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Transcript

The Tale of Sinuhe

  • Around 1940-1650 B.C.E is considered the classical period of Egyptian literature.
  • tales, wisdom texts, and dialogues
  • The Tale of Sinuhe
  • The Tale of Sinuhe is one of the most elaborate tales of all the Middle Kingdom.

The Tale of Sinuhe

Who was reading?

The Tale of Sinuhe

  • Probably only a few hundred people could read and write.
  • It was restricted to the elite individuals in society
  • Literature was mostly enjoyed through story telling, not by reading.
  • So, speech was valued in ancient Egyptian society.
  • Repetition, alliteration, and other literary devices were used in writing to enhance oral performance.
  • Sinuhe was a courtier who tells a story about his escape from home, trips abroad, and his return.
  • He flees Egypt as a young man and seeks refuge in Palestine and Syria.
  • Eventually, he is accepted back into the Egyptian court. He dies and is buried with honors.

Ancient Egypt

Translations

  • Ancient Egypt has one of the oldest literary traditions apart from China, Mesopotamia, and India
  • The literary texts from ancient Egypt date back to 2700 B.C.E..
  • Egyptians used writing in multiple forms including: tombs, stone stelae, and statues.
  • They wrote literature to express stories of loss, everyday life, adventure, love, fables, fantasy, and tales of adventure.
  • During most of the Common Era, ancient Egyptian literature was unknown.

The Patrician and the Count,

Governor of the Sovereign's Domains in Syrian lands,

the True Acquaintance of the King, whom he loves,

the Follower, Sinuhe says,

'I was a Follower who followed his lord,

a servant of the Royal Chambers

and of the Patrician Lady, the greatly praised,

the Queen of Senwosret in Khnemsut,

the Princess of Amenemhat in Qanefru,

Nefru, the blessed lady.

The Norton Anthology, The Tale of Sinuhe

The Prince, the Count, the Governor of the domains of the sovereign in the lands of the Asiatics. True and beloved Friend of the King, the Attendant Sinuhe, says:

I was an attendant who attended his lord, a servant of the royal harem, waiting on the Princess and the highly praised Royal Wife of King Sesostris in Khenemsut - the daughter of King Amenemhet in Kanefru - Nefru the revered.

Alan H. Gardiner Notes on the Story of Sinuhe, Librairie Honoré Champion, Paris, 1916

The Written Language

Ancient Egypt

  • There were a few narratives and motifs that were passed to the Greeks and from there the medieval European texts.
  • In the 19th century, European scholars were able to decipher the lost language.
  • Because the Egyptians used papyrus for their writing, few works were discovered by the Europeans.
  • Egyptian is most similar to ancient Semitic languages like Hebrew and Akkadian, but is it very distantly related.
  • Egyptian was mostly written in two main scripts:
  • Hieroglyphs- A more elaborate script, used for more prestigious written documents
  • Hieratic- used for day to day administrative needs
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