Editing Satire (section)

===Ancient Egypt===
[[File:Satirical papyrus.jpg|thumb|upright=2.25|The satirical papyrus at the British Museum]]
[[File:Cat guarding geese c1120 BC Egypt.jpg|thumb|[[Satirical ostraca|Satirical ostracon]] showing a cat guarding geese, {{Circa|1120 BC}}, Egypt]]
[[File:WLA brooklynmuseum Figured Ostracon Showing a Cat Waiting on a Mouse.jpg|thumb|Figured ostracon showing a cat waiting on a mouse, Egypt]]
One of the earliest examples of what might be called satire, [[The Satire of the Trades]],<ref>{{Citation | first = M | last = Lichtheim | title = Ancient Egyptian Literature | volume = I | year = 1973 | pages = 184–93}}</ref> is in Egyptian writing from the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. The text's apparent readers are students, tired of studying. It argues that their lot as scribes is not only useful, but far superior to that of the ordinary man. Scholars such as Helck<ref>{{Citation | first = W | last = Helck | title = Die Lehre des DwA-xtjj | publisher = Wiesbaden | year = 1970}}</ref> think that the context was meant to be serious.

The [[Papyrus Anastasi I]]<ref>{{Citation | first = Alan H | last = Gardiner | title = Egyptian Hieratic Texts | series= I: Literary Texts of the New Kingdom | volume = I | place = Leipzig | year = 1911}}</ref> (late 2nd millennium BC) contains a satirical letter which first praises the virtues of its recipient, but then mocks the reader's meagre knowledge and achievements.