ancient Egyptian literature Archives - Tales of Times Forgotten

When and How Did Modern Westerners Learn about Egyptian Myth?

In the western world today, Egyptian mythology is roughly as well-known as Greek or Norse mythology. This, however, was not always the case. Two hundred years ago, even the foremost western experts on ancient Egypt knew relatively little about Egyptian myth and the vast majority of non-academic westerners knew nothing at all about the subject. It has only been over the past couple hundred years that academic knowledge on the subject has grown and become widely disseminated. In this post, I will discuss the fascinating history of how westerners became aware of Egyptian myth.

No, the ‘Epic of Gilgamesh’ Is Not the Oldest Surviving Work of Literature

If you think you know one thing about the ancient Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh, then, chances are, you probably think that the epic is the oldest surviving work of literature in the whole world. This claim pervades basically all non-academic discussion of the epic. I was taught it in my history and literature classes all throughout my K-12 education, it is endlessly repeated on the internet, and, whenever I happen to talk to someone about the Epic of Gilgamesh, it is usually one of the first claims to come up.

The truth, however, is that the standard Akkadian version of the Epic of Gilgamesh (which is what most people mean when they talk about the Epic of Gilgamesh) is not even close to being the oldest surviving work of literature. In fact, it’s not even the oldest surviving poem about Gilgamesh.