who claimed that it was the reason for the fall of the Western
Roman Empire to the Visigoths.
Literature in ancient Africa represents oral and written
indigenous creative thought. Although many documents ap-
pear to have been written during this time, few people could
read them because they were either not literate or the lan-
guage of the text was foreign to them, like the new Christian
religious texts that began to permeate society. Preliterate and
literate members of society could appreciate indigenous writ-
ten literature as it was read in an oral performance. Th ey also
were exposed to the reading of and the chanting performance
of liturgical literature written in foreign languages. However,
all members of society could enjoy and appreciate the many
forms of oral literature that eventually were later transcribed
into text or incorporated into other written texts.
EGYPT
BY KELLY-ANNE DIAMOND REED
Th e ancient Egyptians produced many types of written texts,
such as religious works (funerary texts and autobiographies,
hymns, and litanies, or collections of prayers), administra-
tive documents (inventories and payrolls), legal documents,
medical texts, historical texts, letters, manuals, onomastica
(catalogues of things arranged by kind), spells, narratives,
love poems, teachings, dialogues, and lamentations. Th e
texts are diverse, so the question arises as to which of them
can be categorized as literature in the Western sense of the
word. Th is question is diffi cult to answer, and not all schol-
ars agree.
Unfortunately, there is no Egyptian word to defi ne the
diff erent types of writings. Th e blanket term writings was
used by the ancient Egyptians to describe most of their tex-
tual material. Alternatively, the terms command and teaching
were a l s o s ome t i me s appl ied. Moder n s chola rs tend to c atego -
rize the documents based on their context, content, physical
form, date, or script. Th e majority of what was written down
was written to communicate or record information. However,
there are several texts that seem to conform to modern ideas
of literature.
OLD KINGDOM
In the beginning writing was used to label items, such as a
person, a place, or a belonging and sometimes even an event.
Th e art of writing was said to be derived from the gods, and
there was a certain mystique that went along with the writ-
ten word. Th e fi rst time that writing emerges on a large scale
is in the Off ering List that appears in the Old Kingdom (ca.
2575–ca. 2134 b.c.e.) private tombs. Th ese tombs belonged to
the wealthy nobles who generally invested everything they
had in their tomb construction. Th is sort of list enumerates
such items as materials, ointments, and food products. Th ese
were the items that the deceased wished to receive. Th e Of-
fering List was a signifi cant step toward the development of
literature, and this occurred in the private realm.
Eventually the list increased in size and warranted re-
organization. Th e Egyptians then decided to substitute for
the list a “Prayer for Off erings.” Th is prayer became the focal
point for all tomb decoration. Simultaneously, with the addi-
tion of narrative, the long lists of the deceased’s titles evolved
into an autobiography. It was during the Fift h Dynasty (ca.
2465–ca. 2323 b.c.e.) that both the prayer and the autobiogra-
phy were standard features in tomb decoration. However, the
“Prayer for Off erings” had certain limitations in that it was
tightly bound to the cult of the dead; the autobiography, on
the other hand, became quite elaborate in the Sixth Dynasty
(ca. 2323–ca. 2150 b.c.e.) and remained in use for the next
two millennia.
Th e autobiography focused on the positive characteris-
tics of the deceased, or the idealized characteristics created
by society. Nothing negative or derogatory was ever included
in these inscriptions. Th e purpose of the autobiography was
to preserve the name of the deceased for all eternity. Th e
deceased himself would be reborn in the hereaft er, and his
name would live forever on earth. An example of a Sixth
Dynasty tomb autobiography is that of Weni, which consists
of 51 vertical columns of hieroglyphs. It is from Abydos. A
short excerpt reads as follows: “While I was senior warden of
Nekhen, his majesty made me a sole companion and overseer
of the royal tenants. I replaced four overseers of royal tenants
who were there. I acted for his majesty’s praise in guarding,
escorting the king, and attending. I acted throughout so that
his majesty praised me for it exceedingly.” Oft en the tomb au-
tobiography seems very self-laudatory to the modern reader.
One of the most well-known Old Kingdom tomb autobiog-
raphies is that of Harkhuf, which also dates to the Sixth Dy-
nasty and is found at Aswān.
Accompanying the autobiography was the more formu-
laic catalogue of virtues. Th is set of moral standards mirrors
the ethical code illustrated in the second type of literature
that emerged in the Old Kingdom: wisdom literature. Wis-
dom literature can be broken down further under the head-
ings teachings (instructions), laments, and dialogues. Short
maxims were created and then consolidated to form the in-
struction. Th e teachings, or didactic texts, take the form of
instructions given by a father to his son. In some examples
the characters involved are offi cials or royalty from the past.
Th e earliest surviving instruction is that of Hardjedef.
Th is text has been compiled from nine ostraca (pieces of pot-
tery with inscribed writing) of New Kingdom date (ca. 1550–
ca. 1070 b.c.e.) and a wooden tablet of the Late Period (ca.
712–ca. 332 b.c.e.). However, it is thought that the text dates
to the Fift h Dynasty; it opens, “Beginning of the Instruction
made by the Hereditary Prince, Count, King’s Son, Hard-
jedef, for his son, his nursling, whose name is Au-ib-re.” One
of the preserved instructions advises that one should found a
household, take a wife, and have a son.
Th e “Instruction Addressed to Kagemni” and the
“Teaching of the Vizier Ptah-hotep” also date to the Old King-
dom. Th e former text is preserved in the Papyrus Prisse, butliterature: Egypt 643