Backgrounds for Egyptian poetry

1
Backgrounds for Egyptian poetry

• Taken from our text
• The Language of Literature
• Pages 20-21, 50-59

2
Life and the afterlife (p. 21)

• 1. Egyptian religion focused on preparing for
  the afterlife.
• 2. They designed great pyramids in which to bury
  upperclass people.
• 3. They developed the art of mummification.

3
Life and the afterlife, cont

• 4. The Egyptians believed that the afterlife
  would be a paradise that was an idealized view of
  earth.
• 5. The Egyptians focused much artistic and
  creative effort on making their pyramids
  beautiful.

4
Egyptian culture (p. 50)

• Three important features of ancient Egypt
• concern about the afterlife
• worship of a sun god
• delight in everyday life

5
Egyptian culture, cont

• The Egyptians believed that people enjoyed the
  same pleasures in the afterlife as they did while
  on earth.
• They believed that the sun god gave life to all
  of nature.

6
The Book of the Dead (p. 50)

• The Book of the Dead is based on the myth of
  Osiris.
• Osiris was a good god who taught people about
  farming and civilization.
• His brother Set was jealous of him and killed
  him.
• His sister Isis brought him back to life, and he
  became king of the underworld.

7
Book of the Dead, cont

• The Egyptians carved stories and prayers into the
  wall of the pyramids. These are called pyramid
  texts.
• Later on, they wrote their prayers on papyrus
  scrolls and buried them along with the dead.
  These are referred to as burial scrolls, or The
  Chapters of Coming Forth by Day.

8
Adoration of the Disk (p. 51)

• This poem was written by the pharaoh Akhenaten.
  He ruled Egypt between 1353-1336 B.C.
• The writer believes that the sun god is the only
  true god.
• He built a capital city in honor of the sun god
  named Aten.

9
New Kingdom Poetry (p. 51)

• The ancient Egyptians were people who knew how to
  enjoy life.
• During the period of the New Kingdom, the society
  experienced great prosperity and many
  opportunities for cultural enrichment.
• The New Kingdom period was known for its poetry,
  especially love poems.