Ancient Egypt ancient egypt name historical region and culture of a significant civilization of the ancient world that existed in northeast Africa. The history of Ancient Egypt has about 40 centuries and is divided into 4 periods: 1. pre-dynastic 2. dynastic 3. Hellenistic 4. Roman
Predynastic Period prehistoric period. Prehistoric Egypt - the period in the history of Egypt, from the appearance of man to the formation of the agricultural Egyptian civilization.
Hellenistic period Papyrus with fragments of Euclid's Elements The Hellenistic period is a synthesis with Greek Macedonian culture under the rule of the Ptolemaic dynasty. Hellenistic Egypt became one of the main centers of Greek Hellenistic culture. The literature of this period is a natural continuation of Greek literature.
Hieroglyphics Hieroglyphic writing consists of small drawings of objects. The Egyptians called hieroglyphs "words of the god" and used them for lofty purposes, such as communicating through funerary texts with the gods and spirits of the afterlife. A slab stele (c. 2590-2565 BC) of the Egyptian princess Neferetiabet from her coffin at Giza with hieroglyphs carved and painted on limestone.
Hieratic is a simplified, cursive form of Egyptian hieroglyphs. Like hieroglyphs, hieratics were used in sacred and religious texts.
Demotic Demotic writing (obsolete enchorionic writing) is one of the forms of Egyptian writing used to write texts in the later stages of the Egyptian language.
Literary Genres and Themes The only genre of literature explicitly mentioned by the ancient Egyptians was the genre of teaching or "sebayt". The rest genre classification was made by modern Egyptologists. Most texts were written in verse, but some narrative stories were written in prose. Most ancient Egyptian verse was in the form of couplets, but sometimes both three and four lines were used. The word sebayt means "teaching" in the Egyptian language.
Instructive Literature The genre is didactic in nature and is believed to have been part of the curriculum of scribe education in the Middle Kingdom. However, teachings often include narrative elements of an entertaining nature. keywords in teaching in texts are "know" (rh) and "teach" (sba. yt). "Loyal Teaching"
narrative literature This includes fairy tales and stories. Fairy tales and stories are probably the least represented genre of the surviving literature of the Middle Kingdom and the Middle Egyptian language. "The Tale of the Court of King Cheops"
Literature One of the New Kingdom papyri contained in the highest degree a wonderful place where the authors of ancient teachings are praised: They did not build themselves pyramids of copper And tombstones of bronze. They left no heirs behind them, Children who kept their names. But they left their legacy in the writings, In the teachings they made. Doors and houses were built, but they collapsed, The priests of the funeral services disappeared, Their monuments were covered with mud, Their tombs are forgotten. But their names are pronounced, reading these books, Written while they lived, And the memory of the one who wrote them is Eternal. Translation by A. Akhmatova
Poetry THE POWER OF LOVE Love for you entered my flesh and blood And with them, like wine with water, mixed, As with spicy seasoning - orange Or with milk - fragrant honey. Oh, hasten to your sister, Like a flying horse in the arena, Like a bull, headlong running to the manger. Your love is a heavenly gift, Fire, igniting the straw, Prey beating the flying falcon. A small excerpt from a poem translated by Anna Akhmatova and Vera Potapova.
Poetry BY THE RIVER Sister is on the other side. Blocking the way of love, A river flows between us. There is a crocodile on the shore. I wade along the waves, crossing the current. The heart is full of courage. The firmament is like a river. A small excerpt from a poem translated by Anna Akhmatova and Vera Potapova.
Poetry Truly, who will go to the afterlife - Will be a living deity, Creating retribution for evil. Truly, whoever passes into the kingdom of the dead - Will sail in the boat of the sun, Pouring grace from there, pleasing to the temple. Truly, whoever passes to the afterlife will be among the wise men, without interference Speaking with the divine Ra.
Functions of Literature Throughout ancient Egyptian history, reading and writing were the basic requirements for service in public institutions. The scribes were responsible for the preservation, transmission and canonization literary classics and also for writing new essays. There was a practice oral reading texts. Literature was written primarily by male scribes. It also served religious purposes.
Conclusion Thus, we can say that the ancient Egyptian texts that have come down to us are prayers to the gods and household records. Fiction was presented various genres such as: teachings of kings and wise men to their sons, many fairy tales about miracles and sorcerers, stories, biographies of dignitaries, songs, spells. Egyptian fiction has left us many tales of various content and origin. The teaching genre became widespread.
Egyptian literature, which arose as part of Egyptian culture and disappeared with it, lived a longer life than the independent Egyptian state lived; starting from 332 BC the state becomes part of political world Hellenism. However, the original Egyptian culture continues to live and develop in the new political conditions, even in the first centuries of Roman domination. Thank you!
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ANCIENT EGYPTIAN LITERATURE, come down to our time literary monuments Ancient Egypt, dating from the period from the III millennium BC. before the start of the Christian era. Except for a few plots retold by Greek authors, we know this literature from Egyptian sources, the discovery of which began in the 19th century. and continues to this day.
TYPES OF LITERARY WORKS AND THEIR STYLISTICS
The surviving body of literary works includes short prose narratives, fairy tales and myths, fables, letters, didactic literature (proverbs and sermons), love songs and other types of non-religious poetry, as well as hymns. As far as is known, the Egyptians did not have an entertainment drama, but theatrical performances of myths, the characters of which sang and exchanged speeches, were an integral part of the cult of some deities. Several similar ritual dramas have been found. In addition, there is a large number of non-literary written materials, such as mathematical, medical, magical, legal texts, and business documents. historical documents(official decrees, autobiographical inscriptions, royal annals) we have the right to attribute to literary works only in cases where they have a certain literary form.
Since ancient Egyptian writing does not provide for the transmission of vowels, very little is known about poetic metrics. Based on Coptic sources (Coptic is the latest version of the ancient Egyptian language and script, in which signs for vowels already appeared), researchers suggest that ancient Egyptian poetry was based on rhythm, but not on a regular size. Poetry differed from prose mainly in terms of vocabulary and the regular use of other stylistic devices. A favorite poetic device was parallelism such construction of the text, in which the thought expressed in one line is repeated in the next line or lines, or is opposed to the thought expressed in another, adjacent line, or is more fully revealed in subsequent lines. Other techniques include repetitions, repetitions with minor changes, refrains and alliteration. Sometimes lines of poetry are combined into stanzas. Many of them are also used in Egyptian prose. Both in prose and poetry, wordplay is widely used. In religious texts, it may have had a magical meaning. There are also many comparisons and metaphors especially in texts that claim to be elevated in style. In fairy tales, on the contrary, such devices are rare.
For the ancient Egyptians, it was not indifferent how a poem (or other text) “looks” on papyrus or on a wall. In some texts, lines beginning with the same word are arranged in such a way that their parallelism is also accessible to visual perception. Egyptian was written either from right to left (the normal, most common direction), or from left to right, or from top to bottom. This facilitated the creation of elegant graphic compositions. For example, one vertical line could “limit” text consisting of several horizontal lines, or one horizontal line text consisting of several vertical ones. On the other hand, there are literary texts, not graphically organized.
STAGES OF LITERARY DEVELOPMENT
From the Old Kingdom (3rd millennium BC), few texts have been preserved that can be confidently attributed to literary ones. The most important ones Pyramid Texts. Although many of the spells included in Pyramid Texts, are not actually literary works, some of them are characterized by high poetry. One of the spells describes the deceased king, who, wanting to achieve power in the other world, devours the gods. This so-called cannibal anthem, even if you get to know him only by translation, breathes with genuine poetry. The ritual drama about the god Ptah from the time of the Old Kingdom was partially preserved in a later copy. In it, Ptah appears as the supreme deity, to whom all things are subordinate. teaching Ptahhotep, a collection of reasonable, albeit purely worldly advice, was also written during this period, but is known only from later lists.
characteristic of ancient Egypt literary style formed in the troubled period that followed the fall of the Old Kingdom. Perhaps it was then that some of the works known from later copies were created. So, a certain king wrote an instruction about public policy for his son Merikar. In another edifying essay, Teachings of Akhtoy, the position of a scribe, which opens up wide opportunities for a career, is contrasted with the miserable fate of representatives of all other professions. Sayings Ipuera describe the chaos that reigned in the country, testifying that no one was then protected from oppression and robbery. One more work Eloquent villager, represents the lamentations of a peasant who has suffered from arbitrariness, appealing for justice. In the end he wins the case after delivering several long and flowery speeches, composed in a very refined manner.
Middle Kingdom (2211 centuries BC) classical era in development Egyptian literature. One of the works of this time, which remained popular for many hundreds of years, tells the story of the emigrant nobleman Sinuhet. It describes the escape of Sinuhet from Egypt to Syria, political reasons, his life in exile and return to his homeland. charming Tale of the victim shipwreck; her hero ends up on a desert island and meets an old snake there, showing fatherly care towards him. Even simpler in plot and language Tales of Papyrus Westcar(King Cheops and magicians) several fairy tales united by a frame narrative. conversation frustrated with his soul can safely be called outstanding poetic work. His hero, having decided on suicide, convinces his soul not to leave him when he accomplishes his plan. Many religious hymns and, to a lesser extent, "worldly" songs also came from this period.
The language and style of literature of the Middle Kingdom were considered exemplary for five hundred years. In the era of the New Kingdom, Akhenaten carried out a religious and literary revolution. Has changed narrative style, and began to write on spoken language. More natural graphics replaced the delights of the Middle Kingdom. And although the religious revolution was defeated, the literary revolution was a success. Nevertheless, Middle Egyptian continued to be considered a classical language, and attempts to write in it were renewed as long as hieroglyphic writing was preserved.
The rise and fall of the New Kingdom is reflected in several quasi-historical narratives. So, the story of King Apophis and Sekenenre tells about the beginning of the war, which led to the expulsion from Egypt of foreign conquerors, the Hyksos. Another story tells of the capture of the city of Jaffa, an event that took place during the reign of the great conqueror Thutmose III, when Egypt was at the zenith of its power. A boastful account of the Battle of Kadesh extols in epic style the personal fighting prowess of Ramesses II. The decline of the empire was clearly reflected in Travels of Un-Amun, a story about an official sent to Lebanon for cedar wood. By that time, Egypt had lost its international prestige, and the petty Phoenician princelings met his envoy without any respect.
Tale of two brothers must have been written down from the words of a wandering storyteller. Parallels to its individual parts ( folklore motifs) are found in Asian and European tales and, in particular, in the Middle East. Fairy tales include doomed prince. The prince is predicted to be killed by one of the three beasts. He happily escapes two deaths, but the end of the text has not been preserved, and his further fate remains unknown.
Quite a lot of the so-called. school texts, i.e. texts copied for educational purposes by students of scribes. They are, as you might expect, full of bugs. "Exemplary" letters, which make up a significant part of these materials, give a realistic picture of their era. One letter, for example, tells of the hardships of soldiering in Palestine. The letters praise the fate of the scribe as happier than that of other professions.
Several collections of love songs are known. They remind song songs Solomon both by the set of comparisons and metaphors, and by the general tone. A number of drinking songs were also found, performed at feasts by blind harpists. They exalt the joys of life, and they were written on the walls of the tombs so that the dead also enjoyed similar joys. There are also poems praising the kings or telling about their exploits, for example, the already mentioned poem about Battle of Kadesh.
It differs from traditional hymns filled with monotonous epithets and titles of gods. Hymn to the Sun Akhenaten, imbued with love for nature; it almost completely lacks the concept of God as a moral authority.
The legend of Osiris is most fully expounded by the Greek writer Plutarch, but on the other hand, one papyrus from the time of the New Kingdom contains a very remarkable description Litigation of Horus and Seth. In this version of the myth, the gods are depicted without any reverence, either because faith in the gods gradually weakened, or because in Litigation reflected the views of more ancient era. The plot of the story is the final triumph of Horus over Set in a lawsuit over the rights to the throne of the deceased Osiris. another myth, Extermination of mankind, is a parallel to the story of Noah. God Ra (Re) decides to destroy people, but when the goddess Hathor, at his command, begins to kill them, he repents and saves those who are still alive. During the period of the New Kingdom, people increasingly turned their thoughts to the dangers of the other world and created many spells and ritual texts for the needs of the dead. Among them, the so-called Book of the Dead, Book breaths, The Book of Gates, The Book of the Underworld(Book of Amduat) And mouth opening ritual.
Literature late period(7th century BC 5th century AD, starting from the Sais period) differs significantly from everything that was created earlier. It was written in Demotic, as the then simplified Egyptian language is called. From that era, folk tales have come down to us, which are grouped into cycles. The Haemowas cycle includes a strange tale Setne Haemowas and magic book. The book contained powerful spells and was carefully guarded - it lay in a chest placed in another chest, and snakes and scorpions guarded it. The whole atmosphere of these stories is completely different from that of the earlier Egyptian stories.
Demotic literature also includes ritual drama (for example, Lamentation of Isis and Nephthys), animal tales, fables, and what, with some stretch, could be called historical fiction. see also BOOK OF THE DEAD.
Initially, writing was used exclusively for economic or sacred purposes. From the era of the Old Kingdom, practically no written monuments have come down to us, with the exception of hieroglyphic laudatory inscriptions and prayers on the walls of tombs. The first economic documents are meager records that “so many animal carcasses were brought in, so many sheaves of barley were collected from one field.”
The end of the Old Kingdom in the history of the written monuments of Ancient Egypt is marked by the spread of tombstones of a laudatory nature. The rise of the cult of Osiris and the connection of the myth of the dying and resurrecting Osiris in connection with the cult of the dead give rise to the first monuments of funeral literature, which can be classified as literary works. On the walls of the tomb of a rich man, the entire “autobiography” is written on his behalf: merits before the pharaoh, personal virtues are listed, the wealth of the deceased and the position that he occupied during his lifetime are described. These are the so-called "Pyramid Texts", the oldest of the texts that made up the canon of the "Book of the Dead" many centuries later.
Obviously, in the era of the Old Kingdom cultural tradition preserved exclusively in oral creativity. This tradition started even earlier.
Middle Kingdom. heyday ancient Egyptian literature- Middle Kingdom. During this period, written works appeared that formed the backbone classical literature Ancient Egypt.
First of all, it should be noted the work that continues the tradition of tomb inscriptions - "The Tale of Sinuhet". This biography was extremely widely disseminated and has come down to our days in many lists, moreover, made at a much later time.
Sinukhet, as follows from this work, is a nobleman who lived at the court of two pharaohs. Most likely it's not just historical figure. Sinuhet may have been the author of his own life-description. In the first person, the story is told about the valor of Sinuhet in the royal retinue, about how, after the death of the pharaoh, he fled abroad to escape the riots. Settling in Syria, Sinukhet managed to achieve nobility and wealth there, thanks to his talents, but then returned to his homeland and served the new king.
The Tale of Sinuhet is a combination of autobiography, fiction and historical monument. The author not only inserted into the text excerpts from various state documents of his era, illustrating the narrative. With remarkable literary talent, he builds his work, bringing out a harmonious composition. The figurative and colorful language of the work earned him well-deserved fame for many centuries of the existence of the Egyptian kingdom.
Another literary genre, which was extremely widespread in Egypt of the era of the Middle Kingdom - fairy tales. This genre, no doubt, originates in the tradition of oral art. The stories are extremely varied in subject matter.
One of the most interesting collections of fairy tales - Papyrus Westcar - is dedicated to stories from the reign of the last pharaohs of the Old Kingdom. Among the texts of this papyrus, fantasy stories predominate - tales of sorcerers performing miracles at the court of Pharaoh Cheops. In one story, for example, a court magician cuts off a bird's head, then puts it back on, and the bird comes to life. In these and similar tales, the author's fiction is closely intertwined with Egyptian mythology. The plots of a number of fairy tales have something in common with the most important myths, such as, for example, "The Tale of Truth and Krivda".
Many fairy tales are, in fact, literary processed testimonies of contemporaries about certain historical events - about the quarrel between the pharaoh and his commander, about the storming of a foreign city.
Egyptian fairy tales include all sorts of genres: a description of a journey, a moralizing story, even an adventurous story. In most of these works, especially those related to early period formation of Egyptian literature, a strong element of the fantastic, characteristic in general for the folk writing tradition.
The era of the Middle Kingdom also includes historical works proper, in particular the Leiden papyrus and the papyrus of the Hermitage, which record the testimonies of noble Egyptians who survived the horrors of anarchy in the country after the fall of the Old Kingdom. These works, known as "The Sayings of Ipuwer" and "The Prophecy of Neferti", describe the events that took place in the country after its breakup into independent nomes, after the fall of the power of the pharaohs.
Another genre that took shape in the literature of Ancient Egypt in the era of the Middle Kingdom is all kinds of moralistic writings. A significant part of them are, as one might assume, texts written by teachers in schools of scribes for educational purposes. The authors of the "Instructions" and "Speeches" inspire students with moral standards, call for obedience and reverence. Another favorite theme in didactic works is the praise of the advantages that education and the position of a scribe give. It is rather interesting to trace what arguments the authors of these instructions give against this or that occupation. main object critics of scribes-mentors - military service. The hardships and troubles that lie in wait for the recruit are described extremely vividly. Involuntarily, one gets the impression that the author simply wants to intimidate the student, and not lead him to an independent conclusion about the preference for the service of an official.
Sometimes the mentor simply does not have enough convincing arguments - then he resorts to malicious ridicule. For example, not finding enough reasons to prefer the job of a scribe to the much more relaxed position of a temple priest, the instructor simply ridicules the priests who "wash only by vow, and not by necessity."
In general, the “Instructions” is a very diverse in language, style and subject matter, a superbly developed genre, in which, apparently, the rhetorical tradition of the Egyptians was embodied. The protagonist-mentor in such works is a respected person - or an official who has achieved high position, or a large nobleman or court sage. Some of the instructions were compiled on behalf of the pharaoh and were collections of advice to the heir on public administration.
Among other literary works of the Middle Kingdom era, the Tale of the Eloquent Peasant deserves special mention. Its plot is simple. The peasant is driving along the road, which was blocked by some petty official, who collects bribes from travelers for passing through his land. The peasant has nothing to pay, and the official takes away his donkey. Then the unfairly robbed peasant comes to the pharaoh's palace and begins to complain about the fate and the offender. The pharaoh is attracted by the eloquence of the complainer, unusual for simple peasant. He orders the peasant to be brought closer and, after listening to complaints, decides to reward the peasant for such talent, showers him with gifts and leaves him at court.
“The Tale of the Eloquent Peasant”, perhaps the first work in the history of world literature, the hero of which is a representative of the lower strata of the population, speaking with accusatory speeches against a more high-born or wealthy offender.
The Middle Kingdom left to the descendants many works of poetic creativity. Basically, this is philosophical poetry of secular or religious themes, imbued with either moods of the vanity of human existence, or, on the contrary, praises of life and calls to care more about today than about the afterlife. Examples of these two directions of poetic creativity are "The Conversation of the Disappointed with His Soul" and "The Song of the Harper". The "Song", apparently performed during feasts and festive feasts, is full of cheerfulness and love of life. "Conversation" is a dialogue of a desperate person with his own soul. The soul tries to return joy to him, draws colorful pictures of fun and life, but in the end gives up before the owner’s argument and agrees that his desire to die is quite justified and that life on earth is really nothing.
Along with philosophical writings poets of the Middle Kingdom created many examples of magnificent stucco love lyrics, which were repeatedly translated into many modern languages.
Working with the Egyptian poetic heritage is a little-known side of the work of Anna Akhmatova, who created the best translations of the love lyrics of Ancient Egypt in Russia.
New kingdom. The new kingdom is the time of "powerful" literature. At this time, during the period of the highest heyday of the Egyptian kingdom, the literary canon was formed. Numerous papyrus scrolls from the time of the New Kingdom contain expositions of myths in poetic and prose form, life-non-descriptions of the pharaohs and the history of victorious campaigns.
Mythology is important component the religious worldview of the ancient Egyptians, which previously existed almost exclusively in the form of oral art, the chants of priests and was only partially reproduced in tomb inscriptions and prayers (mainly the myth of Osiris). Now the canon of mythological tales is being formed, which includes both cosmological myths and the history of the creation of all living things. It is interesting to note the similarities of some plots Egyptian mythology with modern Sumerian. Especially a prime example intersections - the story of how Isis (aka Inanna of the Sumerians) deceives Ra-Amon, the god of the Sun, by deceit, his secret name, which gives power over Ra. In the Sumerian-Akkadian Epic of Gilgamesh, the episode with the revelation of the secret name of the supreme deity and the pursuit of Inanna occupies a very significant place.
Another canon taking shape during the New Kingdom is the Book of the Dead. Obviously, by the neo-dynastic time, the cult of honoring the dead had already developed in full, which made it possible to bring together all the texts, rituals, prayers and spells associated with the administration of this cult. Lists « Books of the Dead» were found in large numbers in Egyptian tombs different periods, but since the time of the New Kingdom, the "Book" has not undergone significant changes.
Develops at this time and historical literature-tour. In addition to the genre of “autobiographies” and tomb inscriptions, which has firmly entered the literary tradition, chronicles of kingdoms are compiled at the courts of the pharaohs, lists of rulers of different dynasties and eras are created. The purpose of the compilers of these scrolls is to show the continuity and divine origin of the power of the pharaohs. These documents serve as a serious help to modern historians in recreating the history of Ancient Egypt, since their data, as a rule, are confirmed by various independent sources.
Part historical works of this type is a transformation of a long-standing hymn tradition, originating in the tomb inscriptions of the pharaohs and widespread even in the era of the Middle Kingdom.
oral tradition. The oral art of the ancient Egyptians - not mythological poetry, not hymns and moralizing stories, but the work of the common people - has come down to our time thanks to the tombs of the nobility. On the walls of many tombs, next to the images of people working in the field or on the construction site, artists, apparently in order to please the “ear” of the inhabitant of the tomb, often attributed rhythmic poetic lines - the texts of songs with which the workers set the rhythm for themselves and encouraged each other. Most likely, those who wrote down these examples of folk poetry slightly ennobled them, adjusting them to the long-established norms of the literary language.
Artistic techniques. That in the ancient Egyptian literary tradition there were clear, once for all developed rules, there is no doubt. The works of most genres are strictly sustained within the framework of a single style for this genre. The set of literary techniques used by Egyptian writers and poets is not too large, but a skillful combination of these techniques allowed a talented scribe to create a genuine work of art.
A favorite technique of Egyptian poets is parallelism in the construction of phrases and parts of a line. There are no indications of how the ancient Egyptian language could sound, but it can be assumed that with the exquisite construction of phrases and lines of the work, which can be seen in most examples of literature, rhythm could be one of the main requirements to a good work.
The form of poetic compositions of the ancient Egyptian authors, apparently, was almost higher than the content. In one message, a scribe (probably a mentor who received a letter from a student) analyzes the message that came to him from the point of view of constructing sentences and ruthlessly criticizes the addressee for the fact that “one is mixed with another, disgusting is adjacent to good and the words are neither sweet nor bitter. Judging by the importance that most authors of this kind of letters attach to refinement of style, stylistics was one of the fundamental subjects in the schools of scribes.
The literature of Ancient Egypt is striking in its imagery difference. The comparisons used by co-writers are vivid and precise. So, in one of his life-descriptions, the pharaoh says about himself that, having become angry at his enemies, he became like a snake in the desert.
A large number of images came to secular literature from a closely related religious literary tradition.
M. A. Korostovtsev
LITERATURE OF ANCIENT EGYPT
(History of world literature. - T. 1. - M., 1983. - S. 54-82)
The first who drew the attention of the Russian public to the literature of Ancient Egypt was V.V. Stasov. In the October issue of the Vestnik Evropy magazine for 1868, he published an article on the famous Egyptian Tale of Two Brothers, in which he subjected sharp criticism not so long ago, widespread in the scientific world, the notion that in Ancient Egypt"there was never literature or poetry." “Many writers, the most competent and knowledgeable people,” wrote V.V. Stasov, “decided in their heads that we don’t know any remnants of Egyptian literature,” and “it means that it didn’t exist, and such a sentence was sent to the whole world ” and picked up by “historical textbooks”. According to Stasov himself, such statements always seemed deliberately erroneous, however, it was impossible to brush aside the reasons that gave rise to them. “But what was to be done with Egypt, when there were so many temples, statues and paintings of it before everyone’s eyes, but not a single literary work?” - the Russian critic asked and answered the question himself: to wait for the discovery of monuments of Egyptian literature. There was not long to wait.
In 1852, the Englishwoman Lady d'Orbinay acquired an Egyptian papyrus in Italy (now bearing her name and kept in the British Museum) and at the same time showed it in Paris to the famous French Egyptologist Emmanuel de Rouget. He read and, after examining the text, published its partial translation. The translation caused a sensation: for the first time a work of ancient Egyptian fiction became known. Over time, the name “Tales of Two Brothers” was established behind him, and it was about her that V.V. Stasov told the Russian reader. He first translated it from European translations into Russian, accompanied by explanations and comments.
Time passed, discoveries followed discoveries, and over the years, a rich collection of various works of Egyptian literature appeared before the astonished eyes of scientists and the entire cultural world, along with the oldest Sumerian in the world.
When getting acquainted with it, as, perhaps, with any ancient literature, the question inevitably arises: which of its monuments are artistic? After all, along with literary works proper, we have at our disposal a huge mass of other kinds of texts, for example, historical ones, sometimes very interesting and colorful. How should they be treated? Can they be considered part of the ancient Egyptian literary heritage in exact meaning this concept? Undoubtedly, a formal approach to resolving the issues raised is unjustified. The concept of "Egyptian literature" unites the totality of not only literary works proper, but also all texts or their fragments, which, regardless of their purpose, have aesthetic merits and which are characterized by an interest in human personality. Such, for example, are some autobiographical inscriptions of Egyptian nobles (for example, the inscriptions of Uni, Harkhuf and other dignitaries), some royal inscriptions of a historical nature (for example, those of the pharaohs Merenptah and Piankhi), certain passages from the Pyramid Texts, hymns to the gods Amun and Aton, etc. d.
Egyptian literature throughout its centuries-old history is a linguistic unity with a variety of forms of writing. The Egyptian language was written over a vast period spanning no less than three and a half millennia, and it is quite natural that this language has changed. Written monuments testify that over the thirty-five centuries of his life, he went through several stages in his development, closely related to the periodization of the history of the country itself dating back to the ancient tradition and established in science. These stages are:
I. Old Egyptian language of the era of the Old Kingdom (XXX - XXII centuries BC);
II. Middle Egyptian, or classical, the language of the Middle Kingdom (XXII - XVI centuries BC);
III. New Egyptian language of the era of the New Kingdom (XVI - VIII centuries BC);
IV. Demotic language (VIII century BC - III century AD);
V. Coptic language (from the 3rd century AD).
According to the tradition established in science, we call these stages, or stages, of the development of the Egyptian language separate languages, since they differ significantly from each other. However, these are still stages in the development of one language. Only Coptic, which is the last stage in the evolution of the Egyptian language, is so different from it that it is considered independent in linguistics.
Thus, we have every reason to assert that Egyptian literature was written in one language - Egyptian. This is all the more important because the Egyptians themselves were keenly aware of the continuity of their literary tradition. Literary monuments, for example, the Middle Kingdom, written in the classical (Middle Egyptian) language, were studied in the era of the New Kingdom and translated into the New Egyptian language. The classical language was often written in later times. Ancient literary plots and motifs lived for centuries and millennia, and the unity of the language created the necessary prerequisites for this.
Egyptian writing is one of the oldest in the world. Throughout their history, the Egyptians wrote in hieroglyphs and hieratic, in other words, they used two writing systems - hieroglyphic and hieratic. In the 8th century BC e. another one appeared - a complex and difficult demotic letter, which, despite its specificity, is a further stage in the development of hieratic writing. In turn, hieratic and demotic are italic hieroglyphics. According to the apt comparison of the outstanding Russian Egyptologist B. A. Turaev, the ratio between hieroglyphic, hieratic and demotic writing is approximately the same as between our printed, handwritten and shorthand signs. new york fashion week 2009
Egyptian literature, which is part of the Egyptian culture and disappeared with it, lived a longer life than the independent Egyptian state. Egypt in 332 BC e. was conquered by Alexander the Great, and in 30 BC. e. became part of the Roman Empire as a province. The original Egyptian culture continued to live and develop in the new political conditions. However, despite this and the fact that the study of Egyptian literature has long been an independent field of Egyptology, specialists in the periodization of its history prefer to be based on external signs and, based on the periodization of the history of the language and the history of the country already familiar to us, they distinguish between the literatures of the Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom, New Kingdom and Demotic literature. The accepted periodization of Egyptian literature is forced, since it is mainly due to the state of the sources and the impossibility of tracing the development of the literary process itself step by step.
The literature of Ancient Egypt, like any other literature, is inextricably linked with the life of society and its ideology. And since in ancient Egypt religion was the dominant form of ideology, it is not surprising that Egyptian literature experienced its significant influence, and many works of this literature are saturated with a religious worldview in its various manifestations. However, it does not follow at all from this that Egyptian literature is represented only by religious or mythological texts. On the contrary, it has a rich genre diversity. Along with reworked folk tales (tales of papyrus Westcar, about two brothers, about a doomed prince, etc.), it also contains works describing real events(stories of Sinuhe and Un-Amon), inscriptions of kings and nobles of a historical nature, religious (hymns to the gods) and philosophical writings (“Song of the harpist”, “Conversation of the disappointed with his soul”); mythological narratives ("The struggle of Horus with Seth"), fables, love lyrics. The Egyptians also knew theatrical performances, not only in the form of mysteries, but to some extent in the form of secular drama. Finally, there was an extensive didactic literature in the form of so-called "teachings" containing moral prescriptions and rules of behavior in society.
In a word, as Egyptian literature clearly testifies, Egyptian society in ancient times lived a tense, rich and many-sided spiritual life. The monuments of writing that have come down to us from those ancient times and are kept in museums and collections around the world are only insignificant remnants of a huge literature, which, unfortunately, has perished forever for us. But they also create an unusually bright, diverse and interesting picture.
Speaking of literature, it is impossible to pass over in silence its creators. All Egyptian texts that have come down to us were once compiled by someone, in other words, they had their own authors. Of course, in Egypt, as in other countries, folklore was widespread, but the works that have come down to us are undoubtedly not products of folk art in the strict sense of the word, even if they represent a written fixation of oral traditions. Nevertheless, in most of these texts there is not the slightest indication or even a hint of the author.
Naturally, questions arise, who were the authors of these works, what was their authorship, and why are their names absent from the Egyptian texts? These questions are undoubtedly related to another, more general question: were the ancient Egyptians aware of the concept of authorship? The accepted negative answer to this question is not entirely true. The concept of authorship existed, but almost exclusively in the sphere of didactic literature. As in other countries of Antiquity, and partly of the Middle Ages, this concept in Ancient Egypt did not become a lasting property of public thought. It only began to be recognized and strengthened precisely in the didactic genre, which the Egyptians themselves apparently considered the most important and essential: in most of the so-called "teachings", the name of the author, as a rule, is already at the very beginning of the text.
But a new question arises: are the persons mentioned at the beginning of the teachings their true creators, or are these teachings only attributed to them? It is impossible to give a definite answer, each case requires a special study. Let us first note, however, that when a teaching is attributed to a known historical figure, who stood at the top of the hierarchical ladder and became famous for his activities, we have the right to doubt his authorship and assume that his name is inserted into the text only in order to give authority and weight to the teaching. If, however, an unknown Egyptian official is named as the author of the teaching, known only for this teaching, then one can hardly doubt his authorship: it was not he who decorated the teaching with his name, on the contrary, the teaching gave him fame. Thus, Ani and Amenemope, for example, can be considered the true authors of the teachings, whose writings will be discussed below.
In contrast to teachings, in works of a non-edifying nature, the names of the authors are extremely rare, but they still occur. It is unlikely, for example, that one can doubt that the autobiographical inscriptions of the nobles were composed by them themselves (this does not mean, of course, that they themselves inscribed them in their tombs). In turn, such outstanding literary works as "The Tale of Sinuhe" and Un-Amon's account of his journey go back to these inscriptions. And although we do not know anything about the people who created these works, there is no reason to think that they were not their authors. We not only know by name the author of the famous annals of Pharaoh Thutmose III, the military scribe Chanini, but also found his tomb. Finally, papyrus Rylands IX, containing the history of several generations of priests who bore the same name of Peteise, says that this family chronicle was the last of them to be written down.
Most of the works fiction- stories, fairy tales, fables, etc. - as we have said, stores complete silence about their authors. At best, we only know the names of the scribes who copied the copies that have come down to us. And with such scribes, one way or another, all Egyptian literature is connected. You can inexpensively order a school bus for any period in our company.
Scribes of various positions and ranks occupied a very privileged position in Egyptian society and led the entire administrative and economic life of the country. Even high-ranking nobles, listing their titles, liked to flaunt their position and the ability of "a scribe skillful with his fingers." The pharaoh himself, who was considered a “good god” on the throne and headed the entire huge bureaucratic system, did not disdain the title of scribe. And it was from this environment of the “bureaucratic intelligentsia” that inquisitive, intelligent, gifted, and sometimes outstanding people came out, whose interests were not limited to career and service. It was they who compiled teachings, religious, medical, mathematical and astronomical treatises, composed, wrote down fairy tales, rewrote modern or ancient texts.
It is impossible not to say about the very nature of creative activity in Egypt. It would be a serious mistake to equate an ancient Egyptian author with a modern one. First of all, it should be noted that in ancient times the concept of plagiarism was not known, and imitation played a huge role in literature. Therefore, speaking of an Egyptian author, we must remember that the concept of "authorship" does not always fit within the boundaries of the concept of "individual creativity" and very often the role of the author was reduced to imitation or more or less successful compilation from texts known to him, and the author often borrowed from these texts, not only individual expressions, but entire passages. There is no doubt, however, that each author even put something of his own into the compilation. And this contribution was the greater and the more significant, the more original and original the author himself was.
The Egyptians highly valued the creators of their literature. Papyrus british museum Chester-Beatty IV contains a remarkable teaching, the author of which, an unknown scribe, convinces his student that worthy, significant works, better than any tombstone, perpetuate the names of their authors:
But their names are pronounced while reading these books,
Written while they lived
And the memory of who wrote them,
A book is better than a painted headstone
And a solid wall.
What is written in the book builds houses and pyramids in the hearts of those
Who repeats the names of scribes,
To have the truth on your lips.
A person dies, his body becomes dust.
All his relatives disappear from the earth,
But the scriptures make you remember him
Through the mouths of those who pass it on to the mouths of others.
(Translated by A. Akhmatova)
In other words, we hear here the motif of the “non-hand-made monument”, which sounded on the banks of the Nile as early as the end of the 2nd millennium BC. e.
LITERATURE OF THE ANCIENT KINGDOM
(III MILLENNIUM BC)
A hundred years ago, not far from Cairo, the outstanding French Egyptologist G. Maspero discovered inscriptions inscribed on the walls of the interiors in the pyramids of the five pharaohs of the 5th and 6th dynasties and, therefore, dated approximately to the end of the 25th - the middle of the 23rd centuries. BC e. In science, the name “Pyramid Texts” was established behind them.
The study of many hundreds of lines of almost the oldest collection of religious and magical texts in world literature required the work - by no means completed - of generations of Egyptologists and made it possible to find "the first link in that continuous chain of funeral magical monuments that stretches throughout the Egyptian pagan (and partly Christian) civilization...” (B. A. Turaev).
It is well known that the tradition of supplying the deceased with food, drink, in general, with everything necessary for life in the other world was widespread among many peoples of the world, but only among the ancient Egyptians, as the German Egyptologist K. Zethe noted, there is a firmly rooted custom of burying with the deceased works of funeral literature, the first of which was the Pyramid Texts.
The ideas of the Egyptians about human nature, their views on death and the afterlife developed in the deepest antiquity, long before the formation of a single Egyptian state at the turn of the 4th - 3rd millennium BC. e. Unfortunately, our knowledge in these matters is far from sufficient. What is known can be formulated approximately as follows: a human being consists not only of a visible, physically tangible body, but also of several individual substances invisible in earthly life. Death, which strikes the body, violates the organic unity of the human being, necessary for the continuation of life, that is, the unity of the body and the mentioned substances. For eternal life in the other world it is necessary to restore it.
Science cannot yet definitely answer how many of these substances there were and how they were thought by the ancient Egyptians. Let us dwell on one of them - KA, which is especially essential for understanding the Pyramid Texts.
Judging by the texts, the Egyptians themselves had rather contradictory ideas about KA. It is not surprising that the definitions of KA proposed by Egyptologists are very ambiguous. Thus, according to G. Maspero, KA was the invisible double of a person, his exact likeness, which was born and grew along with the body. On the contrary, the German scientist A. Ehrman saw in the spacecraft a kind of vital force, the mysterious essence of people. What is indisputable is that after the death of the body, this substance, externally and essentially identical to man, awaits eternal life in the other world. The condition for the eternal existence of the KA was the care of the survivors.
Relatives of the deceased were primarily concerned with preserving dead body: the very existence of the KA depended on the safety of the human body, the twin of which the KA is. "Your bones do not break, your flesh does not hurt, your members will not separate from you"; “Protect the head [of the deceased king] so that it does not fall apart, collect the bones [of the deceased king] so that they do not separate,” we read in the Pyramid Texts. It was this idea that led to the emergence of the art of mummification and the construction of tombs.
KA had not only people, but also gods; the gods had several. The pharaoh also had several KAs - a “living god”, a “good god” on the throne of the country. It is clear that with the death of the pharaoh, only his human nature died and was buried. In the era of the Old Kingdom, a tomb was erected for the deceased pharaoh, with its shape and size sharply different from the tombs intended for others - a pyramid. In it, the mummified body of the deceased ruler was considered to be reliably protected from any dangerous accidents.
The posthumous fate of the king in the Pyramid Texts is described ambiguously: either he is close to the gods, or he himself becomes a “great god”, sometimes identified with the gods Ra or Osiris, the lord of the dead. For example, in an appeal to the deceased king, it is stated: "You must sit on the throne of Ra in order to give orders to the gods, since you are Ra." However, the proximity of the late king to the gods did not at all lessen the anxiety of the living for him, for wandering in the other world, inhabited not only by the gods, but also by countless evil creatures, the most terrible of which, it seems, were snakes, could be dangerous for the royal deceased. In addition, the introduction of the deceased to the world of the gods was facilitated by the creation in them of the impression of the extraordinary power and authority of the deceased pharaoh, which guaranteed him a proper position among the inhabitants of the other world.
And now, those living on earth surround the mummified, buried in the pyramid lord with further posthumous cares. They build mortuary temples at the pyramids, in which priests specially designed for this purpose make sacrifices to the KA of the pharaoh - of course, not only bread and beer, but also an infinite number of other supplies and potions necessary to maintain the life of the KA of the ruler of the country - and serve the mortuary services. These latter consisted in reading magical texts that were supposed to guarantee the deceased ruler of Egypt eternal satiety and eternal life. The magic of the Pyramid Texts, which, according to B. A. Turaev, belongs to the field of ritual poetry and was intended for ritual reading by priests, was intended to facilitate the achievement of these goals.
What has been said about the Egyptian religion and the Pyramid Texts is enough to conclude that the most important thing in them is a reflection of the mortal's desire to become immortal, the naive faith of a person of those times in the ability to overcome death and become like the immortal gods. In the magical-religious and ritual content of the Pyramid Texts, we find purely human motives, an attempt by a person of those distant times to put all the means of religion and magic available to him to transform his temporary, earthly life into eternal life beyond the grave.
To enhance the magical effect, the Egyptians resorted to literary devices characteristic of ritual poetry - alliterations, parallelisms, wordplay. Many passages from the "Pyramid Texts" are distinguished by artistic expression, strength and material clarity of images. In the hymn to the sky goddess Nut, for example, the goddess herself is sung like this:
O Great One who became the sky...
You fill every place with your beauty.
The whole earth lies before you - you embraced it,
You surrounded the earth and all things with your hands.
(Translated by M. E. Mathieu)
The Pyramid Texts, as we already know, were supposed to guarantee the late king eternal life in the society of the gods. Let us ask ourselves a natural question: how was it thought at that time afterlife those whom we would call mere mortals - close associates of the pharaoh?
The monuments that have come down to us, including written ones, allow us to give a fairly complete answer to the question posed. Of course, the Egyptians loved life so much that, like their master, living on earth, they prepared to ensure that, in the words of B. A. Turaev, “not to die, despite death.” In the days of the Old Kingdom, the pharaohs themselves granted a tomb to some of their most worthy and faithful servants. Those of them who did not receive this highest award and honor built it for themselves at their own expense. Surrounding your master in life, noble people most often they sought to be near him even after death and built their tombs near the pyramid of the ruler. So there were huge necropolises - cemeteries of dignitaries and nobles.
“But their afterlife, of course, could not yet be identical with the royal one - they are not gods. The most they could count on was the continuation on the other side of the same conditions in which they were here,” B. A. Turaev notes. Their tombs had different sizes, which depended on the social status of the deceased and the attitude of the king towards him and his relatives. An example of a real “afterlife residence” is the “eternal home” of Mereruk, the vizier of the pharaoh of the VI dynasty of Teti. It has 31 rooms, their walls are painted with excellent images of episodes of the earthly life of the deceased nobleman. Here is Mereruk, accompanied by his wife, in a small canoe while fishing; Mereruk and his wife hunting in the desert; desert animals; a dog biting an antelope; a lion devouring a bull... In other frescoes, Mereruk, again accompanied by his wife, observes the work being done by his people. The same Mereruk is present at the cane reprisal against the delinquent headmen of the villages. In the same series - the scene of the offering of funeral gifts to the already deceased Mereruk.
Such frescoes or bas-reliefs cover the walls of the premises of many and many noble tombs, representing in the aggregate an unusually rich, talentedly executed encyclopedia of the life of the pharaoh's nobility.
But for what purpose, for whom were these "art galleries" created? After all, they were doomed to remain in eternal darkness after the mummy of the deceased was placed in the tomb, and the entrance to it was tightly walled up. It turns out that all these masterpieces of Egyptian art were intended for the deceased himself, the only inhabitant of the "eternal home". But for him they were not works of art at all - magic and prayers for the dead were supposed to revive the paintings and bas-reliefs, turn them into a true reality in which the KA of the deceased was to exist forever. It was an amazing, amazing purposefulness and naivete attempt to overcome death, an attempt to join eternal life with the help of magic.
The path of a mere mortal - even the noblest of nobles - to gaining immortality was, of course, no less thorny than the path of the pharaoh. And if the “Pyramid Texts” are full of spells about the inviolability of the royal name, then the funeral cares of ordinary people and their loved ones - along with the construction of the tomb already familiar to us and the burial of the mummified remains of the deceased in it, with the bringing of sacrificial gifts and the funeral service - are added care for perpetuate the name of the deceased.
The name was perceived by the Egyptians as a substance organically inherent in its bearer, the innermost part of his being, born by the mother together with the child. According to the apt expression of the Czech Egyptologist Fr. Leks, the Egyptians did not think like us: "Every existing thing has its own name"; on the contrary, they argued: "A thing without a name does not exist." It is natural, therefore, that the perpetuation of the name on tombstone immortalized life, and vice versa, the destruction of the name was tantamount to the destruction of its bearer. Over time, along with the name of the deceased, his titles and positions appear on the monuments, as well as lists of sacrificial gifts that were intended for him. To this purely ritual part of the text, little by little, in order to glorify the deceased, they began to add descriptions of the most remarkable episodes of his life, testifying to his merits before the pharaoh, about the latter's benevolence towards the deceased - in a word, everything that could elevate and exalt him. Thus, numerous inscriptions of nobles arose, which became the most important historical source of the era of the Old Kingdom.
The briefly described process of turning a ritual gravestone inscription into a detailed biography, a process that can be perfectly traced from the monuments, testified to the artistic talent of those who composed the inscriptions, and opened up wide scope for creativity. The “human” component in the inscriptions clearly begins to prevail over the ritual: interesting first-person stories about the life and work of important dignitaries of the Old Kingdom appear, devoid of any fantastic or religious elements.
Thus, in the poorly preserved inscription of Uashptah, the vizier and chief builder of the pharaoh of the 5th dynasty Neferkare, contains a dramatic story about the sudden death of this nobleman. The king, accompanied by his children and retinue, inspected the construction work, which was headed by Uashptah. He expressed satisfaction with their course and suddenly noticed that the vizier did not answer him. It turned out that he was in a faint. Pharaoh ordered to transfer him to the palace and immediately call the court doctors. They came with their reference papyri, but all their art turned out to be useless: the king's faithful servant died suddenly. Not only a fragmentary record of this story has come down to us, but a wonderful bas-relief has also been preserved, depicting its culmination - the death of a dignitary.
A large number of works of fiction have come down to us, dating back to purely folk tales and bylyam, although processed later by court and temple scribes.
The story of Sinuhet was especially popular. It was a nobleman who fled from Egypt during the unrest over the succession to the throne. He ended up in the Sinai desert, where he nearly died of hunger and thirst. The Bedouins saved him. He went on to Palestine, where he became friends with the leader of one of the tribes and married his daughter. Having defeated one native hero in a duel, Sinukhet took all his property for himself. Although he became rich, he began to be tormented by homesickness. He begged forgiveness from the pharaoh for his desertion and returned to Egypt. In the story, they are clearly contrasted cultural life at the ancient Egyptian court and the primitive life of Asians. However, there is no antipathy towards foreigners. They greet the fugitive Egyptian hospitably and show him generosity.
Statue of a scribe. It looked like the creators of the literature of ancient Egypt
Other literary narrative wears clean fabulous character(tale of the shipwrecked). One ancient Egyptian official, having gone on a sea voyage, almost perishes during a storm. Having lost the ship and all his companions, he gets on the wreckage of a sunken ship to the island where a good serpent lives, with whom the traveler stays until the pharaoh sends his sailors for him.
It should also be noted "The Tale of the Eloquent Peasant", "The Tale of the Doomed Prince", "The Tale of Truth and Falsehood", etc.
Many kinds of folk songs, sung by ancient Egyptian threshers, fishermen, porters, etc., as well as love poems in which a young man and a girl naively express their mutual affection.
A completely different character is the crackling and pompous court poetry, glorifying incredible feats kings.
Hieroglyphics of Ancient Egypt
An example of an ancient Egyptian philosophical work that raises the question of the meaning of life and its purpose is "The conversation of the disappointed with the soul." One of the participants in the dialogue (disappointed) complains about the cruelty and deceit of people and wants to go to afterworld seek justice there.
Another interlocutor (“the soul of the disappointed”) expresses skeptical views. No one has returned from the other world, no one knows if it is better there than on earth. It is better to seek happiness in earthly life. However, the disappointed Egyptian does not want to listen to consolations. In the end, he manages to convince his skeptical soul of the advantages of the other world over earthly life.
