Egyptian Literature
Writing in Egypt goes back to pretty much the earliest writing
anywhere. Nobody really knows yet whether the Egyptians figured
out how to write for themselves, or whether they learned it from
the Sumerians,
who also began writing about the same time, about 3000 BC.
The Egyptian form of writing, hieroglyphs,
does not look the same or work the same as the Sumerian form of
writing, cuneiform.
So if they did get the idea from the Sumerians, the Egyptians certainly
changed it a lot.
What we have left of Egyptian writing, like Egyptian
art, mostly comes out of tombs. Because of this, most of what
we have left is prayers (because that is the kind of thing you put
in people's tombs). Other writing like laws, letters to your mom,
and lists of who gave their fair share to the temple
mostly has rotted away, over the years. We don't know whether the
Egyptians wrote novels or stories, but if they did then these stories
have also rotted away. Probably they didn't write much literature,
or some of it would have been saved.
To read actual stories from Ancient Egypt, try this book:
Tales of Ancient Egypt, by Roger Lancelyn Green
Hieroglyphs
Papyrus
A project with hieroglyphs
Other Ancient Egypt projects
Main Egyptian page
Main Literature page
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