Poetry and Culture in Middle Kingdom Egypt; A Dark Side to Perfection; R.B. Parkinson

R.B. Parkinson [+–]

University of Oxford

View Website

Professor of Egyptology; Fellow of The Queen’s College and formerly Former Assistant Keeper,Ancient Egyptian pharaonic culture in the Department: Ancient Egypt and Sudan at the British Museum

The Middle Kingdom (c.1940-1640 BC) was a golden age of Ancient Egyptian writing. This pioneering book is the first comprehensive study of this literary legacy. The status of literature is controversial in many ancient civilizations, and Middle Kingdom poems have often been regarded as propaganda for the ruling dynasty. This study radically reassesses their cultural role, drawing on recent studies of the individual texts, some by the author, and on general developments in literary criticism, to argue that they were entertainments that voiced potentially dissident views while also being integral to elite culture. The book explores literature’s status as a differentiated form of discourse, suggesting what social practices made its role possible and offering an innovative model for the reader’s engagement with these subtle and complex ancient works. The book also surveys the social and ideological context of literature and proposes readings of the main tales, discourses, and teachings. The conclusion sets the readings in a broad context, while an appendix surveys the entire range of surviving texts.

Series: Studies in Egyptology and the Ancient Near East

Preliminaries

Preface [+–] iv-xi

The Middle Kingdom (c.1940-1640 BC) was a golden age of Ancient Egyptian writing. This pioneering book is the first comprehensive study of this literary legacy. The status of literature is controversial in many ancient civilizations, and Middle Kingdom poems have often been regarded as propaganda for the ruling dynasty. This study radically reassesses their cultural role, drawing on recent studies of the individual texts, some by the author, and on general developments in literary criticism, to argue that they were entertainments that voiced potentially dissident views while also being integral to elite culture. The book explores literature's status as a differentiated form of discourse, suggesting what social practices made its role possible and offering an innovative model for the reader's engagement with these subtle and complex ancient works. The book also surveys the social and ideological context of literature and proposes readings of the main tales, discourses, and teachings. The conclusion sets the readings in a broad context, while an appendix surveys the entire range of surviving texts.

Acknowledgements [+–] xiii

The Middle Kingdom (c.1940-1640 BC) was a golden age of Ancient Egyptian writing. This pioneering book is the first comprehensive study of this literary legacy. The status of literature is controversial in many ancient civilizations, and Middle Kingdom poems have often been regarded as propaganda for the ruling dynasty. This study radically reassesses their cultural role, drawing on recent studies of the individual texts, some by the author, and on general developments in literary criticism, to argue that they were entertainments that voiced potentially dissident views while also being integral to elite culture. The book explores literature's status as a differentiated form of discourse, suggesting what social practices made its role possible and offering an innovative model for the reader's engagement with these subtle and complex ancient works. The book also surveys the social and ideological context of literature and proposes readings of the main tales, discourses, and teachings. The conclusion sets the readings in a broad context, while an appendix surveys the entire range of surviving texts.

Chronology [+–] xv-xvi

The Middle Kingdom (c.1940-1640 BC) was a golden age of Ancient Egyptian writing. This pioneering book is the first comprehensive study of this literary legacy. The status of literature is controversial in many ancient civilizations, and Middle Kingdom poems have often been regarded as propaganda for the ruling dynasty. This study radically reassesses their cultural role, drawing on recent studies of the individual texts, some by the author, and on general developments in literary criticism, to argue that they were entertainments that voiced potentially dissident views while also being integral to elite culture. The book explores literature's status as a differentiated form of discourse, suggesting what social practices made its role possible and offering an innovative model for the reader's engagement with these subtle and complex ancient works. The book also surveys the social and ideological context of literature and proposes readings of the main tales, discourses, and teachings. The conclusion sets the readings in a broad context, while an appendix surveys the entire range of surviving texts.

Abbreviations [+–] xvii-xix

The Middle Kingdom (c.1940-1640 BC) was a golden age of Ancient Egyptian writing. This pioneering book is the first comprehensive study of this literary legacy. The status of literature is controversial in many ancient civilizations, and Middle Kingdom poems have often been regarded as propaganda for the ruling dynasty. This study radically reassesses their cultural role, drawing on recent studies of the individual texts, some by the author, and on general developments in literary criticism, to argue that they were entertainments that voiced potentially dissident views while also being integral to elite culture. The book explores literature's status as a differentiated form of discourse, suggesting what social practices made its role possible and offering an innovative model for the reader's engagement with these subtle and complex ancient works. The book also surveys the social and ideological context of literature and proposes readings of the main tales, discourses, and teachings. The conclusion sets the readings in a broad context, while an appendix surveys the entire range of surviving texts.

Part One: Approaches

1. The study of ‘Middle Kingdom’ Literature [+–] 3-21

The author describes his approach to the poetry of this period, explaining that he discusses them as components of a coherent corpus. He goes on to provide a summary of key events that figured during the period of the Middle Kingdom and goes on to trace the reception history that the literature has experienced since the mid-19th century when it became to known as some of the oldest literature in human history. This leads to an explanation of the approach taken towards dating and interpretation followed in this book which is then placed in the wider historical context through a discussion of the ‘propaganda’, ‘heurmeneutical’ , ‘formalist’ and other critical traditions alongside those of the philological tradition of editing and commentary.

2. General Considerations: Definitions, Genre, Interpretation [+–] 22-42

In this chapter the author looks in more detail at three aspects of reading Middle Kingdom literature: the nature of what is ‘literary’, the role of genre and the nature of interpretation

Part Two: Context and Intertext

3. Text and Intertext [+–] 45-63

This chapter looks at the many problems of assessing the oral and written contexts of ancient literature. Topics discussed include: – possible strategies for determining the date of a text – ancient attitudes to text – New Kingdom manuscripts – oral and written prototypes – intertextuality

4. The Social Context [+–] 64-85

In this chapter, the author looks specifically at the social context of Middle Kingdom poetry. Topics include: – the ‘media revolution’ and increasing literacy – literary manuscripts in society – individual ownership – known ancient archives and sources – authors and authorship – audience and performance – the literary response and literature as social practice

5. Literature in Culture [+–] 86-107

This chapter looks at the question of literature and ideology. Specific topics include: – literature as imaginary – literary decorum – fools and enemies – gender and sexuality – responses to death and the divine – generic and topical expectations – programmatic and other models for interpretation – play and mediation

6. Literary form [+–] 108-128

This chapter looks at the formal aspects of Middle Kingdom poetry. Topics include: – literary genres of Middle Kingdom poetry – metrics – style

7. The Cultural Themes of Literature [+–] 129-146

This chapter explores the thematic range to be found in Middle Kingdom literature. Topics include: – theodicy – the ideal of Maat – the ‘low’ tradition

Part Three: Readings

8. Tales [+–] 149-192

This chapter provides readings of important, fully preserved tales as well as other examples. Texts studied include: – The Tale of Sinuhe – The Eloquent Peasant – Cheops Court – The Shipwreked Sailor

9. Discourses and Dialogues [+–] 193-234

This chapter surveys the extant Discourses add Dialogues. Texts examined include: – The Words of Nefertiti – The Words of Khakheperreseneb – The Dialogue of Ipuur – The Lord to the Limit – A Man and His Ba – The Sporting King – Fishing and Fowling

10. Teachings [+–] 235-277

This chapter looks at the genre of ‘teachings’ which were central to the Ramessid period. Topics include: – royal and non-royal teaching – questions of authorship] – The Teachings of Amenemhat – The Teachings for Merikare – The Teaching of Ptahhotep – The Loyalist Teaching(s) – The Teaching of Khety

11. Reading the poems [+–] 278-291

In this chapter, the author reiterates his approach, explaining that he has offered ways of contextualizing the poetry within the surviving system of Egyptian writings and summarizes his conclusions. He then addresses the question of how modern readers might approach and enjoy the texts while avoiding problems of anachronism.

Appendix 1: Survey of the Middle Kingdom literary corpus

A.1 The extant corpus [+–] 293-319

This appendix provides an annotated list arranged by genre, not date

A.2 Lost works and attributions [+–] 320-321

This appendix explores what is known about lost works and their attributions

Appendix 2

Kemit [+–] 322-325

The Middle Kingdom (c.1940-1640 BC) was a golden age of Ancient Egyptian writing. This pioneering book is the first comprehensive study of this literary legacy. The status of literature is controversial in many ancient civilizations, and Middle Kingdom poems have often been regarded as propaganda for the ruling dynasty. This study radically reassesses their cultural role, drawing on recent studies of the individual texts, some by the author, and on general developments in literary criticism, to argue that they were entertainments that voiced potentially dissident views while also being integral to elite culture. The book explores literature's status as a differentiated form of discourse, suggesting what social practices made its role possible and offering an innovative model for the reader's engagement with these subtle and complex ancient works. The book also surveys the social and ideological context of literature and proposes readings of the main tales, discourses, and teachings. The conclusion sets the readings in a broad context, while an appendix surveys the entire range of surviving texts.

End Matter

References: Egyptian compositions [+–] 326-328

The Middle Kingdom (c.1940-1640 BC) was a golden age of Ancient Egyptian writing. This pioneering book is the first comprehensive study of this literary legacy. The status of literature is controversial in many ancient civilizations, and Middle Kingdom poems have often been regarded as propaganda for the ruling dynasty. This study radically reassesses their cultural role, drawing on recent studies of the individual texts, some by the author, and on general developments in literary criticism, to argue that they were entertainments that voiced potentially dissident views while also being integral to elite culture. The book explores literature's status as a differentiated form of discourse, suggesting what social practices made its role possible and offering an innovative model for the reader's engagement with these subtle and complex ancient works. The book also surveys the social and ideological context of literature and proposes readings of the main tales, discourses, and teachings. The conclusion sets the readings in a broad context, while an appendix surveys the entire range of surviving texts.

Index [+–] 385-393

The Middle Kingdom (c.1940-1640 BC) was a golden age of Ancient Egyptian writing. This pioneering book is the first comprehensive study of this literary legacy. The status of literature is controversial in many ancient civilizations, and Middle Kingdom poems have often been regarded as propaganda for the ruling dynasty. This study radically reassesses their cultural role, drawing on recent studies of the individual texts, some by the author, and on general developments in literary criticism, to argue that they were entertainments that voiced potentially dissident views while also being integral to elite culture. The book explores literature's status as a differentiated form of discourse, suggesting what social practices made its role possible and offering an innovative model for the reader's engagement with these subtle and complex ancient works. The book also surveys the social and ideological context of literature and proposes readings of the main tales, discourses, and teachings. The conclusion sets the readings in a broad context, while an appendix surveys the entire range of surviving texts.

References: Bibliography [+–] 328-383

The Middle Kingdom (c.1940-1640 BC) was a golden age of Ancient Egyptian writing. This pioneering book is the first comprehensive study of this literary legacy. The status of literature is controversial in many ancient civilizations, and Middle Kingdom poems have often been regarded as propaganda for the ruling dynasty. This study radically reassesses their cultural role, drawing on recent studies of the individual texts, some by the author, and on general developments in literary criticism, to argue that they were entertainments that voiced potentially dissident views while also being integral to elite culture. The book explores literature's status as a differentiated form of discourse, suggesting what social practices made its role possible and offering an innovative model for the reader's engagement with these subtle and complex ancient works. The book also surveys the social and ideological context of literature and proposes readings of the main tales, discourses, and teachings. The conclusion sets the readings in a broad context, while an appendix surveys the entire range of surviving texts.

Reviews

[T]he book reviewed here certainly represents a landmark. It is the first monograph devoted to an integral study and interpretation of the entire corpus of literature preserved from the Egyptian Middle Kingdom.
Joachim Quack, Professor of Egyptology, University of Heidelberg, Journal of the American Oriental Society, 124.2

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Parkinson’s Poetry and Culture in Middle Kingdom Egypt. It is a literate and sensitive work that provokes and makes one think anew about various aspects of all ancient literatures, not just that of Middle Kingdom Egypt. This is an extremely important book.
Piotr Michalowski, George G. Cameron Professor of Ancient Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, University of Michigan

‘Dr Parkinson has produced a work which surpasses all that has been written on Egyptian literature of the “classic” period till now. It is an extremely well-balanced and comprehensive study, considering all main aspects of the subject, always seen against the background of literature in general and bringing to light the literary qualities of each text, but also the social context. Extremely useful is his inventory of all relevant texts, including several unpublished ones. All interested in Egyptian literature will benefit from Dr Parkinson’s work, which sets new standards‘
Erik Hornung, Professor Emeritus, University of Basel

.

Books and Journals in Humanities, Social Science and Performing Arts

Poetry and Culture in Middle Kingdom Egypt

A Dark Side to Perfection

R.B. Parkinson [+–]

University of Oxford

View Website

Table of Contents

Reviews

Related Journal

Related Interest

Search Equinox

Subjects