Ancient Egyptian Literature : : An Anthology.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter University of Texas Press eBook-Package Backlist 2000-2013
• TeilnehmendeR: Foster, John L.
• Place / Publishing House: Austin : : University of Texas Press, , [2021]; ©2001
• Year of Publication: 2021
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (304 p.)

Poetry, stories, hymns, prayers, and wisdom texts found exquisite written expression in ancient Egypt while their literary counterparts were still being recited around hearth fires in ancient Greece and Israel. Yet, because of its very antiquity and the centuries during which the language was forgotten, ancient Egyptian literature is a newly discovered country for modern readers. This anthology offers an extensive sampling of all the major genres of ancient Egyptian literature. It includes all the texts from John Foster's previous book Echoes of Egyptian Voices, along with selections from his Love Songs of the New Kingdom and Hymns, Prayers, and Songs: An Anthology of Ancient Egyptian Lyric Poetry, as well as previously unpublished translations of four longer and two short poems. Foster's translations capture the poetical beauty of the Egyptian language and the spirit that impelled each piece's composition, making these ancient masterworks sing for modern readers. An introduction to ancient Egyptian literature and its translation, as well as brief information about the authorship and date of each selection, completes the volume.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- PREFACE -- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -- Akhenaten’s Hymn to the Sun -- The Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor -- ‘‘Why, just now, must you question your heart’’ -- ‘‘I love you through the daytimes’’ -- ‘‘My love is one and only,’’ lines 1–10 -- ‘‘Love, how I’d love to slip down to the pond’’ -- ‘‘Love of you is mixed deep in my vitals’’ -- ‘‘I think I’ll go home and lie very still’’ -- Songs of the Birdcatcher’s Daughter, I–VIII -- The Instruction for Little Pepi on His Way to School The Satire on the Trades -- Longing for Memphis -- ‘‘Oh, I’m bound downstream on the Memphis Ferry’’ -- Rebuke Addressed to a Dissipated Scribe -- Menna’s Lament Or Letter to aWayward Son -- The Debate between a Man Tired of Life and His Soul -- The Resurrection of King Unis -- Prayer to the King to Rise Up -- Hymn to the King as a Primordial God -- Hymn to the King as a Flash of Lightning -- Prayer of the King as a Star Fading in the Dawn -- The Prophecy of Neferty -- The Testament of Amenemhat -- Two Spells -- Spell for Causing the Beloved to Follow After -- Power from the Four Winds of Heaven -- The Greatness of the King -- Prayer of King Ramesses II -- For a Portrait of the Queen -- Hymn to Osiris -- Hymn to the Nile -- Hymn to the Rising Sun -- In Praise of Amun -- Lament to Amun -- Lament to Amun -- From The Leiden Hymns -- The Nature of the Beyond -- From the Tomb of King Intef -- The Harper’s Song for Inherkhawy -- From The Eloquent Peasant -- The Peasant’s Eighth Complaint -- From The Maxims of Ptahhotep -- The Instruction for Merikarê -- The Wisdom of Amenemopet -- Epilogue: The Immortality of Writers -- CHRONOLOGY -- GLOSSARY -- LIST OF HIEROGLYPHIC PASSAGES -- SOURCES OF THE TEXTS -- BIBLIOGRAPHY