Editing Ancient Egypt (section)

===Literature===
{{Main|Ancient Egyptian literature}}
[[File:Minnakht 01.JPG|thumb|Hieroglyphs on stela in [[Louvre]], {{circa|1321}} BC]]

Writing first appeared in association with kingship on labels and tags for items found in royal tombs. It was primarily an occupation of the scribes, who worked out of the ''Per Ankh'' institution or the House of Life. The latter comprised offices, libraries (called House of Books), laboratories and observatories.{{sfnp|Strouhal|1989|p=235}} Some of the best-known pieces of ancient Egyptian literature, such as the [[Pyramid Texts|Pyramid]] and [[Coffin Texts]], were written in Classical Egyptian, which continued to be the language of writing until about 1300{{nbsp}}BC. Late Egyptian was spoken from the New Kingdom onward and is represented in [[Ramesside Period|Ramesside]] administrative documents, love poetry and tales, as well as in Demotic and Coptic texts. During this period, the tradition of writing had evolved into the tomb autobiography, such as those of [[Harkhuf]] and [[Weni the Elder|Weni]]. The genre known as ''[[Sebayt]]'' ('instructions') was developed to communicate teachings and guidance from famous nobles; the [[Ipuwer Papyrus|Ipuwer papyrus]], a poem of lamentations describing [[natural disaster]]s and social upheaval, is a famous example.

The ''[[Story of Sinuhe]]'', written in [[Middle Egyptian]], might be the classic of Egyptian literature.{{sfnp|Lichtheim|1975|p=11}} Also written at this time was the [[Westcar Papyrus]], a set of stories told to [[Khufu]] by his sons relating the marvels performed by priests.{{sfnp|Lichtheim|1975|p=215}} The [[Instruction of Amenemope]] is considered a masterpiece of Near Eastern literature.{{sfnp|Day|Gordon|Williamson|1995|p=23}} Towards the end of the New Kingdom, the [[Late Egyptian|vernacular language]] was more often employed to write popular pieces such as the [[Story of Wenamun]] and the [[Instruction of Any]]. The former tells the story of a noble who is robbed on his way to buy cedar from Lebanon and of his struggle to return to Egypt. From about 700{{nbsp}}BC, narrative stories and instructions, such as the popular Instructions of Onchsheshonqy, as well as personal and business documents were written in the [[Demotic (Egyptian)|demotic]] script and phase of Egyptian. Many stories written in demotic during the [[Greco-Roman]] period were set in previous historical eras, when Egypt was an independent nation ruled by great pharaohs such as [[Ramesses II]].{{sfnp|Lichtheim|1980|p=159}}