Ancient Egyptian Literature: History and Forms.

• Author: Morenz, Ludwig D.
• Position: Review

Edited by ANTONIO LOPRIENO. Probleme der Agyptologie, vol. 10. Leiden: E. J. BRILL, 1996. Pp. xvi + 721. HFl 305, $197.

In this volume, more than twenty scholars approach the phenomenon of ancient Egyptian literature, covering not just the usual set of texts, but also the retention of pharaonic literature in Coptic (H. Behlmer, "Ancient Egyptian Survivals in Coptic Literature"), in Greek (S. Burstein, "Images of Egypt in Greek Historiography") and in medieval Muslim writings (U. Haarmann, "Medieval Muslim Perception of Pharaonic Egypt"). A special chapter is devoted to the rich and often underrated demotic sources (J. Tait, "Demotic Literature: Forms and Genres"). These thirty-two essays should attract a wide readership, including scholars of the ancient Near East and literary specialists, since they provide a reliable and insightful evaluation of the material and summarize recent scholarship.

Literature's primary purpose seems to be intellectual pleasure. Accordingly, the study of Egyptian literature fosters "le plaisir du texte." What picture of Egyptian literature has emerged from recent scholarship? It was mainly transmitted via manuscripts in cursive writing (S. Quirke, "Archive"). It was not oral but aural (see articles by M. Vogelzang and H. Vanstiphout, in Mesopotamian Epic Literature: Oral or Aural [Lewiston, N.Y.: Edwin Mellen Press, 1992]). Literary texts were written by the literary (sub-)elite (R. Parkinson, p. 140, Quirke, p. 275), but reading aloud potentially widened their audience. Ancient Egyptian narratives were remarkably short, probably "inspired by a tradition of story telling, in which a single tale was unfolded in one session," as Tait suggests for demotic narratives (p. 183). The reception of literature by the ancient Egyptians themselves is barely known. The analysis of Egyptian literature has evolved using increasingly theoretical approaches, but avoiding the traps of de(con)structionism and pragmatism. In this book, U. Eco, J. Lotman, S. Greenblatt, J. Weinsheimer, M. Halliday, and others are all cited rather regularly.

Academic reading of ancient Egyptian texts is still a historical discipline with a strong philological component. In spite of its relevance for the analysis of literature, the grammar of texture (grammar above sentence level) has often been neglected. M. Collier, "The Language of Literature," deals with emplotment, cohesion, and consecutio temporum. He demonstrates the usefulness of this approach...