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In today’s society, we use many things without knowing where it comes from. Everything from mathematics to music derives from somewhere. In this situation, I am talking about literature. Within present time, we use literature daily. Whether it is writing a poem, or creating a screenplay. Do you know who formed and shaped literature? Ancient Egypt and Rome helped in shaping today’s literature by leaving behind a legacy in their legends.
Ancient Egyptian literature is believed to be the earliest written works known. Egyptians were the first to develop literary devices and religious texts. Also, they were the first to create their version of paper and ink. Hieroglyphs, a writing system used by ancient Egyptians, inspired the original alphabet, including the Romans (Budge 1).
Ancient Rome imitated ancient Greeks’ literature, so for that, many people deem that ancient Greeks are the main literary influencers. That is not the case. Even though the Romans copied the Greeks, they improved and made it their own. Impeccable writers lived during the ancient Rome time, such as Plautus and Horace (Jenkyns).
Genres, like comedy and tragedy were produced in ancient Rome period. Plays were also produced. Many writers that we learn about now, like William Shakespeare and Robert Graves have been influenced by the Romans. It is important that we are aware and educated of how and who originated materials that are a part of our everyday life. The legacy of the ancient Egyptians and Romans will be forever known.
The literature of Ancient Egypt is the result of a four thousand year period. Hieroglyphic, demotic and hieratic are the three types of writing it was written in. The characters first consisted of pictures of objects, and ...
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...reatly affected today’s literature. Many things in today’s world can be traced to ancient Egypt and Rome origins. They left long lasting affects on modern society. We would not have the same literature that we have if it was not from the Egyptians and Romans.
Works Cited:
1. Budge, E. A. Wallis. The literature of the ancient Egyptians,. London: J.M. Dent & Sons, 1914. Print.
2. Jenkyns, Richard. Works Cited: "Latin literature." Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 3 Sep. 2013. .
3. Roehrig, Catharine. "Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History." Egypt in the Old Kingdom. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Sep. 2013. .
Samozain. "Ancient Egypt." Ancient Egypt RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Aug. 2013.
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Johnson, Paul The Civilization of Ancient Egypt (New York: Harper Collins Publishers 1978,1998 and 1999)
Springer, Ilene. "The Cat in Ancient Egypt." Tour Egypt. Tour Egypt, 2010. Web. 20 Feb
Gore, R., 2001. PHARAOHS OF THE SUN: History Reference Center. [online] Web.b.ebscohost.com. Available at: [Accessed 17 Apr. 2014].
Writing is perhaps the most important building block of communication - after verbal speech, of course. Writing, like most of human civilization, has its roots in ancient Mesopotamia. The first writing systems began in a style known as cuneiform (Cuneiform, 2013). These wedge-shaped markings have their roots in Sumerian culture and were used predominantly for record keeping and accounting. At the archaeological site of Uruk in what is modern day Iraq, a great wealth of knowledge has been gained from the artifacts located there. Uruk was a ceremonial site and is home to the world’s oldest known documented written documents (Price and Feinman, 2013). The documents discovered list quantities of goods that may have been stored at Uruk, leading archaeologists to believe that writing in this part of the world was developed primarily to keep lists of transactions and stockpiled quantities of goods located at the site.
Wilkinson, C. ‘Egyptian Wall Paintings: The Metropolitan Museum’s Collection of Facsimiles’, The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin New Series, Vol. 36, No. 4 (1979)
Hause, S., & Maltby, W. (2001). The Ancient Near East: Mesopotamia, Egypt, Phoenicia and Israel. Essentials of Western Civilization (pp.7-15). California: Wadsworth.
Bart, A 2007, ‘Amenhotep III (Ca 1388 - 1348 BC)’, http://euler.slu.edu/~bart/egyptianhtml/kings%20and%20Queens/amenhotepiii.htm, viewed 5th May, 2014,
By far, Rome’s has been more creative and innovative than Greece, who pales in comparison. People of Rome brought
Lehner, Mark. "The Sphinx: Who built it, And why?." Archaeology 47, no. 5 (1994): 30-47.
Arguably one of the most important discoveries made regarding the historical and cultural study of ancient Egypt is the translation of the writing form known as hieroglyphics. This language, lost for thousands of years, formed a tantalizing challenge to a young Jean François who committed his life to its translation. Scholars such as Sylvestre de Sacy had attempted to translate the Rosetta Stone before Champollion, but after painstaking and unfruitful work, they abandoned it (Giblin 32). Champollion’s breakthrough with hieroglyphics on the Rosetta Stone opened up new possibilities to study and understand ancient Egypt like never before, and modern Egyptology was born.
Each Roman province and city was governed in the same way. The Romans were proud of their unique ability to rule, but they acknowledged Greek leadership in the fields of art, architecture, literature, and philosophy. By the second century B.C., Romans had conquered Greece and had come to greatly admire Greek culture. Educated Romans learned the Greek language. As Horace, a Roman poet, said, “Greece, once overcome, overcame her wild conqueror.” The mixing of elements of Greek, Hellenistic, and Roman culture produced a new culture, called Greco-Roman culture. This is also often called classical civilization. Roman artists, philosophers, and writers did not merely copy their Greek and Hellenistic models. They adapted them for their own purposes and created a style of their own. Roman art and literature came to convey the Roman ideals of strength, permanence, and
When the term “literature” crossed the mind, one may immediately think of a classical definition of literature. Large libraries with stacks upon stacks of books may enter the mind. However, literature in the broad, informal sense can be traced back much further. In order to trace the evolution of literature, the evolution of human communication must first be considered. For thousands of years, humans have told stories through verbal and written communication. The first written communications are attributed to drawings on writings on prehistoric cave walls. Many of these works however are not considered true literature. Epic of Gilgamesh is one of the earliest known literary works and dates to around 2000 BC in Mesopotamia.
Literature also gives us glimpses of much earlier ages. These glimpses take our imaginations back to the roots of our culture, in some instances. The study of Literature, through our history, enhances our understanding of our modern world.
Literature has had a major impact on society, and, also our history. Literature has reformed and shaped civilizations, changed political systems, and has exposed injustices (3). Our literature has changed and developed as we have, keeping up with our society. “...literature is crucial for the advancement of society (3).” With literary works, we can convince others to view things a certain way, share our opinions, and more. Literature is greatly intertwined with our society and everyday lives, and they would not be the same without it. Literature plays an irreplaceable role in our
These works of art succeeded for many centuries. Over time many changes took place; many governments and civilizations, vanished and others appeared, but the ideals of the ancient Egyptian literature persisted even in our age. Besides, ancient Egyptian literature formed central elements in folkloric works of many nations. This shows how elevated ancient Egyptians moral and literary perceptions were, even before divine religions were revealed or even before the world knew great literary masterpieces. Ancient Egyptian literature rose and grew in the bosom of religious beliefs, but it quickly evolved to deal with mans ordinary day-to-day life. Literary works occupied a distinguished position in the ancient Egyptian thought and civilization. The ancient Egyptians viewed literature as a source of spiritual nourishment and a unique way to elevate style of expression. Refined literary style was a source of pride for the writer and appreciation and enjoyment for the reader. Ancient Egyptian literature tackled almost all aspects of