Through the Eras

LiteratureLooking at the evidence that survives, no original narrativefiction or teachings date to the first historicaldivision of the New Kingdom, called the Eighteenth Dynasty(1539–1292 B.C.E.). Most of the texts copied atthis time seem to have been composed in the TwelfthDynasty hundreds of years earlier. Historical narrativeson temple walls might be an innovation of this time.There is also meager evidence of poetry. The second partof the New Kingdom (Dynasties Nineteen and Twenty,1292–1075 B.C.E.), in contrast, seems to abound withnew literary genres including narratives in a new colloquialdialect, love poetry, and new manuals of advice inthe old tradition. Egyptologists question whether the survivingevidence that creates the picture outlined here istruly indicative of how events occurred. They note inconnection with this situation the enormous creativityfound in the visual arts during the Eighteenth Dynasty.They question whether scribes of the Eighteenth Dynastyceased to create new fiction and composed onlyhistorical texts and hymns. Perhaps the accidents of discoveryhave created a false picture of the Eighteenth Dynasty.HISTORICAL BACKGROUND. The golden age ofEgyptian literature coincided with the end of the TwelfthDynasty in 1759 B.C.E. when the reign of QueenSobeknefru came to a close. The Thirteenth Dynastyushered in a time of conflict that had split the countryin two by 1630 B.C.E. The divided nation was ruled bySemitic-speaking foreigners called the Hyksos in thenorth and Theban princes in the south until 1539 B.C.E.when Theban princes drove the Hyksos out of Egypt.The Theban prince Ahmose (1539–1514 B.C.E.)founded the Eighteenth Dynasty of the New Kingdom,the period of greatest geographical power of the ancientEgyptian state. The New Kingdom included threedynasties—the Eighteenth (1539–1292 B.C.E.), led bydescendants of Ahmose; the Nineteenth (1292–1190B.C.E.), ruled by descendants of a certain GeneralRamesses which included Ramesses the Great; and theTwentieth (1190–1075 B.C.E.), led by a new familywhich continued to use the Ramesses name even thoughthey were probably unrelated. Although Egypt was againunified, this period of Egyptian history was not withoutits share of upheaval; in the Eighteenth Dynasty, KingAkhenaten (1352–1336 B.C.E.) introduced religious reformsin a period known to modern scholarship as the“Amarna Period,” in which he proclaimed a new religionthat excluded the traditional gods. His successor,King Tutankhamun, restored the traditional gods aboutfour years after Akhenaten died, and subsequent Nineteenth-and Twentieth-dynasty kings continued in thisold tradition. These historical events perhaps were a majorinfluence on the composition of literature during theNew Kingdom. In the early years of this period, scribesreached back to the historical precedents of the MiddleKingdom for an authentically Egyptian mode of expressionafter years of foreign domination. However, as theNew Kingdom kings provided a more stable state overthe course of time, authors expressed a new Egyptianself-confidence through creating new forms of literature.COPIED FROM THE MIDDLE KINGDOM. The MiddleKingdom’s literary achievements in prose and versenarrative fiction were not duplicated in the EighteenthDynasty, and scholars question whether scribes from thisdynasty composed new works of literature of the typeand intent of those written in the Middle Kingdom.Many surviving texts from this dynasty are generallycopies of works from the Middle Kingdom, acknowledgedeven then to be Egypt’s classical age of literature.At least one Eighteenth-dynasty copy of The Story of Sinuhe,the great epic poem composed in the Twelfth Dynasty,is known. The earliest preserved manuscripts ofthe Twelfth Dynasty works The Teachings for Merykare,The Prophecy of Neferty, The Teachings of Amenemhet, andThe Instruction of Khety also date to the Eighteenth Dynasty.ORIGINAL COMPOSITIONS. Scholars have proposedthree possible genres where Eighteenth-dynasty scribescould have broken new ground: historical texts, love poetry,and advice. The earliest preserved historical narrativesdate to this period. These works include TheKamose Stele, The Annals of Thutmose III, and The GebelBarkal Stele. It is unclear whether there were Twelfthdynastytexts of this type. Love poetry is well knownfrom the Nineteenth and Twentieth Dynasties. One textfrom the Eighteenth Dynasty might anticipate the laterwork, though it is a description of the city of Thebes.Finally, two manuals of advice might date to the EighteenthDynasty, though the only manuscripts date tothe Nineteenth and Twentieth Dynasties. These textsare known as The Teachings of Any and The Teachingsof Amenemope.HISTORICAL WRITING. Eighteenth-dynasty scribesproduced historical narratives that might represent anoriginal literary genre. The Kamose Stele is considered tobe a work of literature because it narrates a story, butthis text has a stronger affinity with historical literaturethan with classical, fictional narrative. This text, though,certainly dates to the early Eighteenth Dynasty becauseit is preserved on a dated stela (an upright, inscribed slabof stone). It tells the story of Kamose’s war to expel the132 Arts and Humanities Through the Eras: Ancient Egypt (2675 B.C.E.–332 B.C.E.)