(Im)politeness in Ancient Egypt

M. Victoria Almansa-Villatoro, Ph.D. (2022), Brown University, is Assistant Professor of Egyptology at Yale University. She has published on Egyptian language, society, and religion and is co-editor of Ancient Egyptian and Afroasiatic: Rethinking the Origins (Eisenbrauns, 2023).Aurore Motte, Ph.D. (2018), University of Liège, is a postdoctoral researcher of the F.R.S.-FNRS (Belgium). She has published on ancient Egyptian language, literature, and paratext and co-edited Looking Beyond the Text: New Approaches to Scribal Culture and Practices in Ancient Egypt (Brill, 2025).

• PrefaceList of Figures and TablesNotes on Contributors and EditorsAncient Egyptian Politeness throughout the AgesApproaches, Questions, and ResultsM. Victoria Almansa-Villatoro and Aurore Motte1 The Study of Politeness in Ancient Languages—Methodological NotesDániel Z. Kádár and Juliane House2 J.nḏ-ḥr.k “Protect your face!”: Addressing Politeness in the Pyramid TextsBrendan Hainline3 Solidarity Politeness in Old Kingdom Speech CaptionsAurore Motte4 Ritual, (Im‑)politeness, and Social Order in the Old Kingdom and First Intermediate Period Letters to the Dead in Comparison with Letters to the LivingM. Victoria Almansa-Villatoro5 Phraseology and Motivation in Heqanakht’s LettersJames P. Allen6 (Im)polite Behaviors in Ancient Egyptian Fictional StoriesNikolaos Lazaridis7 Exploring Third-Party (Im)politeness in the Late Ramesside LettersKim Ridealgh8 (Im)politeness, Irony and Hierarchical Status: Pragmatic Anchorage of the Ancient Egyptian Fictional NarrativeGaëlle Chantrain9 L’impolitesse comme source de divertissement et d’éducation: l’exemple de la Lettre satiriqueNathalie Sojic10 Appearance and Reality in Setne’s Dialogue with “Pharaoh” in First Setne 5.31–35Joseph Cross11 Politeness and Impoliteness in Coptic Documents: The Correspondence of the Monk Frange in 8th Century ThebesJennifer Cromwell and Alain DelattreIndex