Ancient Egyptian poetry: The Tale of Sinuhe

Oxford University professor Richard Bruce Parkinson worked with actress and writer Barbara Ewing to record a dramatic reading of one of the finest works of Egyptian poetry The Tale of Sinuhe. Here, they discuss working together and the impact the poem can still have on a modern audience.
The recording is part of a project to write a new reader’s commentary on The Tale of Sinuhe. This research is part of an ongoing joint British Museum and Oxford University project on the Ramesseum Papyri.
You can listen to Barbara's reading of the whole poem here: podcasts.ox.ac...
You can find more information on the British Museum ostracon of Sinuhe here: www.britishmuse....

[@IIVVBlues]

The technology of writing allows a voice from ancient times to time travel and be heard in the present. If the fates allow, it will continue its journey into the future and be told a thousand years hence. Such a marvelous accomplishment for humanity to be able to communicate a story beyond the grave.

[@SS-de8sf]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/pnyygGmGZtF_l9k

[@calilovett2063]

This is one of the best channels on KZbin!

[@SS-de8sf]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/pnyygGmGZtF_l9k

[@jainck4]

This is great to see. I read The Tale of Sinuhe about twenty years ago and now it is coming alive for me.

[@SS-de8sf]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/pnyygGmGZtF_l9k

[@babdullah5025]

Why do they say mika walteri has written it? I'm confused

[@ingeborg-anne]

Oh I wish she could make an audiobook of my Literature of Ancient Egypt book!

[@JT-un7dc]

What's stopping you from making the audio book?

[@Alusnovalotus]

J T the voice?!? Duh

[@SS-de8sf]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/pnyygGmGZtF_l9k

[@SS-de8sf]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/pnyygGmGZtF_l9k

[@alaanofal2367]

I am from Egypt I love my country very much❤

[@stevenhyndman5039]

Wonderful to hear an actor of Barbara Ewings calibre read this.

[@sandracasey6794]

Thank you for posting. Interesting info.

[@whyareyougae8170]

I'm such a crazy fan of Sinuhe the Egyptian that I cry every time the book finishes and then start reading the book again. So I do have much information on. Yes, the physician "Sinoha" was named by his not biological mother "Kipa" after this Adventurous tale of Sinuhe. But the funny thing is none of these Sinuhes actually existed Sinuhe's tale was written by an anonymous writer Mika Waltari named Sinuhe the doctor after the first sinuhe.

[@babdullah5025]

On google I found out that Mika walteri has written it, is that true?

[@BigDaddy-fx4nx]

I do believe Sinuhe was based on a real person and the story has truth to it.

[@PandaEric]

Amazing Video!!

[@expectationofplenty]

This is so cool :)

[@karlcarlsen9664]

The Misadventures of Wenamun next please.

[@petrfrizen6078]

When one does not understand the language of the original (like my own self in this instance), then one should be trusting the interpreter… Poetic… Life is complicated, indeed…

[@SS-de8sf]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/pnyygGmGZtF_l9k

[@natezomby]

"She can give voice to the ancient words..." I've already seen this movie, it was called the Evil Dead and it didn't turn out so good.

[@JT-un7dc]

Ash lives.

[@SS-de8sf]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/pnyygGmGZtF_l9k

[@stedwards311]

What is the context of that last phrase, "day of landing," in the original Egyptian? Are there any other places that phrase appears? "The day of landing" seems like it might be an Egyptian colloquialism, which is to say, it's a bit vague. Is the writer lamenting that he held the favor of the Pharaoh until the day he fell from grace, or boasting that he held such favor until the day he died? Or is there some other colloquial meaning for a "day of landing" in ancient Egyptian?

[@jedimeso]

There seems to be a link to the entire poem in the description. More details may be revealed there. However, I haven't yet listened to it myself.

[@stupidfiend]

It is a metaphor for death, so yeah, he was in the King's favor until the day he died.

[@Alusnovalotus]

S Edwards very good point.

[@SS-de8sf]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/pnyygGmGZtF_l9k

[@sabbysky]

I was to hear it out in the original language too since I love languages.

[@claudiamanta1943]

Nobody knows what it sounded like. Some speculate about Late Egyptian, though.

[@parisbermudes7522]

How should one cite this video? Thank you!

[@SS-de8sf]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/pnyygGmGZtF_l9k

[@roddyteague6246]

I remember her from the ITV comedy Brass. I remember him from school.

[@SS-de8sf]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/pnyygGmGZtF_l9k

[@claudiamanta1943]

Thank you very much.

[@Sinuhe204]

I love this! This is also my name! 😁

[@ChrisPeck-niganma]

Blimey! These folks bring a modern passion to an ancient text that unites our ages.

[@welshpete12]

It is their world, it is there life ! :-)

[@sinas.7700]

More than 7 minutes and almost nothing about the actual story?!

[@mailio4536]

it's an introduction. The actual story is 40+ inutes long, they show a link to it at the end of te video.

[@davidadams6863]

♡

[@seanl4285]

Could you change the subtitle colour? It's impossible to read

[@manq]

Press the cogwheel and then subtitles/CC then press on options. There you can change the color.

[@seanl4285]

Ah thanks, I don't know why my subtitles were set to a green background with yellow font.

[@suzannecooke2055]

Is this the source of Mika Waltari's book "The Egyptian"?

[@bsn2dnp99]

He was named after him. Because Sinuhe mother loved stories. One of my favorite books of all time.

[@Alusnovalotus]

Suzanne Cooke kinda. But Sinuhe never went back. He wrote it for his Missing son

[@copycat307]

Yes, it is. Remember when nefernefernefer teased him about his name at their first meeting?🙂 one of my favorite books!

[@nantzstein3311]

Why isn't it written in hieroglyphic ?

[@GRosa]

I think it's written in the demotic script of Ancient Egyptian

[@ceroman]

Hieroglyphs mean "sacred symbols", they were reserved for royal and holy texts and inscriptions. Stories and mundane texts were written in demotic, the "people's script"

[@nantzstein3311]

@@ceroman But same language right !?

[@ahmedsalamaali4137]

@@nantzstein3311 not tha same at all.

[@Alusnovalotus]

Nantz Stein can we all read ancient Egyptian?? No. It’s demotic Egyptian. Faster and easier to read for the scribes and elites that could read and write.

[@Audunforgard]

Top stuff! Currently reading Waltari`s retelling. It`s like the coolest book ever! The curator who think Sinoue is but a tale is a boring old fart

[@cgawainf4785]

Are you talking about Richard Parkinson? He has studied and translated many works of Middle Kingdom Literature and so knows more about it than you ever will. Why do you have to make an ignorant comment like that?

[@SS-de8sf]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/pnyygGmGZtF_l9k

[@shonagraham2752]

even on full volume you can't make out what she's saying! I don't need emotions clear speaking is better!

[@longidude7048]

where was the tale really written? is it in a papyrus or is it in an ostracon like in a video?

[@SS-de8sf]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/pnyygGmGZtF_l9k

[@Beantbeantbeant]

There are afew instances where the tale has been retold and rewritten, but the most famous is from a large Ostracon written in Hieratic

[@digofthedump]

sounds more of a notary has written the words down for someone too me .?

[@digofthedump]

rich mans diary maybe?

[@SS-de8sf]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/pnyygGmGZtF_l9k

[@sinjb6206]

Still doesn’t explain why my mother picked this name for me !!! No one can say it right 😂

[@Voltaire8559]

British Museum channel is must better than the Smithsonian Channel

[@vincentastor7728]

The main character in The Egyptian, by Mika Waltari, is named Sinuhe. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Egyptian en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Egyptian_(film)

[@SS-de8sf]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/pnyygGmGZtF_l9k

[@welshpete12]

I, for one think it is based on a real life . It has to much of the real world , to be false .

[@cgawainf4785]

So how long have you been studying ancient Egyptian literature?

[@welshpete12]

@@cgawainf4785 many years , why ?

[@tyra4president]

Like #1000

[@MikeScott-ez7iw]

Fake 🤥 News 📰 I know people who visit the museums in Egypt and told me that the mummies were pure African people the art and statues and writing language is of pure African people I look online and noticed that the mummies were pure African people not Egyptian and Mediterranean dark 🌑 skin bs 100 true facts 💯 facts

[@MikeScott-ez7iw]

Egypt Is in Africa 🌍 it was known as kemet civilization the Greeks came up with the name Egypt it's online look it up Ancient Egypt was pure African people not Egyptian and Mediterranean dark 🌑 skin bs Europeans and Mediterranean people don't have black eyes 👀 African and black people do period 100 💯 true facts 💯 facts

[@baharmelikoglu6117]

Kurban oluyum bi Türkçe çeviri yapın😵🙏

[@RicCdelP]

It may be due to the limitations of a 7 minutes video but it seemed to me that Richard's answers to Barbara's questions were too poor... What do you mean it cannot be real telling just because it's too perfect?

[@notablegoat]

I suspect he means that it has a structure which suggests construction, whereas life tends to have a poor sense of pacing

[@RicCdelP]

​@@notablegoat Sure, but this wasn't a journal. It was the recount of a lifetime (fictional or not). They had the time to make connections where they hadn't before (the sicamore thing) or take artistic licenses ... Just a thought!

[@cgawainf4785]

As a literary scholar and someone who has superior knowledge of the literary style of ancient Egyptian literature, believe me he would know! He didn't have time to give her a full textual analysis of The Tale of Sinuhe.

[@SS-de8sf]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/pnyygGmGZtF_l9k

[@dorianphilotheates3769]

Who would ever want to do Egyptology when there are so many fascinating marketing MBA programmes?...

[@Alusnovalotus]

Dorian Philotheates also more suicides and broken families from stress and anxiety come with that job. Egyptology here we come!!!

[@dorianphilotheates3769]

alus nova - Yes, Egyptology is a tough, high-stress job. As a practicing Egyptologist myself, I wistfully yearn for the days when I was working sixteen hours per diem in a corporate law office. Ah, the simple times...

[@SS-de8sf]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/pnyygGmGZtF_l9k

[@bobbywright3439]

I could barely understand her or hear her

[@OSUex]

The woman who reads Sinuhe's words with such despair may have the best intentions but it is difficult to endure this halting speech that is supposed to be a male voice. Could this part be redubbed with a man reading at a normal cadence?

[@wawazuzzy2064]

they are speaking in the English Language

[@Bimfirestarter]

I find his reasons for concluding the tale is fictitious are unconvincing. People wrote off much of the Bible as fiction in more recent centuries and now we have so much archaeological evidence in support of many of the places, peoples, characters, customs and accounts that those critics were eager to disclaim.

[@ancientegyptwithdavidschmi3285]

The egyptologist Kenneth A. Kitchen suggested that the story was based on a true autobiography copied on papyrus from the tomb of a Sinuhe in the pyramidal district of Senwosret I and was redistributed. However, outside the literary framework, no indication of the existence of Sinuhe has been found so far. Therefore most egyptologists believe that is a work of fiction. Although the tale begins as a funerary autobiography, it encompasses a lot of literal styles. A tomb of a Sinuhe in the pyramidal district of Senwosret I as described in the tale has never been found. In general, it is a sign of fictional creation when a text appears outside its given frame - for example, with Sinuhe an autobiographical text appears outside the tomb. Nevertheless, the Tale of Sinuhe does represent the historical and political situation of its time to a certain degree.

[@ancientegyptwithdavidschmi3285]

By the way, the narrative of Sinuhe's duel against the so-called strong man of Retjenu has some parallels to the Old Testament account of David's fight against Goliath...

[@mtblp7459]

and they thought that the city troy was fictional until heinrich schliemann excavated it in 1871...

[@robokill387]

nobody ever claimed that the places, peoples, characters and customs were fictional. in most cases, we knew that they were real for centuries or even millenia, in fact, many of the places in the bible survived, inhabited, to the present day. what people write off as fiction is the talking donkeys and snakes, magic, and divine intervention.

[@Alusnovalotus]

Lem-1 with an E perhaps it’s like the tales of saints In Catholicism. A spun tale set around a real person.

[@moejami3270]

Again Stolen pieces !

[@shirleypena4133]

Personally, I think her reading is just awful. Her vocal performance makes Sinuhe appear far too weak, almost effeminate. I would have much preferred to hear this read by a man; preferably Egyptian. Egyptian men are strong and proud, and you don't hear these qualities whatsoever in this woman's reading.