The egyptian literature it is one of the earliest written manifestations of human thought. It was made with a series of signs and symbols called hieroglyphs, which in their time (third millennium BC) allowed the inhabitants of that town on the banks of the Nile to transcribe everything related to their history and customs..
Contrary to what many believe, the invention of writing was not the exclusive first of the Egyptians, but rather the conception of the first written communication system: cuneiform writing, three centuries earlier, corresponded to their Mesopotamian neighbors. However, the Mesopotamian contribution in no way detracts from the Egyptian.
The people of the delta of the Nile made important contributions, such as the use of pigments for the elaboration of manuscripts and the invention of papyrus. These two resources made writing a more accessible and far-reaching art. Both cultures gave rise to the history of mankind, and the Egyptian, due to its advances with papyrus, gave way to the book.
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The writing, or what we can classify as a proto-writing, appears for the first time in Egypt before the dynasties, ending the IV millennium BC. These writings, made mostly on walls, facades, vases and stones, had an objective merely associated with the basics of the culture and its funeral customs..
It is at the beginning of the Egyptian Old Kingdom - already entered the III millennium, approximately the XXVII century a. C.- that a more sophisticated writing is beginning to be seen, with an extended use of papyrus and with broad themes, such as epistles, poems, letters, funeral texts and even autobiographies.
It must be clear that at that time a literature with distracting motives was not created. The texts were focused on codifying as much information as possible about the lives of the most important leaders and their contributions to civilization, as well as the technological and scientific advances of the time..
It was in the 21st century BC. C., during the flowering of the Middle Kingdom, when literature began to be implemented for narrative purposes. This period marked a milestone in Egyptian culture and it was thanks to the notable increase in the profession of scribes during that period..
Thanks to this, and to the increasing advance of civilization at that time, written production reached magnificent levels. However, the vast majority of the people were not literate and could not decipher everything encoded on walls, posters and papyri. Writing was a weapon of great power, the elites knew it and kept it to themselves.
As time went by, more social strata were accessing the letters, their meanings and their elaboration, which allowed the rulers to massify the contents of the edicts and new laws.
Already in the New Kingdom, century XIV a. C., the Egyptians assumed the language called Late Egyptian. The scribes of that time transcribed all the old texts to the new forms, to avoid the loss of knowledge and for their redistribution in the courts..
Many of the ancient texts maintained their fame during the New Kingdom. When the Ptolemaic period began, the 4th century BC. C., began the literary manifestations known as prophetic texts. At that time the teaching of the Amenemhat Instructions.
At that time popular tales were also considered of great value, among which the Sarcophagus texts and the Sinuhé history. Most of the Egyptian texts of this time and of the previous ones were kept in the temples, with copies on walls and on papyri.
Ptolemy I, knowing the great literary wealth of his people, ordered the construction of the Library of Alexandria in the early third century BC. C., in honor of Alexander the Great. There, no more and no less than 900,000 papyri containing all possible information about their culture and part of the surroundings were safeguarded..
With the invasion of Julio Cesar in 48 BC. C., the library suffered great losses that were exponential with the fall of Egypt in 31 BC. C., in the hands of the Romans.
At the beginning, its main function was to compile customs and rites to pass them on in the most reliable way, generation after generation..
All literature revolved around the myths, customs, laws and behaviors to follow to be considered an exemplary citizen. Based on this, the texts were elaborated.
All these texts were intended to transfer knowledge, so the language used is simple to achieve a better apprehension of the contents by listeners.
It is very common in this type of text to highlight what concerns the Egyptian gods, their cosmogony and their effect on the lives of mortals..
Added to this are factors such as curses or great misadventures for those who try to violate divine designs. Knowledge was also used for crowd control purposes.
If something characterized Egyptian writers in ancient times, it was their ability to recreate magical situations to give reason to existence itself. In addition to this, the use of simple literary figures to explain their ideas made knowledge easily accessible to the groups..
Ptahhotep's Instructions (III millennium BC, predynastic work).
Satire of the trades (XXV century BC, copies made during the XIX Dynasty are kept).
Kagemni Instructions (20th century BC, copies made during the 12th Dynasty are kept).
Ipuur Papyrus (19th century BC, copies made during the 12th Dynasty are kept).
The story of the two brothers (13th century BC, during the 19th Dynasty).
Awdat Sinuhi (1941). He was the winner of the Nobel Prize. This novel was based on the Sinuhé's tale, one of the most representative stories of Egyptian culture.
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