01/06/2024 By Kane Khanh
Artistic expression, although still employed for the glory of the king or the gods, found new themes during the Middle Kingdom. Even a cursory examination of Old Kingdom texts shows that they were largely of a type such as monument inscriptions, pyramid texts, and theological works. In the Middle Kingdom, although these types of inscriptions are still seen, a true literature developed that dealt not only with kings or gods but also with the lives of common people and human experience. Works such as The Lay of the Harper question whether there is life after death, as does the Dispute between a man and his Ba (his soul). The most well-known and popular prose works such as The Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor and The Tale of Sinuhé also come from this period.