Through the Eras

Literaturescene is common to a genre that Egyptologists call theKönigsnovelle, or the “King’s Story,” in which the king’sbravery, cunning, and wisdom are emphasized. In thisinstance, the officers advise the king against proceedingto the battle along a narrow path, fearing an ambush.In imploring the king to take the army along alonger, safer route, they speak to the king in a way thatwould be impossible for mere officers in actuality, suggestingthat the author took some liberties in describingthe event in order to underline the king’s valor.Derchain recognizes this liberty as a mark of a particularauthor. This material, however, is completely omittedfrom The Gebel Barkal Stele, a text that anotherscribe wrote based on the same sources. The stele alsorecounts the highlights of the reign. Though the authorincludes the Battle of Megiddo, he fails to mentionthe council of war. The author narrates the stelein the first person, using the king as narrator. The languageis hyperbolic and triumphant. The profits of thewar are its first concern. Unlike the more factual presentationof The Annals, the king is presented as an oratorand a man of destiny who stands above the crowd,indicating the purely political intentions of the text.Perhaps the author of The Gebel Barkal Stele wrote fora different audience from the one envisioned by the authorof The Annals. Based on the differing depictionsof the same historical event, scholars can conclude thatthe author of The Annals was an historian, while theauthor of the Gebel Barkal Stele was a rhetorician andpoet. These two texts reveal how authors shaped thematerial, even though they were anonymous. All Egyptianauthors left some mark on the texts that they composed.Even when a work is a compilation ofstereotyped claims, the author’s importance is clear inthe way he chooses, combines, and emphasizes the informationhe conveys.SOURCESPhillipe Derchain, “Auteur et société,” in Ancient EgyptianLiterature: History and Forms. Ed. Antonio Loprieno(Leiden, Netherlands: E. J. Brill, 1996): 83–96.Georges Posener, L’enseignement loyaliste: sagesse égyptiennedu Moyen Empire (Geneva: Droz, 1976).THE IDEA OF GENRE IN MIDDLEEGYPTIAN LITERATUREIMPORTANCE. Understanding Middle Egyptiangenres is central to any understanding of ancient Egyptianliterature. The literature created during the MiddleKingdom (2008–1630 B.C.E.) in the MiddleEgyptian dialect, the spoken language of this period,was the classical literature of ancient Egypt. Egyptianscontinued to read, study, and enjoy it through the NewKingdom into the Late Period—essentially the full extentof subsequent ancient Egyptian history. In moderntimes, a genre refers to a type of literature. Eachgenre has a formal pattern known to readers and authorsand is related to the culture surrounding it.Egyptian authors and readers had no idea of modernliterary genres like the novel, epic, tragedy, or comedy.These European literary genres derive from theories developedby the Greek philosopher Aristotle (384–322B.C.E.) who lived 1,500 years after authors composedin Middle Egyptian. The Egyptians did have their owncategories of literature, however. It is important to rememberthat such systems of classification belong to aparticular culture. There are no universal classificationsystems in literature, but the idea of genre does existacross cultures. Knowledge of genre is important becauseit influences judgments of quality. When modernreaders try to appreciate ancient Egyptian literature,a particular work seems deficient because the rules andexpectations held by the original readers and authorsare not clear. For example, The Shipwrecked Sailor hasbeen compared to a modern short story. Yet it lacksthe clear motivations and characterizations that a modernreader might expect in this modern genre. Modernreaders, thus, judge by rules unknown to the originalreaders and authors. It is thus important to define ancientEgyptian genres that the original readers from theculture would have recognized intuitively. If modernreaders are to understand an ancient literature theymust understand the expectations the original readershad when they read. Indeed, the author shaped narrativeswhile writing to conform to the original reader’sexpectations.DISCOVERING ANCIENT GENRES. Egyptologistshave recognized certain patterns in Egyptian literaryworks and then grouped works by type to establish ancientgenres. These patterns sometimes can be recognizedin the contents. For example, Egyptologists grouptogether narratives that tell a story, teachings that giveadvice, or poetry that describes emotions. They alsogroup works by linguistic forms. These forms includeformulae—exact wordings repeated from work towork—or patterns—such as the thought couplet wherethe same thought is expressed twice in different words.Another criterion for distinguishing genres is the socialsetting. Some works describe only royalty or commonersor priests. Scholars consider all of these factors whenidentifying genres.Arts and Humanities Through the Eras: Ancient Egypt (2675 B.C.E.–332 B.C.E.) 123