Ancient Egyptian Literature

by Foster, John L.

• ISBN13: 9780292725270
• ISBN10: 0292725272
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-05-01
• Publisher: Univ of Texas Pr

Summary

Poetry, stories, hymns, prayers, and wisdom texts found exquisite written expression in ancient Egypt while their literary counterparts were still being recited around hearth fires in ancient Greece and Israel. Yet, because of its very antiquity and the centuries during which the language was forgotten, ancient Egyptian literature is a newly discovered country for modern readers.This anthology offers an extensive sampling of all the major genres of ancient Egyptian literature. It includes all the texts from John Foster's previous book Echoes of Egyptian Voices, along with selections from his Love Songs of the New Kingdom and Hymns, Prayers, and Songs: An Anthology of Ancient Egyptian Lyric Poetry, as well as previously unpublished translations of four longer and two short poems. Foster's translations capture the poetical beauty of the Egyptian language and the spirit that impelled each piece's composition, making these ancient masterworks sing for modern readers. An introduction to ancient Egyptian literature and its translation, as well as brief information about the authorship and date of each selection, completes the volume.

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
Acknowledgments	xxii
The Poems
Akhenaten's Hymn to the Sun	1	(7)
The Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor	8	(10)
``Why, just now, must you question your heart''	18	(1)
``I love you through the daytimes''	19	(1)
``My love is one and only''	20	(3)
``Love, how I'd love to slip down to the pond''	23	(1)
``Love of you is mixed deep in my vitals''	24	(1)
``I think I'll go home and lie very still''	25	(1)
Songs of the Birdcatcher's Daughter	26	(6)
The Instruction for Little Pepi on His Way to School	32	(12)
Longing for Memphis	44	(2)
``Oh, I'm bound downstream on the Memphis Ferry''	46	(2)
Rebuke Addressed to a Dissipated Scribe	48	(3)
Menna's Lament	51	(4)
The Debate between a Man Tired of Life and His Soul	55	(9)
The Resurrection of King Unis	64	(7)
Prayer to the King to Rise Up	71	(1)
Hymn to the King as a Primordial God	72	(2)
Hymn to the King as a Flash of Lightning	74	(1)
Prayer of the King as a Star Fading in the Dawn	75	(1)
The Prophecy of Neferty	76	(9)
The Testament of Amenemhat	85	(4)
Two Spells	89	(5)
Spell for Causing the Beloved to Follow After	90	(1)
Power from the Four Winds of Heaven	91	(3)
The Greatness of the King	94	(2)
Prayer of King Ramesses II	96	(4)
For a Portrait of the Queen	100	(2)
Hymn to Osiris	102	(8)
Hymn to the Nile	110	(8)
Hymn to the Rising Sun	118	(2)
In Praise of Amun	120	(2)
Lament to Amun	122	(2)
The Tale of Sinuhe	124	(25)
From the Leiden Hymns	149	(20)
The Prayers of Pahery	169	(10)
From the Tomb of King Intef	179	(2)
The Harper's Song for Inherkhawy	181	(2)
From The Eloquent Peasant	183	(3)
The Peasant's Eighth Complaint	184	(2)
From The Maxims of Ptahhotep	186	(5)
The Instruction for Merikare	191	(15)
The Wisdom of Amenemopet	206	(20)
The Immortality of Writers (Epilogue)	226	(5)
Chronology	231	(2)
Glossary	233	(21)
List of Hieroglyphic Passages	254	(1)
Sources of the Texts	255	(6)
Bibliography	261