UNESCO Ancient Civilizations of Africa (Editor G. Mokhtar)

The legacy of Pharaortic Egypt
an influence that goes back even farther and comes down to us through
the intermediary of the Greeks? It is difficult not to discern in the clustered
columns of Sakkara and the proto-Doric columns at Beni Hasan the remote
ancestors of the columns of Greek and, later, Roman classical art. One
fact, at least, seems established: the architectural traditions of the Pharaohs
made their way into Africa firstvia Meroe and then Napata, which transmitted
forms such as pyramids and pylons, among others, as well as
techniques such as building with small, hewn, well-shaped masonry.
Cultural contributions
This side of the Egyptian Pharaonic legacy is an abstract one. It includes
their contributions in the fields of writing, literature, art and religion.
LITERATURE
The Egyptians developed a hieroglyphic writing system in which many of
the symbols came from their African environment. For this reason it can
be assumed to be their original creation rather than borrowed (see
Introduction).
The ancient Egyptian at firstexpressed himself in pictorial ideograms
which were soon formalized into symbols reflecting phonetic sounds which,
in their later abbreviated form, could be considered as a step towards an
alphabetic script.
Cultural contacts with the Semitic script developed in Sinai, where there
appeared distinctive forms of writing which borrowed forms possessing
affinities with hieroglyphics, may have contributed to the invention of the
true alphabet which was borrowed by the Greeks and had its influence
on Europe. Apart from this, the ancient Egyptians invented the tools of
writing (which we have already described in the section on crafts). Their
discovery of papyrus, handed down to classical antiquity, thanks to its light
weight, flexibility and the almost unlimited dimensions that could be
papyrus 'scrolls', certainly played a role in the diffusion of thought and
knowledge. There is an extensive literature dating from Pharaonic times
covering every aspect of Egyptian life, from religious theories to literature,
such as stories, plays, poetry, dialogues and criticism. This literature can
be considered as one of the most vital cultural legacies of ancient Egypt.
Even though it is impossible to determine what parts of it were taken over
by neighbouring African cultures, a modern ethnologist was able to recognize
a legend of Egyptian origin, one also found in a text of Herodotus,
among the Nilotes of the province of Equatoria in the Sudan.
Some the most impressive examples of Egyptian literature are those
written during the First Intermediate Period and during the early Middle
Kingdom. One eminent scholar of Egyptology, James Henry Breasted,
considered this literature as an early sign of intellectual and social maturity.
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