Paper short abstract:

The Tale of Sinuhe is one of the most important Ancient Egyptian literary works and, among others, can be used as a source for understanding specific values of that society. More than the dealings with Asia, Sinuhe’s flight to Retjenu has an emphasis on the protagonist’s social identity.

Paper long abstract:

The Tale of Sinuhe is most of all an Egyptian tale, written by Egyptians and directed to an Egyptian audience. During Sinuhe's flight the reader is exposed to different lands, peoples and costumes. These characterizations of the foreign lands, some of them identified in literary and non-literary sources, should not be taken as a source to understand socio-cultural relationships in Asia, but as a metaphorical literary device to show the transformation of the main character in an outlander, in a foreign land.

The tale shows the transgression of Egyptian values, however, as it develops, the notion of native affiliation is reinforced, as well as its emphasis on the protagonist's social identity. What it reveals is the individual confronted by himself. Despite all the estrangement that "a Delta man seeing himself in Elephantine" could feel, any Egyptian reader would identify himself with the protagonist, recognizing him as an equal.

The aim of this paper is to analyse The Tale of Sinuhe as a cultural text, exploring both its normative and formative sphere. It as well aims to explore the role of cultural memory as the connection between the individual and its community in the development of social identity, during the Middle Kingdom.