Courtly Literature

In the New Kingdom a second group of texts exists alongside these closely interlocked educational and wisdom texts which can be described as ‘‘courtly literature.’’ Of course this description is purely a convenience. The term serves as an analytical category which, in the broadest possible sense, perceives affinities with the literary traditions of the European Middle Ages, without in any way implying an identity. ‘‘Courtly’’ does also not only mean ‘‘royal’’ but implies the households of the upper nobility (Assmann 1996b: 78). The following analysis builds on interpretations proposing that the texts in question are entertainment-literature (Assmann 1999b: 12-3) but denies that this implies the texts lack functions beyond that.

Two text types which are frequently incorporated into the Miscellanies are the laus urbis and the hymns and prayers of personal piety. Although the latter are not the subject of further treatment, on grounds of their religious character, they show, due to their typological relationship with the laus urbis and the Love Songs, that these text types have the same origin, and that the hymns are the intertextual model of secular poetry (Guglielmi 1996: 335). These interrelations can be explained by the Miscellanies of P. Anastasi II (Gardiner 1937: 12-20; Caminos 1954: 37-65) which, apart from one piece ‘‘Be a Scribe,’’ exclusively contains hymns of praise to gods, kings, and cities, but which is most remarkable because of an excerpt from an otherwise unknown love song (P. Anastasi II vso. 5, Mathieu 1996: 218-9), with which the teacher expresses appreciation of the graduation piece of his pupil. This conjunction of text types expresses, even in the rather didactic Miscellanies, an intuitive feeling of their users for typological relationships. Moreover, it suggests a common milieu for their use, which is also shown by the juxtaposition of Love Songs and hymns on two Ramesside ostraca (O. Gardiner 304, (Zlernyi and Gardiner 1957: pl. 38; O. Borchardt 1, Mathieu 1996: 113-4, see ahead). That the commonality between these types of text has deep historic roots is shown by the previously addressed Thutmosid ostracon from Thebes, which, alongside a prayer shaped by personal piety, also contains a laus urbis (Guksch 1994). The close relations between hymns, laus urbis, and Love Songs (Ragazzoli 2008: 135-46) is also proved by the artful integration of typological components of all three genres into one love song in P. Harris 500 (P. BM 10060 rto. 2,5-9, Mathieu 1996: pl. 9).