ANCIENT EGYPTIAN LOVE POEM extremely rare JASPER LIPS OF QUEEN TEYE masterpiece
It was a fragment of an ancient Egyptian love poem contained in a papyrus known as the Chester Beatty Papyri 1. The papyrus manuscript dates to the 13th-14th centuries BC, is housed in the British Museum.
The fifty surviving fragments of texts are an example of ancient Egyptian love lyrics. They are mostly found in a few papyri from the New Kingdom, but apparently they were created before they were recorded.
The authors of the works are not known. Most of these works are completely or partially written on behalf of a woman. It is difficult to say whether they were written by women or they are lyrical heroines created by male authors.
The imagery and structure of this poetry has much in common with the literature of other ancient Eastern peoples. Lovers traditionally call each other "brother" and "sister": such an appeal can be found in other Eastern literatures. And some features are reminiscent of the biblical Song of Songs.
We will not find rhymes in these works, however, the rhythmic pattern, often built on the repetition of words and phrases, is their important feature.
No one knows how these works sounded, because the ancient Egyptians did not write down vowels, and it is impossible to restore the sound of their language.
The photo was of a 14th century BC masterpiece from the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Fragment of sculpture of Queen Teye, New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty, reign of Amenhotep III, circa 1388-1351. BC e. Yellow jasper.
Such monuments made of jasper are extremely rare in ancient Egyptian art.