The Literature of Ancient Egypt

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