Editing Culture of Egypt (section)

==Literature==
{{Main|Literature of Egypt}}
{{See also|List of Egyptian writers}}

[[Image:Egypt bookofthedead.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Sample of a [[Book of the Dead]] of the [[scribe]] Nebqed, {{circa|1300 BC}}.]]
Many [[Egyptians]] believed that when it came to a death of their Pharaoh, they would have to bury the Pharaoh deep inside the Pyramid.
The ancient Egyptian literature dates back to the [[Old Kingdom]], in the third millennium BC. Religious literature is best known for its [[hymns]] to and its mortuary texts. The oldest extant Egyptian literature is the [[Pyramid Texts]]: the mythology and rituals carved around the tombs of rulers. The later, secular literature of ancient Egypt includes the "wisdom texts", forms of philosophical instruction. The ''Instruction of Ptahhotep'', for example, is a collation of moral proverbs by an Egto (the middle of the second millennium BC) seem to have been drawn from an elite administrative class, and were celebrated and revered into the [[New Kingdom of Egypt|New Kingdom]] (to the end of the second millennium). In time, the Pyramid Texts became [[Coffin Texts]] (perhaps after the end of the Old Kingdom), and finally, the mortuary literature produced its masterpiece, the ''[[Book of the Dead]]'', during the New Kingdom.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}

The [[Middle Kingdom of Egypt|Middle Kingdom]] was the golden age of Egyptian literature. Some texts include the Tale of Neferty, the Instructions of [[Amenemhat I]], the [[The Story of Sinuhe|Tale of Sinuhe]], the Story of the Shipwrecked Sailor and the Story of the Eloquent Peasant. ''Instructions'' became a popular literary genre of the [[New Kingdom of Egypt|New Kingdom]], taking the form of advice on proper behavior. The [[Story of Wenamun]] and the ''[[Instruction of Any]]'' are examples from this period.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mark |first=Joshua J. |title=The Report of Wenamun: Text & Commentary |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1087/the-report-of-wenamun-text--commentary/ |access-date=2024-05-22 |website=World History Encyclopedia |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Lichtheim |first=Miriam |author-link=Miriam Lichtheim |title=Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume II: The New Kingdom |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |year=2006 |isbn=9780520933064 |edition=2006 |language=en}}</ref>

During the [[Greco-Roman|Greco-Roman period]] (332 BC − AD 639), Egyptian literature was translated into other languages, and Greco-Roman literature fused with native art into a new style of writing. From this period comes the [[Rosetta Stone]], which became the key to unlocking the mysteries of Egyptian writing to modern scholarship. The city of [[Alexandria]] boasted its [[Library of Alexandria|Library]] of almost half a million handwritten books during the third century BC. Alexandria's center of learning also produced the Greek translation of the [[Hebrew Bible]], the [[Septuagint]].

[[Image:AkhenatenDwellerInTruth.jpg|thumb|130px|left|''[[Akhenaten, Dweller in Truth]]'', a 1985 novel by Nobel Literature Laureate [[Naguib Mahfouz]].]]
During the first few centuries of the Christian era, Egypt was a source of a great deal of ascetic literature in the [[Coptic language]]. Egyptian monasteries translated many [[Greek language|Greek]] and [[Syriac language|Syriac]] words, which are now only extant in Coptic. Under [[Islam]], Egypt continued to be a great source of literary endeavor, now in the [[Arabic language]]. In 970, [[al-Azhar University]] was founded in Cairo, which to this day remains the most important center of [[Sunni Islamic]] learning. In 12th-century Egypt, the Jewish [[Talmud]]ic scholar [[Maimonides]] produced his most important work.

In contemporary times, Egyptian novelists and poets were among the first to experiment with modern styles of Arabic-language literature, and the forms they developed have been widely imitated. The first modern Egyptian novel ''[[Zaynab (novel)|Zaynab]]'' by [[Muhammad Husayn Haykal]] was published in 1913 in the [[Egyptian Arabic|Egyptian vernacular]]. Egyptian novelist [[Naguib Mahfouz]] was the first Arabic-language writer to win the [[Nobel Prize in Literature]]. Many Egyptian books and films are available throughout the [[Middle East]]. Other Egyptian writers include [[Nawal El Saadawi]], known for her [[feminism|feminist]] works and activism, and [[Alifa Rifaat]] who also wrote about women and tradition. Vernacular poetry is said to be the most popular literary genre amongst Egyptians, represented by [[Mahmud Bayram el-Tunsi|Bayram el-Tunsi]], [[Ahmed Fouad Negm]] (Fagumi), [[Salah Jaheen]] and [[Abdel Rahman el-Abnudi]]. 

[[File:Aziz Pasha Abaza عزيز باشا أباظة.jpg|thumb|[[Aziz Pasha Abaza]], poet from the aristocratic literary Egyptian family the [[House of Abaza]] of [[Circassians|Circassian]] [[Abazin]] origin]]
An example of modern poetry in classical Arabic style with themes of [[Pan-Arabism]] is the work of [[Aziz Pasha Abaza]]. He came from [[Abaza family]] which produced notable Arabic literary figures including Ismail Pasha Abaza, [[Fekry Pasha Abaza]], novelist [[Tharwat Abaza]], and Desouky Bek Abaza, among others.<ref>{{Cite web |title=مكتبة البوابة: أهم 10 كتب للأديب المصري ثروت أباظة {{!}} البوابة |url=https://article.albawaba.net/ar/%D8%A3%D8%AF%D8%A8-%D9%88%D8%AB%D9%82%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%A9/%D9%85%D9%83%D8%AA%D8%A8%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A8%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%A9-%D8%A3%D9%87%D9%85-10-%D9%83%D8%AA%D8%A8-%D9%84%D9%84%D8%A3%D8%AF%D9%8A%D8%A8-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B5%D8%B1%D9%8A-%D8%AB%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%AA-%D8%A3%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B8%D8%A9-1462416 |access-date=2024-05-14 |website=article.albawaba.net |language=ar}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=سمير |first=رانيا |date=2024-01-03 |title=عائلة أباظة: تاريخ طويل وأثر عميق في مصر |url=https://sqawoa.com/archives/47555 |access-date=2024-05-14 |website=صوت القبائل العربية والعائلات المصرية |language=ar}}</ref>