LIT 2 WEEK 1 & 2 Assignment

Rodel C. Ebreo

Answers:

1. Sumerian literature is the literature written in the Sumerian language

during the Middly Bronze Age. Most Sumerian literature is preserved
indirectly, via Assyrian or Babylonian copies.

The Sumerians invented the first writing system, developing Sumerian

cuneiform writing out of earlier proto-writing systems by about the 30th
century BCE. The earliest literary texts appear from about the 27th century
BCE.

The Sumerian language remained in official and literary use in the

Akkadian and Babylonian empires, even after the spoken language
disappeared from the population; literacy was widespread, and the
Sumerian texts that students copied heavily influenced later Babylonian
literature.

Sumerian literature has not been handed down to us directly, rather it

has been rediscovered through archaeology. Nevertheless, the Akkadians
and Babylonians borrowed much from the Sumerian literary heritage, and
spread these traditions throughout the Middle East, influencing much of the
literature that followed in this region.

While Ancient Egyptian literature was written in the Egyptian language

from Ancient Egypt's pharaonic period until the end of Roman domination. It
represents the oldest corpus of Egyptian literature. Along with Sumerian
literature, it is considered the world's earliest literature.

Writing in Ancient Egypt—both hieroglyphic and hieratic—first appeared

in the late 4th millennium BC during the late phase of predynastic Egypt. By
the Old Kingdom (26th century BC to 22nd century BC), literary works
included funerary texts, epistles and letters, hymns and poems, and
commemorative autobiographical texts recounting the careers of prominent
administrative officials. It was not until the early Middle Kingdom (21st
century BC to 17th century BC) that a narrative Egyptian literature was
created. This was a "media revolution" which, according to Richard B.
Parkinson, was the result of the rise of an intellectual class of scribes, new
cultural sensibilities about individuality, unprecedented levels of literacy,
and mainstream access to written materials. However, it is possible that the
overall literacy rate was less than one percent of the entire population. The
creation of literature was thus an elite exercise, monopolized by a scribal
class attached to government offices and the royal court of the ruling
pharaoh. However, there is no full consensus among modern scholars
concerning the dependence of ancient Egyptian literature on the
sociopolitical order of the royal courts.
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2. Papyrus is a thin paper-like material made from the pith of the papyrus
plant, Cyperus papyrus, a wetland sedge that was once abundant in the
Sudd of Southern Sudan along with the Nile Delta of Egypt. Papyrus is first
known to have been used in ancient Egypt (at least as far back as the First
Dynasty), but it was also used throughout the Mediterranean region and in
Kingdom of Kush. Ancient Egyptians are thought to have used papyrus as a
writing material, as well as employing it commonly in the construction of
other artifacts such as reed boats, mats, rope, sandals, and baskets.

Underground Egyptian tombs built in the desert provide possibly the

most protect .