Ancient Egyptian literature was written in the Egyptian language from Ancient Egypt's pharaonic period until the end of Roman domination. Along with Sumerian literature, it is considered the world's earliest literature. Writing in Ancient Egypt first appeared in the late 4th millennium BC. By the Old Kingdom, literary works included funerary texts, epistles and letters, religious hymns and poems, and commemorative autobiographical texts. It was not until the early Middle Kingdom that a narrative Egyptian literature was created. Middle Egyptian, the spoken language of the Middle Kingdom, became a classical language during the New Kingdom, when the vernacular language known as Late Egyptian first appeared in writing. Scribes of the New Kingdom canonized and copied many literary texts written in Middle Egyptian, which remained the language used for oral readings of sacred hieroglyphic texts. Ancient Egyptian literature has been preserved on a wide variety of media, including papyrus scrolls and packets, limestone or ceramic ostraca, wooden writing boards, monumental stone edifices and coffins. Hidden caches of literature, buried for thousands of years, have been discovered in settlements on the dry desert margins of Egyptian civilization.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egyptian_literature

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

68:

Roman Emperor Nero committed suicide after he was deposed by the Senate. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nero

1815:

The Congress of Vienna ended, redrawing the political map of Europe after the defeat of Napoleon in the Napoleonic Wars. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congress_of_Vienna

1862:

American Civil War: Confederate General Stonewall Jackson concluded his successful Shenandoah Valley Campaign with a victory in the Battle of Port Republic. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson%27s_Valley_Campaign

1928:

Australian aviator Charles Kingsford Smith and his crew landed their Southern Cross aircraft in Brisbane, completing the first ever trans-Pacific flight from the United States mainland to Australia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Kingsford_Smith

1946:

Bhumibol Adulyadej ascended to the throne of Thailand, currently the world's longest reigning current monarch. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhumibol_Adulyadej

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

ukiyo-e (n): A Japanese woodcut depicting everyday life http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ukiyo-e

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Oh, give me land, lots of land under starry skies above.

Don't fence me in. Let me ride through the wide open country that I love

Don't fence me in. Let me be by myself in the evenin' breeze And listen to the murmur of the cottonwood trees

Send me off forever but I ask you please Don't fence me in. --Cole Porter http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Cole_Porter