Through the Eras

4chapter fourLITERATUREEdward BleibergIMPORTANT EVENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112OVERVIEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114TOPICSEgyptian Writing and Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115Egyptian Writing Materials and Publishing . . . . . 118The Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121The Idea of Genre in Middle EgyptianLiterature. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123The Literature of Moral Values. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126Pessimistic Literature. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128Story of Sinuhe. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130Emergence of New Kingdom Literature. . . . . . . . 131Demotic Literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138The Egyptian Literary Canon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141SIGNIFICANT PEOPLEKhaemwase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148Ptahhotep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148Wenamun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149DOCUMENTARY SOURCES . . . . . . . . . 149SIDEBARS AND PRIMARYDOCUMENTSPrimary sources are listed in italicsImmortality of Writers: Anonymity and Fame(an author claims that literary fame isthe best way to achieve immortality) . . . . . . . 122Combining Literary Genres (excerpt from TheTeachings of Amenemhet) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124Moral Declarations from the Autobiographyof Nefer-seshem-re (Nefer-seshem-recomments on social obligation). . . . . . . . . . . 127Sinuhe: A Man Who Changed (excerpt fromThe Story of Sinuhe). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131Hymn to the Sun God (the most completeaccount of the myth of Osiris) . . . . . . . . . . . 134Uncertain Doom (excerpt from The DoomedPrince). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142Teachings of Ptahhotep—Practical and Wise(practical and lofty wisdom fromPtahhotep) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144111