Ancient Near Eastern Thought & Literature III: Ancient Egyptian Literature

Undergraduate / Graduate

This course explores the rich body of literature surviving from ancient Egypt, covering texts spanning ca. 2500 BCE-100 CE. We will read texts in English translation from a variety of genres-from adventure tales, to love poetry, to autobiographies and the Book of the Dead-asking throughout the quarter how the ancient Egyptians understood the concept of literature, how translation affects our experiences of the texts, who the authors and audiences were, and how the texts relate to their social, historical, and cultural contexts. We will also explore how literary conventions changed over time and what they reveal about broader societal shifts in ancient Egypt.