On Deafness in Ancient Egyptian Literary and Para-literary Texts

Scholarly focus on hearing impairments in Pharaonic Egypt has been limited, given the sparse evidence on this ‘invisible disability’ both in bioarchaeology and societal records. Egyptian court society’s emphasis on the virtues of hearing and ‘perfect speech’ may have eclipsed the experiences of aural disabilities due to ideology, decorum, and post-mortem concerns for bodily integrity. Within this framework, the reality of deafness is nonetheless present. The paper examines the lexicon of the condition, and presents a catalogue of evidence from medical treatises, protective and funerary formulae, and documentary texts, also detailing ear-related punishments. Literature provides insights into the ailments of old age, temporary hearing loss, the Pharaoh’s performative ability to “open the ears of the deaf”, possible allusions to sign-language, and figurative uses of ‘deafness’, analysed through Conceptual Metaphor Theory. The conclusions outline hypotheses and considerations on the impact and perceptions of hearing-related disabilities.