Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor

An informative podcast episode about an important tale in the history of written literature. Although, sadly, it is too brief, it is not fragmentary like some of the later stories in Demotic. It also, despite its brevity, points to shipwreck, adventures at sea, and mysterious encounters with supernatural events as key themes in ancient literature. Moreover, the vast serpent met by the sailor is the self-proclaimed king of Punt, suggesting ways in which this early work of fiction can be linked to ancient depictions of East Africa (or the Horn) as a source of wonder and luxury goods. Unlike the later Setne cycle of tales, where a Nubian magician is a a source of rivalry for Egypt, the people of Punt never appear in the story. Nevertheless, both this tale of shipwreck and wonder and works like Setne II point to possible ways Egyptian fiction may have influenced the depiction of "Ethiopia" to Greek writers of ancient "novels" or romances.