CHAPTER III.

EGYPTIAN LITERATURE, SACRED AND PROFANE.

Egyptian Literature. The literature of Ancient Egypt, written in the hieroglyphic, hieratic, and demotic characters, is large, and the contents of the principal divisions of it may be thus summarized :

Religious literature: first and foremost is the great compilation of texts, partly magical and partly religious, to which was given the name Per-em-hru," ie., the "Book of Coming Forth by Day," or, as it is now generally called, the Book of the Dead. This work is extant in three great Recensions, viz., the Heliopolitan, Theban, and Saïte. The Heliopolitan Recension consists of a series of formulas of a semi-magical character, written in hieroglyphics, which were collected by the priests of An, or Heliopolis, about B.C. 3300. A large number of these formulas were in existence long before this period. The oldest copies of texts of this Recension are found in the Pyramids of kings Unȧs, Teta, Pepi I, Meḥtiem-sa-f, and Pepi II at Sakkârah, but series of the formulas from it were copied on coffins and sarcophagi down to about B.C. 200. Among such is the coffin of Amamu in the British Museum (First Egyptian Room, No. 6654). On this magnificent coffin are written some hundreds of lines of text in black ink, and a list of canonical offerings, according to the Liturgy of Funerary Offerings, is appended. The coffin itself was intended to represent the chamber of a mastaba tomb, and on the inside are painted pictures of doors and panels, similar to those which are found in the tombs about B.C. 3500. It is one of the finest of its class, and it was probably made before the XIth dynasty (B.C. 2600). In connection with this must be mentioned the portion of a wooden coffin of Menthuḥetep, a king of the XIth dynasty, on which is inscribed a version of a part of the XVIIth Chapter of the Book of the Dead (Second Egyptian Room, Wall-cases 86-88).

The Theban Recension was generally written upon papyri in hieroglyphics, and was divided into sections, or chapters, each of which had its distinct title, but no definite place in the series. It was much used during the XVIIIth, XIXth, and XXth dynasties. In the first half of the XVIIIth dynasty the custom grew up of adding vignettes to certain chapters of this Recension, and before another century had passed so

many coloured illustrations were added to the papyri that frequently chapters had to be abbreviated, and the scribes were obliged to omit some of them altogether. This Recension contained about 180 chapters, but no extant papyrus contains them all. The chapters represent the theological opinions of the colleges of On (Memphis), Herakleopolis, Abydos, and Thebes, and are of the first importance for the study of the Egyptian Religion. In the Rubric to the LXIVth Chapter are mentioned two traditions which are very valuable for the history of the Recension. In the one it is stated that the chapter was "found" in the reign of Semti, a king of the Ist dynasty, and in the other that it was "found" in the reign of Menkaurā (Mycerinus), a king of the IVth dynasty, by Heru-ṭāṭā-f, a prince, the son of King Khufu, or Cheops. Thus it is certain that in the XVIIIth dynasty it was believed that the chapter was in existence in the earliest dynasties. Now we find from the Papyrus of Nu that there were two forms of this chapter extant, and that one of these was twice as long as the other. The longer one is entitled "Chapter of Coming Forth by Day," and the shorter," Chapter of Knowing the 'Chapters of Coming Forth by Day' in a Single Chapter." The rubric to the latter attributes the chapter to the Ist dynasty, and thus it seems that even at this remote period the "Chapters of Coming Forth by Day" were widely known, and that the priests found it necessary to produce for general use a chapter which contained the essence of them all.

The British Museum possesses the finest collection in the world of papyri containing the Theban Recension, and of these may be specially mentioned: The Papyrus of Nebseni,' with vignettes in black outline (No. 9900); the Papyrus of Ani, a magnificently coloured papyrus containing texts and vignettes not found elsewhere2 (No. 10,470); the Papyrus of Nu, with coloured vignettes, rubrics, etc., containing a good text throughout, and a large number of chapters not found elsewhere (No. 10,477); the Papyrus of Hu-nefer, a scribe who flourished in the reign of Seti I, with a fine series of brilliantly painted vignettes (No. 9901); and the Papyrus

1 Photographs of this Papyrus have been published by the Trustees of the British Museum, £2 25. per set.

2 A full coloured facsimile has been published by the Trustees of the British Museum, in 37 plates, portfolio, 1 11S. 6d., half bound £1 165. The Egyptian Text is also issued with an English translation, etc., 4to., LI 105.

* Also published by the Trustees of the British Museum; "Facsimiles of the Papyri of Hunefer, Anhai, Kerasher and Netchemet, with supplementary text from the Papyrus of Nu,” fol., £2 105.