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Contributions To Egyptology
Modern understanding of Egyptian civilization is
greatly enhanced because it is now possible to read its extensive
religious and secular literature. This became feasible because of
the efforts of Jean-François Champollion and other scholars in
deciphering hieroglyphic and other Egyptian scripts. The ability to
read and translate the language enables accurate interpretation of
the ancient evidence.
Archaeology can only provide a narrow view of a civilization. Although excavated material provides indications about the structure and beliefs of a society, the lack of written evidence greatly limits our understanding of the community. Knowledge of the literature, however, has enabled scholars to assess Egypt’s rich legacy (transmitted through Hebrew and Greek sources) in establishing the foundations of Western civilization. Present knowledge of the civilization, based on literary as well as archaeological evidence, can now be compared with the often ludicrous conclusions reached by Classical, medieval, and Renaissance scholars (who were writing before the texts had been deciphered) about the significance and meaning of such monuments as the pyramids and about the purpose and function of the hieroglyphs themselves. It was through decipherment that Egypt ceased to be regarded merely as a land of magnificent monuments and quaint customs. Since most surfaces of monuments and artifacts were inscribed, the ability to read the texts allowed scholars to reassess and correctly interpret the purpose and significance of monuments and artifacts. The Pyramid Texts illuminated understanding of the pyramid complexes and Old Kingdom royal funerary customs; tomb inscriptions provided information about rituals, religion and magic, genealogies, social and economic systems, and arts and crafts; and temple inscriptions gave details of the rituals and ceremonies once performed within these buildings and added to knowledge of mythology, religion, and political history. Wisdom texts and votive hymns supply our only insight into Egyptian wisdom, piety, and personal ethics, and these, together with the surviving schoolboy exercises and letters, preserve some details of the educational system. Similarly the Aten hymns and those that predate them provide the only doctrinal evidence relating to the solar monotheism that developed under King Akhenaten. The significance of Amarna and other centers of Atenism would be even more difficult to interpret from only the archaeological evidence without these extant writings. Knowledge of medical science in Egypt would also be severely limited without access to the medical papyri, which preserve case studies and treatments. Other sources of evidence are limited to a relatively few examples of surgical instruments from the later periods, a wall scene at the temple of Kom Ombo that may depict a set of surgical instruments, and evidence of deformity and disease in the mummified remains and in the portrayal of some servants and workers in the tomb scenes. Information from settlement sites (towns and villages) is less abundant than from tombs and temples, but archives of papyri found in town sites often provide the most important information about secular, urban activities and encompass education, legal and administrative matters, and medical practices. Knowledge of the political history of Egypt, its chronology, and correlation with events in other areas of the Near East is also enhanced by textual evidence. This includes historical records that provide important military details and king lists in temples that supply the chronological order of rulers and were used by early historians such as Manetho. In one area, literary sources not only augment the archaeological evidence but present an entirely different viewpoint. Some texts in the Pessimistic Literature question the accepted traditions and emphasize the benefits of life in contrast to the uncertainty of death. Whereas archaeology presents the view that the Egyptians were convinced of the existence of an afterlife for which they prepared with elaborate tombs and funerary goods, the literature provides an alternative, skeptical, questioning approach that must alter any assessment of the Egyptians’ religious beliefs and aspirations. The wealth of literature that survives is due not only to the ideal environmental conditions that have preserved the writing materials but also to the Egyptian idea that all writing was a sacred and divinely creative act that would renew the powers of the gods and kings. Thus, writing was a state function undertaken in special areas of the temples, and great effort was devoted to education. In particular the scribe or learned man enjoyed an unequaled status and respect in society because of his ability to perform this sacred duty. .
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Contributions To Egyptology
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