Ghosts in Ancient Egypt from a Literary Perspective: An Analysis of ‘Khonsemhab and the Spirit’. A Possible Pessimistic Tale of the Middle Kingdom?

Abstract

In this study, we examine one of the most enigmatic compositions of Ancient Egyptian literature. Although
preserved in a copy of Ramesside period from the New Kingdom, the text appears to be based on an earlier narrative
tradition. The tale centres on the encounter and dialogue between its two eponymous protagonists: Khonsemhab, a
priest of Amun, and Nebusemekh, a spirit. The narrative unfolds through their exchange concerning the spirit’s lament
over the dilapidated state of its tomb, a condition that prevents it from attaining eternal rest, and the assurances offered
by the priest to restore it—assurances which the spirit receives with scepticism, shaped by past disappointments. Owing
to the fragmentary preservation of the text, the fate of both characters remains unknown.
Based on its formal and thematic features, it is plausible to suggest that this tale could be tentatively situated within the
corpus of so-called pessimistic texts traditionally associated with the Middle Kingdom. In this regard, it exhibits several
noteworthy affinities with compositions from that period, such as its dialogic structure, the thematic tension between
order and chaos, and the spirit’s expressions of despair in response to the neglected state of his burial place.
In this study, I examine the tale in detail and seek to address a central question at the end of the article: Could this story
have originally belonged to the tradition of Middle Kingdom Pessimistic Literature?