Egyptian religious poetry

INTRODUCTION 25

first historic king of all Egypt was Menés, whose other name was Nar-mer.

The long history of Egypt is divided into a series of dynasties, beginning with no. 1 and ending with no. 31. This was the system used by the Egyptian historian Manetho (circa 270 B.c.), though his reasons for the division are not clear. It is, however, a convenient system for indicating the sequence of events and the position in time of certain aspects of the religion and the literature. This is peculiarly important in the present state of archaeological knowledge, when every new discovery of any value brings in its train some alteration in the previously accepted dating by years, making one period longer or another shorter. In tracing the changes in religion dating by years is of little value ; the facts of real importance are the causes and sequence of the changes, and these are clearly indicated in the dating by the numbered dynasties.

For those, however, to whom dating by years means much, I have given above a list of the dynasties with their approximate dates, though it must be borne in mind that any date before the New Kingdom is still a matter of controversy.

The victories of Menés and his immediate predecessors brought Egypt under one rule and so ensured peace within its borders. With peace established the arts flourished, and the whole level of civilization was raised. The Old Kingdom carried on the splendid tradition of the Proto-Dynastic period, and in the realm of Art Egypt rose to a height in architecture and sculpture which she never achieved again. At the end of the Old Kingdom, actually in the vith dynasty, there was a marked degeneration in the sculpture, but it was then that the religious literature blossomed in the most remarkable manner, for up to that time a few poetical expressions and one Triumph-Song are all that have survived of the poetry.