A noble Egyptian is the hero of an ancient Egyptian literary work. Ancient Egyptian literature

How often do you read books? Most people read about 1,000 books in their lifetime, but there are also those who don't read them at all. Statistics say that only 55% of Russians and 51% of Ukrainians read at least 1 book in 2017. An interesting fact: according to the results of a survey in the Russian Federation, it turned out that people from villages read the most (6-7 books on average), and residents of Moscow and St. Petersburg read the least (5 books on average).

Why read books

A person reading can be seen a mile away. He is comprehensively developed and intelligent, while being an excellent conversationalist. In life, it is much easier for such people to cope with difficulties and achieve their goals.

Finally, almost all successful individuals devote a significant portion of their time to reading. Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Pavel Durov - they all read at least 50 books annually and encourage people to do the same public speaking and interviews. But are books really as useful as is commonly believed?

How books make us smarter

“Knowledge is power,” they tell each of us. early childhood, but this statement is not entirely true. Knowledge is just potential strength , which is worthless until it is put into practice. This fact explains that out of millions of book lovers, only a few manage to achieve any significant heights. Unused knowledge is useless, and only actions bring results.

Types of reading

However, books provide more than just a collection of facts. There are several types of reading.

• Studying. Reading slowly with the goal of fully studying and understanding what is written. This implies the application of the acquired knowledge in the future. This is the most common way to read important literature or its individual fragments.

• Introductory. This is how fiction is most often read. The reader gets acquainted with the main content of the text and the author's argumentation. The degree of understanding of information is about 70%.

• Viewable. The reader quickly scans the text to determine whether it contains the necessary information, and then decides to study what is written in more depth.

• Search engine. The reader is looking for specific information without reading the entire text. The fragment in which the necessary data was found is studied in detail.

The benefits of search and browsing reading are limited to quickly obtaining the necessary data. Studying and introductory reading is much more productive in this regard. A person does not just receive dry facts, but also uses the analytical and creative parts of the brain.

Benefits of reading books

• Books make people happier. Scientists from the University of Liverpool came to this conclusion. Based on a survey of 4,000 people, it was found that people who read suffer less from depression, cope with problems more easily and have higher self-esteem.

• Books protect memory. The fact was established by researchers from the American Academy of Neurology. The experiment involved 294 people approximately 6 years before their death. It turned out that reading can slow down the rate of memory decline as we age by more than 32%.

• Reading increases intelligence. Scientists from King's College London and the University of Edinburgh followed 1,890 pairs of twins for about 9 years. During the experiment, it was found that there is a clear relationship between reading skills and the cognitive capabilities of the subjects. In other words, than more people reads, the better he is developed as a person.

These changes are possible only during exploratory and introductory reading, when the reader is immersed in a kind of trance, left alone with his mind. This mental state most often occurs when a person reads something very interesting for some time. The outside world disappears, and in its place come vivid images created by the imagination based on what has been read. This means that the brain is focused only on the book and is actively developing, using both hemispheres.

Based on this, it is difficult to divide books into “useful” and “useless”. After all, in themselves they are only a bunch of information, and personal growth occurs mainly due to the reading process itself. Thus, when studying fiction The right, creative hemisphere of the brain will work and learn more actively, and the non-artistic hemisphere will be the left, analytical one.

How to read books correctly: effective reading

1. Set a goal. The benefits of reading will be maximum only if it has a clear purpose. For example, if you urgently need to find important information, it makes sense to use the viewing or introductory reading method, and study the useful fragment more deeply. If you hope to learn something in detail with the help of a book, the learning method is suitable.

2. Choose a good book. Reading everything is a bad idea. Choose only high-quality literature. Read reviews and reviews, carefully review the content. Do not start reading until you are sure that the book contains exactly what you are looking for.

3. Read in short sessions. What is read “in one gulp” is poorly remembered. If you are going to read a book in a study or introductory way (in its entirety), divide the process over several days or even weeks. Non-fiction It is best to read in the morning, when the brain is alert and open to new knowledge, and fiction is more suitable for evening sessions.

4. Write down what you read. When reading specialized literature, write down the most important points. This way you will remember them much better and will be able to quickly find them if necessary.

5. Give up perfectionism. Don’t read simply because “it’s a pity to quit.” If the book is of no use to you, there is no point. Leave her alone and study the literature you really need. It doesn’t matter how much you read if you don’t remember or learn anything.

6. Read regularly. Train yourself to read daily and you will soon notice how your life will begin to change in better side. You will become more confident, smarter, wittier, more sociable, and difficulties will be reduced. life path will stop scaring you.

Just imagine that you can learn absolutely any skill, communicate with great people who died thousands of years ago, learn almost any fact, known to mankind. Whatever your question, the answer is contained in books, since many hundreds of people have asked it before you. In a word, in the battle on life’s fronts, books are the best weapon. Arm yourself!

Some books are easy enough to try, others you want to swallow in one fell swoop, and there are those that take a long time to chew and digest.

Francis Bacon

1. Open the book.
2. Read the words.
3. Close the book.
4. Take the next book.

What could be simpler, right?

Yes, indeed, if you read just for fun, just to kill time, then this is pretty much what happens. But if you want to take something useful out of this lesson, you want to gain knowledge and new experience, then everything is not so simple. And that's why.

In 1940, Mortimer Adler wrote a work entitled “How to read books. A Guide to Reading Great Works", which is now considered a classic. Today we will try to very briefly get acquainted with some of its provisions, expressed about 75 years ago, but which do not lose their relevance in our time.

This study revealed that there are as many as four different ways of reading.

• Elementary. This is exactly what is meant by this word. We get this skill in primary school, and it only means that we can read the words on the page and understand their meaning, and also follow the main plot, but nothing more.
• Inspection. This is reading with a glance, what we call “across the sheet.” We look at the beginning of the page, then move to the end, simultaneously trying to catch the main key points and understand the flow of the author's thoughts. This often has to be done when there is a need to master large educational or work materials under time pressure.
• Analytical. This is when you really immerse yourself in the text. You read slowly and carefully, you take notes, you look up words you don't understand, and you follow the links the author provides. Your main task in this case is to fully understand and assimilate the ideas presented in the text.
• Research. Mainly used by writers, scientific and creative workers. At the same time, you read several books on the same topic at the same time in search of confirmation or refutation of your own theories on this issue. It's pretty specific method reading, which is related to work rather than to hobby or pleasure.

Next, we will dwell in more detail on the second and third types of reading as the most relevant and useful skills. Because elementary reading is probably already familiar to you, since you are reading these lines, and research reading is quite specific genus activities that will interest few. With analytical and inspection reading, the picture is completely different: many people need it, but not all people have it. So, what do you need to do to take your reading skill from elementary to the next level?

Inspection Reading

As mentioned above, this type of reading is applicable in a number of situations. For example, in a store you need to quickly assess the feasibility of purchasing a particular book, quickly understand the essence of a voluminous report, and be aware of latest events in the area of ​​their interests and so on. In any case, you will not be required to deeply immerse yourself in the text, but to quickly capture and evaluate the information you need. To do this you need to do the following.

Read the title and examine the front and back covers of the book

This advice seems obvious, but many people neglect it, immediately moving on to the content. But everyone knows that the author always attaches great importance to the title and cover design, often investing in them main meaning(or a hint of it) throughout the book. If you manage to guess this message, then much will become clear even before the first lines of the text.

Pay special attention to the first few pages

This is especially true for business and popular science literature. Here you can immediately go to the ending to find out the main conclusions, and only then, if they interest you, begin to get acquainted with their proof.

Read reviews

If you are choosing a book on the Internet, then it will not be difficult for you to get acquainted with the opinions of other readers. Although these comments should be taken with a certain amount of skepticism, since sometimes they are dictated by selfish motives to increase sales or, conversely, to “drown” the author. But you can still find book sites that publish reviews from real people.

Thus, by following these simple steps, you can easily form a preliminary opinion about almost any book. This skill will help you literally in 5-10 minutes choose really worthwhile materials and cut off unnecessary ballast, which will save you whole years of life.

Analytical reading

It should be noted that not every book is worthy of being read in this way. This type of reading should only be used when you really want to get the most out of your reading. If you do not know how to use the analytical method of reading, no book - even the most useful and necessary - will be able to give you everything that the author intended in it. Let's look at how to get the most out of what we read.

Find out a little more about the author and his other works

Simply making inquiries about the identity of the author can greatly clarify the motives and characteristics of his work. Agree that a book about ways to achieve financial success will be much more credible if it was written by a practicing entrepreneur rather than a bankrupt loser. Or, for example, a novel about war will be read completely differently if the author’s biography contains corresponding episodes.

Spend a few minutes doing some inspection reading.

Before diving into the depths of the text, take some time for the brief preview described in the previous section. Do not miss the opportunity to gain information from the analysis of the title, content, preface, and so on.

Return to difficult moments

Read the entire book to the end, but try not to drag out the process too much. Adler calls this “surface reading,” that is, one in which you become familiar with the content of the book without going into too much detail. individual parts. This means that if you encounter a difficult or unclear passage, do not immediately try to figure it out, but simply make a note and continue reading. When you finish the book, you need to return to your bookmarks and pay attention to maximum attention all controversial and incomprehensible points. Involve additional sources, re-read some places again, but as a result you should not have any dark places in the material you are studying.

Prepare a short resume

After finishing working with the book (and analytical reading is just work) write a short report reflecting your main impressions and acquired knowledge. It's best if you write it in the form of answers to the following simple questions. Ideally, you do this in writing.

1. What is this book about? Sometimes we become so immersed in the intricacies of the plot or insignificant details that by the end of the story we completely forget about the author’s main idea. Just state the main meaning of the work in a few sentences.
2. What happened and why? Create a very brief outline of the book. For fiction, this can be the chain of events of the main plot, for popular science - the main theses and proof of the author's concept.
3. Are the events, facts and opinions described in the book interesting, true, and instructive? What is your attitude towards what you read? Do you agree with the author's opinion or do you think it is wrong?
4. What conclusions did you draw from what you read for yourself? Books are powerful tool to change yourself and your attitude towards the world. If we approach this issue to the maximum, then we can say that if the book you read gave you absolutely nothing, then you simply wasted your time. So try to capture in this answer everything that you were able to extract from this book for your development.

Yes, such a meticulous approach to reading does not contribute to the rapid absorption of literature and may probably seem too tedious. But you can definitely be sure that every book in your life will leave its mark and you will get the most from every hour spent with a book in your hands.

M. A. Korostovtsev

LITERATURE OF ANCIENT EGYPT

(History of world literature. - T. 1. - M., 1983. - P. 54-82)

The first person to attract the attention of the Russian public to the literature of Ancient Egypt was V.V. Stasov. In the October book of the journal “Bulletin of Europe” for 1868, he published an article dedicated to the famous Egyptian “Tale of Two Brothers”, in which he sharply criticized the ideas that had recently been widespread in the scientific world that in Ancient Egypt “there never was no literature, no poetry." “Many writers, the most competent and knowledgeable people,” wrote V.V. Stasov, “decided in their heads that we do not know any remnants of Egyptian literature,” and “that means it did not exist, and such a verdict was sent to the whole world ”and was picked up by “history textbooks.” To Stasov himself, as he admitted, such statements always seemed obviously erroneous, but it was impossible to dismiss the reasons that gave rise to them. “But what was to be done with Egypt, when everyone had so many temples, statues and paintings before everyone’s eyes, but not a single literary work?” - asked the Russian critic and answered the question himself: wait for the discovery of monuments of Egyptian literature. There was not long to wait.

In 1852, the Englishwoman Lady d'Orbinay acquired an Egyptian papyrus in Italy (now bearing her name and kept in the British Museum) and then showed it in Paris to the famous French Egyptologist Emmanuel de Rouget. He read and, having examined the text, published its partial translation. The translation created a sensation: for the first time a work of ancient Egyptian fiction became known. Over time, the name “Tales of Two Brothers” became established, and it was V.V. Stasov who told the Russian reader about it. He was the first to translate it from European translations into Russian, accompanied by explanations and comments.

Time passed, discoveries followed discoveries, and before the amazed eyes of scientists and everyone cultural world Over the years, a rich collection of diverse works of Egyptian literature has appeared, along with the oldest Sumerian literature in the world.

When getting to know it, as, perhaps, with any ancient literature, the question inevitably arises: which of its monuments are artistic? Indeed, along with literary works themselves, we have a huge mass of other types of texts, for example historical ones, which are sometimes very interesting and colorful. How should we treat them? Can they be considered part of the ancient Egyptian literary heritage in the exact meaning of this concept? There is no doubt that a formal approach to resolving the issues raised is unlawful. The concept of “Egyptian literature” unites the totality of not only literary works themselves, but also all texts or fragments thereof, which, regardless of their purpose, have aesthetic merits and which are characterized by an interest in the human personality. These are, say, some autobiographical inscriptions of Egyptian nobles (for example, the inscriptions of Uni, Harkhuf and other dignitaries), some royal inscriptions of a historical nature (for example, the pharaohs Merenptah and Piankhi), certain passages from the “Pyramid Texts”, hymns to the gods Amun and Aten, etc. d.

Egyptian literature throughout its centuries-old history has represented linguistic unity with a variety of writing forms. The Egyptian language was written over a vast period, spanning at least three and a half millennia, and it is quite natural that this language changed. Written monuments testify that over the thirty-five centuries of his life he went through several stages in his development, closely related to the periodization of the history of the country itself, dating back to the ancient tradition and established in science. These stages are:

I. Old Egyptian language of the era of the Old Kingdom (XXX - XXII centuries BC);

II. Middle Egyptian, or classical, language of the Middle Kingdom era (XXII - XVI centuries BC);

III. New Egyptian language of the New Kingdom era (XVI - VIII centuries BC);

IV. Demotic language (8th century BC - 3rd century AD);

V. Coptic language (from the 3rd century AD).

According to established scientific tradition, we call these stages, or phases, of the development of the Egyptian language separate languages, since they differ significantly from each other. However, these are still stages in the development of one language. Only Coptic, which represents the last stage of the evolution of the Egyptian language, is so different from it that it is considered independent in linguistics.

We have, therefore, every reason to assert that Egyptian literature is written in one language - Egyptian. This is all the more important because the Egyptians themselves vividly felt the continuity of their literary tradition. Literary monuments, for example, from the Middle Kingdom, written in the classical (Middle Egyptian) language, were studied during the New Kingdom and translated into the New Egyptian language. They often wrote in the classical language in later times. Ancient literary plots and motifs lived for centuries and millennia, and the unity of language created the necessary prerequisites for this.

Egyptian writing is one of the oldest in the world. Throughout their history, the Egyptians wrote in hieroglyphs and hieratic, in other words, they used two writing systems - hieroglyphic and hieratic. In the 8th century BC e. Another one appeared - complex and difficult demotic writing, which, despite its specifics, is a further stage in the development of hieratic writing. In turn, hieratic and demotic are italic hieroglyphs. According to the apt comparison of the outstanding Russian Egyptologist B. A. Turaev, the relationship between hieroglyphic, hieratic and demotic writing is approximately the same as between our printed, handwritten and shorthand characters. New York Fashion Week 2009

Egyptian literature, which is part of Egyptian culture and disappeared along with it, has lived for more than long life than an independent Egyptian state. Egypt in 332 BC e. was conquered by Alexander the Great, and in 30 BC. e. became a province of the Roman Empire. The original Egyptian culture continued to live and develop in new political conditions. However, despite this and the fact that the study of Egyptian literature has long become an independent field of Egyptology, when periodizing its history, experts prefer to be based on external features and, based on the periodization of the history of the language and the history of the country that is already familiar to us, they distinguish between the literatures of the Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom, New Kingdom and demotic literature. The accepted periodization of Egyptian literature is forced, since it is determined mainly by the state of the sources and the inability to trace step by step the development of the literary process itself.

The literature of Ancient Egypt, like any other literature, is inextricably linked with the life of society and its ideology. And since in Ancient Egypt religion was the dominant form of ideology, it is not surprising that Egyptian literature experienced its significant influence, and many works of this literature are imbued with a religious worldview in its various manifestations. However, it does not at all follow from this that Egyptian literature is represented only by religious or mythological texts. On the contrary, it is distinguished by a rich genre diversity. Along with revised folk tales (the tales of the Westcar papyrus, about two brothers, about the doomed prince, etc.), it also contains works that describe real events (the stories of Sinuhe and Un-Amon), inscriptions of kings and nobles of a historical nature, religious (hymns to the gods ) and philosophical works (“The Song of the Harper”, “The Conversation of the Disappointed with His Soul”); mythological narratives (“The Fight of Horus with Seth”), fables, love lyrics. The Egyptians were also familiar with theatrical performances, not only in the form of mystery plays, but to some extent also in the form of secular drama. Finally, there was an extensive didactic literature in the form of so-called “teachings” containing moral precepts and rules of behavior in society.

In a word, as Egyptian literature clearly testifies to this, Egyptian society in ancient times lived an intense, rich and multifaceted spiritual life. The monuments of writing that have come down to us from those ancient times and are kept in museums and collections all over the world represent only insignificant remnants of a huge literature that, unfortunately for us, has been lost forever. But they also create an unusually bright, varied and interesting picture.

When talking about literature, it is impossible to pass over its creators in silence. All Egyptian texts that have reached us were once compiled by someone, in other words, they had their own authors. Of course, in Egypt, as in other countries, folklore was widespread, but the works that have come down to us are undoubtedly not products of folk art in the strict sense of the word, even if they represent a written recording oral traditions. However, in most of these texts there is not the slightest indication or even a hint of an author.

Naturally, questions arise: who were the authors of these works, what was their authorship, and why are their names absent from Egyptian texts? These questions are undoubtedly related to another, more general question: were the ancient Egyptians aware of the concept of authorship? The accepted negative answer to this question does not entirely correspond to reality. The concept of authorship existed, but almost exclusively in the field of didactic literature. As in other countries of Antiquity, and partly of the Middle Ages, this concept in Ancient Egypt did not become a strong property of public thought. It was only beginning to be realized and strengthened precisely in the didactic genre, which the Egyptians themselves apparently considered the most important and significant: in most of the so-called “teachings” the name of the author, as a rule, appears at the very beginning of the text.

But it arises new question: Are the persons mentioned at the beginning of the teachings their true creators, or are these teachings only attributed to them? It is impossible to give a definite answer; each case requires special research. First of all, let us note that when a teaching is attributed to a well-known historical figure, who stood at the top of the hierarchical ladder and became famous for his activities, we have the right to doubt his authorship and assume that his name was inserted into the text only in order to give authority and weight to the teaching. If the author of the teaching is an unknown Egyptian official, known only for this teaching, then one can hardly doubt his authorship: he did not decorate the teaching with his name, on the contrary, the teaching gave him fame. Thus, the authentic authors of the teachings can be considered, for example, Ani and Amenemope, whose works will be discussed below.

In contrast to teachings, in works of a non-edifying nature, the names of the authors are extremely rare, but they do occur. For example, one can hardly doubt that the autobiographical inscriptions of the nobles were composed by them themselves (this does not mean, of course, that they themselves inscribed them in their tombs). In turn, such outstanding literary works as the “Tale of Sinuhe” and Un-Amon’s account of his journey go back to these inscriptions. And although we know nothing about the people who created these works, there is no reason to think that they were not their authors. We not only know by name the author of the famous annals of Pharaoh Thutmose III, the military scribe Chanini, but also his tomb has been found. Finally, papyrus Rylands IX, which contained the history of several generations of priests who bore the same name Peteise, says that this family chronicle was written down by the last of them.

Most works of fiction - stories, fairy tales, fables, etc. - as we have already said, remain completely silent about their authors. At best, we only know the names of the scribes who copied the surviving copies. And all Egyptian literature is connected in one way or another with such scribes. You can inexpensively order a school bus for any period of time in our company.

Scribes of various positions and ranks occupied a very privileged position in Egyptian society and led the entire administrative and economic life of the country. Even high-ranking nobles, when listing their titles, loved to flaunt their position and the skill of “a scribe skilled with his fingers.” The pharaoh himself, who was considered the “good god” on the throne and headed the entire huge bureaucratic system, did not disdain the title of scribe. And from this environment of the “bureaucratic intelligentsia” came those inquisitive, intelligent, gifted, and sometimes extraordinary people whose interests were not limited to career and service. It was they who composed teachings, religious, medical, mathematical and astronomical treatises, composed and wrote down fairy tales, and rewrote modern or ancient texts.

One cannot help but say something about the very nature of creative activity in Egypt. It would be a serious mistake to equate an ancient Egyptian author with a modern author. First of all, it should be noted that in ancient times the concept of plagiarism was not known, and imitation played a huge role in literature. Therefore, speaking about the Egyptian author, we must remember that the concept of “authorship” does not always fit within the boundaries of the concept of “individual creativity” and very often the role of the author was reduced to imitation or a more or less successful compilation from texts known to him, and the author often borrowed from these texts not only individual expressions, but also entire passages. There is no doubt, however, that each author even contributed something of his own to the compilation. And this contribution was the greater and the more significant, the more original and original the author himself was.

The Egyptians highly valued the creators of their literature. Papyrus British Museum Chester Beatty IV contains a remarkable teaching, the author of which, an unknown scribe, convinces his student that worthy, significant works immortalize the names of their authors better than any tombstone:

But their names are pronounced while reading these books,

Written while they lived

And the memory of who wrote them,

A book is better than a painted tombstone

And a strong wall.

What is written in the book builds houses and pyramids in the hearts of those

Who repeats the names of the scribes,

So that the truth is on your lips.

A person fades away, his body becomes dust.

All his loved ones disappear from the earth,

But the scriptures make me remember him

Through the mouths of those who convey it into the mouths of others.

(Translation by A. Akhmatova)

In other words, we hear here the motif of a “monument not made by hands,” which sounded on the banks of the Nile back at the end of the 2nd millennium BC. e.

LITERATURE OF THE ANCIENT KINGDOM

(III MILLENNIUM BC)

A hundred years ago, not far from Cairo, the outstanding French Egyptologist G. Maspero discovered inscriptions inscribed on the walls of the interior of the pyramids of the five pharaohs of the 5th and 6th dynasties and thus dating approximately to the end of the 25th - mid-23rd centuries. BC e. In science, the name “Pyramid Texts” was established for them.

The study of many hundreds of lines of perhaps the oldest collection of religious and magical texts in world literature required the work - by no means completed - of generations of Egyptologists and made it possible to find “the first link of that continuous chain of funerary magical monuments that stretches throughout the entire length of the Egyptian pagan (partly Christian) civilization..." (B. A. Turaev).

It is well known that the tradition of providing the deceased with food, drink, and in general everything necessary for life in the other world was widespread among many peoples of the world, but only among the ancient Egyptians, as the German Egyptologist K. Zethe noted, is there a firmly rooted custom of burying with the deceased works of funeral literature, the first of which was the “Pyramid Texts”.

The Egyptians' ideas about human nature, their views on death and the afterlife developed in ancient times, long before the formation of a unified Egyptian state at the turn of the 4th - 3rd millennium BC. e. Unfortunately, our knowledge in these matters is far from sufficient. What is known can be formulated approximately like this: a human being consists not only of a visible, physically tangible body, but also of several individual substances invisible in earthly life. Death, which affects the body, violates the organic unity of the human being necessary for the continuation of life, that is, the unity of the body and the mentioned substances. For eternal life in the other world it is necessary to restore it.

Science cannot yet definitively answer how many of these substances there were and how they were thought of by the ancient Egyptians. Let us dwell on one of them - KA, which is especially significant for understanding the “Pyramid Texts”.

Judging by the texts, the Egyptians themselves had rather contradictory ideas about spacecraft. It is not surprising that the definitions of spacecraft proposed by Egyptologists are very ambiguous. So, according to G. Maspero, KA was the invisible double of a person, his most accurate likeness, which was born and grew along with the body. On the contrary, the German scientist A. Ehrmann saw in the spacecraft a certain vital force, the mysterious essence of people. What is indisputable is that after the death of the body, this substance, identical in appearance and essence to man, awaits eternal life in the other world. The condition for the eternal existence of the spacecraft was the care of the survivors.

The relatives of the deceased were concerned primarily with the preservation of the dead body: the very existence of the spacecraft depended on the safety of the body of the person whose double the spacecraft was. “Your bones will not break, your flesh will not hurt, your members will not be separated from you”; “Protect the head [of the deceased king] so that it does not fall apart, collect the bones [of the deceased king] so that they do not separate,” we read in the Pyramid Texts. It was this idea that led to the emergence of the art of mummification and the construction of tombs.

Not only people, but also gods had KA; the gods had several of them. The pharaoh, the “living god”, the “good god” on the throne of the country, also had several KA. It is clear that with the death of the pharaoh, only his human nature died and was buried. In the era of the Old Kingdom, a tomb was erected for the deceased pharaoh, whose shape and size differed sharply from the tombs intended for others - a pyramid. In it, the mummified body of the deceased ruler was considered reliably protected from all dangerous accidents.

The posthumous fate of the king in the Pyramid Texts is described ambiguously: either he is close to the gods, or he himself becomes a “great god,” sometimes identified with the gods Ra or Osiris, the lord of the dead. For example, in an address to a deceased king it is stated: “You must sit on the throne of Ra to give orders to the gods, since you are Ra.” However, the closeness of the late king to the gods did not at all reduce the anxiety of the living for him, for wanderings in the other world, inhabited not only by gods, but also by countless evil creatures, the most terrible of which, it seems, were snakes, could prove dangerous for the royal dead. In addition, the introduction of the deceased to the world of the gods was facilitated by creating in them the impression of the extraordinary power and authority of the deceased pharaoh, which guaranteed him a proper position among the inhabitants of the other world.

And so those living on earth surround the mummified ruler buried in the pyramid with further posthumous concerns. They build funeral temples at the pyramids, in which priests specially designed for this purpose bring sacrifices to the Pharaoh’s KA - of course, not only bread and beer, but also an infinite number of other supplies and potions necessary to support the life of the KA of the ruler of the country - and serve the funeral services. These latter consisted of reading magical texts that were supposed to guarantee the deceased ruler of Egypt eternal satiety and eternal life. The magic of the “Pyramid Texts,” which, according to B. A. Turaev, belongs to the field of ritual poetry and is intended for ritual reading by priests, was intended to facilitate the achievement of these goals.

What has been said about Egyptian religion and the “Pyramid Texts” is enough to conclude: the most important thing in them is a reflection of the desire of a mortal to become immortal, the naive faith of a person of those times in the possibility of overcoming death and becoming like the immortal gods. In the magical-religious and ritual content of the “Pyramid Texts” we find purely human motives, an attempt by a man of those distant times to put into his service all the means of religion and magic available to him in order to transform his temporary, earthly life into eternal life beyond the grave.

To enhance the magical effect, the Egyptians resorted to literary techniques characteristic of ritual poetry - alliteration, parallelism, wordplay. Many passages from the Pyramid Texts are distinguished by artistic expression, power and material clarity of images. In the hymn to the sky goddess Nut, for example, the goddess herself is sung like this:

O Great One, who became the sky...

You fill every place with your beauty.

The whole earth lies before you - you have embraced it,

You surrounded the earth and all things with your own hands.

(Translation by M.E. Mathieu)

The “Pyramid Texts,” as we already know, were supposed to guarantee the late king eternal life in the society of the gods. Let us ask ourselves a natural question: how was the afterlife of those whom we would call mere mortals, those close to the pharaoh, thought at that time?

The monuments that have reached us, including written ones, allow us to give a fairly complete answer to the question posed. Of course, the Egyptians loved life so much that, like their ruler, while living on earth, they prepared to, in the words of B. A. Turaev, “not die, despite death.” During the Old Kingdom, the pharaohs themselves granted some of their most worthy and faithful servants a tomb. Those of them who were not awarded this highest award and honor built it for themselves at their own expense. Surrounding their master during life, noble people most often sought to be close to him after death and built their tombs near the pyramid of the ruler. This is how huge necropolises were formed - cemeteries of dignitaries and nobles.

“But their afterlife, of course, could not yet be identical with the royal one - they are not gods. The most that they could count on was a continuation on the other side of the same conditions in which they were here,” notes B. A. Turaev. Their tombs had different sizes, which depended on the social status of the deceased and the attitude of the king towards him and his relatives. An example of a real “afterlife residence” is the “eternal house” of Mereruk, the vizier of the pharaoh of the VI dynasty Teti. It has 31 rooms, their walls are painted with excellent images of episodes from the earthly life of the deceased nobleman. Here is Mereruk, accompanied by his wife, in a small canoe while fishing; Mereruk and his wife hunting in the desert; desert animals; a dog biting an antelope; a lion devouring a bull... In other frescoes, Mereruk, again accompanied by his wife, observes the work being carried out by his people. The same Mereruk is present at the caning of the guilty village elders. In the same episode there is a scene of the presentation of funeral gifts to the already deceased Mereruk.

Similar frescoes or bas-reliefs cover the walls of the premises of many, many noble tombs, representing together an unusually rich, talentedly executed encyclopedia of the life of the pharaonic nobility.

But for what purpose, for whom were these “art galleries” created? After all, they were doomed to remain in eternal darkness after the mummy of the deceased was placed in the tomb, and the entrance to it was tightly walled up. It turns out that all these masterpieces of Egyptian art were intended for the deceased himself, the only inhabitant of the “eternal home.” But for him they were not works of art at all - magic and funeral prayers were supposed to revive the paintings and bas-reliefs, turn them into a true reality in which the KA of the deceased was to exist forever. It was an amazing, amazing determination and naivety, an attempt to overcome death, an attempt to join eternal life with the help of magic.

The path of a mere mortal - even the noblest of nobles - to achieving immortality was, of course, no less thorny than the path of the pharaoh. And if the “Pyramid Texts” are replete with spells about the inviolability of the royal name, then to the funeral concerns of ordinary people and their loved ones - along with the already familiar to us construction of the tomb and the burial of the mummified remains of the deceased in it, with the bringing of sacrificial gifts and funeral services - is added concern for perpetuating the name of the deceased.

The name was perceived by the Egyptians as a substance organically inherent in its bearer, an intimate part of his being, born by the mother together with the child. According to the apt expression of the Czech Egyptologist Fr. Lexi, the Egyptians did not think like us: “Every existing thing has its own name”; on the contrary, they asserted: “A thing without a name does not exist.” It is natural, therefore, that the perpetuation of the name on tombstone perpetuated life, and vice versa, the destruction of the name was tantamount to the destruction of its bearer. Over time, along with the name of the deceased, his titles and positions appear on the monuments, as well as lists of sacrificial gifts that were intended for him. To this purely ritual part of the text, little by little, in order to glorify the deceased, they began to add descriptions of the most remarkable episodes of his life, testifying to his services to the pharaoh, about the latter’s favor towards the deceased - in a word, everything that could elevate and exalt him. This is how numerous inscriptions of nobles arose, which became the most important historical source of the era of the Old Kingdom.

The briefly described process of transforming a ritual gravestone inscription into a detailed biography, a process that can be clearly traced in the monuments, testified to the artistic talent of those who composed the inscriptions and opened up wide scope for creativity. The “human” component in the inscriptions begins to clearly prevail over the ritual one: interesting, devoid of any fantastic or religious elements, first-person stories appear about the life and activities of important dignitaries of the Old Kingdom.

Thus, the poorly preserved inscription of Uashptah, the vizier and chief builder of the fifth dynasty pharaoh Neferkar, contains a dramatic story about the sudden death of this nobleman. The king, accompanied by his children and retinue, inspected the construction work, which was headed by Uashptah. He expressed satisfaction with their progress and suddenly noticed that the vizier was not answering him. It turned out that he had fainted. The pharaoh ordered to transfer him to the palace and immediately call the court doctors. They came with their reference papyri, but all their art turned out to be useless: the king’s faithful servant died suddenly. Not only has a fragmentary record of this story reached us, but a remarkable bas-relief has also been preserved, depicting its culmination - the death of the dignitary.

Introductory article and compilation by M. Korostovtsev

Approximately five thousand years ago, on the territory of modern Egypt, one of the ancient states on our planet. This historical fact was preceded by a centuries-old and almost unknown history of the struggle for hegemony in the country of small independent political entities (in modern scientific terminology, “nomes”). This struggle ended approximately at the turn of the 4th and 3rd millennia BC. e. the unification of all the nomes, of which there were about forty, into two larger state associations: the kingdom of Upper Egypt and the kingdom of Lower Egypt. In the end, the first of them subdued the second by force of arms, and all of Egypt was united under the rule of one pharaoh. The history of united Egypt covers a huge period of time - approximately three millennia - and, according to the tradition established in science, is divided into large periods: the Ancient Kingdom, the First Transitional Period, the Middle Kingdom, the Second Transitional Period, the New Kingdom, Late time. In 332 BC. e. Egypt was conquered by Alexander the Great, and in 30 BC. e. entered the Roman Empire as a province. The listed periods are divided, in turn, into dynasties, and, thus, the dynastic feature underlies the periodization of not only the history of Egypt, but also the history of its culture.

Egyptian literature, which arose as part of Egyptian culture and disappeared along with it, lived a longer life than the independent Egyptian state lived; starting from 332 BC this state becomes part political world Hellenism. However, the original Egyptian culture continues to live and develop in new political conditions, even in the first centuries of Roman rule.

The “dynasty” chronologization of Egyptian literature is forced, since it is determined mainly by the state of the source and the inability to trace step by step the development of the literary process itself. The following periodization of Egyptian literature is practically accepted:

I. Literature of the Ancient Kingdom, III millennium BC. A.

II. Literature of the Middle Kingdom, XXI-XVII centuries. BC 9.

III. Literature of the New Kingdom, XVI-IX centuries. BC e.

IV. Demotic literature, VIII century. BC e.-III century n. e.

This periodization basically corresponds to the major stages of language development; Ancient Kingdom - Old Egyptian language: Middle Kingdom - Middle Egyptian, the so-called ((classical" language; New Kingdom - New Egyptian language and, finally, literature in the demotic language (written in the so-called demotic script).( In Egypt, throughout its ancient history, there were two types of writing: hieroglyphic and hieratic. The last one is cursive; it relates to hieroglyphs in much the same way as our handwritten texts relate to printed texts. In the 8th century BC O. complex and difficult demotic writing appeared, which, despite its specifics, is a further development of hieratic writing. All these types of Egyptian writing arose and developed independently in Egypt.)

From the era of the Old Kingdom, the so-called “Pyramid Texts” have been preserved, inscribed on the walls of the internal corridors and chambers in the pyramids of some pharaohs of the 5th and 6th dynasties (c. 2700-2400 BC). The Pyramid Texts are perhaps the oldest collection of religious texts in world history. In that huge meeting magic formulas and sayings with great force capture the desire of a mortal to gain the immortality of the gods. The texts use techniques of eloquence such as alliteration, parallelism, and repetition (see the fragment [“To the Goddess”] translated by Anna Akhmatova in our volume!).

In the era of the Old Kingdom, the “Pyramid Texts” were already archaic (under the pharaohs of the 5th and 6th dynasties they were only written down). We have very fragmentary data on the literature of the Old Kingdom era. However, there is no doubt that then there was a rich and varied literature, which was mostly completely lost to us. We know of texts of a completely different type than the Pyramid Texts, although they also relate to religious ritual. These are autobiographical inscriptions of nobles: it was necessary to immortalize the name of the deceased on the tombstone. The mention of the name was accompanied by a list of titles and positions of the deceased, as well as a list of sacrificial gifts that were intended for him. To this purely ritual part of the text, little by little, in order to glorify the deceased, they began to add descriptions of various episodes from his life, testifying to his services to the pharaoh, the latter’s favor towards the deceased, etc., in a word, everything that could exalt and embellish his personality. The ritual gravestone inscription unfolded into an autobiography. Historical and artistic value works of this genre is beyond doubt.

Thus, the poorly preserved inscription of Uashpta, the wazir and chief builder of one of the pharaohs of the 5th dynasty, contains a dramatic story about how the king, accompanied by his children and retinue, inspected the construction work headed by Uashpta. The king expressed satisfaction and suddenly noticed that Uashpta was not answering him. It turned out that the wazir had fainted. The king ordered to transfer him to the palace and immediately call the court doctors. The latter appeared with their saying papyri, but all their art was in vain; The king's faithful servant died.

The inscription of the priest Shesha is very remarkable. We read: “I have done the truth for the sake of its ruler, I have satisfied him with what he desires: I have spoken the truth, I have done what is right, I have spoken good and repeated good. I reasoned with my sister and two brothers in order to reconcile them. I saved the unfortunate from the stronger... I gave bread to the hungry, clothing to the naked. I transported on my boat someone who did not have one. I buried him who had no son... I made a boat for him who had no boat of his own. I respected my father, I was tender to my mother. I raised their children." Similar statements are not so rare in the texts of that distant era. They are even more common in subsequent times. This indicates the presence of a strong humanistic current that permeates all Egyptian literature in general and, in particular, the social thought of the times of the Old Kingdom.

Didactic literature was also developed. In the famous [“Teachings of Ptahotep”], which has come down to us in the edition of the Middle Kingdom, but compiled back in the era of the Old Kingdom, Ptahoten says to his son: “If you are a boss giving orders to many people, strive for every good thing, so that your orders do not include evil. Great is justice, everything is stable and excellent.” An experienced old wazir uses these words to warn his son against cruelty and violation of laws...

Already in the era of the Old Kingdom, the Egyptians valued eloquence and oratory. The same Ptahhotep teaches: “If you are a close associate of the king, sitting in the council of your lord, be careful and remain silent - this is more useful than... [?]. Speak [only] after you have realized [that] you understand [the essence of the matter]. This is a craftsman who speaks in council. [Smart] speech is more difficult than any work...”

No works of narrative genres have survived from the times of the Old Kingdom, except for the mentioned inscriptions of nobles from the times of the Old Kingdom. However, the famous tales of the Westcar papyrus, telling about the pharaohs of the Old Kingdom (though they came down to us in the late edition of the Second Intermediate Period), undoubtedly testify that such literature already existed during the Old Kingdom: at the same time, it must be taken into account that the ancient core of these fairy tales could and probably underwent significant revision in later times.

From the First Transitional Period, that is, from the time between the end of the Old Kingdom and the beginning of the Middle Kingdom, that is, from the end of the 3rd millennium BC. e.. a remarkable didactic work has been preserved, known in science as the “Instruction” of the pharaoh, whose name is unknown to us, to his heir, Merikara. There we read, for example: “Imitate your fathers and your ancestors... these are their speeches enshrined in the scriptures. Expand them, read them, imitate them in knowledge. Only a trained person becomes a craftsman. Don’t be evil, self-control is excellent, establish [yourself] a monument by the disposition of [others] towards you.” These are the wonderful words that follow: “Be skilled in speech, so that you may be strong... speech is stronger than any weapon.” The teaching addressed to Merikara is another evidence that by the end of the Ancient Kingdom in Egypt, great literature had been created, forever lost to us.

It is not without reason that the time of the Middle Kingdom is considered in science to be the heyday of literary creativity, some monuments of which have reached us. These are, for example, [“The Tale of Sinuhe”], [“The Tale of the Shipwrecked Man”], skillful, subtle adaptations of folklore - the tales of the mentioned Westkar papyrus, the teaching of the founder of the XII dynasty (c. 2000-1800 BC) Pharaoh Amenemhet I, [“The Teachings of Neferti”] or, more precisely, [“The Prophecy of Neferti”].

Of the Middle Kingdom hymns addressed to deities, the one with the greatest literary merit is the hymn to Hapi, the god of the Nile.

Several versions of the hymn that have come down to us date back to the era of the New Kingdom, but there is no doubt that they are only later recordings, indicating the popularity of the work. The interest represented by the anthem is twofold; firstly, it colorfully reflects the attitude of the Egyptians to the mighty river, which not only created their country, but also fed its population for thousands of years (in other words, the hymn expresses man’s attitude to the nature he deifies); secondly, these feelings are expressed in him in a vivid artistic form. The anthem is not a prayer, not a collection of requests, but an expression of admiration and gratitude to the great nature that gave life to the country and its people.

In the hymn to the god Osiris, inscribed on the tombstone of the Middle Kingdom (kept in the Paris National Library), a deity is glorified, whose cult became widespread during the Middle Kingdom: Osiris became something of a “ruler of thoughts” in Egyptian society. His name was associated with the idea of ​​accessible and desirable immortality beyond the grave for every mortal, and the cult of Osiris democratized and simplified the funeral ritual. The most modest tombstone in the form of a slab with sacred formulas inscribed on it and a mention of Osiris was enough to ensure eternal life in the other world.

As an antithesis to the generally accepted dogma of immortality, closely associated with the cult of Osiris, in the era of the Middle Kingdom the so-called “Harper’s Song” appeared - a set of approximately fifteen texts that came down partly from the period of the Middle, and partly from the beginning of the New Kingdom (the latter, however, , are copies or versions of older Middle Egyptian originals). These texts are related to each other general direction thoughts, one attitude and attitude; everything on earth is perishable, absolutely everything is doomed to disappear; from time immemorial, generations of people, one after another, descend into their graves, funeral monuments are destroyed and disappear, and not even memories remain of these people. (See in our volume translated by Anna Akhmatova ["Song from the House of the Deceased King Antef..."].) Therefore, we must use all the blessings of life, have fun and enjoy, because nothing will avert the inevitable death. Thus, ["Song..."] highly values earthly life and at the same time full of undisguised skepticism towards afterlife beliefs. [“The Song of the Harper”], undoubtedly, reveals the presence in Egypt of the Middle Kingdom of different currents of religious and social thought, sometimes directly opposing each other.

A very interesting and perhaps not yet fully understood work of ancient Egyptian literature is the well-known “The Dispute of the Disappointed with His Soul,” contained in one of the Berlin papyri.

It is absolutely clear that “disillusioned” means some new social orders and morals that are diametrically opposed to those that are dear and close to him (“no one remembers the past”). In a word, he feels alone in the society around him, in which everything is alien and hostile to him.

Social upheavals in Egypt at the end of the 3rd millennium BC. e., reflected in the content of “The Dispute of the Disappointed with His Soul,” left their imprint on other works of Egyptian literature of the Middle Kingdom era - works, so to speak, of a journalistic nature. Moreover, whole group works of that time was inspired by the palace with the aim of strengthening and promoting the authority of the pharaohs of the XII dynasty, which put an end to the previous centuries of political turmoil. This includes ["Sinuhe's Tale"] and ["Neferti's Prophecy"].

The literature of the New Kingdom is mainly the development of those literary traditions and genres that had already developed in the era of the Middle Kingdom. The main, although mostly only external, difference between the literature of the New Kingdom and the literature of the Middle Kingdom lies in the language - the literature of the Middle Kingdom is written in the Middle Egyptian, the so-called classical language, the literature of the New Kingdom - in the New Egyptian language.

The literature of the New Kingdom is represented by many fairy tales, such as ["Two Brothers"], ["Truth and Falsehood"], ["The Doomed Prince"], as well as many didactic works - "teachings". Of particular note is the story of the journey of a certain Ui-Amun to Byblos. This work does not contain any fabulous moments and, like the Middle Egyptian ["Tale of Sinuhe"], can be classified as works that truthfully reflect the historical time of the events described in it.

A number of works glorifying the military valor of the pharaohs, as well as highly poetic hymns to various deities, for example, the hymn to the god Aten, also date back to the New Kingdom. The subtle love lyrics of these times have special poetic merits.

Moving on to the works of demotic literature, it should also be said that it developed, continuing established literary traditions. Here and fantasy tales(for example, tales of the cycle about the priest Khasmuas), tales of an epic nature about Pharaoh Petubast, teachings, for example, [“The Teachings of Ankhsheshonk”], fables - a new, previously unheard of genre in which actors are only animals.

Particular mention should be made of the contents of papyrus Thailand IX, which tells the story of one priestly family over three generations. This work is full of reliable everyday and historical realities and does not contain any fantastic details. This is perhaps the oldest work in world literature, the characters of which are three generations (grandfathers, fathers, grandchildren) of one family.

The famous Belgian Egyptologist J. Capard, taking the plot of the Ryland IX papyrus as a basis, wrote exciting novel from the life of ancient Egypt.

Egyptian society in ancient times lived an intense, rich and multifaceted spiritual life. Egyptian culture in general is one of the sources of world culture. Egyptian literature, which represents one of the most striking and artistically valuable manifestations of this culture, is original and deeply human. It is inextricably linked with the life of society and its ideology. And since in the era of its development religion played a predominant role in ideology, it is not surprising that Egyptian literature experienced a significant influence of religion, and often in its works we find a religious worldview in its various manifestations. However, it does not at all follow from this that Egyptian literature is mainly religious or theological literature. On the contrary, it is represented by a wide variety of genres. Along with the folklore processed and written down in the form of fairy tales - the tales of the Westcar papyrus, ["Two Brothers"], ["The Doomed Prince"] - there are stories about real events: ["Tale (lshuhe"] and ["Tale of Un-Amun"], inscriptions of kings and nobles historical content; along with religious texts11 (hymns to Amon, Aten, Hapi, etc.) - works of skeptical content, for example, “The Dispute of the Disappointed with His Soul”; along with mythological tales (the tale of Horus and Seth) - fables and love lyrics. (Whether poems were known to the Egyptians in our understanding of this term - nothing definite can be gleaned, since the vocalization of Egyptian texts up to the present day is problematic.) The Egyptians were not alien to theatrical performances, and not only mysteries, but also, to some extent, secular drama.

It has already been said above that a number of works of Egyptian literature were created under the impulse of contemporary political trends and, for example, some works of the XII dynasty were inspired by the pharaoh and his immediate circle. This was first noticed and convincingly proven by one of the most authoritative Egyptologists of our time, French professor G. Posner.

There is hardly any reason to doubt that this fact is not at all an exception in the history of Egyptian literature, that the pharaohs of subsequent times did not miss the opportunity to use literature to strengthen their authority and popularize themselves. With the great conquering pharaoh Thutmose III, there was always a scribe, Chenen, who vividly and figuratively described the pharaoh’s campaigns, the brilliant victories of the Egyptian troops and the role of the king himself. There is no doubt that Chenen described everything as it was desirable for the king. Under another famous pharaoh, Ramesses II, there was another similar scribe, whose name we do not know, whose work was copied by the scribe Pentaur. This work, well known to us, describes the famous Battle of Kadesh between the Egyptians and the Hittites, and describes in detail and in a clearly exaggerated form the military prowess of Ramesses II. Texts telling about the Battle of Kadesh and the exploits of Ramesses II, accompanied by corresponding images, are located in different temples. The texts and images were produced by highly skilled scribes and artists, but Ramesses II himself influenced the content and direction of their work.

When talking about literature, it is impossible not to talk about its creators, its authors. Here, however, we encounter very serious difficulties, which, of course, apply to a number of other literatures of antiquity. All the Egyptian texts that have reached us, of course, were once compiled and written by someone, even when they were a written recording of oral traditions. However, in most of these texts there is not the slightest hint of an author. Who were they, these authors, and why are their names absent from the texts? It is very difficult to answer this very important question unambiguously and quite definitely. There is no doubt that this question is connected with another, more general question: was the concept of authorship known or unknown to the ancient Egyptians? The answer to this question is negative (and such a negative answer is widespread in scientific literature) is not true. The concept of authorship existed, but almost exclusively in the field of didactic literature.

As in other countries of antiquity, the concept of authorship in ancient Egypt was not yet a firmly established property of social thought. It only began to stabilize and be recognized and strengthened precisely in didactic literature. Apparently, the Egyptians themselves considered this genre the most important and significant. One of the papyri of the New Kingdom era contains a highly remarkable passage in which the authors of ancient teachings are praised:

They didn't build themselves pyramids of copper
And tombstones made of bronze.
They left no heirs behind,
Children who kept their names.
But they left their legacy in the scriptures,
In the teachings made by them.

Doors and houses were built, but they collapsed,
The funeral priests have disappeared,
Their monuments are covered with dirt,
Their tombs are forgotten.
But their names are pronounced while reading these books,
Written while they lived
And the memory of who wrote them,
Eternal.

A book is better than a painted tombstone
And a strong wall.
What is written in books builds houses and pyramids in the hearts of those
Who repeats the names of the scribes,
So that the truth is on your lips.

(Translation by A. Akhmatova)

Before us is the motif of a “monument not made by hands”, which sounded on the banks of the Nile back at the end of the 2nd millennium BC. e. These lines serve as clear evidence of honor, respect and gratitude to the authors - the sages who enriched Egyptian culture with their works.

Such thoughts could only be born where literature was loved and appreciated, where creative work deservedly considered the highest achievement of man. Let us limit ourselves to pointing out that the word “scribe” in the Egyptian language meant not only a professional scribe or copyist, but also generally meant a “literate” or “educated” person. Data from monuments indicate that scribes (something like the most ancient “intelligentsia”) were recruited from all classes of the population (mainly from the ruling strata) and occupied a wide variety of levels in the social hierarchy, from persons very close to the throne, down to the most humble officials and clerks The scribes as a whole represented a huge bureaucratic apparatus, highly privileged, and mainly engaged in administrative and economic activities. II in this large mass of officials there were always gifted and inquisitive people who could not be satisfied with the gray routine of bureaucratic duties, who strived for knowledge and creative work. It was they who became writers and scientists, the direct creators of Egyptian culture and literature.

The humanistic idea, which expressed society’s interest in man, and the philanthropic attitude towards him, inextricably linked with this interest, permeate the literature of ancient Egypt. Some scholars consider Egypt as the only homeland of many genres and literary subjects that later penetrated into other ancient literatures. This is an exaggeration, but one cannot deny the serious influence of Egyptian literature on other literatures of antiquity. Let us first note that Egyptian literature influenced the Bible. Although determining the scope of this influence causes conflicting opinions, the facts of such influence are undoubted. The Bible's story about the exodus of the Jews from Egypt contains the following episode: Moses “divided” the waters of the Red Sea, and along the dry land, that is, the bottom of the sea, led the entire Jewish people from one shore to the other. In the Westcar papyrus, the Egyptian priest also “divides” the waters of the pond. Bible book“The Proverbs of Solomon” in its structure and style resembles Egyptian teachings. In [“Teachings of Amenemope”] we read: “Give your ears, listen [to the words] spoken by me, turn your heart to understand them.” In the Proverbs of Solomon: “Incline your ear, listen to my words and turn your heart to understand them.” Such a coincidence, of course, is not an accident; the Egyptian text is the primary source in this case. The closeness of biblical psalms 104, 110 and some others to Egyptian texts, etc. is striking. The study of a number of biblical stories, for example, ["Joseph's stay in Egypt"] ("Book of Genesis"), etc. showed that they were inspired Egyptian life and literature. Egyptian motifs penetrated Europe through the Bible and then through Coptic literature. Praise of the Roman commander Stilicho by a Latin poet of the 4th century. AD Claudpanom contains very clear traces of the religious and mythological ideas of the ancient Egyptians. It should also be noted that the researchers have identified a connection between Egyptian and ancient love lyrics. The so-called paraclaucitron, that is, a love song at the closed doors of the beloved (Plautus, Catullus, Proportius), has traditionally been considered as a primordially ancient genre. It turned out, however, that long before the ancient authors the Egyptians knew this literary device. The facts presented are quite convincing, although they do not constitute a systematic or comprehensive overview of the literary connections between Egypt and the ancient world.

In general, ancient Egyptian literature was more a giver than a taker, influencing rather than being influenced. Of course, it would be wrong to exclude any influence on Egyptian literature. In demotic ligature there is a cycle of legends about Pharaoh Petubast. There are non-Egyptian literary moments in these tales, and one can assume here the influence of the Iliad. The fact that acquaintance with the Iliad left some imprint on the cycle about Petubasta testifies, at the same time, to the fact that the impression from the Iliad was perceived in an Egyptian way, As always happens with the mutual influence of two great literatures, Egyptian culture and literature, which perceived foreign elements, adapted them to themselves, but at the same time losing their original appearance.

M. Korostovtsev

The content of the article

ANCIENT EGYPTIAN LITERATURE, that have survived to this day literary monuments Ancient Egypt, dating from the 3rd millennium BC. before the beginning of the Christian era. Apart from a few stories retold by Greek authors, we know this literature from Egyptian sources, the discovery of which began in the 19th century. and continues to this day.

TYPES OF LITERARY WORKS AND THEIR STYLISTICS

The surviving body of literary works includes short prose narratives, fairy tales and myths, fables, letters, didactic literature (proverbs and teachings), love songs and other types of non-religious poetry, and hymns. As far as is known, the Egyptians had no entertaining drama, but theatrical dramatizations of myths, in which the characters sang and exchanged speeches, formed an integral part of the cult of certain deities. Several similar ritual dramas have been discovered. In addition, there is a large number of non-literary written materials, such as mathematical, medical, magical, legal texts, and business documents. Historical documents(official decrees, autobiographical inscriptions, royal annals) we have the right to classify as literary works only in cases where they have a certain literary form.

Because the ancient egyptian writing does not provide for the transmission of vowels, very little is known about poetic metrics. Based on Coptic sources (Coptic is the latest version of the ancient Egyptian language and writing, which already had vowel signs), researchers suggest that ancient Egyptian poetry was based on rhythm, but not on regular meter. Poetry differed from prose mainly in vocabulary and the regular use of other stylistic devices. Favorite poetic device there was parallelism such a construction of the text in which the thought expressed in one line is repeated in the next line or lines, or is contrasted with the thought expressed in another, adjacent line, or is more fully revealed in subsequent lines. Other techniques include repetitions, repetitions with minor changes, refrains and alliteration. Sometimes poetic lines are combined into stanzas. Many of them are also used in Egyptian prose. In both prose and poetry, puns are widely used. In religious texts she may have had magical meaning. There are also a lot of comparisons and metaphors, especially in texts that claim to be elevated in style. In fairy tales, on the contrary, such techniques are rare.

For the ancient Egyptians, it was not indifferent to how a poem (or other text) “looked” on papyrus or on a wall. In some texts, lines starting with the same word are arranged in such a way that their parallelism is accessible to visual perception. Egyptian was written either from right to left (the normal, most common direction), or from left to right, or from top to bottom. This made it easier to create elegant graphic compositions. For example, one vertical line could “limit” text consisting of several horizontal lines, or one horizontal line could “limit” text from several vertical ones. On the other hand, there are literary texts, graphically not organized in any way.

STAGES OF LITERARY DEVELOPMENT

From the Old Kingdom (3rd millennium BC), few texts have survived that can confidently be classified as literary. The most important of them Pyramid Texts. Although many of the spells included in Pyramid Texts, are not actual literary works; some of them are highly poetic. One of the spells describes a deceased king who, wanting to achieve power in the other world, devours the gods. This so called Cannibal Hymn, even if you get to know him only through translation, breathes true poetry. The ritual drama about the god Ptah from the time of the Old Kingdom was partially preserved in a later copy. In it, Ptah appears as the supreme deity to whom all things are subordinate. Teaching Ptahhotep, a collection of reasonable, albeit purely worldly, advice, was also written during this period, but is known only from later copies.

The literary style characteristic of Ancient Egypt developed in the troubled period that followed the fall of the Old Kingdom. Perhaps it was then that some works known from later copies were created. Thus, a certain king wrote instructions about public policy for his son Merikar. In another essay of an edifying nature, Teachings of Akhtoy, the position of a scribe, which opens up wide career opportunities, is contrasted with the pitiful fate of representatives of all other professions. Sayings Ipuera describe the chaos that reigned in the country, indicating that no one was protected from oppression and robbery. Another work Eloquent villager, represents the lamentations of a peasant who has suffered from arbitrariness and calls for justice. In the end he wins the case after making several long and flowery speeches, composed in a very refined manner.

Middle Kingdom (22-11 centuries BC) classical era in the development of Egyptian literature. One of the works of this time, which remained popular for many hundreds of years, tells the story of the emigrant nobleman Sinuhet. It describes Sinuhet's escape from Egypt to Syria for political reasons, his life in exile and his return to his homeland. Charming Tale of the Victim shipwreck; her hero ends up on a desert island and meets an old snake there, who shows fatherly care towards him. Even simpler in plot and language Tales of Papyrus Westcar(King Cheops and the magicians) several fairy tales united by a frame narrative. Conversation disappointed with my soul can safely be called outstanding poetic work. His hero, having decided to commit suicide, convinces his soul not to leave him when he accomplishes his plan. From this period many religious hymns and, in smaller numbers, “secular” songs also come down.

The language and style of literature of the Middle Kingdom were considered exemplary for five hundred years. During the New Kingdom, Akhenaten carried out a religious and literary revolution. The narrative style changed, and they began to write in spoken language. More natural graphics replaced the delights of the Middle Kingdom. And although the religious revolution was defeated, the literary revolution was a success. Nevertheless, Middle Egyptian continued to be considered a classical language, and attempts to write in it were renewed as long as hieroglyphic writing was preserved.

The rise and fall of the New Kingdom is reflected in several quasi-historical narratives. Thus, the story of King Apophis and Seqenenre tells about the beginning of the war that led to the expulsion of foreign conquerors, the Hyksos, from Egypt. Another story tells of the capture of the city of Jaffa, an event that occurred during the reign of the great conqueror Thutmose III, when Egypt was at the zenith of its power. The boastful account of the Battle of Kadesh extols in epic style the personal combat prowess of Ramesses II. The decline of the empire was clearly reflected in Travels of Un-Amun, a story about an official sent to Lebanon to collect cedar wood. By that time, Egypt had lost its international prestige, and the petty Phoenician princes greeted his envoy without any respect.

A Tale of Two Brothers was probably written down from the words of a traveling storyteller. Parallels to its individual parts ( folklore motives) are found in Asian and European fairy tales and in particular in the Middle East. Fairy tales include The doomed prince. The prince is predicted to be killed by one of the three beasts. He happily escapes two deaths, but the end of the text has not been preserved, and his further fate remains unknown.

From the New Kingdom, quite a lot of the so-called. school texts, i.e. texts rewritten in educational purposes scribes' apprentices. They are, as you might expect, full of errors. The “model” letters that make up a significant part of these materials provide realistic picture of his era. One letter, for example, tells of the hardships of soldiering in Palestine. The letters praise the scribe's lot as happier than that of representatives of other professions.

Several collections of love songs are known. They remind Song Song Solomon both in terms of the set of comparisons and metaphors, and in the general tone. A number of drinking songs were also discovered, performed at feasts by blind harpists. They extol the joys of life, and they were written on the walls of tombs so that the dead would also enjoy similar joys. There are also poems praising kings or telling about their exploits, for example the already mentioned Poem about Battle of Kadesh.

It differs from traditional hymns filled with monotonous epithets and titles of gods. Hymn to the Sun Akhenaten, imbued with love for nature; it almost completely lacks the idea of ​​God as a moral authority.

The legend of Osiris is most fully described by the Greek writer Plutarch, but one papyrus from the time of the New Kingdom contains a very remarkable description Litigation between Horus and Set. In this version of the myth, the gods are depicted without any respect, either because faith in the gods gradually weakened, or because Litigation reflected the views of more ancient era. The plot of the story is the final triumph of the Chorus over Set in the trial for the rights to the throne of the deceased Osiris. Another myth Extermination of humanity, is a parallel to the story of Noah. The god Ra (Re) decides to destroy people, but when the goddess Hathor, at his command, begins to kill them, he repents and saves those who are still alive. During the New Kingdom, people increasingly turned their thoughts to the dangers of the other world and created many spells and ritual texts for the needs of the dead. Among them, the so-called Book of the Dead, Book Blows, Book of Gates, Book of What's in the Underworld(Book Amduat) And Ritual of opening the mouth.

Literature Late period(7th century BC - 5th century AD, starting from the Sais period) is significantly different from everything that was created earlier. It was written in demotic, as the then simplified Egyptian language was called. From that era we have reached folk tales, which are grouped into cycles. The Haemais cycle includes a strange tale Setne Haemuas and the magical book. The book contained powerful spells and was carefully guarded - it lay in a casket placed inside another casket, and was guarded by snakes and scorpions. The whole atmosphere of these stories is completely different from the earlier Egyptian narratives.

Demotic literature also includes ritual drama (e.g. Lamentation of Isis and Nephthys), tales about animals, fables and what, with some stretch, could be called historical artistic prose. see also BOOK OF THE DEAD.