The literature of ancient Egypt was always religious and philosophical in nature. Its oldest manifestations consist of inscriptions made on pyramids and sumptuous tombs. Within this literary context, the Harper's Song, conveyed by disbelief in relation to life after death and suggesting the enjoyment of worldly pleasures.
In addition to the texts carved on tombs and pyramids, there were also writings made on papyrus with texts that contained philosophical features, tales, novels and religious hymns. O A Misanthrope's Dialogue with his Soul it is a condemnation of the iniquities and injustices of this life and an exaltation of the other – true deliverance from all human misfortunes. They were very well known The sinehue adventures, busy autobiography of interesting episodes, and the Castaway Story, an odyssey experienced by an Egyptian sailor.
are famous the hymn to Amon Ra, god of gods, and the Triumphal Song of Ramses II: the first exalts the greatness of the Ammonian deity; and the second, the deeds of the victorious Pharaoh of the Hittites. The call deserves special mention.
book of the dead, a collection of texts of a moral nature that should be recited by the soul of the deceased when attending the Court of Osiris, god of vegetation, the forces of nature and the dead. Follow one of the best-known fragments of the book of the dead:"Glory to You, Lord of Truth and Justice! Glory to you, Great God, Lord of Truth and Justice! To you I have come, my Lord, and to you I present myself to contemplate Your perfections. Because I know You, I know Your name and the names of the forty-two deities who are with you in the room of Truth and Justice, living on the spoils of the sinners and gorging themselves on his blood, on the day when words weigh before Osiris, that of the righteous voice: Double Spirit, Lord of Truth and Justice, is Yours Name. Truly I know you, lords of Truth and Justice; I brought you the truth and destroyed the lie for you. I have not committed any fraud against men; I did not torment widows; I didn't lie in court; I don't know what bad faith is; I did nothing forbidden; I did not force the workers foreman to do more daily than the work due; I wasn't negligent; I have not been idle; I did nothing abominable to the gods; I did not harm the slave before his master; I did not make you suffer from hunger; I didn't cry; I didn't kill; I did not order death to treason; don't cheat anyone; I did not take the temple bread; do not take away offerings to the gods; steal neither the provisions nor the bandages of the dead; I didn't have illegitimate gains through scale pan weights; I didn't get milk from the mouth of boys; I did not hunt the divine birds with a net; I didn't catch the sacred fish in their tanks; I did not cut off the water in its passage; I did not put out the sacred fire; I did not violate the divine heaven in your chosen offerings; do not chase the oxen out of the divine properties; I didn't drive away any gods in passing. I am pure! I am pure! I am pure!".
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The literature of ancient Egypt projected itself on the literature of other peoples. The contribution of Egyptian civilization to religious and ethical ideas is transcendent. From the Nile came much of the intellectual progress of later times. Philosophy, astronomy, mathematics and literature were born in Egypt. This fact alone is enough for us to have a clear idea of the importance of the heritage that was bequeathed to posterity by the ancient civilization of the pharaohs.
By Lilian Aguiar
Graduated in History
Brazil School Team
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
AGUIAR, Lilian Maria Martins de. "The Literature of Ancient Egypt"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/historiag/a-literatura-antigo-egito.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.