The Literature of the Ancient Egyptians

by Sir E. A. Wallis Budge

HISTORICAL LITERATURE

The historical period of Egyptian history, that is to say, the period during which Egypt was ruled by kings, each one calling himself Nesu-bati, or "King of the South, King of the North," covers about 4400 years according to some Egyptologists, and 3300 years according to others. Of the kings of All Egypt who reigned during the period we know the names of about two hundred, but only about one hundred and fifty have left behind them monuments that enable us to judge of their power and greatness. There is no evidence to show that the Egyptians ever wrote history in our sense of the word, and there is not in existence any native work that can be regarded as a history of Egypt. The only known attempt in ancient times to write a history of Egypt was that made by Manetho, a skilled scribe and learned man, who, in the reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus (289-246 B.C.), undertook to write a history of the country, which was to be placed in the Great Library at Alexandria. The only portion of this History that has come down to us is the List of Kings, which formed a section of it; this List, in a form more or less accurate, is extant in the works of Africanus and Eusebius. According to the former 553 or 554 kings ruled over Egypt in 5380 years, and according to the latter 421 or 423 kings ruled over Egypt in 4547 or 4939 years. It is quite certain that the principal acts and wars of each king were recorded by the court scribes, or official "remembrancer" or "recorder" of the day, and there is no doubt that such records were preserved in the "House of Books," or Library, of the local temple for reference if necessary. If this were not so it would have been impossible for the scribes of the eighteenth and nineteenth dynasties to compile the lists of kings found on the Palermo Stone, and in the Turin Papyrus, and on the Tablets set up by Seti I and Rameses II at Abydos, and on the Tablet of Ancestors at Karnak. These Lists, however, seem to show that the learned scribes of the later period were not always sure of the true sequence of the names, and that when they were dealing with the names of the kings of the first two dynasties they were not always certain even about the correct spelling and reading of their names. The reason why the Egyptians did not write the history of their country from a general point of view is easily explained. Each king wished to be thought as great as possible, and each king's courtiers lost no opportunity of showing that they believed him to be the greatest king who had sat on the throne of Egypt. To magnify the deeds of his ancestors was neither politic nor safe, nor did it lead to favours or promotion. In no inscription of their descendants do we find the mighty deeds and great conquests of Amenemhāt III, or of Usertsen III, or of Thothmes III, praised or described, and no court scribe ever dared to draft a text stating that these were truly three of the greatest kings of Egypt. When a local chief succeeded in making himself king of All Egypt he did not concern himself with preserving records of the great deeds of the king whose throne he had seized. When foreign foes invaded Egypt and conquered it their followers raided the towns, burnt and destroyed all that could be got rid of, and smashed the monuments recording the prowess of the king they had overthrown. The net result of all this is that the history of Egypt can only be partially constructed, and that the sources of our information are a series of texts that were written to glorify individual kings, and not to describe the history of a dynasty, or the general development of the country, or the working out of a policy. In attempting to draw up a connected account of a reign or period the funerary inscriptions of high officials are often more useful than the royal inscriptions. In the following pages are given extracts from annals, building inscriptions, narratives of conquests, and "triumph inscriptions" of an official character; specimens of the funerary inscriptions that describe military expeditions, and supply valuable information about the general history of events, will be given in the chapter on Biographical Inscriptions.

The earliest known annals are found on a stone which is preserved in the Museum at Palermo, and which for this reason is called "The Palermo Stone"; the Egyptian text was first published by Signor A. Pellegrini in 1896. How the principal events of certain years of the reigns of kings from the Predynastic Period to the middle of the fifth dynasty are noted is shown by the following:

[Reign of] Seneferu. Year ...

The building of Tuataua ships of mer wood of a hundred capacity, and 60 royal boats of sixteen capacity.

Raid in the Land of the Blacks (i.e. the Sūdān), and the bringing in of seven thousand prisoners, men and women, and twenty thousand cattle, sheep, and goats.

Building of the Wall of the South and North [called] House of Seneferu.

The bringing of forty ships of cedar wood (or perhaps "laden with cedar wood").

[Height of the Nile.] Two cubits, two fingers.

[Reign of Seneferu.] Year ...

The making of thirty-five ... 122 cattle

The construction of one Tuataua ship of cedar wood of a hundred capacity, and two ships of mer wood of a hundred capacity.

The numbering for the seventh time.

[Height of the Nile.] Five cubits, one hand, one finger.

The royal historical inscriptions of the first eleven dynasties are very few, and their contents are meagre and unimportant. As specimens of historical documents of the twelfth dynasty the following may be quoted: