituted as a collection of spells, charms, passwords,
numbers and magical formulas for the use of the deceased in the afterlife. This
described many of the basic tenets of Egyptian mythology.
They were intended to guide the dead through the various trials that they would
encounter before reaching the underworld. Knowledge of the appropriate spells was
considered essential to achieving happiness after death. Spells or enchantments vary
in distinctive ways between the texts of differing "mummies" or sarcophagi, depending
on the prominence and other class factors of the deceased.
Books of the Dead were usually illustrated with pictures showing the tests to which the
deceased would be subjected. The most important was the weighing of the heart of the
dead person against Ma'at, or Truth (carried out by Anubis). The heart of the dead was
weighed against a feather, and if the heart was not weighed down with sin (if it was lighter
than the feather) he was allowed to go on. The god Thoth would record the results and
the monster Ammit would wait nearby to eat the heart should it prove unworthy.
The earliest known versions date from the 16th century BC during the 18th Dynasty
(ca. 1580 BC1350 BC). It partly incorporated two previous collections of Egyptian
religious literature, known as the Coffin Texts (ca. 2000 BC) and the Pyramid Texts
(ca. 2600 BC-2300 BC), both of which were eventually superseded by the Book of the
Dead
The text was often individualized for the deceased person - so no two copies contain
the same text - however, "book" versions are generally categorized into four main
divisions - the Heliopolitan version, which was edited by the priests of the college of
Annu (used from the 5th to the 11th dynasty and on walls of tombs until about 200);
the Theban version, which contained hieroglyphics only (20th to the 28th dynasty); a
hieroglyphic and hieratic character version, closely related to the Theban version, which
had no fixed order of chapters (used mainly in the 20th dynasty); and the Saite version
which has strict order (used after the 26th dynasty).
It is notable, that the Book of the Dead for Scribe Ani, the Papyrus of Ani, was
originally 78 Ft, and was separated into 37 sheets at appropriate chapter and
topical divisions.
This is a beautiful color version of the Papyrus of Ani, one of the books of the dead
which were often buried with the dead person who could afford to have one written,
to ease his/her way into eternal life. Above is a picture from the book. Ani (man with his
wife bowing to the gods), while Anubis weighs his heart against Maat's feather of truth,
and Thoth records the event, and Ammit the devourer waits patiently.

There are several books by E. W. Budge about this papyrus. But Faulkner's version is
better and more beautiful. And, considering the page after page of beautiful color pictures,
this paperback version is amazingly inexpensive. You may find yourself just sitting and
marveling at it for hours and hours, maybe years and years.
The Book of the Dead, the ceremonies, rituals and magic were all done in the hopes
that one could reach the Land of the West and a happy afterlife, filled with good things.
To live forever with the gods. To, once more, come forth by day as a living man would
awaken with the sun.
END

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