Letters and Personal Documents From Ancient Egypt

When thinking of the rich and ancient Egyptian culture, one would imagine grandstanding royal decrees carved on sandstone, giant victory stelae, and grandiose hieroglyphic scripts on papyrus scrolls illustrating the life of gods and the pharaoh himself. These awe-inspiring pieces represent only the peak of the pyramid of ancient society, the top 0.1%, so to speak. The rest, the lives of common villagers, their hopes and dreams, home-cooked meals, marital troubles, and local gossip, are preserved in the form of private letters and personal documents.

Written mainly in cursive scripts (Hieratic and Demotic), on papyrus scrolls, wooden tablets, and even broken pieces of pottery, letters, and lawsuits contain a wealth of information about the daily life of the average Egyptian living in the Middle Kingdom, the New Kingdom, and even the Late Period. From family letters and village notes to marriage contracts and personal wills, these personal documents reveal the fascinating world of ancient Egyptians who, despite living thousands of years ago, encountered very similar situations as we do today.

1. Letter writing and material culture

Despite being a highly developed civilization, literacy in ancient Egypt was a privilege, acquired only by the chosen few. The scribal class was well-educated and well-paid, with complex administrative duties, but ordinary villagers, even if somewhat educated, would have needed to hire a professional to help with writing and reading. Physical media varied depending on the letter importance and the writers’ status.

Papyrus, a fine paper-like material made from papyrus reeds, was reserved for official documents, letters, and even wills. It was expensive and precious, so it was rolled up and folded in small packets and sealed with a piece of clay (bulla) with a stamp or a beetle-shaped amulet to signify privacy. Meanwhile, broken pieces of limestone and pottery (ostraca) were used for informal notes, village letters, even grocery lists. Being plentiful, they were cheaper and usually did not require sealing.

Besides the obvious differences in materials and formats, Egyptian letters had a distinct feel and flavor to them, dissimilar to the letters of today. The structure of the letter was standardized and included elaborate greetings to the addressee, wishing him health, happiness, and prosperity:

“The scribe X speaks to his lord, the scribe Y: In life, prosperity, and health! This is a letter to inform my lord. May the god Amun-Ra keep you healthy every day and let you see many good years in his gift”

Only after these formal and well-worn opening words did the author proceed to the main part of the message, often introducing it with the phrase “Further, to give information regarding…”

2. Middle Kingdom family letters and finances

In 1921, the famous Egyptologist Herbert Winlock discovered a stunning find in the village of Deir el-Bahari, close to Thebes. The discovery, which consisted of personal letters and household documents, was later referred to as the Heqanakht Papyri. Heqanakht’s letters, dated to the early second millennium BC (early Twelfth Dynasty), were written by an elderly ka-priest (a specialist who prayed to gods on behalf of a person) Heqanakht while he was away on a long business trip in the Nile Delta. Heqanakht kept writing letters to his family in Thebes about the current state of his affairs.

Heqanakht’s letters provide a valuable insight into the day-to-day life of the Middle Kingdom. Mostly comprised of instructions to his son about the current finances, the letters disclose the details of the economic downturn happening in Egypt at the time:

“Be extremely careful with my grain! Save every grain of it! … Allocate the rations to my people while they are working. Mind you, keep my house running!”

Heqanakht’s eldest son Merisu received the largest portion of the land, grain, and people, but the priest kept a watchful eye on what his son was doing. Heqanakht appears to be a very pious man who worries about his family and wants his share of the harvest to be used for the good of his household:

“Is it not true that half-life is better than complete death?”

Heqanakht got married to a young woman called Iutenheb and, evidently, not everyone in the family welcomed the new bride with open arms. Heqanakht wrote a stern letter to his sons about his wife, complaining that the family did not treat her well:

“How can you mistreat my young wife? She is my wife, and whatever is done to her is done to me! Anyone among you who does not respect her shall not live in my house!”

The family and work troubles that Heqanakht experienced could very well be the troubles of today. His personal letters disclose a vivid picture of the Middle Kingdom and the life of the average Egyptian landowner.

3. Letters and notes from the village

While the Heqanakht’s documents represent the private letters of the upper-middle class, the thousands of Hieratic ostraca and papyrus fragments found in the village of Deir el-Medina are the most common historical documents retrieved from ancient Egypt. The workers of Deir el-Medina were constructing the royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings, and some of them were literate. As a result, hundreds of informal letters were written on papyrus, leaving us with a fascinating insight into the daily life of the Egyptian village.

Deir el-Medina letters cover a wide range of topics from borrowing a donkey to discussing medical issues

Neighbors asked each other to lend a hand or a tool when they got sick or needed help with their work:

“Please, my brother, lend me your donkey. I am going to cut firewood.” “I have a copper chisel. Please come to my house and I will give it to you.” “I will come to you, my brother, to help you.”

Women wrote to their male siblings concerning their welfare:

“I have not heard from you for a long time! My heart is sick because you have not written to tell me how you are.” “You know how your sister is fond of you. You are her beloved brother. You are her brother in name and in fact.”

The Deir el-Medina letters disclose some interesting details about the social and legal history of the village. It appears that the status of women in ancient Egypt was quite high when compared to the neighboring countries. Women could own, buy, sell, and rent real estate, land, and animals. They could initiate divorce and protect their rights in court, including the right to inherit property.

According to the Demotic and Hieratic legal documents, an Egyptian woman had the right to independently make decisions regarding her property, its division, and even its inheritance. Upon divorce, a woman retained her share of property, including the one-third rule, which applied to women as well as men. Women had the right to bequeath their private property to whomever they chose via a will (imyt-pr). The daughters could disinherit their parents if they did not support them in old age, the same was possible for sons.

The Naunakhte Will Papyrus (dated back to approximately 1145 BC) represents a letter from a village matriarch, Naunakhte, who decided to divide her property among her children. The woman had eight children, and she openly showed her anger and disappointment towards those who did not support her in old age:

“As for my children who cared for me, I give them my property. As for those who did not give me a hand when I was elderly, they shall receive nothing from my estate!”

The letter was written in front of the Kenbet (the local tribunal), to assert the validity of Naunakhte’s decision.

4. Love songs

While many private documents contain only formal and business-like language, there is a wealth of romantic poetry inspired by love and youth. Some of the most well-preserved pieces of ancient literature were written on papyrus (Chester Beatty I Papyrus) and ostraca, and represent the love songs of the New Kingdom. The love poems reveal the feelings of young people, the joys of youth, music, and nature.

Most of them are written in verse, and men and women address each other as brothers and sisters (sen and senet), not husbands and wives, perhaps due to the formality of the relationship:

“Her love is on the other side of the river, and an alligator lurks in the water, Yet I step into the flood! My heart is bold upon the waters; love makes the deep river as firm as dry land beneath my feet.”

This is the poetry of a people, the expressions of their heart, the songs of love and devotion, music, and romance.

Conclusion

Personal documents and letters are some of the most interesting sources of historical information regarding the daily life of the ancient Egyptians. These pieces of evidence help historians, linguists, and archaeologists put real human faces to the serious and often grim history of the ancient world.

From Heqanakht’s housekeeping orders, revealing the economic situation in Egypt’s Middle Kingdom, to the romantic love songs of the New Kingdom and the personal wills of the villagers in Deir el-Medina, letters help us understand the lives of people living thousands of years ago. They show us that the world of the ancient Egyptians was not so different from our own, and the lives of the people were as deeply connected to their hearts, homes, families, and legal matters as ours today.