The Literature of Ancient Egypt (Diploma Course)

Explore a cycle of marvels performed by Egyptian priests at the court, revealing prophecies, the birth of kings, and dynastic tales surrounding King Cheops and the magicians.

The king of upper and lower Egypt tests Diddy who reads what is cut off, then witnesses the birth of three kings who will govern the land and renew temples.

The eloquent peasant recounts a courtly appeal for justice after his goods are stolen, using rhetoric to move the chief steward and king toward Ma'at and rightful restitution.

The eloquent peasant pleads his case before the king and magistrates, calling for truth, balance, and justice. He warns against falsehood and corruption, teaching integrity through petition.

Explore the shipwrecked sailor, an early ancient Egyptian tale of a voyage south, shipwreck, a talking serpent, and a return to Egypt, inviting questions about fate, endurance, and myth.

Explore the story of Sinuhe as a literary narrative tracing a resourceful egyptian official's flight, exile, and eventual return, reflecting language, time, and burial rites.

The lecture portrays Sinuhe as a godlike, unmatched warrior and trusted adviser who conquers foreign lands, expands borders, and brings wealth and prosperity to Egypt.

Sinuhe describes fighting a formidable Retenu champion and winning, seizing cattle and treasure. A royal decree brings him back to Egypt, where he seeks the capital and enduring memory.

Sinuhe returns, regains favor, and receives royal honors, wealth, and a gilded statue as the king welcomes him and blesses the unity of Upper and Lower Egypt.

Narrate the quarrel of Apophis and Seknenre, highlighting Thebes versus the southern Hyksos realm, and the debated causes of war amid complaints about hippopotamus lagoon disruptions.

Relate the capture of Juba as pharaoh Makeni and Robert Moses III subdue a rebellious town through a Trojan-horse-like ruse, imprisoning and enslaving its inhabitants.

Explore the tale of the doomed egyptian crown prince, a coming-of-age adventure about revealing royal identity and facing three fates: crocodile, snake, or dog.

Trace the tale of two brothers, Anubis and Ptah, as jealousy, deception, and magical transformations drive their journey from the cedar valley to royal succession in Egypt.

Explore the contending of Horus and Seth, a long New Kingdom narrative that tests divine judgment, royal succession, and the balance of order between gods and kings.

Overcomes Seth in a court of the universal lord, Horus is installed as ruler of the two lands, and the land rejoices at his ascent.

The blinding of truth by falsehood tells how truth, blinded by a brother’s deceit, is avenged by his son, ending in harmony and judgment.

Discover the myth of Astarte and the insatiable sea, a fragmentary 18th Dynasty Egyptian tale. It centers on tribute, divine powers, and a sea-god conflict drawn from Near Eastern motifs.

Delve into a ghost story from ancient Egypt, where the dead are thoughtful personalities and the living fulfill rites and offerings. A high priest mediates the exchange.

The report of Wenamon chronicles an egyptian envoy's quest to obtain lumber for Amon Ra's great barge, navigating harbors, thefts, and politics amid Egypt's prestige decline.

Summarize the first part of the instruction of Hardedef, an early Egyptian text, featuring self-reproof, establishing a household, a wife and son, and the house of death is for life.

Explore the maxims of Ptahhotep, an ancient Egyptian etiquette handbook offering practical moral guidance on humility, restraint, and prudent conduct to advance in life and leadership.

Apply Ptahhotep's maxims by listening with discernment, showing mercy, and acting with restraint and integrity to earn respect, avoid censure, and guide posterity.

The teachings for the vizier offer maxims on self-control at meals, warning against gluttony and drunkenness, and guiding humble, meek conduct to preserve a good name.

Explore Merikare's teaching to his successor, outlining prudent governance, justice and clemency, and the duties of a king to quell rebellion, guard borders, and honor the gods.

Follow Amenemhat I's instruction to his son Senwosret to guard against tyranny, distrust intimate friends, and stay vigilant as he rules the Nile lands in the twelfth dynasty.

Discover the loyalist instruction from the Sehetepibre stela, urging children to respect and obey the king, and praising the king's nourishment, protection, and governance of the two lands for eternity.

Examine the ancient Egyptian instruction of a son, emphasizing loyalty to the king and the value of wise discourse.

Explore a Middle Kingdom papyrus narrative of a man weary of life, debating with his bar about suicide and coping with life's evils, revealing early psychological insights.

Explore the admonitions of an egyptian sage, preserved on papyrus from the 19th dynasty, lamenting social upheaval and urging the king to restore order through tradition and divine aid.

Explore the Lamentations of Khakheper Re-sonbe as a dialogue between heart and self, revealing grief, chaos, and mourning in ancient Egypt.

Explore Nefertiti's prophecies in a royal papyrus from the 18th dynasty, blending propaganda with prophecy, foretelling turmoil from asiatic invasion and the rise of a southern king who restores order.

Amenemope's instruction reveals ethical guidance for life and prosperity, contrasting hot-headed and temperate conduct, with parallels to Proverbs and official duties in New Kingdom Egypt.

Examine Amenemope II's ancient Egyptian instruction on honesty, justice, and fair dealing, stressing avoiding duplicity, not coveting property, and proper speech before God.

Explore selections from the pyramid texts, the oldest Egyptian mortuary rituals of the 5th and 6th dynasties, detailing burial, ascension, and rebirth of the king in the Old Kingdom.

Examine selections from the pyramid texts that vow the deceased transformation into a god, protection by Horus and Ra, and ascension to the throne of Osiris in the afterlife.

Explore selections from the coffin texts, including spill 148 and spill 162, detailing Horus’s birth from Osiris’s seed, divine protection, and the four winds guiding the dead.

Explore the negative confession from the book of the dead, where the deceased declares innocence before the hall of the two truths and forty-two gods in the underworld.

explore Akhenaten's sun-disc worship, Amarna reforms, and the erasure of old theologies as he elevates the Aten and positions the king as intermediary between the Aten and the people.

Explore penitential hymns carved as hieroglyphic inscriptions in the western Thebes necropolis, praising Amun and portraying humility before a merciful yet punishing deity.

Explore this ancient egyptian myth, the book of the heavenly cow, one of the oldest extended narratives, detailing how Ra and Nut restore order, birth the cosmos, and guide renewal.

Cycle of songs, six in all, honors Senwosret III, praising his arrival at a town south of Memphis and his securing of the two lands and borders against enemies.

Explore the Semna Stela, a Middle Kingdom boundary monument with a royal autobiography detailing border defense, aggression, bravery, and divine manifestations.

Explore the Nefrohotep stela, detailing the king of upper and lower Egypt’s divine lineage, temple offerings, and monument building to honor Osiris, Abydos, and the sun disc.

Celebrate the king of Upper and Lower Egypt's victories and restored temples. Show how Libyans are defeated, offerings are renewed, and peace returns across the land.

Amid a seven-year famine, grain runs scarce and the king of Upper and Lower Egypt issues a temple decree at Elephantine to restore inundation, feed the land, and sustain offerings.

Explore three private autobiographies of the old kingdom from southern sites like Abydos, highlighting Winnie the elder’s trusted roles, military campaigns, palace duties, and his close bond with the king.

Explore Harkhuf's Dynasty 12 autobiographical inscription, detailing his roles as soul companion and overseer of foreigners, his border campaigns, and tribute-bearing journeys to foreign lands.

Examine scribal traditions in ancient Egyptian schools, where masters train apprentices in writing, tax records, and daily duties, while warnings against idleness promote mastery and service.

Explore how the tale of the eloquent peasant secures justice in Ancient Egypt, illustrating equality under the law through a narrative of a robbed peasant, a landowner, and magistrates.

Explore the contending of Horus and Seth as the gods argue over rightful kingship of Egypt, Horus proving himself through contests and Isaias's interventions restoring order.

Explore an ancient egyptian ghost story in which high priest Hap consoles a restless spirit whose lost tomb and missing offerings prompt a quest in Thebes to restore peace.

Explore the maxims of Ptahhotep, a 37-topic wisdom book preserved in papyri, emphasizing humility, leadership, good manners, self-control, and prudent conduct through a grandson’s dedication to lasting wisdom.

Explore the pyramid texts, ancient Egyptian spells inscribed on the pyramids at Saqqara in the Old Kingdom, guiding the king’s soul through the afterlife toward the field of reeds.

Explore the Egyptian book of the dead, a collection of spells guiding the deceased through the hall of truth toward paradise.

Investigate the Israel Stela, the earliest Egyptian reference to Israel, noting that the text is not focused on Israel and instead records campaigns against the Libyans and other enemies.

Explore the famine stela, a hieroglyph inscribed granite block near Aswan detailing seven years of drought and the Nile flood failure, including Imhotep and Elephantine.

Conclude by highlighting the literature of ancient Egypt, with emphasis on the Book of the Dead, stillness, and autobiographies, and provide a review for future studies.