The Tale of Sinuhe: and Other Ancient Egyptian Poems 1940-1640 B.C.

The Tale of Sinuhe and Other Ancient Egyptian Poems contains several significant literary works composed during the Middle Kingdom period of ancient Egypt (c. 1940-1640 BCE). The titular poem is an epic narrative of wandering and return, while in other tales narrators describe a campaign for justice by an eloquent peasant, the adventures of a shipwrecked sailor, and princes competing to entertain their king with tales of wonder. The collection also contains examples of wisdom literature that stage dialogues between sages and kings, capturing teachings delivered from fathers to sons. Once studied for their historical value, these poems show a stylistic sophistication, rhetorical breadth, vividness of imagery, and pervasive elegiac tone that make them worthy of consideration as literary classics. The collection is translated and annotated by R.B. Parkinson, a professor of Egyptology at Oxford University.

The collection was first printed for the Oxford World’s Classics series in 1998; this guide uses the edition reissued in 2009.

A Note on the Structure: Each piece in the Oxford edition is introduced with a short essay by Parkinson describing the work’s composition, major themes, rhetorical structure, and historical references. This guide summarizes Parkinson’s introduction to each piece before providing a summary and analysis of the literary work itself.

Summary

Of the 35 or so surviving literary works that can be dated to the Middle Kingdom, this volume includes 13 pieces that are relatively intact, along with a small assortment of intriguing fragments. The selections fall into two fictional categories. The first is tales, which exhibit a narrative framework. The second is wisdom literature, which appears in two further subgenres: discourses, which are typically dialogues between two speakers; and teachings delivered from an authority figure to a receptive audience.

All of these pieces represent a literary tradition that was composed by the elite, for the elite. While there are references to commoners and daily life, the tales feature characters of high status. The discourses and teachings, with their stylized rhetoric, communicate the cultural values of the elite, dwelling on the structure of the divine and natural order, the loyalties and obligations of followers and lords, and the reverence due to gods and kings. Many of the tales express longing for a lost age or hold up the past as a model for the present. Living a life of good deeds and deserved prosperity, followed by fame that endures after death, are shared themes.

In the first tale, Sinuhe, a court official, describes the life he lived abroad when he fled Egypt due to a sudden change in regime and was taken in by a foreign king. The framework is essentially a story of exile and return, in the vein of Homer’s Odyssey or The Epic of Gilgamesh. After he achieves high standing under the Syrian king, Sinuhe is recalled home by the Egyptian king and reinstated as a court official, to his great joy.

In “The Tale of the Eloquent Peasant,” a trader from the Wadi Natrun region is robbed by a wealthy man when he travels to Heracleopolis. In a series of nine speeches demonstrating rhetorical sophistication and increasing urgency, the peasant petitions the high steward for justice, unaware that the steward has deliberately delayed action because the king wants to hear what the peasant will say.

“The Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor” offers a story within a story, as a follower returning home with his lord recounts his adventure of being shipwrecked and stranded alone on a paradise-like island with a magical serpent. In “The Tale of King Cheops’ Court,” princes compete to entertain King Cheops with tales of wonder, relating stories of an official who tricked his unfaithful wife’s lover, an ancient sage who performs magical tricks, and the birth of magical triplets. These four tales touch on themes of refuge, security, and justice, while making use of magical and fantastical elements.

The section on discourses includes four pieces. In the first, the sage Neferti predicts the coming of the first king of the Middle Kingdom, Amenemhat I, who will unite the Two Lands and bring order to Egypt. In the second, the priest Khakherperreseneb addresses his own heart, urging it to articulate his suffering at the state of the land, which is in chaos. “The Dialogue of a Man and his Soul” stages a relatively less somber discussion about how to approach death, with the soul enjoining the man to enjoy life while he has it. “The Dialogue of Ipuur and the Lord of All” is an extended lament about the appalling state of the world, in which every mark of civilization has broken down, and Ipuur and the Lord have a rather testy exchange about who or what is responsible for the tumult. These discourses elucidate the cultural and philosophical values that underpin Egyptian life.

The subsequent five teachings are all wisdom literature attributed to historical or representative figures. In the initial piece, the first king of the Twelfth Dynasty, Amenemhat I, reflects on his assassination and counsels his son, Senwosret, to protect the kingdom he has built. In the second, King Khety advises his son Merikare on how a king should behave to ensure order and prosperity for his country. In “The ‘Loyalist’ Teaching,” a high official in the palace counsels his son on how the office of kingship should be respected, noting that the entire social hierarchy depends on every man keeping to his place.

The Vizier Ptahhotep, in turn, instructs his son on how to be a worthy leader and details the behavior expected of him in both public and private relations. In the last teaching, a high official, also called Khety, explains why he is apprenticing his son to a scribe, assessing various other trades and concluding that being a scribe is the best. While these teachers are constructed fictional personae, some belonging to a historical setting that predates the time of composition, their poems delineate the Egyptian worldview and the weight given to duty, correct conduct, hierarchies, and the value of truth.