Through the Eras

LiteratureVignette from a Book of the Dead. BROOKLYN MUSEUM OF ART, 37.1826E, CHARLES EDWIN WILBOUR FUND. REPRODUCED BY PERMISSION.of the Dead. A few rare Demotic copies of the Book ofthe Dead exist, but traditional texts were still written inthe old language. The new contemporary script and languageseems to be used mostly for business, government,and narratives after Alexander the Great conquered thecountry in 332 B.C.E. Scholars assume that the royalcourt had little interest in Demotic literature and the audiencewas lower-level Egyptian scribes and priests. Thisgroup constituted the native Egyptian literate elite. Afterthe arrival of the Romans, there is at least one archivethat included both Demotic and Greek manuscripts, indicatingthat native Egyptians had an interest in bothlanguages. Additionally there is the literature calledGraeco-Egyptian. These texts might represent Greektranslations of Demotic and Greek literature set in Egyptfor the Greek-speaking Egyptians. This evidence suggeststhat the majority of Greeks in Egypt did not read Demoticeven if they could speak it.RANGE OF MATERIALS. Most of the Demotic literarypapyri now known to scholars were excavated between1964 and 1973 in North Saqqara. The texts datefrom Saite (Dynasty Twenty-six, 664–525 B.C.E.) to Romantimes (30 B.C.E.–395 C.E.). Included in this groupof papyri are stories, teachings, satire, prophecy, astrology,magic, and medical texts. Very few of these textshave been studied beyond identifying their basic context.In fact, the sudden rise in the number of knownDemotic texts in the late twentieth century will inevitablyrevolutionize scholarly ideas about the period.The majority of these texts are narratives.EARLIEST NARRATIVES. The fragmentary preservationof the earliest narratives found in Saqqara makes itdifficult to reconstruct any stories. One papyrus seemsto contain several stories within stories. They include thesufferings of a priest and of a young couple. AnotherSaqqara papyrus deals with a villain who kidnapsPharaoh. The goddess Hathor then guides a hero whofinds the king through the use of a horse. Another storytells of a magician making wax figures. A group of Ptolemaicstories (332–30 B.C.E.) set in the reign of KingAmasis (570–526 B.C.E.) begins with the king drinkingso much wine that he becomes drunk. The next day,Arts and Humanities Through the Eras: Ancient Egypt (2675 B.C.E.–332 B.C.E.) 139