2 - Suffering and Meaning in Egyptian Literature

Summary

This chapter assesses Egyptian literature that was concerned with suffering and categories of meaning. Do the instructional or certain poetic texts of ancient Egypt, for instance, exhibit any interest in human suffering, and does this suffering have anything to do with the meaning of life categories? Drawing particularly on The Complaints of Khakheperraseneb, Dispute Between a Man and his Ba, Instruction of Anksheshonq, Papyrus Insinger, Papyrus Lansing and the harpers’ song of Intef, I argue that the varied perspectives of Egyptian literature do attest to this nexus and will offer a compelling context within which to situate Ecclesiastes.