Writing in ancient Egypt first appeared in the late 4th millennium BC during the late phase of predynastic Egypt. By the Old Kingdom, literary works included funerary texts, epistles and letters, hymns and poems, and commemorative autobiographical texts recounting the careers of prominent administrative officials. Ancient Egyptian literature has been preserved on a wide variety of media. This includes papyrus scrolls and packets, limestone or ceramic ostraca, wooden writing boards, monumental stone edifices and coffins. This book is intended to serve as an elementary introduction to the study of Egyptian Literature. Its object is to present a short series of specimens of Egyptian compositions, which represent all the great periods of literary activity in Egypt under the Pharaohs.

Contents:

The Pyramid Texts

Stories of Magicians who Lived under the Ancient Empire

The Book of the Dead

Books of the Dead of the Græco-Roman Period

The Egyptian Story of the Creation

Legends of the Gods

Historical Literature

Autobiographical Literature

Tales of Travel and Adventure

Fairy Tales

Egyptian Hymns to the Gods

Moral and Philosophical Literature

Miscellaneous Literature

The Book of the Dead

Papyrus of Ani

Hymn to the Nile

Great Hymn to Aten

Hymn to Osiris-Sokar

Tale of the Doomed Prince

The Magic Book

The Dialogue of a Misanthrope with His Own Soul

Ancient Egyptian Love Poems