Nubians and Libyans as Elements of Egyptian Literature : between Stereotypes and Individuals

Lots of interesting studies have already been published about the relations between Egypt and its neighbours, with a strong bias in favour of Asiatics, for obvious reasons. One is used to consider the question of the foreigners in literature through the filter of royal epigraphic texts, where the Nine Bows, narratives of military campaigns, and royal decrees play a prominent role; we also have data coming from every-day life texts, dealing with practical, economical or juridical matters. Iconography and archaeology have also been taken into account. Against this general background, what is the place of the African neighbours of Egypt as constitutive elements of the Egyptian literary texts? And what was their impact on the Egyptian’s imagination? I here propose to examine literary texts from the New Kingdom (including wisdom texts and miscellanies) and to make a context sensitive analysis of qualifiers and expressions related to Nubians and Libyans. Admittedly, lexical approaches have already been proposed, but mainly in connection to loanwords. I here rather consider a broader approach of the lexicon, which might contribute to answer the questions I mentioned previously, identify the common stereotypes about foreigners that found their way in the composition of literary texts, and put the focus on isolated expressions or metaphors.