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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/9411-8.txt b/9411-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f433fc2 --- /dev/null +++ b/9411-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7215 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Legends Of The Gods, by E. A. Wallis Budge +#3 in our series by E. A. Wallis Budge + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Legends Of The Gods + The Egyptian Texts, edited with Translations + +Author: E. A. Wallis Budge + +Release Date: December, 2005 [EBook #9411] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on September 30, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LEGENDS OF THE GODS *** + + + + +Produced by John B. Hare and Carrie R. Lorenz + + + + +LEGENDS OF THE GODS + +The Egyptian Texts, edited with Translations + +by E. A. Wallis Budge + +London, 1912 + + + + + +[Editorial note: Throughout the text "####" represents images which + cannot be transcribed.] + + + + +PREFACE + + +The welcome which has been accorded to the volumes of this Series, and +the fact that some of them have passed into second and third editions, +suggest that these little books have been found useful by beginners in +Egyptology and others. Hitherto the object of them has been to supply +information about the Religion, Magic, Language, and History of the +ancient Egyptians, and to provide editions of the original texts from +which such information was derived. There are, however, many branches +of Egyptology which need treatment in a similar manner in this Series, +and it has been suggested in many quarters that the time has now +arrived when the publication of a series of groups of texts +illustrating Egyptian Literature in general might well be begun. +Seeing that nothing is known about the authors of Egyptian works, not +even their names, it is impossible to write a History of Egyptian +Literature in the ordinary sense of the word. The only thing to be +done is to print the actual works in the best and most complete form +possible, with translations, and then to put them in the hands of the +reader and leave them to his judgment. + +With this object in view, it has been decided to publish in the Series +several volumes which shall be devoted to the reproduction in +hieroglyphic type of the best and most typical examples of the various +kinds of Egyptian Literature, with English translations, on a much +larger scale than was possible in my "First Steps in Egyptian" or in my +"Egyptian Reading Book." These volumes are intended to serve a double +purpose, i.e., to supply the beginner in Egyptian with new material and +a series of reading books, and to provide the general reader with +translations of Egyptian works in a handy form. + +The Egyptian texts, whether the originals be written in hieroglyphic or +hieratic characters, are here printed in hieroglyphic type, and are +arranged with English translations, page for page. They are printed as +they are written in the original documents, i.e., the words are not +divided. The beginner will find the practice of dividing the words for +himself most useful in acquiring facility of reading and understanding +the language. The translations are as literal as can reasonably be +expected, and, as a whole, I believe that they mean what the original +writers intended to say. In the case of passages where the text is +corrupt, and readings are mixed, or where very rare words occur, or +where words are omitted, the renderings given claim to be nothing more +than suggestions as to their meanings. It must be remembered that the +exact meanings of many Egyptian words have still to be ascertained, and +that the ancient Egyptian scribes were as much puzzled as we are by +some of the texts which they copied, and that owing to carelessness, +ignorance, or weariness, or all three, they made blunders which the +modern student is unable to correct. In the Introduction will be found +brief descriptions of the contents of the Egyptian texts, in which +their general bearing and importance are indicated, and references +given to authoritative editions of texts and translations. + + + + +E. A. WALLIS BUDGE. + + + +BRITISH MUSEUM, +November 17,1911. + + + + + +CONTENTS + + + + + +CHAPTER + + I. THE LEGEND OF THE CREATION + + II. THE LEGEND OF THE DESTRUCTION OF MANKIND + + III. THE LEGEND OF RA AND THE SNAKE-BITE + + IV. THE LEGEND OF HORUS OF EDFU AND THE WINGED DISK + + V. THE LEGEND OF THE ORIGIN OF HORUS + + VI. A LEGEND OF KHENSU NEFER-HETEP AND THE PRINCESS OF BEKHTEN + + VII. THE LEGEND OF KHNEMU AND A SEVEN YEARS' FAMINE + +VIII. THE LEGEND OF THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF HORUS + + IX. THE LEGEND OF ISIS AND OSIRIS ACCORDING TO CLASSICAL WRITERS + + + + + + +LIST OF PLATES AND ILLUSTRATIONS ON OR FOLLOWING PAGE: + + +The History of Creation + + I. Horus holding the Hippopotamus-fiend with chain and spear + + II. Horus spearing the Hippopotamus-fiend + + III. Horus spearing the Hippopotamus-fiend + + IV. Horus and Isis capturing the Hippopotamus fiend + + V. Horus on the back of the Hippopotamus-fiend + + VI. The slaughter of the Hippopotamus-fiend + + VII. Horus of Behutet and Ra-Harmakhis in a shrine + + VIII. Horus of Behutet and Ra-Harmakhis in a shrine + + IX. Ashthertet in her chariot + + X. Horus holding captive foes and spearing Typhonic animals + + XI. Horus spearing human foes + + XII. Horus spearing the crocodile + + XIII. Horus in the form of a lion + + XIV. The Procreation of Horus, son of Isis. + + XV. The Resurrection of Osiris. + + XVI. The Bekhten Stele + + XVII. The Metternich Stele--Obverse + +XVIII. The Metternich Stele--Reverse + + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +I. + + +THE LEGEND OF THE GOD NEB-ER-TCHER, AND THE HISTORY OF CREATION. + + + + +The text of the remarkable Legend of the Creation which forms the first +section of this volume is preserved in a well-written papyrus in the +British Museum, where it bears the number 10,188. This papyrus was +acquired by the late Mr. A. H. Rhind in 1861 or 1862, when he was +excavating some tombs on the west bank of the Nile at Thebes. He did +not himself find it in a tomb, but he received it from the British +Consul at Luxor, Mustafa Agha, during an interchange of gifts when Mr. +Rhind was leaving the country. Mustafa Agha obtained the papyrus from +the famous hiding-place of the Royal Mummies at Der-al-Bahari, with the +situation of which he was well acquainted for many years before it +became known to the Egyptian Service of Antiquities. When Mr. Rhind +came to England, the results of his excavations were examined by Dr. +Birch, who, recognising the great value of the papyrus, arranged to +publish it in a companion volume to Facsimiles of Two Papyri, but the +death of Mr. Rhind in 1865 caused the project to fall through. Mr. +Rhind's collection passed into the hands of Mr. David Bremner, and the +papyrus, together with many other antiquities, was purchased by the +Trustees of the British Museum. In 1880 Dr. Birch suggested the +publication of the papyrus to Dr. Pleyte, the Director of the Egyptian +Museum at Leyden. This savant transcribed and translated some passages +from the Festival Songs of Isis and Nephthys, which is the first text +in it, and these he published in Recueil de Travaux, Paris, tom. iii., +pp. 57-64. In 1886 by Dr. Birch's kindness I was allowed to work at +the papyrus, and I published transcripts of some important passages and +the account of the Creation in the Proceedings of the Society of +Biblical Archaeology, 1886-7, pp. 11-26. The Legend of the Creation +was considered by Dr. H. Brugsch to be of considerable value for the +study of the Egyptian Religion, and encouraged by him[FN#1] I made a +full transcript of the papyrus, which was published in Archaeologia, +(vol. lii., London, 1891), with transliterations and translations. In +1910 I edited for the Trustees of the British Museum the complete +hieratic text with a revised translation.[FN#2] + + + +[FN#1] Ein in moglichst wortgetreuer Uebersetzung vorglegter Papyrus- +text soll den Schlussstein meines Werkes bilden. Er wird den Beweis +fur die Richtigkeit meiner eigenen Untersuchungen vollenden, indem er +das wichtigste Zeugniss altagyptischen Ursprungs den zahlreichen, von +mir angezogenen Stellen aus den Inschriften hinzufugt. Trotz mancher +Schwierigkeit im Einzelnen ist der Gesammtinhalt des Textes, den zuerst +ein englischer Gelehrter der Wissenschaft zuganglich gemacht hat, such +nicht im geringsten misszuverstehen (Brugsch, Religion, p. 740). He +gives a German translation of the Creation Legend on pp. 740, 741, and +a transliteration on p. 756. + +[FN#2] Egyptian Hieratic Papyri in the British Museum, London, 1910, +folio. + + + +The papyrus is about 16 ft. 8 in. in length, and is 9 1/4 in. in width. +It contains 21 columns of hieratic text which are written in short +lines and are poetical in character, and 12 columns or pages of text +written in long lines; the total number of lines is between 930 and +940. The text is written in a small, very black, but neat hand, and +may be assigned to a time between the XXVIth Dynasty and the Ptolemaic +Period. The titles, catch-words, rubrics, names of Apep and his +fiends, and a few other words, are written in red ink. There are two +colophons; in the one we have a date, namely, the "first day of the +fourth month of the twelfth year of Pharaoh Alexander, the son of +Alexander," i.e., B.C. 311, and in the other the name of the priest who +either had the papyrus written, or appropriated it, namely, Nes-Menu, +or Nes-Amsu. + +The Legend of the Creation is found in the third work which is given in +the papyrus, and which is called the "Book of overthrowing Apep, the +Enemy of Ra, the Enemy of Un-Nefer" (i.e., Osiris). This work +contained a series of spells which were recited during the performance +of certain prescribed ceremonies, with the object of preventing storms, +and dispersing rain-clouds, and removing any obstacle, animate or +inanimate, which could prevent the rising of the sun in the morning, or +obscure his light during the day. The Leader-in Chief of the hosts of +darkness was a fiend called Apep who appeared in the sky in the form of +a monster serpent, and, marshalling all the fiends of the Tuat, +attempted to keep the Sun-god imprisoned in the kingdom of darkness. +Right in the midst of the spells which were directed against Apep we +find inserted the legend of the Creation, which occurs in no other +known Egyptian document (Col. XXVI., l. 21, to Col. XXVII., l. 6). +Curiously enough a longer version of the legend is given a little +farther on (Col. XXVIII., l. 20, to Col. XXIX., l. 6). Whether the +scribe had two copies to work from, and simply inserted both, or +whether he copied the short version and added to it as he went along, +cannot be said. The legend is entitled: Book of knowing the evolutions +of Ra [and of] overthrowing Apep. + +This curious "Book" describes the origin not only of heaven, and earth, +and all therein, but also of God Himself. In it the name of Apep is +not even mentioned, and it is impossible to explain its appearance in +the Apep Ritual unless we assume that the whole "Book" was regarded as +a spell of the most potent character, the mere recital of which was +fraught with deadly effect for Apep and his friends. + +The story of the Creation is supposed to be told by the god Neb-er- +tcher. This name means the "Lord to the uttermost limit," and the +character of the god suggests that the word "limit" refers to time and +space, and that he was, in fact, the Everlasting God of the Universe. +This god's name occurs in Coptic texts, and then he appears as one who +possesses all the attributes which are associated by modern nations +with God Almighty. Where and how Neb-er-tcher existed is not said, but +it seems as if he was believed to have been an almighty and invisible +power which filled all space. It seems also that a desire arose in him +to create the world, and in order to do this he took upon himself the +form of the god Khepera, who from first to last was regarded as the +Creator, par excellence, among all the gods known to the Egyptians. +When this transformation of Neb-er-tcher into Khepera took place the +heavens and the earth had not been created, but there seems to have +existed a vast mass of water, or world-ocean, called Nu, and it must +have been in this that the transformation took place. In this +celestial ocean were the germs of all the living things which +afterwards took form in heaven and on earth, but they existed in a +state of inertness and helplessness. Out of this ocean Khepera raised +himself, and so passed from a state of passiveness and inertness into +one of activity. When Khepera raised himself out of the ocean Nu, he +found himself in vast empty space, wherein was nothing on which he +could stand. The second version of the legend says that Khepera gave +being to himself by uttering his own name, and the first version states +that he made use of words in providing himself with a place on which to +stand. In other words, when Khepera was still a portion of the being +of Neb-er-tcher, he spake the word "Khepera," and Khepera came into +being. Similarly, when he needed a place whereon to stand, he uttered +the name of the thing, or place, on which he wanted to stand, and that +thing, or place, came into being. This spell he seems to have +addressed to his heart, or as we should say, will, so that Khepera +willed this standing-place to appear, and it did so forthwith. The +first version only mentions a heart, but the second also speaks of a +heart-soul as assisting Khepera in his first creative acts; and we may +assume that he thought out in his heart what manner of thing be wished +to create, and then by uttering its name caused his thought to take +concrete form. This process of thinking out the existence of things is +expressed in Egyptian by words which mean "laying the foundation in the +heart." + +In arranging his thoughts and their visible forms Khepera was assisted +by the goddess Maat, who is usually regarded as the goddess of law, +order, and truth, and in late times was held to be the female +counterpart of Thoth, "the heart of the god Ra." In this legend, +however, she seems to play the part of Wisdom, as described in the Book +of Proverbs,[FN#3] for it was by Maat that he "laid the foundation." + + + +[FN#3] "The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his +works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or +ever the earth was. When there were no depths I was brought forth . . +. . . . . Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I +brought forth: while as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, +nor the highest part of the dust of the world. When he prepared the +heavens I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth: +when he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the +fountains of the deep: when he gave to the sea his decree, . . . . . . +when he appointed the foundations of the earth: then I was by him, as +one brought up with him. . . . . . ." Proverbs, viii. 22 ff.} + + + +Having described the coming into being of Khepera and the place on +which he stood, the legend goes on to tell of the means by which the +first Egyptian triad, or trinity, came into existence. Khepera had, in +some form, union with his own shadow, and so begot offspring, who +proceeded from his body under the forms of the gods Shu and Tefnut. +According to a tradition preserved in the Pyramid Texts[FN#4] this +event took place at On (Heliopolis), and the old form of the legend +ascribes the production of Shu and Tefnut to an act of masturbation. +Originally these gods were the personifications of air and dryness, and +liquids respectively; thus with their creation the materials for the +construction of the atmosphere and sky came into being. Shu and Tefnut +were united, and their offspring were Keb, the Earth-god, and Nut, the +Sky-goddess. We have now five gods in existence; Khepera, the creative +principle, Shu, the atmosphere, Tefnut, the waters above the heavens, +Nut, the Sky-goddess, and Keb, the Earth-god. Presumably about this +time the sun first rose out of the watery abyss of Nu, and shone upon +the world and produced day. In early times the sun, or his light, was +regarded as a form of Shu. The gods Keb and Nut were united in an +embrace, and the effect of the coming of light was to separate them. As +long as the sun shone, i.e., as long as it was day, Nut, the Sky- +goddess, remained in her place above the earth, being supported by Shu; +but as soon as the sun set she left the sky and gradually descended +until she rested on the body of the Earth-god, Keb. + + + +[FN#4] Pepi I., l. 466. + + + +The embraces of Keb caused Nut to bring forth five gods at a birth, +namely, Osiris, Horus, Set, Isis, and Nephthys. Osiris and Isis +married before their birth, and Isis brought forth a son called Horus; +Set and Nephthys also married before their birth, and Nephthys brought +forth a son named Anpu (Anubis), though he is not mentioned in the +legend. Of these gods Osiris is singled out for special mention in the +legend, in which Khepera, speaking as Neb-er-tcher, says that his name +is Ausares, who is the essence of the primeval matter of which he +himself is formed. Thus Osiris was of the same substance as the Great +God who created the world according to the Egyptians, and was a +reincarnation of his great-grandfather. This portion of the legend +helps to explain the views held about Osiris as the great ancestral +spirit, who when on earth was a benefactor of mankind, and who when in +heaven was the saviour of souls. + +The legend speaks of the sun as the Eye of Khepera, or Neb-er-tcher, +and refers to some calamity which befell it and extinguished its light. +This calamity may have been simply the coming of night, or eclipses, or +storms; but in any case the god made a second Eye, i.e., the Moon, to +which he gave some of the splendour of the other Eye, i.e., the Sun, +and he gave it a place in his Face, and henceforth it ruled throughout +the earth, and had special powers in respect of the production of +trees, plants, vegetables, herbs, etc. Thus from the earliest times +the moon was associated with the fertility of the earth, especially in +connection with the production of abundant crops and successful +harvests. + +According to the legend, men and women sprang not from the earth, but +directly from the body of the god Khepera, or Neb-er-tcher, who placed +his members together and then wept tears upon them, and men and women, +came into being from the tears which had fallen from his eyes. No +special mention is made of the creation of beasts in the legend, but +the god says that he created creeping things of all kinds, and among +these are probably included the larger quadrupeds. The men and women, +and all the other living creatures which were made at that time, +reproduced their species, each in his own way, and so the earth became +filled with their descendants which we see at the present time. + +Such is the Legend of Creation as it is found in the Papyrus of Nes- +Menu. The text of both versions is full of difficult passages, and +some readings are corrupt; unfortunately variant versions by which they +might be corrected are lacking. The general meaning of the legend in +both versions is quite clear, and it throws considerable light on the +Egyptian religion. The Egyptians believed in the existence of God, the +Creator and Maintainer of all things, but they thought that the +concerns of this world were committed by Him to the superintendence of +a series of subordinate spirits or beings called "gods," over whom they +believed magical spells and ceremonies to have the greatest influence. +The Deity was a Being so remote, and of such an exalted nature, that it +was idle to expect Him to interfere in the affairs of mortals, or to +change any decree or command which He had once uttered. The spirits or +"gods," on the other hand, possessing natures not far removed from +those of men, were thought to be amenable to supplications and +flattery, and to wheedling and cajolery, especially when accompanied by +gifts. It is of great interest to find a legend in which the power of +God as the Creator of the world and the sun and moon is so clearly set +forth, embedded in a book of magical spells devoted to the destruction +of the mythological monster who existed solely to prevent the sun from +rising and shining. + + + + + + +II. + + + +THE LEGEND OF THE DESTRUCTION OF MANKIND. + + + +The text containing the Legend of the Destruction of Mankind is written +in hieroglyphs, and is found on the four walls of a small chamber which +is entered from the "hall of columns" in the tomb of Seti I., which is +situated on the west bank of the Nile at Thebes. On the wall facing +the door of this chamber is painted in red the figure of the large "Cow +of Heaven." The lower part of her belly is decorated with a series of +thirteen stars, and immediately beneath it are the two Boats of Ra, +called Semketet and Mantchet, or Sektet and Matet. Each of her four +legs is held in position by two gods, and the god Shu, with +outstretched uplifted arms, supports her body. The Cow was published +by Champollion,[FN#5] without the text. This most important +mythological text was first published and translated by Professor E. +Naville in 1874.[FN#6] It was republished by Bergmann[FN#7] and +Brugsch,[FN#8] who gave a transcription of the text, with a German +translation. Other German versions by Lauth,[FN#9] Brugsch,[FN#10] and +Wiedemann[FN#11] have appeared, and a part of the text was translated +into French by Lefebure.[FN#12] The latest edition of the text was +published by Lefebure,[FN#13] and text of a second copy, very much +mutilated, was published by Professor Naville, with a French +translation in 1885.[FN#14] The text printed in this volume is that of +M. Lefebure. + + + +[FN#5] Monuments, tom. iii., p. 245. + +[FN#6] Trans. Soc. Bibl. Arch., vol. iv., p. 1 ff. + +[FN#7] Hieroglyphische Inschriften, Bl. 85 fl. + +[FN#8] Die neue Weltordnung nach Vernichtung des sundigen +Menschengeschlechtes, Berlin, 1881. + +[FN#9] Aus Aegyptens Vorzeit, p. 71. + +[FN#10] Religion der alten Aegypter, p. 436. + +[FN#11] Die Religion, p. 32. + +[FN#12] A. Z., 1883, p. 32. + +[FN#13] Tombeau de Seti I., Part IV., plates 15-18. + +[FN#14] Trans. Soc. Bibl. Arch., vol. viii., p. 412 ft. + + + +The legend takes us back to the time when the gods of Egypt went about +in the country, and mingled with men and were thoroughly acquainted +with their desires and needs. The king who reigned over Egypt was Ra, +the Sun-god, who was not, however, the first of the Dynasty of Gods who +ruled the land. His predecessor on the throne was Hephaistos, who, +according to Manetho, reigned 9000 years, whilst Ra reigned only 992 +years; Panodorus makes his reign to have lasted less than 100 years. +Be this as it may, it seems that the "self-created and self-begotten" +god Ra had been ruling over mankind for a very long time, for his +subjects were murmuring against him, and they were complaining that he +was old, that his bones were like silver, his body like gold, and his +hair like lapis-lazuli. When Ra heard these murmurings he ordered his +bodyguard to summon all the gods who had been with him in the primeval +World-ocean, and to bid them privately to assemble in the Great House, +which can be no other than the famous temple of Heliopolis. This +statement is interesting, for it proves that the legend is of +Heliopolitan origin, like the cult of Ra itself, and that it does not +belong, at least in so far as it applies to Ra, to the Predynastic +Period. + +When Ra entered the Great Temple, the gods made obeisance to him, and +took up their positions on each side of him, and informed him that they +awaited his words. Addressing Nu, the personification of the World- +ocean, Ra bade them to take notice of the fact that the men and women +whom his Eye had created were murmuring against him. He then asked +them to consider the matter and to devise a plan of action for him, for +he was unwilling to slay the rebels without hearing what his gods had +to say. In reply the gods advised Ra to send forth his Eye to destroy +the blasphemers, for there was no eye on earth that could resist it, +especially when it took the form of the goddess Hathor. Ra accepted +their advice and sent forth his Eye in the form of Hathor to destroy +them, and, though the rebels had fled to the mountains in fear, the Eye +pursued them and overtook them and destroyed them. Hathor rejoiced in +her work of destruction, and on her return was praised by Ra, for what +she had done. The slaughter of men began at Suten-henen +(Herakleopolis), and during the night Hathor waded about in the blood +of men. Ra asserted his intention of being master of the rebels, and +this is probably referred to in the Book of the Dead, Chapter XVII., in +which it is said that Ra rose as king for the first time in Suten- +henen. Osiris also was crowned at Suten-henen, and in this city lived +the great Bennu bird, or Phoenix, and the "Crusher of Bones" mentioned +in the Negative Confession. + +The legend now goes on to describe an act of Ra, the significance of +which it is difficult to explain. The god ordered messengers to be +brought to him, and when they arrived, he commanded them to run like +the wind to Abu, or the city of Elephantine, and to bring him large +quantities of the fruit called tataat. What kind of fruit this was is +not clear, but Brugsch thought they were "mandrakes," the so-called +"love-apples," and this translation of tataat may be used +provisionally. The mandrakes were given to Sekti, a goddess of +Heliopolis, to crush and grind up, and when this was done they were +mixed with human blood, and put in a large brewing of beer which the +women slaves had made from wheat. In all they made 7,000 vessels of +beer. When Ra saw the beer he approved of it, and ordered it to be +carried up the river to where the goddess Hathor was still, it seems, +engaged in slaughtering men. During the night he caused this beer to +be poured out into the meadows of the Four Heavens, and when Hathor +came she saw the beer with human blood and mandrakes in it, and drank +of it and became drunk, and paid no further attention to men and women. +In welcoming the goddess, Ra, called her "Amit," i.e., "beautiful one," +and from this time onward "beautiful women were found in the city of +Amit," which was situated in the Western Delta, near Lake +Mareotis.[FN#15] Ra also ordered that in future at every one of his +festivals vessels of "sleep-producing beer" should be made, and that +their number should be the same as the number of the handmaidens of Ra. +Those who took part in these festivals of Hathor and Ra drank beer in +very large quantities, and under the influence of the "beautiful +women," i.e., the priestesses, who were supposed to resemble Hathor in +their physical attractions, the festal celebrations degenerated into +drunken and licentious orgies. + + + +[FN#15] It was also called the "City of Apis," (Brugsch, Dict. Geog., +p. 491), and is the Apis city of classical writers. It is, perhaps, +represented by the modern Kom al-Hisn. + + + +Soon after this Ra complained that he was smitten with pain, and that +he was weary of the, children of men. He thought them a worthless +remnant, and wished that more of them had been slain. The gods about +him begged him to endure, and reminded him that his power was in +proportion to his will. Ra was, however, unconsoled, and he complained +that his limbs were weak for the first time in his life. Thereupon the +god Nu told Shu to help Ra, and he ordered Nut to take the great god Ra +on her back. Nut changed herself into a cow, and with the help of Shu +Ra got on her back. As soon as men saw that Ra was on the back of the +Cow of Heaven, and was about to leave them, they became filled with +fear and repentance, and cried out to Ra to remain with them and to +slay all those who had blasphemed against him. But the Cow moved on +her way, and carried Ra to Het-Ahet, a town of the nome of Mareotis, +where in later days the right leg of Osiris was said to be preserved. +Meanwhile darkness covered the land. When day broke the men who had +repented of their blasphemies appeared with their bows, and slew the +enemies of Ra. At this result Ra was pleased, and he forgave those who +had repented because of their righteous slaughter of his enemies. From +this time onwards human sacrifices were offered up at the festivals of +Ra celebrated in this place, and at Heliopolis and in other parts of +Egypt. + +After these things Ra declared to Nut that he intended to leave this +world, and to ascend into heaven, and that all those who would see his +face must follow him thither. Then he went up into heaven and prepared +a place to which all might come. Then he said, "Hetep sekhet aa," +i.e., "Let a great field be produced," and straightway "Sekhet-hetep," +or the "Field of peace," came into being. He next said, "Let there be +reeds (aaru) in it," and straightway "Sekhet Aaru," or the "Field of +Reeds," came into being. Sekhet-hetep was the Elysian Fields of the +Egyptians, and the Field of Reeds was a well-known section of it. +Another command of the god Ra resulted in the creation of the stars, +which the legend compares to flowers. Then the goddess Nut trembled in +all her body, and Ra, fearing that she might fall, caused to come into +being the Four Pillars on which the heavens are supported. Turning to +Shu, Ra entreated him to protect these supports, and to place himself +under Nut, and to hold her up in position with his hands. Thus Shu +became the new Sun-god in the place of Ra, and the heavens in which Ra +lived were supported and placed beyond the risk of falling, and mankind +would live and rejoice in the light of the new sun. + +At this place in the legend a text is inserted called the "Chapter of +the Cow." It describes how the Cow of Heaven and the two Boats of the +Sun shall be painted, and gives the positions of the gods who stand by +the legs of the Cow, and a number of short magical names, or formulae, +which are inexplicable. The general meaning of the picture of the Cow +is quite clear. The Cow represents the sky in which the Boats of Ra, +sail, and her four legs are the four cardinal points which cannot be +changed. The region above her back is the heaven in which Ra reigns +over the beings who pass thereto from this earth when they die, and +here was situated the home of the gods and the celestial spirits who +govern this world. + +When Ra had made a heaven for himself, and had arranged for a +continuance of life on the earth, and the welfare of human beings, he +remembered that at one time when reigning on earth he had been bitten +by a serpent, and had nearly lost his life through the bite. Fearing +that the same calamity might befall his successor, he determined to +take steps to destroy the power of all noxious reptiles that dwelt on +the earth. With this object in view he told Thoth to summon Keb, the +Earth-god, to his presence, and this god having arrived, Ra told him +that war must be made against the serpents that dwelt in his dominions. +He further commanded him to go to the god Nu, and to tell him to set a +watch over all the reptiles that were in the earth and in water, and to +draw up a writing for every place in which serpents are known to be, +containing strict orders that they are to bite, no one. Though these +serpents knew that Ra was retiring from the earth, they were never to +forget that his rays would fall upon them. In his place their father +Keb was to keep watch over them, and he was their father for ever. + +As a further protection against them Ra promised to impart to magicians +and snake-charmers the particular word of power, hekau, with which he +guarded himself against the attacks of serpents, and also to transmit +it to his son Osiris. Thus those who are ready to listen to the +formulae of the snake-charmers shall always be immune from the bites of +serpents, and their children also. From this we may gather that the +profession of the snake-charmer is very ancient, and that this class of +magicians were supposed to owe the foundation of their craft to a +decree of Ra himself. + +Ra next sent for the god Thoth, and when he came into the presence of +Ra, he invited him to go with him to a distance, to a place called +"Tuat," i.e., hell, or the Other World, in which region he had +determined to make his light to shine. When they arrived there he told +Thoth, the Scribe of Truth, to write down on his tablets the names of +all who were therein, and to punish those among them who had sinned +against him, and he deputed to Thoth the power to deal absolutely as he +pleased with all the beings in the Tuat. Ra loathed the wicked, and +wished them to be kept at a distance from him. Thoth was to be his +vicar, to fill his place, and "Place of Ra," was to be his name. He +gave him power to send out a messenger (hab), so the Ibis (habi) came +into being. All that Thoth would do would be good (khen), therefore +the Tekni bird of Thoth came into being. He gave Thoth power to +embrace (anh) the heavens, therefore the Moon-god (Aah) came into +being. He gave Thoth power to turn back (anan) the Northern peoples, +therefore the dog-headed ape of Thoth came into being. Finally Ra told +Thoth that he would take his place in the sight of all those who were +wont to worship Ra, and that all should praise him as God. Thus the +abdication of Ra was complete. + +In the fragmentary texts which follow we are told how a man may benefit +by the recital of this legend. He must proclaim that the soul which +animated Ra was the soul of the Aged One, and that of Shu, Khnemu (?), +Heh, &c., and then he must proclaim that he is Ra himself, and his word +of power Heka. If he recites the Chapter correctly he shall have life +in the Other World, and he will be held in greater fear there than +here. A rubric adds that he must be dressed in new linen garments, and +be well washed with Nile water; he must wear white sandals, and his +body must be anointed with holy oil. He must burn incense in a censer, +and a figure of Maat (Truth) must be painted on his tongue with green +paint. These regulations applied to the laity as well as to the +clergy. + + + + +III. + + + +THE LEGEND OF RA AND ISIS. + + + +The original text of this very interesting legend is written in the +hieratic character on a papyrus preserved at Turin, and was published +by Pleyte and Rossi in their Corpus of Turin Papyri.[FN#16] French and +German translations of it were published by Lefebure,[FN#17] and +Wiedemann[FN#18] respectively, and summaries of its contents were given +by Erman[FN#19] and Maspero.[FN#20] A transcript of the hieratic text +into hieroglyphics, with transliteration and translation, was published +by me in 1895.[FN#21] + + + +[FN#16] Papyrus de Turin, pll. 31, 77, 131-138. + +[FN#17] A. Z., 1883, p. 27 ff. + +[FN#18] Die Religion, p. 29. + +[FN#19] Aegypten, p. 359 ff. + +[FN#20] Les Origines, V. 162-4. + + +[FN#21] First Steps in Egyptian, p. 241 ff. + + + +It has already been seen that the god Ra, when retiring from the +government of this world, took steps through Thoth to supply mankind +with words of power and spells with which to protect themselves against +the bites of serpents and other noxious reptiles. The legend of the +Destruction of Mankind affords no explanation of this remarkable fact, +but when we read the following legend of Ra and Isis we understand why +Ra, though king of the gods, was afraid of the reptiles which lived in +the kingdom of Keb. The legend, or "Chapter of the Divine God," begins +by enumerating the mighty attributes of Ra as the creator of the +universe, and describes the god of "many names" as unknowable, even by +the gods. At this time Isis lived in the form of a woman who possessed +the knowledge of spells and incantations, that is to say, she was +regarded much in the same way as modern African peoples regard their +"medicine-women," or "witch-women." She had used her spells on men, +and was tired of exercising her powers on them, and she craved the +opportunity of making herself mistress of gods and spirits as well as +of men. She meditated how she could make herself mistress both of +heaven and earth, and finally she decided that she could only obtain +the power she wanted if she possessed the knowledge of the secret name +of Ra, in which his very existence was bound up. Ra guarded this name +most jealously, for he knew that if he revealed it to any being he +would henceforth be at that being's mercy. Isis saw that it was +impossible to make Ra declare his name to her by ordinary methods, and +she therefore thought out the following plan. It was well known in +Egypt and the Sudan at a very early period that if a magician obtained +some portion of a person's body, e.g., a hair, a paring of a nail, a +fragment of skin, or a portion of some efflux from the body, spells +could be used upon them which would have the effect of causing grievous +harm to that person. Isis noted that Ra had become old and feeble, and +that as he went about he dribbled at the mouth, and that his saliva +fell upon the ground. Watching her opportunity she caught some of the +saliva of the and mixing it with dust, she moulded it into the form of +a large serpent, with poison-fangs, and having uttered her spells over +it, she left the serpent lying on the path, by which Ra travelled day +by day as he went about inspecting Egypt, so that it might strike at +him as he passed along. We may note in passing that the Banyoro in the +Sudan employ serpents in killing buffaloes at the present day. They +catch a puff-adder in a noose, and then nail it alive by the tip of its +tail to the round in the middle of a buffalo track, so that when an +animal passes the reptile may strike at it. Presently a buffalo comes +along, does what it is expected to do, and then the puff-adder strikes +at it, injects its poison, and the animal dies soon after. As many as +ten buffaloes have been killed in a day by one puff-adder. The body of +the first buffalo is not eaten, for it is regarded as poisoned meat, +but all the others are used as food.[FN#22] + + + +[FN#22] Johnston, Uganda, vol. ii., p. 584. The authority for this +statement is Mr. George Wilson, formerly Collector in Unyoro. + + + +Soon after Isis had placed the serpent on the Path, Ra passed by, and +the reptile bit him, thus injecting poison into his body. Its effect +was terrible, and Ra cried out in agony. His jaws chattered, his lips +trembled, and he became speechless for a time; never before had be +suffered such pain. The gods hearing his cry rushed to him, and when +he could speak he told them that he had been bitten by a deadly +serpent. In spite of all the words of power which were known to him, +and his secret name which had been hidden in his body at his birth, a +serpent had bitten him, and he was being consumed with a fiery pain. +He then commanded that all the gods who had any knowledge of magical +spells should come to him, and when they came, Isis, the great lady of +spells, the destroyer of diseases, and the revivifier of the dead, came +with them. Turning to Ra she said, "What hath happened, O divine +Father?" and in answer the god told her that a serpent had bitten him, +that he was hotter than fire and colder than water, that his limbs +quaked, and that he was losing the power of sight. Then Isis said to +him with guile, "Divine Father, tell me thy name, for he who uttereth +his own name shall live." Thereupon Ra proceeded to enumerate the +various things that he had done, and to describe his creative acts, and +ended his speech to Isis by saying, that he was Khepera in the morning, +Ra at noon, and Temu in the evening. Apparently he thought that the +naming of these three great names would satisfy Isis, and that she +would immediately pronounce a word of power and stop the pain in his +body, which, during his speech, had become more acute. Isis, however, +was not deceived, and she knew well that Ra had not declared to her his +hidden name; this she told him, and she begged him once again to tell +her his name. For a time the god refused to utter the name, but as the +pain in his body became more violent, and the poison passed through his +veins like fire, he said, "Isis shall search in me, and my name shall +pass from my body into hers." At that moment Ra removed himself from +the sight of the gods in his Boat, and the Throne in the Boat of +Millions of Years had no occupant. The great name of Ra was, it seems, +hidden in his heart, and Isis, having some doubt as to whether Ra would +keep his word or not, agreed with Horus that Ra must be made to take an +oath to part with his two Eyes, that is, the Sun and the Moon. At +length Ra allowed his heart to be taken from his body, and his great +and secret name, whereby he lived, passed into the possession of Isis. +Ra thus became to all intents and purposes a dead god. Then Isis, +strong in the power of her spells, said: "Flow, poison, come out of Ra. +Eye of Horus, come out of Ra, and shine outside his mouth. It is I, +Isis, who work, and I have made the poison to fall on the ground. +Verily the name of the great god is taken from him, Ra shall live and +the poison shall die; if the poison live Ra shall die." + +This was the infallible spell which was to be used in cases of +poisoning, for it rendered the bite or sting of every venomous reptile +harmless. It drove the poison out of Ra, and since it was composed by +Isis after she obtained the knowledge of his secret name it was +irresistible. If the words were written on papyrus or linen over a +figure of Temu or Heru-hekenu, or Isis, or Horus, they became a mighty +charm. If the papyrus or linen were steeped in water and the water +drunk, the words were equally efficacious as a charm against snake- +bites. To this day water in which the written words of a text from the +Kur'an have been dissolved, or water drunk from a bowl on the inside of +which religious texts have been written, is still regarded as a never- +failing charm in Egypt and the Sudan. Thus we see that the modern +custom of drinking magical water was derived from the ancient +Egyptians, who believed that it conveyed into their bodies the actual +power of their gods. + + + + + +IV. + + + + +THE LEGEND OF HERU-BEHUTET AND THE WINGED DISK. + + + + +The text of this legend is cut in hieroglyphics on the walls of the +temple of Edfu in Upper Egypt, and certain portions of it are +illustrated by large bas-reliefs. Both text and reliefs were published +by Professor Naville in his volume entitled Mythe d'Horus, fol., plates +12-19, Geneva, 1870. A German translation by Brugsch appeared in the +Ahandlungen der Gottinger Akademie, Band xiv., pp. 173-236, and another +by Wiedemann in his Die Religion, p. 38 ff. (see the English +translation p. 69 ff.). The legend, in the form in which it is here +given, dates from the Ptolemaic Period, but the matter which it +contains is far older, and it is probable that the facts recorded in it +are fragments of actual history, which the Egyptians of the late period +tried to piece together in chronological order. We shall see as we +read that the writer of the legend as we have it was not well +acquainted with Egyptian history, and that in his account of the +conquest of Egypt he has confounded one god with another, and mixed up +historical facts with mythological legends to such a degree that his +meaning is frequently uncertain. The great fact which he wished to +describe is the conquest of Egypt by an early king, who, having subdued +the peoples in the South, advanced northwards, and made all the people +whom he conquered submit to his yoke. Now the King of Egypt was always +called Horus, and the priests of Edfu wishing to magnify their local +god, Horus of Behutet, or Horus of Edfu, attributed to him the +conquests of this human, and probably predynastic, king. We must +remember that the legend assumes that Ra, was still reigning on earth, +though he was old and feeble, and had probably deputed his power to his +successor, whom the legend regards as his son. + + + +PLATE I. +Horus holding the Hippopotamus-fiend with chain and spear. Behind +stand Isis and Heru Khenti-Khatti. + +PLATE II. +Horus driving his spear into the Hippopotamus-fiend; behind him stands +one of his "Blacksmiths". + +PLATE III. +Horus driving his spear into the belly of the Hippopotamus-fiend as he +lies on his back; behind stands on of his "Blacksmiths". + +PLATE IV. +Horus and Isis capturing the Hippopotamus-fiend. + + + +In the 363rd year of his reign Ra-Harmakhis[FN#23] was in Nubia with +his army with the intention of destroying those who had conspired +against him; because of their conspiracy (auu) Nubia is called "Uaua" +to this day. From Nubia Ra-Harmakhis sailed down the river to Edfu, +where Heru-Behutet entered his boat, and told him that his foes were +conspiring against him. Ra-Harmakhis in answer addressed Heru-Behutet +as his son, and commanded him to set out without delay and slay the +wicked rebels. Then Heru-Behutet took the form of a great winged Disk, +and at once flew up into the sky, where he took the place of Ra, the +old Sun-god. Looking down from the height of heaven he was able to +discover the whereabouts of the rebels, and he pursued them in the form +of a winged disk. Then he attacked them with such violence that they +became dazed, and could neither see where they were going, nor hear, +the result of this being that they slew each other, and in a very short +time they were all dead. Thoth, seeing this, told Ra that because +Horus had appeared as a great winged disk he must be called "Heru- +Behutet," and by this name Horus was known ever after at Edfu. Ra +embraced Horus, and referred with pleasure to the blood which he had +shed, and Horus invited his father to come and look upon the slain. Ra +set out with the goddess Ashthertet (`Ashtoreth) to do this, and they +saw the enemies lying fettered on the ground. The legend here +introduces a number of curious derivations of the names of Edfu, &c., +which are valueless, and which remind us of the derivations of place- +names propounded by ancient Semitic scribes. + + + +[FN#23] i.e., Ra on the horizon. + + + +PLATE V. +Horus standing on the back of the Hippopotamus-fiend, and spearing him +in the presence of Isis. + +PLATE VI. +The "Butcher-priest" slicing open the Hippopotamus-fiend. + + + +In gladness of heart Ra proposed a sail on the Nile, but as soon as his +enemies heard that he was coming, they changed themselves into +crocodiles and hippopotami, so that they might be able to wreck his +boat and devour him. As the boat of the god approached them they +opened their jaws to crush it, but Horus and his followers came quickly +on the scene, and defeated their purpose. The followers of Horus here +mentioned are called in the text "Mesniu," i.e., "blacksmiths," or +"workers in metal," and they represent the primitive conquerors of the +Egyptians, who were armed with metal weapons, and so were able to +overcome with tolerable ease the indigenous Egyptians, whose weapons +were made of flint and wood. Horus and his "blacksmiths" were provided +with iron lances and chains, and, baying cast the chains over the +monsters in the river, they drove their lances into their snouts, and +slew 651 of them. Because Horus gained his victory by means of metal +weapons, Ra decreed that a metal statue of Horus should be placed at +Edfu, and remain there for ever, and a name was given to the town to +commemorate the great battle that had taken place there. Ra applauded +Horus for the mighty deeds which be had been able to perform by means +of the spells contained in the "Book of Slaying the Hippopotamus." +Horus then associated with himself the goddesses Uatchet and Nekhebet, +who were in the form of serpents, and, taking his place as the winged +Disk on the front of the Boat of Ra, destroyed all the enemies of Ra +wheresoever he found them. When the remnant of the enemies of Ra, saw +that they were likely to be slain, they doubled back to the South, but +Horus pursued them, and drove them down the river before him as far as +Thebes. One battle took place at Tchetmet, and another at Denderah, +and Horus was always victorious; the enemies were caught by chains +thrown over them, and the deadly spears of the Blacksmiths drank their +blood. + +After this the enemy fled to the North, and took refuge in the swamps +of the Delta, and in the shallows of the Mediterranean Sea, and Horus +pursued them thither. After searching for them for four days and four +nights he found them, and they were speedily slain. One hundred and +forty-two of them and a male hippopotamus were dragged on to the Boat +of Ra, and there Horus dug out their entrails, and hacked their +carcases in pieces, which he gave to his Blacksmiths and the gods who +formed the crew of the Boat of Ra. Before despatching the +hippopotamus, Horus leaped on to the back of the monster as a mark of +his triumph, and to commemorate this event the priest of Heben, the +town wherein these things happened, was called "He who standeth on the +back ever after." + +The end of the great fight, however, was not yet. Another army of +enemies appeared by the North Lake, and they were marching towards the +sea; but terror of Horus smote their hearts, and they fled and took +refuge in Mertet-Ament, where they allied themselves with the followers +of Set, the Arch-fiend and great Enemy of Ra. Thither Horus and his +well-armed Blacksmiths pursued them, and came up with them at the town +called Per-Rerehu, which derived its name from the "Two Combatants," or +"Two Men," Horus and Set. A great fight took place, the enemies of Ra +were defeated with great slaughter, and Horus dragged 381 prisoners on +to the Boat of Ra, where he slew them, and gave their bodies to his +followers. + + + +PLATE VII. +Horus of Behutet and Ra-Harmakhis in a shrine. + +PLATE VIII. +Horus of Behutet and Harmakhis in a shrine. + +PLATE IX. + +Ashthertet ('Ashtoreth') driving her chariot over the prostrate foe. + +PLATE X. +Left: Horus of Behutet spearing a Typhonic animal, and holding his +prisoners with rope. + +Right: Horus of Behutet, accompanied by Ra-Harmakhis and Menu, spearing +the Hippopotamus-fiend. + + + +Then Set rose up and cursed Horus because he had slain his allies, and +he used such foul language that Thoth called him "Nehaha-her," i.e., +"Stinking Face," and this name clung to him ever after. After this +Horus and Set engaged in a fight which lasted a very long time, but at +length Horus drove his spear into the neck of Set with such violence +that the Fiend fell headlong to the ground. Then Horus smote with his +club the mouth which had uttered such blasphemies, and fettered him +with his chain. In this state Horus dragged Set into the presence of +Ra, who ascribed great praise to Horus, and special names were given to +the palace of Horus and the high priest of the temple in commemoration +of the event. When the question of the disposal of Set was being +discussed by the gods, Ra ordered that he and his fiends should be +given over to Isis and her son Horus, who were to do what they pleased +with them. Horus promptly cut off the heads of Set and his fiends in +the presence of Ra and Isis, and be dragged Set by his feet through the +country with his spear sticking in his head and neck. After this Isis +appointed Horus of Behutet to be the protecting deity of her son Horus. + +The fight between the Sun-god and Set was a very favourite subject with +Egyptian writers, and there are many forms of it. Thus there is the +fight between Heru-ur and Set, the fight between Ra and Set, the fight +between Heru-Behutet and Set, the fight between Osiris and Set, and the +fight between Horus, son of Isis, and Set. In the oldest times the +combat was merely the natural opposition of light to darkness, but +later the Sun-god became the symbol of right and truth as well as of +light, and Set the symbol of sin and wickedness as well as of darkness, +and ultimately the nature myth was forgotten, and the fight between the +two gods became the type of the everlasting war which good men wage +against sin. In Coptic literature we have the well-known legend of the +slaughter of the dragon by St. George, and this is nothing but a +Christian adaptation of the legend of Horus and Set. + +After these things Horus, son of Ra, and Horus, son of Isis, each took +the form of a mighty man, with the face and body of a hawk, and each +wore the Red and White Crowns, and each carried a spear and chain. In +these forms the two gods slew the remnant of the enemies. Now by some +means or other Set came to life again, and he took the form of a mighty +hissing or "roaring" serpent, and hid himself in the ground, in a place +which was ever after called the "place of the roarer." In front of his +hiding-place Horus, son of Isis, stationed himself in the form of a +hawk-headed staff to prevent him from coming out. In spite of this, +however, Set managed to escape, and he gathered about him the Smai and +Seba fiends at the Lake of Meh, and waged war once more against Horus; +the enemies of Ra were again defeated, and Horus slew them in the +presence of his father. + + + +PLATE XI. +Horus of Behutet and Thoth spearing human victims with the assistance +of Isis. + +PLATE XII. +Horus of Behutet and Thoth spearing Set in the form of a crocodile. + + + +Horus, it seems, now ceased to fight for some time, and devoted himself +to keeping guard over the "Great God" who was in An-rut-f, a district +in or near Herakleopolis. This Great God was no other than Osiris, and +the duty of Horus was to prevent the Smai fiends from coming by night +to the place. In spite of the power of Horus, it was found necessary +to summon the aid of Isis to keep away the fiends, and it was only by +her words of power that the fiend Ba was kept out of the sanctuary. As +a reward for what he had already done, Thoth decreed that Horus should +be called the "Master-Fighter." Passing over the derivations of place- +names which occur here in the text, we find that Horus and his +Blacksmiths were again obliged to fight bodies of the enemy who had +managed to escape, and that on one occasion they killed one hundred and +six foes. In every fight the Blacksmiths performed mighty deeds of +valour, and in reward for their services a special district was +allotted to them to dwell in. + +The last great fight in the North took place at Tanis, in the eastern +part of the Delta. When the position of the enemy had been located, +Horus took the form of a lion with the face of a man, and he put on his +head the Triple Crown. His claws were like flints, and with them he +dragged away one hundred and forty-two of the enemy, and tore them in +pieces, and dug out their tongues, which he carried off as symbols of +his victory. + + + +Meanwhile rebellion had again broken out in Nubia, where about one- +third of the enemy had taken refuge in the river in the forms of +crocodiles and hippopotami. Ra counselled Horus to sail up the Nile +with his Blacksmiths, and when Thoth had recited the "Chapters of +protecting the Boat of Ra" over the boats, the expedition set sail for +the South. The object of reciting these spells was to prevent the +monsters which were in the river from making the waves to rise and from +stirring up storms which might engulf the boats of Ra and Horus and the +Blacksmiths. When the rebels and fiends who had been uttering, treason +against Horus saw the boat of Ra, with the winged Disk of Horus +accompanied by the goddesses Uatchet and Nekhebet in the form of +serpents, they were smitten with fear, and their hearts quaked, and all +power of resistance left them, and they died of fright straightway. +When Horus returned in triumph to Edfu, Ra ordered that an image of the +winged Disk should be placed in each of his sanctuaries, and that in +every place wherein a winged Disk was set, that sanctuary should be a +sanctuary of Horus of Behutet. The winged disks which are seen above +the doorways of the temples still standing in Egypt show that the +command of Ra, was faithfully carried out by the priests. + + + +PLATE XIII. +Horus of Behutet in the form of a lion slaying his foes. + + + + +V. + + + + +LEGEND OF THE BIRTH OF HORUS, SON OF ISIS AND OSIRIS. + + + +PLATE XIV. +The Procreation of Horus, son of Isis. + + + +The text which contains this legend is found cut in hieroglyphics upon +a stele which is now preserved in Paris. Attention was first called to +it by Chabas, who in 1857 gave a translation of it in the Revue +Archeologique, p. 65 ff., and pointed out the importance of its +contents with his characteristic ability. The hieroglyphic text was +first published by Ledrain in his work on the monuments of the +Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris,[FN#24] and I gave a transcript of the +text, with transliteration and translation, in 1895.[FN#25] + + + +[FN#24] Les Monuments Egyptiens (Cabinet des Medailles et Antiques), +In the Bibliotheque de l'Ecole des Hautes Etudes, Paris, 1879-1882, +plate xxii. ff. + + +[FN#25] First Steps in Egyptian, pp. 179-188. + + + +The greater part of the text consists of a hymn to Osiris, which was +probably composed under the XVIIIth Dynasty, when an extraordinary +development of the cult of that god took place, and when he was placed +by Egyptian theologians at the head of all the gods. Though unseen in +the temples, his presence filled all Egypt, and his body formed the +very substance of the country. He was the God of all gods and the +Governor of the Two Companies of the gods, he formed the soul and body +of Ra, he was the beneficent Spirit of all spirits, he was himself the +celestial food on which the Doubles in the Other World lived. He was +the greatest of the gods in On (Heliopolis), Memphis, Herakleopolis, +Hermopolis, Abydos, and the region of the First Cataract, and so. He +embodied in his own person the might of Ra-Tem, Apis and Ptah, the +Horus-gods, Thoth and Khnemu, and his rule over Busiris and Abydos +continued to be supreme, as it had been for many, many hundreds of +years. He was the source of the Nile, the north wind sprang from him, +his seats were the stars of heaven which never set, and the +imperishable stars were his ministers. All heaven was his dominion, +and the doors of the sky opened before him of their own accord when he +appeared. He inherited the earth from his father Keb, and the +sovereignty of heaven from his mother Nut. In his person he united +endless time in the past and endless time in the future. Like Ra he +had fought Seba, or Set, the monster of evil, and had defeated him, and +his victory assured to him lasting authority over the gods and the +dead. He exercised his creative power in making land and water, trees +and herbs, cattle and other four-footed beasts, birds of all kinds, and +fish and creeping things; even the waste spaces of the desert owed +allegiance to him as the creator. And he rolled out the sky, and set +the light above the darkness. + +The last paragraph of the text contains an allusion to Isis, the sister +and wife of Osiris, and mentions the legend of the birth of Horus, +which even under the XVIIIth Dynasty was very ancient, Isis, we are +told, was the constant protectress of her brother, she drove away the +fiends that wanted to attack him, and kept them out of his shrine and +tomb, and she guarded him from all accidents. All these things she did +by means of spells and incantations, large numbers of which were known +to her, and by her power as the "witch-goddess." Her "mouth was +trained to perfection, and she made no mistake in pronouncing her +spells, and her tongue was skilled and halted not." At length came the +unlucky day when Set succeeded in killing Osiris during the war which +the "good god" was waging against him and his fiends. Details of the +engagement are wanting, but the Pyramid Texts state that the body of +Osiris was hurled to the ground by Set at a place called Netat, which +seems to have been near Abydos.[FN#26] The news of the death of Osiris +was brought to Isis, and she at once set out to find his body. All +legends agree in saying that she took the form of a bird, and that she +flew about unceasingly, going hither and thither, and uttering wailing +cries of grief. At length she found the body, and with a piercing cry +she alighted on the ground. The Pyramid Texts say that Nephthys was +with her that "Isis came, Nephthys came, the one on the right side, the +other on the left side, one in the form of a Hat bird, the other in the +form of a Tchert bird, and they found Osiris thrown on the ground in +Netat by his brother Set." The late form of the legend goes on to say +that Isis fanned the body with her feathers, and produced air, and that +at length she caused the inert members of Osiris to move, and drew from +him his essence, wherefrom she produced her child Horus. + + + +[FN#26] Pepi I., line 475; Pepi II., line 1263. + + + +This bare statement of the dogma of the conception of Horus does not +represent all that is known about it, and it may well be supplemented +by a passage from the Pyramid Texts,[FN#27] which reads, "Adoration to +thee, O Osiris.[FN#28] Rise thou up on thy left side, place thyself on +thy right side. This water which I give unto thee is the water of +youth (or rejuvenation). Adoration to thee, O Osiris! Rise thou up on +thy left side, place thyself on thy right side. This bread which I +have made for thee is warmth. Adoration to thee, O Osiris! The doors +of heaven are opened to thee, the doors of the streams are thrown wide +open to thee. The gods in the city of Pe come [to thee], Osiris, at +the sound (or voice) of the supplication of Isis and Nephthys. . . . . +Thy elder sister took thy body in her arms, she chafed thy hands, +she clasped thee to her breast [when] she found thee [lying] on thy +side on the plain of Netat." And in another place we read:[FN#29] "Thy +two sisters, Isis and Nephthys, came to thee, Kam-urt, in thy name of +Kam-ur, Uatchet-urt, in thy name of Uatch-ur . . . . . . . Isis and +Nephthys weave magical protection for thee in the city of Saut, for +thee their lord, in thy name of 'Lord of Saut,' for their god, in thy +name of 'God.' They praise thee; go not thou far from them in thy name +of 'Tua.' They present offerings to thee; be not wroth in thy name of +'Tchentru.' Thy sister Isis cometh to thee rejoicing in her love for +thee.[FN#30] Thou hast union with her, thy seed entereth her. She +conceiveth in the form of the star Septet (Sothis). Horus-Sept issueth +from thee in the form of Horus, dweller in the star Septet. Thou +makest a spirit to be in him in his name 'Spirit dwelling in the god +Tchentru.' He avengeth thee in his name of 'Horus, the son who avenged +his father.' Hail, Osiris, Keb hath brought to thee Horus, he hath +avenged thee, he hath brought to thee the hearts of the gods, Horus +hath given thee his Eye, thou hast taken possession of the Urert Crown +thereby at the head of the gods. Horus hath presented to thee thy +members, he hath collected them completely, there is no disorder in +thee. Thoth hath seized thy enemy and hath slain him and those who +were with him." The above words are addressed to dead kings in the +Pyramid Texts, and what the gods were supposed to do for them was +believed by the Egyptians to have been actually done for Osiris. These +extracts are peculiarly valuable, for they prove that the legend of +Osiris which was current under the XVIIIth Dynasty was based upon +traditions which were universally accepted in Egypt under the Vth and +VIth Dynasties. + + + +[FN#27] Mer-en-Ra, line 336; Pepi II., line 862. + +[FN#28] I omit the king's names. + +[FN#29] Teta, line 274; Pepi I., line 27; Mer-en-Ra, line 37; and Pepi +II., line 67. + +[FN#30] Pyramid Text, Teta, l. 276. + + + +PLATE XV. + + +PLATE XVI. +The Stele recording the casting out of a devil from the Princess of +Bekhten. + + + +The hymn concludes with a reference to the accession of Horus, son of +Isis, the flesh and bone of Osiris, to the throne of his grandfather +Keb, and to the welcome which he received from the Tchatcha, or +Administrators of heaven, and the Company of the Gods, and the Lords of +Truth, who assembled in the Great House of Heliopolis to acknowledge +his sovereignty. His succession also received the approval of Neb-er- +tcher, who, as we saw from the first legend in this book, was the +Creator of the Universe. + + + + + +VI. + + + +A LEGEND OF KHENSU NEFER-HETEP[FN#31] AND THE PRINCESS OF BEKHTEN. + + + +[FN#31] In the headlines of this section, p. 106 ff., for Ptah +Nefer-hetep read Khensu Nefer-hetep. + + + +The text of this legend is cut in hieroglyphics upon a sandstone stele, +with a rounded top, which was found in the temple of Khensu at Thebes, +and is now preserved in the Bibliotheque Nationale at Paris; it was +discovered by Champollion, and removed to Paris by Prisse d'Avennes in +1846. The text was first published by Prisse d'Avennes,[FN#32] and it +was first translated by Birch[FN#33] in 1853. The text was republished +and translated into French by E. de Rouge in 1858,[FN#34] and several +other renderings have been given in German and in English since that +date.[FN#35] When the text was first published, and for some years +afterwards, it was generally thought that the legend referred to events +which were said to have taken place under a king who was identified as +Rameses XIII., but this misconception was corrected by Erman, who +showed[FN#36] that the king was in reality Rameses II. By a careful +examination of the construction of the text he proved that the +narrative on the stele was drawn up several hundreds of years after the +events described in it took place, and that its author was but +imperfectly acquainted with the form of the Egyptian language in use in +the reign of Rameses II. In fact, the legend was written in the +interests of the priests of the temple of Khensu, who wished to magnify +their god and his power to cast out devils and to exorcise evil +spirits; it was probably composed between B.C. 650 and B.C. 250.[FN#37] + + + +[FN#32] Choix de Monuments Egyptiens, Paris, 1847, plate xxiv. + +[FN#33] Transactions of the Royal Society of Literature, New Series, +vol. iv., p. 217 ff. + +[FN#34] Journal Asiatique (Etude sur une Stele Egyptienne), August, +1856, August, 1857, and August-Sept., 1858, Paris, 8vo, with plate. + +[FN#35] Brugsch, Geschichte Aegyptens, 1877, p. 627 ff.; Birch, +Records of the Past, Old Series, vol. iv., p. 53 ff.; Budge, Egyptian +Reading Book, text and transliteration, p. 40 ff.; translation, p. +xxviii. ff. + +[FN#36] Aeg. Zeit., 1883, pp. 54-60. + +[FN#37] Maspero, Les Contes Populaires, 3rd edit., p. 166. + + + + +The legend, after enumerating the great names of Rameses II., goes on +to state that the king was in the "country of the two rivers," by which +we are to understand some portion of Mesopotamia, the rivers being the +Tigris and Euphrates, and that the local chiefs were bringing to him +tribute consisting of gold, lapis-lazuli, turquoise, and logs of wood +from the Land of the God. It is difficult to understand how gold and +logs of wood from Southern Arabia and East Africa came to be produced +as tribute by chiefs who lived so far to the north. Among those who +sent gifts was the Prince of Bekhten, and at the head of all his +tribute he sent his eldest daughter, bearing his message of homage and +duty. Now the maiden was beautiful, and the King of Egypt thought her +so lovely that be took her to wife, and bestowed upon her the name "Ra- +neferu," which means something like the "beauties of Ra." He took her +back with him to Egypt, where she was installed as Queen. + +During the summer of the fifteenth year of his reign, whilst Rameses +II. was celebrating a festival of Amen-Ra in the Temple of Luxor, one +came to him and reported that an envoy had arrived from the Prince of +Bekhten, bearing with him many gifts for the Royal Wife Ra-neferu. +When the envoy had been brought into the presence, he addressed words +of homage to the king, and, having presented the gifts from his lord, +he said that he had come to beg His Majesty to send a "learned man," +i.e., a magician, to Bekhten to attend Bent-enth-resh, His Majesty's +sister-in-law, who was stricken with some disease. Thereupon the king +summoned the learned men of the House of Life, i.e., the members of the +great College of Magic at Thebes, and the qenbetu officials, and when +they had entered his presence, he commanded them to select a man of +"wise heart and deft fingers" to go to Bekhten. The choice fell upon +one Tehuti-em-heb, and His Majesty sent him to Bekhten with the envoy. +When they arrived in Bekhten, Tehuti-em-heb found that the Princess +Bent-enth-resh was possessed by an evil spirit which refused to be +exorcised by him, and he was unable to cast out the devil. The Prince +of Bekhten, seeing that the healing of his daughter was beyond the +power of the Egyptian, sent a second envoy to Rameses II., and besought +him to send a god to drive out the devil. This envoy arrived in Egypt +in the summer of the twenty-sixth year of the reign of Rameses II., and +found the king celebrating a festival in Thebes. When he heard the +petition of the envoy, he went to the Temple of Khensu Nefer-hetep "a +second time,"[FN#38] and presented himself before the god and besought +his help on behalf of his sister-in-law. + + + +[FN#38] Thus the king must have invoked the help of Khensu on the +occasion of the visit of the first envoy. + + + +Then the priests of Khensu Nefer-hetep carried the statue of this god +to the place where was the statue of Khensu surnamed "Pa-ari-sekher," +i.e., the "Worker of destinies," who was able to repel the attacks of +evil spirits and to drive them out. When the statues of the two gods +were facing each other, Rameses II. entreated Khensu Nefer-hetep to +"turn his face towards," i.e., to look favourably upon Khensu. Pa-ari- +sekher, and to let him go to Bekhten to drive the devil out of the +Princess of Bekhten. The text affords no explanation of the fact that +Khensu Nefer-hetep was regarded as a greater god than Khensu Pa-ari- +sekher, or why his permission had to be obtained before the latter +could leave the country. It is probable that the demands made upon +Khensu Nefer-hetep by the Egyptians who lived in Thebes and its +neighbourhood were so numerous that it was impossible to let his statue +go into outlying districts or foreign lands, and that a deputy-god was +appointed to perform miracles outside Thebes. This arrangement would +benefit the people, and would, moreover, bring much money to the +priests. The appointment of a deputy-god is not so strange as it may +seem, and modern African peoples are familiar with the expedient. +About one hundred years ago the priests of the god Bobowissi of +Winnebah, in the Tshi region of West Africa, found their business so +large that it was absolutely necessary for them to appoint a deputy. +The priests therefore selected Brahfo, i.e., "deputy," and gave out +that Bobowissi had deputed all minor matters to him, and that his +utterances were to be regarded as those of Bobowissi. Delegates were +ordered to be sent to Winnebah in Ashanti, where they would be shown +the "deputy" god by the priests, and afterwards he would be taken to +Mankassim, where he would reside, and do for the people all that +Bobowissi had done hitherto.[FN#39] + + + +[FN#39] Ellis, Tshi-speaking Peoples, p. 55. + + + +When Rameses II. had made his petition to Khensu Nefer-hetep, the +statue of the god bowed its head twice, in token of assent. Here it is +clear that we have an example of the use of statues with movable limbs, +which were worked, when occasion required, by the priests. The king +then made a second petition to the god to transfer his sa, or magical +power, to Khensu Pa-ari-sekher so that when he had arrived in Bekhten +he would be able to heal the Princess. Again the statue of Khensu +Nefer-hetep bowed its head twice, and the petition of the king was +granted. The text goes on to say that the magical power of the greater +god was transferred to the lesser god four times, or in a fourfold +measure, but we are not told how this was effected. We know from many +passages in the texts that every god was believed to possess this +magical power, which is called the "sa of life," or the "sa of the +god,".[FN#40] This sa could be transferred by a god or goddess to a +human being, either by an embrace or through some offering which was +eaten. Thus Temu transferred the magical power of his life to Shu and +Tefnut by embracing them,[FN#41] and in the Ritual of the Divine +Cult[FN#42] the priest says, The two vessels of milk of Temu are the "sa +of my limbs." The man who possessed this sa could transfer it to his +friend by embracing him and then "making passes" with his hands along +his back. The sa could be received by a man from a god and then +transmitted by him to a statue by taking it in his arms, and this +ceremony was actually performed by the king in the Ritual of the Divine +Cult.[FN#43] The primary source of this sa was Ra, who bestowed it +without measure on the blessed dead,[FN#44] and caused them to live for +ever thereby. These, facts make it tolerably certain that the magical +power of Khensu Nefer-hetep was transferred to Khensu Pa-ari-sekher in +one of two ways: either the statue of the latter was brought near to +that of the former and it received the sa by contact, or the high +priest first received the sa from the greater god and then transmitted +it to the lesser god by embraces and "passes" with his hands. Be this +as it may, Khensu Pa-ari-sekher received the magical power, and having +been placed in his boat, he set out for Bekhten, accompanied by five +smaller boats, and chariots and horses which marched on each side of +him. + + + +[FN#40] Text of Unas, line 562. + +[FN#41] Pyramid Texts, Pepi I., l. 466. + +[FN#42] Ed. Moret, p. 21. + +[FN#43] Ibid., p. 99. + +[FN#44] Pepi I., line 666. + + + +When after a journey of seventeen months Khensu Pa-ari-sekher arrived +in Bekhten, he was cordially welcomed by the Prince, and, having gone +to the place where the Princess who was possessed of a devil lived, he +exercised his power to such purpose that she was healed immediately. +Moreover, the devil which had been cast out admitted that Khensu Pa- +ari-sekher was his master, and promised that he would depart to the +place whence he came, provided that the Prince of Bekhten would +celebrate a festival in his honour before his departure. Meanwhile +the Prince and his soldiers stood by listening to the conversation +between the god and the devil, and they were very much afraid. +Following the instructions of Khensu Pa-ari-sekher the Prince made +a great feast in honour of the supernatural visitors, and then the +devil departed to the "place which he loved," and there was general +rejoicing in the land. The Prince of Bekhten was so pleased with the +Egyptian god that he determined not to allow him to return to Egypt. +When the statue of Khensu Pa-ari-sekher had been in Bekhten for three +years and nine months, the Prince in a vision saw the god, in the form +of a golden hawk, come forth from his shrine, and fly up into the air +and direct his course to Egypt. Realizing that the statue of the god +was useless without its indwelling spirit, the Prince of Bekhten +permitted the priests of Khensu Pa-ari-sekher to depart with it to +Egypt, and dismissed them with gifts of all kinds. In due course they +arrived in Egypt and the priests took their statue to the temple of +Khensu Nefer-hetep, and handed over to that god all the gifts which the +Prince of Bekhten had given them, keeping back nothing for their own +god. After this Khensu Pa-ari-sekher returned to his temple in peace, +in the thirty-third year of the reign of Rameses II., having been +absent from it about eight years. + + + + + +VII. + + + +A LEGEND OF KHNEMU AND OF A SEVEN YEARS' FAMINE. + + + +The text of this most interesting legend is found in hieroglyphics on +one side of a large rounded block of granite some eight or nine feet +high, which stands on the south-east portion of Sahal, a little island +lying in the First Cataract, two or three miles to the south of +Elephantine Island and the modern town of Aswan. The inscription is +not cut into the rock in the ordinary way, but was "stunned" on it with +a blunted chisel, and is, in some lights, quite invisible to anyone +standing near the rock, unless he is aware of its existence. It is in +full view of the river-path which leads from Mahallah to Philae, and +yet it escaped the notice of scores of travellers who have searched the +rocks and islands in the Cataract for graffiti and inscriptions. The +inscription, which covers a space six feet by five feet, was discovered +accidentally on February 6th, 1889, by the late Mr. C. E. Wilbour, a +distinguished American gentleman who spent many years in research in +Egypt. He first copied the text, discovering in the course of his work +the remarkable nature of its contents and then his friend Mr. Maudslay +photographed it. The following year he sent prints from Mr. Maudslay's +negatives to Dr. Brugsch, who in the course of 1891 published a +transcript of the text with a German translation and notes in a work +entitled Die biblischen sieben Jahre der Hungersnoth, Leipzig, 8vo. + +The legend contained in this remarkable text describes a terrible +famine which took place in the reign of Tcheser, a king of the IIIrd +Dynasty, and lasted for seven years. Insufficient Nile-floods were, of +course, the physical cause of the famine, but the legend shows that the +"low Niles" were brought about by the neglect of the Egyptians in +respect of the worship of the god of the First Cataract, the great god +Khnemu. When, according to the legend, king Tcheser had been made to +believe that the famine took place because men had ceased to worship +Khnemu in a manner appropriate to his greatness, and when he had taken +steps to remove the ground of complaint, the Nile rose to its +accustomed height, the crops became abundant once more, and all misery +caused by scarcity of provisions ceased. In other words, when Tcheser +restored the offerings of Khnemu, and re-endowed his sanctuary and his +priesthood, the god allowed Hapi to pour forth his streams from the +caverns in the Cataract, and to flood the land with abundance. The +general character of the legend, as we have it here, makes it quite +certain that it belongs to a late period, and the forms of the +hieroglyphics and the spellings of the words indicate that the text was +"stunned" on the rock in the reign of one of the Ptolemies, probably at +a time when it was to the interest of some men to restore the worship +of Khnemu, god of the First Cataract. These interested people could +only have been the priests of Khnemu, and the probability that this was +so becomes almost a certainty when we read in the latter part of the +text the list of the tolls and taxes which they were empowered to levy +on the merchants, farmers, miners, etc., whose goods passed down the +Cataract into Egypt. Why, if this be the case, they should have chosen +to connect the famine with the reign of Tcheser is not clear. They may +have wished to prove the great antiquity of the worship of Khnemu, but +it would have been quite easy to select the name of some king of the +Ist Dynasty, and had they done this, they would have made the authority +of Khnemu over the Nile coaeval with Dynastic civilization. It is +impossible to assume that no great famine took place in Egypt between +the reign of Tcheser and the period when the inscription was made, and +when we consider this fact the choice by the editor of the legend of a +famine which took place under the IIIrd Dynasty to illustrate the power +of Khnemu seems inexplicable. + +Of the famines which must have taken place in the Dynastic period the +inscriptions tell us nothing, but the story of the seven years' famine +mentioned in the Book of Genesis shows that there is nothing improbable +in a famine lasting so long in Egypt. Arab historians also mention +several famines which lasted for seven years. That which took place in +the years 1066-1072 nearly ruined the whole country. A cake of bread +was sold for 15 dinanir, (the dinar = 10s.), a horse was sold for 20, a +dog for 5, a cat for 3, and an egg for 1 dinar. When all the animals +were eaten men began to eat each other, and human flesh was sold in +public. "Passengers were caught in the streets by hooks let down from +the windows, drawn up, killed, and cooked."[FN#45] During the famine +which began in 1201 people ate human flesh habitually. Parents killed +and cooked their own children, and a wife was found eating her husband +raw. Baby fricassee and haggis of children's heads were ordinary +articles of diet. The graves even were ransacked for food. An ox sold +for 70 dinanir. [FN#46] + + + +[FN#45] Lane Poole, Middle Ages, p. 146. + +[FN#46] Ibid., p. 216. + + + +The legend begins with the statement that in the 18th year of the reign +of King Tcheser, when Matar, the Erpa Prince and Ha, was the Governor +of the temple properties of the South and North, and was also the +Director of the Khenti men at Elephantine (Aswan), a royal despatch was +delivered to him, in which the king said: "I am in misery on my throne. +My heart is very sore because of the calamity which hath happened, for +the Nile hath not come forth[FN#47] for seven years. There is no +grain, there are no vegetables, there is no food, and every man is +robbing his neighbour. Men wish to walk, but they are unable to move; +the young man drags along his limbs, the hearts of the aged are crushed +with despair, their legs fail them, they sink to the ground, and they +clutch their bodies with their hands in pain. The councillors are +dumb, and nothing but wind comes out of the granaries when they are +opened. Everything is in a state of ruin." A more graphic picture of +the misery caused by the famine could hardly be imagined. The king +then goes on to ask Matar where the Nile is born? what god or goddess +presides over it? and what is his [or her] form? He says he would like +to go to the temple of Thoth to enquire of that god, to go to the +College of the Magicians, and search through the sacred books in order +to find out these things. + + + +[FN#47] i.e., there have been insufficient Nile-floods. + + + +When Matar had read the despatch, he set out to go to the king, and +explained to him the things which he wished to know. He told him that, +the Nile rose near the city of Elephantine, that it flowed out of two +caverns, which were the breasts of the Nile-god, that it rose to a +height of twenty-eight cubits at Elephantine, and to the height of +seven cubits at Sma-Behutet, or, Diospolis Parva in the Delta. He who +controlled the Nile was Khnemu, and when this god drew the bolt of the +doors which shut in the stream, and smote the earth with his sandals, +the river rushed forth. Matar also described to the king the form of +Khnemu, which was that of Shu, and the work which he did, and the +wooden house in which he lived, and its exact position, which was near +the famous granite quarries. The gods who dwelt with Khnemu were the +goddess Sept (Sothis, or the Dog-star), the goddess Anqet, Hap (or +Hep), the Nile-god, Shu, Keb, Nut, Osiris, Isis, Nephthys, and Horus. +Thus we see that the priests of Khnemu made him to be the head of a +Company of Gods. Finally Matar gave the king a list of all the stones, +precious and otherwise, which were found in and about Elephantine. + +When the king, who had, it seems, come to Elephantine, heard these +things he rejoiced greatly, and he went into the temple of Khnemu. +The priests drew back the curtains and sprinkled him with holy water, +and then he passed into the shrine and offered up a great sacrifice of +bread-cakes, beer, geese, oxen, and all kinds of good things, to the +gods and goddesses who dwelt at Elephantine, in the place called "Couch +of the heart in life and power." Suddenly he found himself standing +face to face with the god Khnemu, whom he placated with a peace- +offering and with prayer. Then the god opened his eyes, and bent his +body towards the king, and spake to him mighty words, saying, "I am +Khnemu, who made thee. My hands knitted together thy body and made it +sound, and I gave thee thy heart." Khnemu then went on to complain +that, although the ground under the king's feet was filled with stones +and metal, men were too inert to work them and to employ them in +repairing or rebuilding of the shrines of the gods, or in doing what +they ought to do for him, their Lord and Creator. These words were, of +course, meant as a rebuke for the king, who evidently, though it is not +so stated in the text, was intended by Khnemu to undertake the +rebuilding of his shrine without delay. The god then went on to +proclaim his majesty and power, and declared himself to be Nu, the +Celestial Ocean, and the Nile-god, "who came into being at the +beginning, and riseth at his will to give health to him that laboureth +for Khnemu." He described himself as the Father of the gods, the +Governor of the earth and of men, and then he promised the king to make +the Nile rise yearly, regularly, and unceasingly, to give abundant +harvests, to give all people their heart's desire, to make misery to +pass away, to fill the granaries, and to make the whole land of Egypt +yellow with waving fields of full ripe grain. When the king, who had +been in a dream, heard the god mention crops, he woke up, and his +courage returned to him, and having cast away despair from his heart he +issued a decree by which he made ample provision for the maintenance of +the worship of the god in a fitting state. In this decree, the first +copy of which was cut upon wood, the king endowed Khnemu with 20 +schoinoi of land on each side of the river, with gardens, etc. It was +further enacted that every man who drew water from the Nile for his +land should contribute a portion of his crops to the god. Fishermen, +fowlers, and hunters were to pay an octroi duty of one-tenth of the +value of their catches when they brought them into the city, and a +tithe of the cattle was to be set apart for the daily sacrifice. The +masters of caravans coming from the Sudan were to pay a tithe also, but +they were not liable to any further tax in the country northwards. +Every metal-worker, ore-crusher, miner, mason, and handicraftsman of +every kind, was to pay to the temple of the god one-tenth of the value +of the material produced or worked by his labour. The decree provided +also for the appointment of an inspector whose duty it would be to +weigh the gold, silver and copper which came into the town of +Elephantine, and to assess the value both of these metals and of the +precious stones, etc., which were to be devoted to the service of +Khnemu. All materials employed in making the images of the gods, and +all handicraftsmen employed in the work were exempted from tithing. In +short, the worship of the god and his company was to be maintained +according to ancient use and wont, and the people were to supply the +temple with everything necessary in a generous spirit and with a +liberal hand. He who failed in any way to comply with the enactments +was to be beaten with the rope, and the name of Tcheser was to be +perpetuated in the temple. + + + + + +VIII. + + + +THE LEGEND OF THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF HORUS, AND OTHER MAGICAL +TEXTS. + + + +The magical and religious texts of the Egyptians of all periods contain +spells intended to be used against serpents, scorpions, and noxious +reptiles of all kinds, and their number, and the importance which was +attached to them, suggest that Egypt must always have produced these +pests in abundance, and that the Egyptians were always horribly afraid +of them. The text of Unas, which was written towards the close of the +Vth Dynasty, contains many such spells, and in the Theban and Saite +Books of the Dead several Chapters consist of nothing but spells and +incantations, many of which are based on archaic texts, against +crocodiles, serpents, and other deadly reptiles, and insects of all +kinds. All such creatures were regarded as incarnations of evil +spirits, which attack the dead as well as the living, and therefore it +was necessary for the well-being of the former that copies of spells +against them should be written upon the walls of tombs, coffins, +funerary amulets, etc. The gods were just as open to the attacks of +venomous reptiles as man, and Ra, himself, the king of the gods, nearly +died from the poison of a snake-bite. Now the gods were, as a rule, +able to defend themselves against the attacks of Set and his fiends, +and the poisonous snakes and insects which were their emissaries, by +virtue of the fluid of life, which was the peculiar attribute of +divinity, and the efforts of Egyptians were directed to the acquisition +of a portion of this magical power, which would protect their souls and +bodies and their houses and cattle, and other property, each day and +each night throughout the year. When a man cared for the protection of +himself only he wore an amulet of some kind, in which the fluid of life +was localized. When he wished to protect his house against invasion by +venomous reptiles he placed statues containing the fluid of life in +niches in the walls of various chambers, or in some place outside but +near the house, or buried them in the earth with their faces turned in +the direction from which he expected the attack to come. + + + +PLATE XVII. +The Metternich Stele--Obverse. + + + +PLATE XVIII. +The Metternich Stele--Reverse. + + + +Towards the close of the XXVIth Dynasty, when superstition in its most +exaggerated form was general in Egypt, it became the custom to make +house talismans in the form of small stone stelae, with rounded tops, +which rested on bases having convex fronts. On the front of such a +talisman was sculptured in relief a figure of Horus the Child +(Harpokrates), standing on two crocodiles, holding in his hands figures +of serpents, scorpions, a lion, and a horned animal, each of these +being a symbol of an emissary or ally of Set, the god of Evil. Above +his head was the head of Bes, and on each side of him were: solar +symbols, i.e., the lily of Nefer-Tem, figures of Ra and Harmakhis, the +Eyes of Ra (the Sun and Moon), etc. The reverse of the stele and the +whole of the base were covered with magical texts and spells, and when +a talisman of this kind was placed in a house, it was supposed to be +directly under the protection of Horus and his companion gods, who had +vanquished all the hosts of darkness and all the powers of physical and +moral evil. Many examples of this talisman are to be seen in the great +Museums of Europe, and there are several fine specimens in the Third +Egyptian Room in the British Museum. They are usually called "Cippi of +Horus." The largest and most important of all these "cippi" is that +which is commonly known as the "Metternich Stele," because it was given +to Prince Metternich by Muhammad `Ali Pasha; it was dug up in 1828 +during the building of a cistern in a Franciscan Monastery in +Alexandria, and was first published, with a translation of a large part +of the text, by Professor Golenischeff.[FN#48] The importance of the +stele is enhanced by the fact that it mentions the name of the king in +whose reign it was made, viz., Nectanebus I., who reigned from B.C. 378 +to B.C. 360. + + + +[FN#48] See Metternichstele, Leipzig, 1877. The Stele was made for +Ankh-Psemthek, son of the lady Tent-Het-nub, prophet of Nebun, overseer +of Temt and scribe of Het (see line 87). + + + +The obverse, reverse, and two sides of the Metternich Stele have cut +upon them nearly three hundred figures of gods and celestial beings. +These include figures of the great gods of heaven, earth, and the Other +World, figures of the gods of the planets and the Dekans, figures of +the gods of the days of the week, of the weeks, and months, and seasons +of the year, and of the year. Besides these there are a number of +figures of local forms of the gods which it is difficult to identify. +On the rounded portion of the obverse the place of honour is held by +the solar disk, in which is seen a figure of Khnemu with four ram's +heads, which rests between a pair of arms, and is supported on a lake +of celestial water; on each side of it are four of the spirits of the +dawn, and on the right stands the symbol of the rising sun, Nefer-Temu, +and on the left stands Thoth. Below this are five rows of small +figures of gods. Below these is Harpokrates in relief, in the attitude +already described. He stands on two crocodiles under a kind of canopy, +the sides of which are supported by Thoth and Isis, and holds Typhonic +animals and reptiles. Above the canopy are the two Eyes of Ra, each +having a pair of human arms and hands. On the right of Harpokrates are +Seker and Horus, and on his left the symbol of Nefer-Temu. On the left +and right are the goddesses Nekhebet and Uatchet, who guard the South +of Egypt and the North respectively. On the reverse and sides are +numerous small figures of gods. This stele represented the power to +protect man possessed by all the divine beings in the universe, and, +however it was placed, it formed an impassable barrier to every spirit +of evil and to every venomous reptile. The spells, which are cut in +hieroglyphics on all the parts of the stele not occupied by figures of +gods, were of the most potent character, for they contained the actual +words by which the gods vanquished the powers of darkness and evil. +These spells form the texts which are printed on p. 142 ff., and may be +thus summarized:-- + +The first spell is an incantation directed against reptiles and noxious +creatures in general. The chief of these was Apep, the great enemy of +Ra, who took the form of a huge serpent that "resembled the +intestines," and the spell doomed him to decapitation, and burning and +backing in pieces. These things would be effected by Serqet, the +Scorpion-goddess. The second part of the spell was directed against +the poison of Apep, and was to be recited over anyone who was bitten by +a snake. When uttered by Horus it made Apep to vomit, and when used by +a magician properly qualified would make the bitten person to vomit, +and so free his body from the poison. + +The next spell is directed to be said to the Cat, i.e., a symbol of the +daughter of Ra, or Isis, who had the head of Ra, the eyes of the +uraeus, the nose of Thoth, the ears of Neb-er-tcher, the mouth of Tem, +the neck of Neheb-ka, the breast of Thoth, the heart of Ra, the hands +of the gods, the belly of Osiris, the thighs of Menthu, the legs of +Khensu, the feet of Amen-Horus, the haunches of Horus, the soles of the +feet of Ra, and the bowels of Meh-urit. Every member of the Cat +contained a god or goddess, and she was able to destroy the poison of +any serpent, or scorpion, or reptile, which might be injected into her +body. The spell opens with an address to Ra, who is entreated to come +to his daughter, who has been stung by a scorpion on a lonely road, and +to cause the poison to leave her body. Thus it seems as if Isis, the +great magician, was at some time stung by a scorpion. + +The next section is very difficult to understand. Ra-Harmakhis is +called upon to come to his daughter, and Shu to his wife, and Isis to +her sister, who has been poisoned. Then the Aged One, i.e., Ra, is +asked to let Thoth turn back Neha-her, or Set. "Osiris is in the +water, but Horus is with him, and the Great Beetle overshadows him," +and every evil spirit which dwells in the water is adjured to allow +Horus to proceed to Osiris. Ra, Sekhet, Thoth, and Heka, this last- +named being the spell personified, are the four great gods who protect +Osiris, and who will blind and choke his enemies, and cut out their +tongues. The cry of the Cat is again referred to, and Ra is asked if +he does not remember the cry which came from the bank of Netit. The +allusion here is to the cries which Isis uttered when she arrived at +Netit near Abydos, and found lying there the dead body of her husband. + +At this point on the Stele the spells are interrupted by a long +narrative put into the mouth of Isis, which supplies us with some +account of the troubles that she suffered, and describes the death of +Horus through the sting of a scorpion. Isis, it seems, was shut up in +some dwelling by Set after he murdered Osiris, probably with the +intention of forcing her to marry him, and so assist him to legalize +his seizure of the kingdom. Isis, as we have already seen, had been +made pregnant by her husband after his death, and Thoth now appeared to +her, and advised her to hide herself with her unborn child, and to +bring him forth in secret, and he promised her that her son should +succeed in due course to his father's throne. With the help of Thoth +she escaped from her captivity, and went forth accompanied by the Seven +Scorpion-goddesses, who brought her to the town of Per-Sui, on the edge +of the Reed Swamps. She applied to a woman for a night's shelter, but +the woman shut her door in her face. To punish her one of the +Scorpion-goddesses forced her way into the woman's house, and stung her +child to death. The grief of the woman was so bitter and sympathy- +compelling that Isis laid her hands on the child, and, having uttered +one of her most potent spells over him, the poison of the scorpion ran +out of his body, and the child came to life again. The words of the +spell are cut on the Stele, and they were treasured by the Egyptians as +an infallible remedy for scorpion stings. When the woman saw that her +son had been brought back to life by Isis, she was filled with joy and +gratitude, and, as a mark of her repentance, she brought large +quantities of things from her house as gifts for Isis, and they were so +many that they filled the house of the kind, but poor, woman who had +given Isis shelter. + +Now soon after Isis had restored to life the son of the woman who had +shown churlishness to her, a terrible calamity fell upon her, for her +beloved son Horus was stung by a scorpion and died. The news of this +event was conveyed to her by the gods, who cried out to her to come to +see her son Horus, whom the terrible scorpion Uhat had killed. Isis, +stabbed with pain at the news, as if a knife had been driven into her +body, ran out distraught with grief. It seems that she had gone to +perform a religious ceremony in honour of Osiris in a temple near +Hetep-hemt, leaving her child carefully concealed in Sekhet-An. During +her absence the scorpion Uhat, which had been sent by Set, forced its +way into the biding-place of Horus, and there stung him to death. When +Isis came and found the dead body, she burst forth in lamentations, the +sound of which brought all the people from the neighbouring districts +to her side. As she related to them the history of her sufferings they +endeavoured to console her, and when they found this to be impossible +they lifted up their voices and wept with her. Then Isis placed her +nose in the mouth of Horus so that she might discover if he still +breathed, but there was no breath in his throat; and when she examined +the wound in his body made by the fiend Aun-Ab she saw in it traces of +poison. No doubt about his death then remained in her mind, and +clasping him in her arms she lifted him up, and in her transports of +grief leaped about like fish when they are laid on red-hot coals. Then +she uttered a series of heartbreaking laments, each of which begins +with the words "Horus is bitten." The heir of heaven, the son of Un- +Nefer, the child of the gods, he who was wholly fair, is bitten! He +for whose wants I provided, he who was to avenge his father, is bitten! +He for whom I cared and suffered when he was being fashioned in my +womb, is bitten! He whom I tended so that I might gaze upon him, is +bitten! He whose life I prayed for is bitten! Calamity hath overtaken +the child, and he hath perished. + + +Whilst Isis was saying these and many similar words, her sister +Nephthys, who had been weeping bitterly for her nephew Horus as she +wandered about among the swamps, came, in company with the Scorpion- +goddess Serqet, and advised Isis to pray to heaven for help. Pray that +the sailors in the Boat of Ra may cease from rowing, for the Boat +cannot travel onwards whilst Horus lies dead. Then Isis cried out to +heaven, and her voice reached the Boat of Millions of Years, and the +Disk ceased to move onward, and came to a standstill. From the Boat +Thoth descended, being equipped with words of power and spells of all +kinds, and bearing with him the "great command of maa-kheru," i.e., the +WORD, whose commands were performed, instantly and completely, by every +god, spirit, fiend, human being and by every thing, animate and +inanimate, in heaven, earth, and the Other World. Then he came to Isis +and told her that no harm could possibly have happened to Horus, for he +was under the protection of the Boat of Ra; but his words failed to +comfort Isis, and though she acknowledged the greatness of his designs, +she complained that they savoured of delay. "What is the good," she +asks, "of all thy spells, and incantations, and magical formulae, and +the great command of maa-kheru, if Horus is to perish by the poison of +a scorpion, and to lie here in the arms of Death? Evil, evil is his +destiny, for it hath entailed the deepest misery for him and death." + +In answer to these words Thoth, turning to Isis and Nephthys, bade them +to fear not, and to have no anxiety about Horus, "For," said he, "I +have come from heaven to heal the child for his mother." He then +pointed out that Horus was under protection as the Dweller in his Disk +(Aten), the Great Dwarf, the Mighty Ram, the Great Hawk, the Holy +Beetle, the Hidden Body, the Divine Bennu, etc., and proceeded to utter +the great spell which restored Horus to life. By his words of power +Thoth transferred the fluid of life of Ra, and as soon as this came +upon the child's body the poison of the scorpion flowed out of him, and +he once more breathed and lived. When this was done Thoth returned to +the Boat of Ra, the gods who formed its crew resumed their rowing, and +the Disk passed on its way to make its daily journey across the sky. +The gods in heaven, who were amazed and uttered cries of terror when +they heard of the death of Horus, were made happy once more, and sang +songs of joy over his recovery. The happiness of Isis in her child's +restoration to life was very great, for she could again hope that he +would avenge his father's murder, and occupy his throne. The final +words of Thoth comforted her greatly, for he told her that he would +take charge of the case of Horus in the Judgment Hall of Anu, wherein +Osiris had been judged, and that as his advocate he would make any +accusations which might be brought against Horus to recoil on him that +brought them. Furthermore, he would give Horus power to repulse any +attacks which might be made upon him by beings in the heights above, or +fiends in the depths below, and would ensure his succession to the +Throne of the Two Lands, i.e., Egypt. Thoth also promised Isis that Ra +himself should act as the advocate of Horus, even as he had done for +his father Osiris. He was also careful to allude to the share which +Isis had taken in the restoration of Horus to life, saying, "It is the +words of power of his mother which have lifted up his face, and they +shall enable him to journey wheresoever he pleaseth, and to put fear +into the powers above. I myself hasten [to obey them]." Thus +everything turned on the power of the spells of Isis, who made the sun +to stand still, and caused the dead to be raised. + +Such are the contents of the texts on the famous Metternich Stele. +There appears to be some confusion in their arrangement, and some of +them clearly are misplaced, and, in places, the text is manifestly +corrupt. It is impossible to explain several passages, for we do not +understand all the details of the system of magic which they represent. +Still, the general meaning of the texts on the Stele is quite clear, +and they record a legend of Isis and Horus which is not found so fully +described on any other monument. + + + + + + + + + +IX. + + + +THE HISTORY OF ISIS AND OSIRIS. + + + +The history of Isis and Osiris given on pp. 248 is taken from the +famous treatise of Plutarch entitled De Iside et Osiride, and forms a +fitting conclusion to this volume of Legends of the Gods. It contains +all the essential facts given in Plutarch's work, and the only things +omitted are his derivations and mythological speculations, which are +really unimportant for the Egyptologist. Egyptian literature is full +of allusions to events which took place in the life of Osiris, and to +his persecution, murder, and resurrection, and numerous texts of all +periods describe the love and devotion of his sister and wife Isis, and +the filial piety of Horus. Nowhere, however, have we in Egyptian a +connected account of the causes which led to the murder by Set of +Osiris, or of the subsequent events which resulted in his becoming the +king of heaven and judge of the dead. However carefully we piece +together the fragments of information which we can extract from native +Egyptian literature, there still remains a series of gaps which can +only be filled by guesswork. Plutarch, as a learned man and a student +of comparative religion and mythology was most anxious to understand +the history of Isis and Osiris, which Greek and Roman scholars talked +about freely, and which none of them comprehended, and he made +enquiries of priests and others, and examined critically such +information as he could obtain, believing and hoping that he would +penetrate the mystery in which these gods were wrapped. As a result of +his labours he collected a number of facts about the form of the Legend +of Isis and Osiris as it was known to the learned men of his day, but +there is no evidence that he had the slightest knowledge of the details +of the original African Legend of these gods as it was known to the +Egyptians, say, under the VIth Dynasty. Moreover, he never realized +that the characteristics and attributes of both Isis and Osiris changed +several times during the long history of Egypt, and that a thousand +years before he lived the Egyptians themselves had forgotten what the +original form of the legend was. They preserved a number of +ceremonies, and performed very carefully all the details of an ancient +ritual at the annual commemoration festival of Osiris which was held in +November and December, but the evidence of the texts makes it quite +clear that the meaning and symbolism of nearly all the details were +unknown alike to priests and people. + +An important modification of the cult of Isis and Osiris took place in +the third century before Christ, when the Ptolemies began to +consolidate their rule in Egypt. A form of religion which would be +acceptable both to Egyptians and Greeks had to be provided, and this +was produced by modifying the characteristics of Osiris and calling him +Sarapis, and identifying him with the Greek Pluto. To Isis were added +many of the attributes of the great Greek goddesses, and into her +worship were introduced "mysteries" derived from non-Egyptian cults, +which made it acceptable to the people everywhere. Had a high priest +of Osiris who lived at Abydos under the XVIIIth Dynasty witnessed the +celebration of the great festival of Isis and Osiris in any large town +in the first century before Christ, it is tolerably certain that he +would have regarded it as a lengthy act of worship of strange gods, in +which there appeared, here and there, ceremonies and phrases which +reminded him of the ancient Abydos ritual. When the form of the cult +of Isis and Osiris introduced by the Ptolemies into Egypt extended to +the great cities of Greece and Italy, still further modifications took +place in it, and the characters of Isis and Osiris were still further +changed. By degrees Osiris came to be regarded as the god of death +pure and simple, or as the personification of Death, and he ceased to +be regarded as the great protecting ancestral spirit, and the all- +powerful protecting Father of his people. As the importance of Osiris +declined that of Isis grew, and men came to regard her as the great +Mother-goddess of the world. The priests described from tradition the +great facts of her life according to the Egyptian legends, how she had +been a loving and devoted wife, how she had gone forth after her +husband's murder by Set to seek for his body, how she had found it and +brought it home, how she revivified it by her spells and had union with +Osiris and conceived by him, and how in due course she brought forth +her son, in pain and sorrow and loneliness in the Swamps of the Delta, +and how she reared him and watched over him until he was old enough to +fight and vanquish his father's murderer, and how at length she seated +him in triumph on his father's throne. These things endeared Isis to +the people everywhere, and as she herself had not suffered death like +Osiris, she came to be regarded as the eternal mother of life and of +all living things. She was the creatress of crops, she produced fruit, +vegetables, plants of all kinds and trees, she made cattle prolific, +she brought men and women together and gave them offspring, she was the +authoress of all love, virtue, goodness and happiness. She made the +light to shine, she was the spirit of the Dog-star which heralded the +Nile-flood, she was the source of the power in the beneficent light of +the moon; and finally she took the dead to her bosom and gave them +peace, and introduced them to a life of immortality and happiness +similar to that which she had bestowed upon Osiris. + +The message of the cult of Isis as preached by her priests was one of +hope and happiness, and coming to the Greeks and Romans, as it did, at +a time when men were weary of their national cults, and when the +speculations of the philosophers carried no weight with the general +public, the people everywhere welcomed it with the greatest enthusiasm. +From Egypt it was carried to the Islands of Greece and to the mainland, +to Italy, Germany, France, Spain and Portugal, and then crossing the +western end of the Mediterranean it entered North Africa, and with +Carthage as a centre spread east and west along the coast. Wherever +the cult of Isis came men accepted it as something which supplied what +they thought to be lacking in their native cults; rich and poor, gentle +and simple, all welcomed it, and the philosopher as well as the +ignorant man rejoiced in the hope of a future life which it gave to +them. Its Egyptian origin caused it to be regarded with the +profoundest interest, and its priests were most careful to make the +temples of Isis quite different from those of the national gods, and to +decorate them with obelisks, sphinxes, shrines, altars, etc., which +were either imported from temples in Egypt, or were copied from +Egyptian originals. In the temples of Isis services were held at +daybreak and in the early afternoon daily, and everywhere these were +attended by crowds of people. The holy water used in the libations and +for sprinkling the people was Nile water, specially imported from +Egypt, and to the votaries of the goddess it symbolized the seed of the +god Osiris, which germinated and brought forth fruit through the spells +of the goddess Isis. The festivals and processions of Isis were +everywhere most popular, and were enjoyed by learned and unlearned +alike. In fact, the Isis-play which was acted annually in November, +and the festival of the blessing of the ship, which took place in the +spring, were the most important festivals of the year. Curiously +enough, all the oldest gods and goddesses of Egypt passed into absolute +oblivion, with the exception of Osiris (Sarapis), Isis, Anubis the +physician, and Harpokrates, the child of Osiris and Isis, and these, +from being the ancestral spirits of a comparatively obscure African +tribe in early dynastic times, became for several hundreds of years the +principal objects of worship of some of the most cultured and +intellectual nations. The treatise of Plutarch De Iside helps to +explain how this came about, and for those who study the Egyptian +Legend of Isis and Osiris the work has considerable importance. + + + + + +THE HISTORY OF CREATION--A. + + + + +THE BOOK OF KNOWING THE EVOLUTIONS[FN#49] OF RA, AND OF OVERTHROWING +APEP. + + + +[FN#49] Kheperu. The verb Kheper means "to make, to form, to produce, +to become, and to roll;" kheperu here means "the things which come into +being through the rollings of the ball of the god Kheper (the roller)," +i.e., the Sun. + + + +[These are] the words which the god Neb-er-tcher spake after he had +come into being:--"I am he who came into being in the form of the god +Khepera, and I am the creator of that which came into being, that is to +say, I am the creator of everything which came into being: now the +things which I created, and which came forth out of my month after that +I had come into being myself were exceedingly many. The sky (or +heaven) had not come into being, the earth did not exist, and the +children of the earth[FN#50], and the creeping, things, had not been +made at that time. I myself raised them up from out of Nu[FN#51], from +a state of helpless inertness. I found no place whereon I could stand. +I worked a charm[FN#52] upon my own heart (or, will), I laid the +foundation [of things] by Maat,[FN#53] and I made everything which had +form. I was [then] one by myself, for I had not emitted from myself +the god Shu, and I had not spit out from myself the goddess Tefnut; and +there existed no other who could work with me. I laid the foundations +[of things] in my own heart, and there came into being multitudes of +created things, which came into being from the created things which +were born from the created things which arose from what they brought +forth. I had union with my closed hand, and I embraced my shadow as a +wife, and I poured seed into my own mouth, and I sent forth from myself +issue in the form of the gods Shu and Tefnut. Saith my father Nu:--My +Eye was covered up behind them (i.e., Shu. and Tefnut), but after two +hen periods had passed from the time when they departed from me, from +being one god I became three gods, and I came into being in the earth. +Then Shu and Tefnut rejoiced from out of the inert watery mass wherein +they I were, and they brought to me my Eye (i.e., the Sun). Now after +these things I gathered together my members, and I wept over them, and +men and women sprang into being from the tears which came forth from my +Eye. And when my Eye came to me, and found that I had made another +[Eye] in place where it was (i.e., the Moon), it was wroth with (or, +raged at) me, whereupon I endowed it (i.e., the second Eye) with [some +of] the splendour which I had made for the first [Eye], and I made it +to occupy its place in my Face, and henceforth it ruled throughout all +this earth." + + + +[FN#50] i.e., serpents and snakes, or perhaps plants. + +[FN#51] The primeval watery mass which was the source and origin of +all beings and things. + +[FN#52] i.e., he uttered a magical formula. + +[FN#53] i.e., by exact and definite rules. + + + +"When there fell on them their moment[FN#54] through plant-like clouds, +I restored what had been taken away from them, and I appeared from out +of the plant-like clouds. I created creeping things of every kind, and +everything which came into being from them. Shu and Tefnut brought +forth [Seb and] Nut; and Seb and Nut brought forth Osiris, and Heru- +khent-an-maati,[FN#55] and Set, and Isis, and Nephthys[FN#56] at one +birth, one after the other, and they produced their multitudinous +offspring in this earth." + + + +[FN#54] i.e., the period of calamity wherein their light was veiled +through plant-like clouds. + +[FN#55] i.e., the Blind Horus. + +[FN#56] i.e., these five gods were all born at one time. + + + + + +THE HISTORY OF CREATION--B. + + + +THE BOOK OF KNOWING THE EVOLUTIONS OF RA, AND OF OVERTHROWING APEP. + + + +[These are] the words of the god Neb-er-tcher, who said: "I am the +creator of what hath come into being, and I myself came into being +under the form of the god Khepera, and I came into being in primeval +time. I came into being in the form of Khepera, and I am the creator +of what did come into being, that is to say, I formed myself out of the +primeval matter, and I made and formed myself out of the substance +which existed in primeval time. My name is AUSARES (i.e., Osiris), who +is the primeval matter of primeval matter. I have done my will in +everything in this earth. I have spread myself abroad therein, and I +have made strong my hand. I was ONE by myself, for they (i.e., the +gods) had not been brought forth, and I had emitted from myself neither +Shu nor Tefnut. I brought my own name[FN#57] into my mouth as a word +of power, and I forthwith came into being under the form of things +which are and under the form of Khepera. I came into being from out of +primeval matter, and from the beginning I appeared under the form of +the multitudinous things which exist; nothing whatsoever existed at +that time in this earth, and it was I who made whatsoever was made. I +was ONE: by myself, and there was no other being who worked with me in +that place. I made all the things under the forms of which I appeared +then by means of the Soul-God which I raised into firmness at that time +from out of Nu, from a state of inactivity. I found no place +whatsoever there whereon I could stand, I worked by the power of a +spell by means of my heart, I laid a foundation [for things] before me, +and whatsoever was made, I made. I was ONE by myself, and I laid the +foundation of things [by means of] my heart, and I made the other +things which came into being, and the things of Khepera which were made +were manifold, and their offspring came into existence from the things +to which they gave birth. I it was who emitted Shu, and I it was who +emitted Tefnut, and from being the ONE, god (or, the only god) I became +three gods; the two other gods who came into being on this earth sprang +from me, and Shu and Tefnut rejoiced (or, were raised up) from out of +Nu in which they were. Now behold, they brought my Eye to me after two +hen periods since the time when they went forth from me. I gathered +together my members which had appeared in my own body, and afterwards +I had union with my hand, and my heart (or, will) came unto me from out +of my hand, and the seed fell into my mouth, and I emitted from myself +the gods Shu and Tefnut, and so from being the ONE god (or, the only, +god) I became three gods; thus the two other gods who came into being +on this earth sprang from me, and Shu and Tefnut rejoiced (or, were +raised up) from out of Nu in which they were. My father Nu saith:-- +They covered up (or, concealed) my Eye with the plant-like clouds which +were behind them (i.e., Shu and Tefnut) for very many hen periods. +Plants and creeping things [sprang up] from the god REM, through the +tears which I let fall. I cried out to my Eye, and men and women came +into existence. Then I bestowed upon my Eye the uraeus of fire, and it +was wroth with me when another Eye (i.e., the Moon) came and grew up in +its place; its vigorous power fell on the plants, on the plants which I +had placed there, and it set order among them, and it took up its place +in my face, and it doth rule the whole earth. Then Shu and Tefnut +brought forth Osiris, and Heru-khenti-an-maa, and Set, and Isis, and +Nephthys and behold, they have produced offspring, and have created +multitudinous children in this earth, by means of the beings which came +into existence from the creatures which they produced. They invoke my +name, and they overthrow their enemies, and they make words of power +for the overthrowing of Apep, over whose hands and arms AKER keepeth +ward. His hands and arms shall not exist, his feet and leas shall not +exist, and he is chained in one place whilst Ra inflicts upon him the +blows which are decreed for him. He is thrown upon his accursed back, +his face is slit open by reason of the evil which he hath done, and he +shall remain upon his accursed back." + + + +[FN#57] i.e., I uttered my own name from my own mouth as a word of +power. + + + + + +THE LEGEND OF THE DESTRUCTION OF MANKIND. + + + +CHAPTER I. + + + +[Here is the story of Ra,] the god who was self-begotten and self- +created, after he had assumed the sovereignty over men and women, and +gods, and things, the ONE god. Now men and women were speaking words +of complaint, saying:--"Behold, his Majesty (Life, Strength, and Health +to him!) hath grown old, and his bones have become like silver, and +his members have turned into gold and his hair is like unto real lapis- +lazuli." His Majesty heard the words of complaint which men and women +were uttering, and his Majesty (Life, Strength, and Health to him!) +said unto those who were in his train:--"Cry out, and bring to me my +Eye, and Shu, and Tefnut, and Seb, and Nut, and the father-gods, and +the mother-gods who were with me, even when I was in Nu side by side +with my god Nu. Let there be brought along with my Eye his ministers, +and let them be led to me hither secretly, so that men and women may +not perceive them [coming] hither, and may not therefore take to flight +with their hearts. Come thou[FN#58] with them to the Great House, and +let them declare their plans (or, arrangements) fully, for I will go +from Nu into the place wherein I brought about my own existence, and +let those gods be brought unto me there." Now the gods were drawn up +on each side of Ra, and they bowed down before his Majesty until their +heads touched the ground, and the maker of men and women, the king of +those who have knowledge, spake his words in the presence of the Father +of the first-born gods. And the gods spake in the presence of his +Majesty, saying:--"Speak unto us, for we are listening to them" (i.e., +thy words). Then Ra spake unto Nu, saying:--"O thou first-born god +from whom I came into being, O ye gods of ancient time, my ancestors, +take ye heed to what men and women [are doing]; for behold, those who +were created by my Eye are uttering words of complaint against me. +Tell me what ye would do in the matter, and consider this thing for me, +and seek out [a plan] for me, for I will not slay them until I have +heard what ye shall say to me concerning it." + + + +[FN#58] The god here addressed appears to have been Nu. + + + +Then the Majesty of Nu, to son Ra, spake, saying:--"Thou art the god +who art greater than he who made thee, thou art the sovereign of those +who were created with thee, thy throne is set, and the fear of thee is +great; let thine Eye go against those who have uttered blasphemies +against thee." And the Majesty of Ra, said:--"Behold, they have +betaken themselves to flight into the mountain lands, for their hearts +are afraid because of the words which they have uttered." Then the +gods spake in the presence of his Majesty, saying:--"Let thine Eye go +forth and let it destroy for thee those who revile thee with words of +evil, for there is no eye whatsoever that can go before it and resist +thee and it when it journeyeth in the form of Hathor." Thereupon this +goddess went forth and slew the men and the women who were on the +mountain (or, desert land). And the Majesty of this god said, "Come, +come in peace, O Hathor, for the work is accomplished." Then this +goddess said, "Thou hast made me to live, for when I gained the mastery +over men and women it was sweet to my heart;" and the Majesty of Ra +said, "I myself will be master over them as [their] king, and I will +destroy them." And it came to pass that Sekhet of the offerings waded +about in the night season in their blood, beginning at Suten- +henen.[FN#59] Then the Majesty of Ra, spake [saying], "Cry out, and +let there come to me swift and speedy messengers who shall be able to +run like the wind . . . .;" and straightway messengers of this kind +were brought unto him. And the Majesty of this god spake [saying], +"Let these messengers go to Abu,[FN#60] and bring unto me mandrakes in +great numbers;" and [when] these mandrakes were brought unto him the +Majesty of this god gave them to Sekhet, the goddess who dwelleth in +Annu (Heliopolis) to crush. And behold, when the maidservants were +bruising the grain for [making] beer, these mandrakes were placed in +the vessels which were to hold the beer, and some of the blood of the +men and women [who had been slain]. Now they made seven thousand +vessels of beer. Now when the Majesty of Re, the King of the South and +North, had come with the gods to look at the vessels of beer, and +behold, the daylight had appeared after the slaughter of men and women +by the goddess in their season as she sailed up the river, the Majesty +of Ra said, "It is good, it is good, nevertheless I must protect men +and women against her." And Ra, said, "Let them take up the vases and +carry them to the place where the men and women were slaughtered by +her." Then the Majesty of the King of the South and North in the +three-fold beauty of the night caused to be poured out these vases of +beer which make [men] to lie down (or, sleep), and the meadows of the +Four Heavens[FN#61] were filled with beer (or, water) by reason of the +Souls of the Majesty of this god. And it came to pass that when this +goddess arrived at the dawn of day, she found these [Heavens] flooded +[with beer], and she was pleased thereat; and she drank [of the beer +and blood], and her heart rejoiced, and she became drunk, and she gave +no further attention to men and women. Then said the Majesty of Ra to +this goddess, "Come in peace, come in peace, O Amit,"[FN#62] and +thereupon beautiful women came into being in the city of Amit (or, +Amem). And the Majesty of Ra spake [concerning] this goddess, +[saying], "Let there be made for her vessels of the beer which +produceth sleep at every holy time and season of the year, and they +shall be in number according to the number of my hand-maidens;" and +from that early time until now men have been wont to make on the +occasions of the festival of Hathor vessels of the beer which make them +to sleep in number according to the number of the handmaidens of Ra. +And the Majesty of Ra spake unto this goddess, [saying], "I am smitten +with the pain of the fire of sickness; whence cometh to me [this] +pain?" And the Majesty of Ra said, "I live, but my heart hath become +exceedingly weary[FN#63] with existence with them (i.e., with men); I +have slain [some of] them, but there is a remnant of worthless ones, +for the destruction which I wrought among them was not as great as my +power." Then the gods who were in his following said unto him, "Be not +overcome by thy inactivity, for thy might is in proportion to thy +will." And the Majesty of this god said unto the Majesty of Nu, "My +members are weak for (or, as at) the first time; I will not permit this +to come upon me a second time." And the Majesty of the god Nu said, "O +son Shu, be thou the Eye 'for thy father . . . . . and avenue (?) him, +and 'thou goddess Nut, place him . . . . . ... And the goddess Nut +said, "How can this be then, O my father Nu? Hail," said Nut . . . . . +to the god Nu, and the goddess straightway became [a cow], and she set +the Majesty of Ra upon [her] back . . . . . And when these things had +been done, men and women saw the god Ra, upon the back [of the cow]. +Then these men and women said, "Remain with us, and we will overthrow +thine enemies who speak words of blasphemy [against thee.], and +[destroy them]." Then his Majesty [Ra] set out for the Great House, +and [the gods who were in the train of Ra remained] with them (i.e., +the men); during that time the earth was in darkness. And when the +earth became light [again] and the morning had dawned, the men came +forth with their bows and their [weapons], and they set their arms in +motion to shoot the enemies [of Ra]. Then said the Majesty of this +god, "Your "transgressions of violence are placed behind you, for the +slaughtering of the enemies is above the slaughter [of sacrifice];" +thus came into being the slaughter [of sacrifice]. And the Majesty of +this god said unto Nut, "I have placed myself upon my back in order to +stretch myself out." What then is the meaning of this? It meaneth +that he united (?) himself with Nut. [Thus came into being] . . . . . +Then said the Majesty of this god, "I am departing from them (i.e., +from men), and he must come after me who would see me;" thus came into +being . . . . . Then the Majesty of this god looked forth from its +interior, saying, "Gather together [men for me], and make ready for me +an abode for multitudes;" thus came into being . . . . . . . And his +Majesty (life, health, and strength be to him!) said, "Let a great +field (sekhet) be produced (hetep);" thereupon Sekhet-hetep came into +being. [And the god said], "I will gather herbs (aarat) therein;" +thereupon Sekhet-aaru came into being. [And the god said], "I will +make it to contain as dwellers things (khet) like stars of all sorts;" +thereupon the stars (akhekha) came into being. Then the goddess Nut +trembled because of the height. + + + +[FN#59] Or, Henen-su, {hbw XaNeS}, i.e., Herakleopolis, Magna. + +[FN#60] i.e., Elephantine, or Syene, a place better known by the +Arabic name ASWAN. + +[FN#61] i.e., the South, North, West, and East of the sky. + +[FN#62] i.e., "the fair and gracious goddess." + +[FN#63] Literally, "My heart hath stopped greatly." + + + +And the Majesty of Ra said, "I decree that supports be to bear [the +goddess up];" thereupon the props of heaven (heh) came into being. And +the Majesty of Ra said, "O my son Shu, I pray thee to set thyself under +[my] daughter Nut, and guard thou for me the supports (heh) of the +millions (heh) which are there, and which live in darkness. Take thou +the goddess upon thy head, and act thou as nurse for her;" thereupon +came into being [the custom] of a son nursing a daughter, and [the +custom] of a father carrying a son upon his head. + + + + + +THE LEGEND OF THE DESTRUCTION OF MANKIND + + + +CHAPTER II. + + + +II. This Chapter shall be said over [a figure of] the cow.--The +supporters [called] Heh-enti shall be by her shoulder. The supporters +[called] Heh-enti shall be at her side, and one cubit and four spans of +hers shall be in colours, and nine stars shall be on her belly, and Set +shall be by her two thighs and shall keep watch before her two legs, +and before her two legs shall be Shu, under her belly, and he shall be +made (i.e., painted) in green qenat colour. His two arms shall be under +the stars, and his name shall be made (i.e., written) in the middle of +them, namely, Shu himself. "A boat with a rudder and a double shrine +shall be therein, and Aten (i.e., the Disk) shall be above it, and Ra +shall be in it, in front of Shu, near his hand, or, as another reading +hath, behind him, near his hand. And the udders of the Cow shall be +made to be between her legs, towards the left side. And on the two +flanks, towards the middle of the legs, shall be done in writing [the +words], "The exterior heaven," and "I am what is in me," and "I will +not permit them to make her to turn." That which is [written] under +the boat which is in front shall read, "Thou shalt not be motionless, +my son;" and the words which are written in an opposite direction shall +read, "Thy support is like life," and "The word is as the word there," +and "Thy son is with me," and "Life, strength, and health be to thy +nostrils!" And that which is behind Shu, near his shoulder, shall +read, "They keep ward," and that which is behind him, written close to +his feet in an opposite direction, shall read, "Maat," and "They come +in," and "I protect daily." And that which is under the shoulder of +the divine figure which is under the left leg, and is behind it shall +read, "He who sealeth all things." That which is over his head, under +the thighs of the Cow, and that which is by her legs shall read, +"Guardian of his exit." That which is behind the two figures which are +by her two legs, that is to say, over their heads, shall read, "The +Aged One who is adored as he goeth forth," and The Aged One to whom +praise is given when he goeth in." That which is over the head of the +two figures, and is between the two thighs of the Cow, shall read, +"Listener," "Hearer," "Sceptre of the Upper Heaven," and "Star" (?). + + + + + +THE LEGEND OF THE DESTRUCTION OF MANKIND + + + +CHAPTER III. + + + +III. Then the majesty of this god spake unto Thoth, [saying] "Let a +call go forth for me to the Majesty of the god Seb, saying, 'Come, with +the utmost speed, at once."' And when the Majesty of Seb had come, the +Majesty of this god said unto him, "Let war be made against thy worms +(or, serpents) which are in thee; verily, they shall have fear of me as +long as I have being; but thou knowest their magical powers. Do thou +go to the place where my father Nu is, and say thou unto him, 'Keep +ward over the worms (or, serpents) which are in the earth and water.' +And moreover, thou shalt make a writing for each of the nests of thy +serpents which are there, saying, 'Keep ye guard [lest ye] cause injury +to anything.' They shall know that I am removing myself [from them], +but indeed I shall shine upon them. Since, however, they indeed wish +for a father, thou shalt be a father unto them in this land for ever. +Moreover, let good heed be taken to the men who have my words of power, +and to those whose mouths have knowledge of such things; verily my own +words of power are there, verily it shall not happen that any shall +participate with me in my protection, by reason of the majesty which +hath come into being before me. I will decree them to thy son Osiris, +and their children shall be watched over, the hearts of their princes +shall be obedient (or, ready) by reason of the magical powers of those +who act according to their desire in all the earth through their words +of power which are in their bodies." + + + + + +THE LEGEND OF THE DESTRUCTION OF MANKIND + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + + +IV. And the majesty of this god said, "Call to me the god Thoth," and +one brought the god to him forthwith. And the Majesty of this god said +unto Thoth, "Let us depart to a distance from heaven, from my place, +because I would make light and the god of light (Khu) in the Tuat and +[in] the Land of Caves. Thou shalt write down [the things which are] +in it, and thou shalt punish those who are in it, that is to say, the +workers who have worked iniquity (or, rebellion). Through thee I will +keep away from the servants whom this heart [of mine] loatheth. Thou +shalt be in my place (ast) ASTI, and thou shalt therefore be called, O +Thoth, the 'Asti of Ra.' Moreover, I give thee power to send (hab) +forth . . . . .; thereupon shall come into being the Ibis (habi) bird +of Thoth. I moreover give thee [power] to lift up thine hand before +the two Companies of the gods who are greater than thou, and what thou +doest shall be fairer than [the work of] the god Khen; therefore shall +the divine bird tekni of Thoth come into being. Moreover, I give thee +[Power] to embrace (anh) the two heavens with thy beauties, and with +thy rays of light; therefore shall come into being the Moon-god (Aah) +of Thoth. Moreover, I give thee [power] to drive back (anan) the Ha- +nebu;[FN#64] therefore shall come into being the dog-headed Ape (anan) +of Thoth, and he shall act as governor for me. Moreover, thou art now +in my place in the sight of all those who see thee and who present +offerings to thee, and every being shall ascribe praise unto thee, O +thou who art God." + + + +[FN#64] i.e., the "North-lords," that is to say, the peoples who lived +in the extreme north of the Delta, and on its sea-coasts, and perhaps +in the Islands of the Mediterranean. + + + + + +THE LEGEND OF THE DESTRUCTION OF MANKIND + + + +CHAPTER V. + + + +V. Whosoever shall recite the words of this composition over himself +shall anoint himself with olive oil and with thick unguent, and he +shall have propitiatory offerings on both his hands of incense, and +behind his two ears shall be pure natron, and sweet-smelling salve +shall be on his lips. He shall be arrayed in a new double tunic, and +his body shall be purified with the water of the nile-flood, and he +shall have upon his feet a pair of sandals made of white [leather], and +a figure of the goddess Maat shall be drawn upon his tongue with green- +coloured ochre. Whensoever Thoth shall wish to recite this composition +on behalf of Ra, he must perform a sevenfold (?) purification for three +days, and priests and [ordinary] men shall do likewise. Whosoever +shall recite the above words shall perform the ceremonies which are to +be performed when this book is being read. And he shall make his place +of standing (?) in a circle (or, at an angle) . . . . . which is beyond +[him], and his two eyes shall be fixed upon himself, all his members +shall be [composed], and his steps shall not carry him away [from the +place]. Whosoever among men shall recite [these] words shall be like +Ra on the day of his birth; and his possessions shall not become fewer, +and his house shall never fall into decay, but shall endure for a +million eternities. + +Then the Aged One himself (i.e., Ra) embraced (?) the god Nu, and spake +unto the gods who came forth in the east of the sky, "Ascribe ye praise +to the god, the Aged One, from whom I have come into being. I am he +who made the heavens, and I (set in order [the earth, and created the +gods, and] I was with them for an exceedingly long period; then was +born the year and . . . . . . but my soul is older than it (i.e., +time). It is the Soul of Shu, it is the Soul of Khnemu (?),[FN#65] it +is the Soul of Heh, it is the Soul of Kek and Kerh (i.e., Night and +Darkness), it is the Soul of Nu and of Ra, it is the Soul of Osiris, +the lord of Tettu, it is the Soul of the Sebak Crocodile-gods and of +the Crocodiles, it is the Soul of every god [who dwelleth] in the +divine Snakes, it is the Soul of Apep in Mount Bakhau (i.e., the Mount +of Sunrise), and it is the Soul of Ra which pervadeth the whole world." + + + +[FN#65] There are mistakes in the text here. + + + +Whosoever sayeth [these words] worketh his own protection by means of +the words of power, "I am the god Hekau (i.e., the divine Word of +power), and [I am] pure in my mouth, and [in] my belly; [I am] Ra from +whom the gods proceeded. I am Ra, the Light-god (Khu)." When thou +sayest [this], stop forth in the evening and in the morning on thine +own behalf if thou wouldst make to fall the enemies of Ra. I am his +Soul, and I am Heka. + +Hail, thou lord of eternity, thou creator of everlastingness, who +bringest to nought the gods who came forth from Ra, thou lord of thy +god, thou prince who didst make what made thee, who art beloved by the +fathers of the gods, on whose head are the pure words of power, who +didst create the woman (erpit) that standeth on the south side of thee, +who didst create the goddess who hath her face on her breast, and the +serpent which standeth on his tail, with her eye on his belly, and with +his tail on the earth, to whom Thoth giveth praises, and upon whom the +heavens rest, and to whom Shu stretcheth out his two hands, deliver +thou me from those two great gods who sit in the east of the sky, who +act as wardens of heaven and as wardens of earth, and who make firm the +secret places, and who are called "Aaiu-su," and "Per-f-er-maa-Nu." +Moreover [there shall be) a purifying on the . . . . . day of the month +. . . . . . .. even according to the performance of the ceremonies in +the oldest time. + +Whosoever shall recite this Chapter shall have life in Neter-kher +(i.e., Underworld), and the fear of him shall be much greater than it +was formerly [upon earth] . . . . . . . and they shall say, "Thy names +are 'Eternity' and 'Everlastingness.'" They are called, they are +called, "Au-peh-nef-n-aa-em-ta-uat-apu," and "Rekh-kua-[tut]-en-neter- +pui-. . . . . . en en-hra-f-Her-shefu." I am he who hath strengthened +the boat with the company of the gods, and his Shenit, and his Gods, by +means of words of power. + + + + + +THE LEGEND OF RA AND ISIS. + + + +The Chapter of the divine (or, mighty) god, who created himself, who +made the heavens and the earth, and the breath of life, and fire, and +the gods, and men, and beasts, and cattle, and reptiles, and the fowl +of the air, and the fish, who is the king of men and gods, [who +existeth] in one Form, [to whom] periods of one hundred and twenty +years axe as single years, whose names by reason of their multitude are +unknowable, for [even] the gods know them not. Behold, the goddess +Isis lived in the form, of a woman, who had the knowledge of words [of +power]. Her heart turned away in disgust from the millions of men, and +she chose for herself the millions of the gods, but esteemed more +highly the millions of the spirits. Was it not possible to become even +as was Ra in heaven and upon earth, and to make [herself] mistress of +the earth, and a [mighty] goddess--thus she meditated in her heart--by +the knowledge of the Name of the holy god? Behold, Ra entered [heaven] +each day at the head of his mariners, establishing himself upon the +double throne of the two horizons. Now the divine one had become old, +he dribbled at the mouth, and he let his emissions go forth from him +upon the earth, and his spittle fell upon the ground. This Isis +kneaded in her hand,[FN#66] with [some] dust, and she fashioned it in +the form of a sacred serpent, and made it to have the form of a dart, +so that none might be able to escape alive from it, and she left it +lying upon the road whereon the great god travelled, according to his +desire, about the two lands. Then the holy god rose up in the +tabernacle of the gods in the great double house (life, strength, +health!) among those who were in his train, and [as] he journeyed on +his way according to his daily wont, the holy serpent shot its fang +into him, and the living fire was departing from the god's own body, +and the reptile destroyed the dweller among the cedars. And the mighty +god opened his mouth, and the cry of His Majesty (life, strength, +health!) reached unto the heavens, and the company of the gods said, +"What is it?" and his gods said, "What is the matter?" And the god +found [no words] wherewith to answer concerning himself. His jaws +shook, his lips trembled, and the poison took possession of all his +flesh just as Hapi (i.e., the Nile) taketh possession of the land +through which he floweth. Then the great god made firm his heart +(i.e., took courage) and he cried out to those who were in his +following:--"Come ye unto me, O ye who have come into being from my +members,[FN#67] ye gods who have proceeded from me, for I would make +you to know what hath happened. I have been smitten by some deadly +thing, of which my heart hath no knowledge, and which I have neither +seen with my eyes nor made with my hand; and I have no knowledge at all +who hath done this to me. I have never before felt any pain like unto +it, and no pain can be worse than this [is]. I am a Prince, the son of +a Prince, and the divine emanation which was produced from a god. I am +a Great One, the son of a Great One, and my father hath determined for +me my name. I have multitudes of names, and I have multitudes of +forms, and my being existeth in every god. I have been invoked (or, +proclaimed?) by Temu and Heru-Hekennu. My father and my mother uttered +my name, and [they] hid it in my body at my birth so that none of those +who would use against me words of power might succeed in making their +enchantments have dominion over me.[FN#68] I had come forth from my +tabernacle to look upon that which I had made, and was making my way +through the two lands which I had made, when a blow was aimed at me, +but I know not of what kind. Behold, is it fire? Behold, is it water? +My heart is full of burning fire, my limbs are shivering, and my +members have darting pains in them. Let there be brought unto me my +children the gods, who possess words of magic, whose mouths are cunning +[in uttering them], and whose powers reach up to heaven." Then his +children came unto him, and every god was there with his cry of +lamentation; and Isis[FN#69] came with her words of magic, and the +place of her mouth [was filled with] the breath of life, for the words +which she putteth together destroy diseases, and her words make to live +those whose throats are choked (i.e., the dead). And she said, "What +is this, O divine father? What is it? Hath a serpent shot his venom +into thee? Hath a thing which thou hast fashioned lifted up its head +against thee? Verily it shall be overthrown by beneficent words of +power, and I will make it to retreat in the sight of thy rays." The +holy god opened his mouth, [saying], I was going along the road and +passing through the two lands of my country, for my heart wished to +look upon what I had made, when I was bitten by a serpent which I did +not see; behold, is it fire? Behold, is it water? I am colder than +water, I am hotter than fire, all my members sweat, I myself quake, +mine eye is unsteady. I cannot look at the heavens, and water forceth +itself on my face as in the time of the Inundation."[FN#70] And Isis +said unto Ra, "O my divine father, tell me thy name, for he who is able +to pronounce his name liveth." [And Ra said], "I am the maker of the +heavens and the earth, I have knit together the mountains, and I have +created everything which existeth upon them. I am the maker of the +Waters, and I have made Meht-ur to come into being; I have made the +Bull of his Mother, and I have made the joys of love to exist. I am +the maker of heaven, and I have made to be hidden the two gods of the +horizon, and I have placed the souls of the gods within them. I am the +Being who openeth his eyes and the light cometh; I am the Being who +shutteth his eyes and there is darkness. I am the Being who giveth the +command, and the waters of Hapi (the Nile) burst forth, I am the Being +whose name the gods know not. I am the maker of the hours and the +creator of the days. I am the opener (i.e., inaugurator) of the +festivals, and the maker of the floods of water. I am the creator of +the fire of life whereby the works of the houses are caused to come +into being. I am Khepera in the morning, and Ra (at the time of his +culmination (i.e., noon), and Temu in the evening."[FN#71] +Nevertheless the poison was not driven from its course, and the great +god felt no better. Then Isis said unto Ra, "Among the things which +thou hast said unto me thy name hath not been mentioned. O declare +thou it unto me, and the poison shall come forth; for the person who +hath declared his name shall live." Meanwhile the poison burned with +blazing fire and the heat thereof was stronger than that of a blazing +flame. Then the Majesty of Ra, said, "I will allow myself to be +searched through by Isis, and my name shall come forth from my body and +go into hers." Then the divine one hid himself from the gods, and the +throne in the Boat of Millions of Years[FN#72] was empty. And it came +to pass that when it was the time for the heart to come forth [from the +god], she said unto her son Horus, "The great god shall bind himself by +an oath to give his two eyes."[FN#73] Thus was the great god made to +yield up his name, and Isis, the great lady of enchantments, said, +"Flow on, poison, and come forth from Ra; let the Eye of Horus come +forth from the god and shine(?) outside his mouth. I have worked, and +I make the poison to fall on the ground, for the venom hath been +mastered. Verily the name hath been taken away from the great god. +Let Ra live, and let the poison die; and if the poison live then Ra +shall die. And similarly, a certain man, the son of a certain man, +shall live and the poison shall die." These were the words which spake +Isis, the great lady, the mistress of the gods, and she had knowledge +of Ra in his own name. The above words shall be said over an image of +Temu and an image of Heru-Hekennu,[FN#74] and over an image of Isis and +an image of Horus. + + + +[FN#66] Here we have another instance of the important part which the +spittle played in magical ceremonies that were intended to produce evil +effects. The act of spitting, however, was intended sometimes to carry +a curse with it, and sometimes a blessing, for a man spat in the face +of his enemy in order to lay the curse of impurity upon him, and at the +present time, men spit upon money to keep the devils away from it. + +[FN#67] The gods were, according to one belief, nothing more than the +various names of Ra, who had taken the forms of the various members of +his body. + +[FN#68] Thus the god's own name became his most important talisman. + +[FN#69] The position of Isis as the "great enchantress" is well +defined, and several instances of her magical powers are recorded. By +the utterance of her words of power she succeeded in raising her dead +husband Osiris to life, and she enabled him by their means to beget +Horus of her. Nothing could withstand them, because they were of +divine origin, and she had learned them from Thoth, the intelligence of +the greatest of the gods. + +[FN#70] Or, "the period of the summer." The season Shemmu, began soon +after the beginning of April and lasted until nearly the end of July. + +[FN#71] Khepera, Rd, and Temu were the three principal forms of the +Sun-god according to the theological system of the priests of +Heliopolis. + +[FN#72] The name by which the Boat of Ra is generally known in +Egyptian texts. It was this boat which was stopped in its course when +Thoth descended from the sky to impart to Isis the words of power that +were to raise her dead child Horus to life. + +[FN#73] i.e., the fluid of life of the sun, and the fluid of life of +the moon. The sun and the moon were the visible, material symbols of +the Sun god. + +[FN#74] The attributes of this god are not well defined. He was a god +of the Eastern Delta, and was associated with the cities where Temu was +worshipped. + + + + + +THE LEGEND OF HORUS OF BEHUTET AND THE WINGED DISK. + + + +XII. In the three hundred and sixty-third year of Ra-Heru-Khuti, who +liveth for ever and forever, His Majesty was in Ta-Kens,[FN#75] and his +soldiers were with him; [the enemy] did not conspire (auu) against +their lord, and the land [is called] Uauatet unto this day. And Ra set +out on an expedition in his boat, and his followers were with him, and +he arrived at Uthes-Heru,[FN#76] [which lay to] the west of this nome, +and to the east of the canal Pakhennu, which is called [ . . . . . . . +to this day]. And Heru-Behutet was in the boat of Ra, and he said +unto his father Ra-Heru-Khuti (i.e., Ra-Harmachis), "I see that the +enemies are conspiring against their lord; let thy fiery serpent gain +the mastery . . . . . over them." + + + +[FN#75] i.e., in Nubia, probably the portion of it which lies round +about the modern Kalabsha. In ancient days Ta-kens appears to have +included a portion of the Nile Valley to the north of Aswan. + + + +XIII. Then the Majesty of Ra Harmachis said unto thy divine KA, "O +Heru-Behutet, O son of Ra, thou exalted one, who didst proceed from me, +overthrow thou the enemies who are before thee straightway." And Heru- +Behutet flew up into the horizon in the form of the great Winged Disk, +for which reason he is called "Great god, lord of heaven," unto this +day. And when he saw the enemies in the heights of heaven he set out +to follow after them in the form of the great Winged Disk, and he +attacked with such terrific force those who opposed him, that they +could neither see with their eyes nor hear with their ears, and each of +them slew his fellow. In a moment of time there was not a single +creature left alive. Then Heru Behutet, shining with very many +colours, came in the form of the great Winged Disk to the Boat of Ra- +Harmachis, and Thoth said unto Ra, "O Lord of the gods, Behutet hath +returned in the form of the great Winged Disk, shining [with many +colours] . . . . . . children;" for this reason he is called Heru- +Behutet unto this day. And Thoth said, "The city Teb shall be called +the city of Heru-Behutet," and thus is it called unto this day. And Ra +embraced the . . . . . of Ra, and said unto Heru-Behutet, "Thou didst +put grapes[FN#77] into the water which cometh forth from it,[FN#78] and +thy heart rejoiced thereat;" and for this reason the water (or, canal) +of Heru-Behutet is called "[Grape-Water]" unto this day, and the . . . +. . . . . . . . unto this day. And Heru-Behutet said, "Advance, O Ra, +and look thou upon thine enemies who are lying under thee on this +land;" thereupon the Majesty of Ra set out on the way, and the goddess +Asthertet ('Ashtoreth?) was with him, and he saw the enemies overthrown +on the ground, each one of them being fettered. Then said Ra to Heru- +Behutet, "There is sweet life in this place," and for this reason the +abode of the palace of Heru-Behutet is called "Sweet Life" unto this +day. And Ra, said unto Thoth, "[Here was the slaughter] of mine +enemies; "and the place is called Teb[FN#79] unto this day. And Thoth +said unto Heru-Behutet, "Thou art a great protector (makaa);" and the +Boat of Heru-Behutet is called Makaa[FN#80] unto this day. Then said +Ra unto the gods who were in his following, "Behold now, let us sail in +our boat upon the water, for our hearts are glad because our enemies +have been overthrown on the earth;" and the water where the great god +sailed is called P-Khen-Ur[FN#81] unto this day. And behold the +enemies [of Ra] rushed into the water, and they took the forms of +[crocodiles and] hippopotami, but nevertheless Ra-Heru-Khuti sailed +over the waters in his boat, and when the crocodiles and the +hippopotami had come nigh unto him, they opened wide their jaws in +order to destroy Ra-Heru-Khuti. And when Heru-Behutet arrived and his +followers who were behind him in the forms of workers in metal, each +having in his hands an iron spear and a chain, according to his name, +they smote the crocodiles and the hippopotami; and there were brought +in there straightway six hundred and fifty-one crocodiles, which had +been slain before the city of Edfu. Then spake Ra-Harmachis unto Heru- +Behutet, "My Image shall be [here] in the land of the South, (which is +a house of victory (or, strength); "and the House of Heru-Behutet is +called Nekht-Het unto this day. + + + +[FN#76] i.e., Apollinopolis, the modern Edfu. + +[FN#77] i.e. drops of blood. + +[FN#78] i.e., from the city. + +[FN#79] i.e., Edfu. + +[FN#80] i.e., Great Protector. + +[FN#81] i.e., "Great Canal." + + + +XIV. Then the god Thoth spake, after he had looked upon the enemies +lying upon the ground, saying, "Let your hearts rejoice, O ye gods of +heaven! Let your hearts rejoice, O ye gods who are in the earth! +Horus, the Youthful One, cometh in peace, and he hath made manifest on +his journey deeds of very great might, which he hath performed +according to 'the Book of Slaying the Hippopotamus.'" And from that day +figures of Heru-Behutet in metal have existed. + +Then Heru-Behutet took upon himself the form of the Winged Disk, and he +placed himself upon the front of the Boat of Ea. And he placed by his +side the goddess Nekhebet[FN#82] and the goddess Uatchet,[FN#83] in the +form of two serpents, that they might make the enemies to quake in +[all] their limbs when they were in the forms of crocodiles and +hippopotami in every place wherein be came in the Land of the South and +in the Land of the North. Then those enemies rose up to make their +escape from before him, and their face was towards the Land of the +South. And their hearts were stricken down through fear of him. And +Heru-Behutet was at the back (or, side) of them in the Boat of Ra, and +there were in his hands a metal lance and a metal chain; and the metal +workers who were with their lord were equipped for fighting with lances +and chains. And Heru-Behutet saw them[FN#84] to the south-east of the +city of Uast (Thebes) some distance away. Then Ra said to Thoth, +"Those enemies shall be smitten with blows that kill;" and Thoth said +to Ra, "[That place] is called the city Tchet-Met unto this day." And +Heru-Behutet made a great overthrow among them, and Ra said, "Stand +still, O Heru-Behutet," and [that place] is called "Het-Ra" to this +day, and the god who dwelleth therein is Heru-Behutet-Ra-Amsu (or, +Min). Then those enemies rose up to make their escape from before him, +and the face of the god was towards the Land of the North, and their +hearts were stricken through fear of him. And Heru-Behutet was at the +back (or, side) of them in the Boat of Ra, and those who were following +him had spears of metal and chains of metal in their hands; and the god +himself was equipped for battle with the weapons of the metal workers +which they had with them. And he passed a whole day before he saw them +to the north-east of the nome of Tentyra (Dendera). Then Ra said unto +Thoth, "The enemies are resting . . . . . . . their lord." And the +Majesty of Ra-Harmachis said to Heru-Behutet, "Thou art my exalted son +who didst proceed from Nut. The courage of the (enemies hath failed in +a moment." And Heru-Behutet made great slaughter among them. And +Thoth said "The Winged Disk shall be called. . . . . in the name of +this Aat;" and is called Heru-Behutet . . . . . its mistress. His name +is to the South in the name of this god, and the acacia and the +sycamore shall be the trees of the sanctuary. Then the enemies turned +aside to flee from before him, and their faces were [towards the North, +and they went] to the swamps of Uatch-ur (i.e., the Mediterranean), and +[their courage failed through fear of him]. And Heru-Behutet was at +the back (or, side) of them in the Boat of Ra, and the metal spear was +in his hands, and those who were in his following were equipped with +the weapons for battle of the metal workers. And the god spent four +days and four nights in the water in pursuit of them, but he did not +see one of the enemies, who fled from before him in the water in the +forms of crocodiles and hippopotami. At length he found them and saw +them. And Ra said unto Horus of Heben, "O Winged Disk, thou great god +and lord of heaven, seize thou them . . . . . .;" and he hurled his +lance after them, and he slew them, and worked a great overthrow of +them. And he brought one hundred and forty-two enemies to the forepart +of the Boat [of Ra], and with them was a male hippopotamus which had +been among those enemies. And he hacked them in pieces with his knife, +and he gave their entrails to those who were in his following, and he +gave their carcases to the gods and goddesses who were in the Boat of +Ra on the river-bank of the city of Heben. Then Ra said unto Thoth, +"See what mighty things Heru-Behutet hath performed in his deeds +against the enemies: verily he hath smitten them! And of the male +hippopotamus he hath opened the mouth, and he hath speared it, and he +hath mounted upon its back." Then said Thoth to Ra, "Horus shall be +called 'Winged Disk, Great God, Smiter of the enemies in the town of +Heben' from this day forward, and he shall be called 'He who standeth +on the back' and 'prophet of this god,' from this day forward." These +are the things which happened in the lands of the city of Heben, in a +region which measured three hundred and forty-two measures on the +south, and on the north, on the west, and on the east. + + + +[FN#82] The goddess Nekhebet was incarnate in a special kind of +serpent, and the centre of her worship was in the city of Nekheb, which +the Greeks called Eileithyiaspolis, and the Arabs Al-Kab. + +[FN#83] The centre of the worship of Uatchet, or Uatchit, was at Per- +Uatchet, a city in the Delta. + +[FN#84] i.e., the enemies. + + + +XV. Then the enemies rose up before him by the Lake of the North, and +their faces were set towards Uatch-ur[FN#85] which they desired to +reach by sailing; but the god smote their hearts and they turned and +fled in the water, and they directed their course to the water of the +nome of Mertet-Ament, and they gathered themselves together in the +water of Mertet in order to join themselves with the enemies [who +serve] Set and who are in this region. And Heru-Behutet followed them, +being equipped with all his weapons of war to fight against them. And +Heru-Behutet made a journey in the Boat of Ra, together with the great +god who was in his boat with those who were his followers, and he +pursued them on the Lake of the North twice, and passed one day and one +night sailing down the river in pursuit of them before he perceived and +overtook them, for he knew not the place where they were. Then he +arrived at the city of Per-Rehu. And the Majesty of Ra said unto Heru- +Behutet, "What hath happened to the enemies? They have gathered +together themselves in the water to the west (?) of the nome of Mertet +in order to unite themselves with the enemies [who serve] Set, and who +are in this region, at the place where are our staff and sceptre." And +Thoth said unto Ra, "Uast in the nome of Mertet is called Uaseb because +of this unto this day, and the Lake which is in it is called Tempt." +Then Heru-Behutet spake in the presence of his father Ra, saying, "I +beseech thee to set thy boat against them, so that I may be able to +perform against them that which Ra willeth;" and this was done. Then +he made an attack upon them on the Lake which was at the west of this +district, and he perceived them on the bank of the city . . . . . . +which belongeth to the Lake of Mertet. Then Heru-Behutet made an +expedition against them, and his followers were with him, and they were +provided with weapons of all kinds for battle, and he wrought a great +overthrow among them, and he brought in three hundred and eighty-one +enemies, and he slaughtered them in the forepart of the Boat of Ra, and +he gave one of them to each of those who were in his train. Then Set +rose up and came forth, and raged loudly with words of cursing and +abuse because of the things which Heru-behutet had done in respect of +the slaughter of the enemies. And Ra said unto Thoth, "This fiend +Nehaha-hra uttereth words at the top of his voice because of the things +which Heru-Behutet hath done unto him;" and Thoth said unto Ra, "Cries +of this kind shall be called Nehaha-hra unto this day." And Heru- +Behutet did battle with the Enemy for a period of time, and he hurled +his iron lance at him, and he throw him down on the ground in this +region, which is called Pa-Rerehtu unto this day. Then Heru-Behutet +came and brought the Enemy with him, and his spear was in his neck, and +his chain was round his hands and arms, and the weapon of Horus had +fallen on his mouth and had closed it; and he went with him before his +father Ra, who said, "O Horus, thou Winged Disk, twice great (Urui- +Tenten) is the deed of valour which thou hast done, and thou hast +cleansed the district." And Ra, said unto Thoth, "The palace of Heru- +Behutet shall be called, 'Lord of the district which is cleansed' +because of this;" and [thus is it called] unto this day. And the name +of the priest thereof is called Ur-Tenten unto this day. And Ra said +unto Thoth, "Let the enemies and Set be given over to Isis and her son +Horus, and let them work all their heart's desire upon them." And she +and her son Horus set themselves in position with their spears in him +at the time when there was storm (or, disaster) in the district, and +the Lake of the god was called She-En-Aha from that day to this. Then +Horus the son of Isis cut off the head of the Enemy [Set], and the +heads of his fiends in the presence of father Ra and of the great +company of the gods, and he dragged him by his feet through his +district with his spear driven through his head and back. And Ra said +unto Thoth, "Let the son of Osiris drag the being of disaster through +his territory;" and Thoth said, "It shall be called Ateh," and this +hath been the name of the region from that day to this. And Isis, the +divine lady, spake before Ra, saying, "Let the exalted Winged Disk +become the amulet of my son Horus, who hath cut off the head of the +Enemy and the heads of his fiends." + + + +[FN#85] i.e., the Mediterranean. + + + +XVI. Thus Heru-Behutet and Horus, the son of Isis, slaughtered that +evil Enemy, and his fiends, and the inert foes, and came forth with +them to the water on the west side of this district. And Heru-Behutet +was in the form of a man of mighty strength, and he had the face of a +hawk, and his head was crowned with the White Crown and the Red Crown, +and with two plumes and two uraei, and he had the back of a hawk, and +his spear and his chain were in his hands. And Horus, the son of Isis, +transformed himself into a similar shape, even as Heru-Behutet had done +before him. And they slew the enemies all together on the west of Per- +Rehu, on the edge of the stream, and this god hath sailed over the +water wherein the enemies had banded themselves to-ether against him +from that day to this. Now these things took place on the 7th day of +the first mouth of the season Pert. And Thoth said, "This region shall +be called AAT-SHATET," and this hath been the name of the region from +that day unto this; and the Lake which is close by it hath been called +Temt from that day to this, and the 7th day of the first month of the +season Pert hath been called the Festival of Sailing from that day to +this. + + +Then Set took upon himself the form of a hissing serpent, and he +entered into the earth in this district without being seen. And Ra +said, "Set hath taken upon himself the form of a hissing serpent. Let +Horus, the son of Isis, in the form of a hawk-headed staff, set himself +over the place where he is, so that the serpent may never more appear." +And Thoth said, "Let this district be called Hemhemet[FN#86] by name;" +and thus hath it been called from that day to this. And Horus, the son +of Isis, in the form of a hawk-headed staff, took up his abode there +with his mother Isis; in this manner did these things happen. + + + +[FN#86] This name means "the place of the Roarer," Hemhemti, being a +well-known name of the Evil One. Some texts seem to indicate that +peals of thunder were caused by the fiend Set. + + + + +Then the Boat of Ra arrived at the town of Het-Aha; its forepart was +made of palm wood, and the hind part was made of acacia wood; thus the +palm tree and the acacia tree have been sacred trees from that day to +this. Then Heru-Behutet embarked in the Boat of Ra, after he had made +an end of fighting, and sailed; and Ra said unto Thoth, "Let this Boat +be called . . . . . . .;" and thus hath it been called from that day to +this, and these things have been done in commemoration in this place +from that day to this. + + +And Ra said unto Heru-Behutet, "Behold the fighting of the Smait fiend +and his two-fold strength, and the Smai fiend Set, are upon the water +of the North, and they will sail down stream upon . . . . . ." [And] +Heru-Behutet said, "Whatsoever thou commandest shall take place, O Ra, +Lord of the gods. Grant thou, however, that this thy Boat may pursue +them into every place whithersoever they shall go, and I will do to +them whatsoever pleaseth Ra." And everything was done according to +what he had said. Then this Boat of Ra was brought by the winged Sun- +disk upon the waters of the Lake of Meh,[FN#87] [and] Heru-Behutet took +in his hands his weapons, his darts, and his harpoon, and all the +chains [which he required] for the fight. + + + +[FN#87] It is probable that the Lake of Meh, i.e., the Lake of the +North, was situated in the north-east of the Delta, not far from Lake +Manzalah. + + + + +And Heru-Behutet looked and saw one [only] of these Sebau[FN#88] fiends +there on the spot, and he was by himself. And he threw one metal dart, +and brought (or, dragged) them along straightway, and he slaughtered +them in the presence of Ra. And he made an end [of them, and there +were no more of the fiends] of Set in this place at [that] moment. + + + +[FN#88] "Sebiu" is a common name for the associates of Seti, and this +fiend is himself called "Seba," a word which means something like +"rebel." + + + + +XVII. And Thoth said, "This place shall be called Ast-Ab-Heru"[FN#89] +because Heru-Behutet wrought his desire upon them (i.e., the enemy); +and he passed six days and six nights coming into port on the waters +thereof and did not see one of them. And he saw them fall down in the +watery depths, and he made ready the place of Ast-ab-Heru there. It +was situated on the bank of the water, and the face (i.e., direction) +thereof was full-front towards the South. And all the rites and +ceremonies of Heru-Behutet were performed on the first day of the first +month[FN#90] of the season Akhet, and on the first day of the first +month[FN#91] of the season Pert, and on the twenty-first and twenty- +fourth days of the second month[FN#92] of the season Pert. These are +the festivals in the town of Ast-ab, by the side of the South, in An- +rut-f.[FN#93] And he came into port and went against them, keeping +watch as for a king over the Great God in An-rut-f, in this place, in +order to drive away the Enemy and his Smaiu fiends at his coming by +night from the region of Mertet, to the west of this place. + + + +[FN#89] i.e., place of the desire of Horus. + + +[FN#90] The month Thoth. + +[FN#91] The month Tybi. + +[FN#92] The month Mekhir. + +[FN#93] A mythological locality originally placed near Herakleopolis. +The name means "the place where nothing grows." Several forms of the +name occur in the older literature, e.g. in the Theban Recension of the +Book of the Dead. + + + +And Heru-Behutet was in the form of a man who possessed great strength, +with the face of a hawk; and he was crowned with the White +Crown,[FN#94] and the Red Crown,[FN#95] and the two plumes, and the +Urerit Crown, and there were two uraei upon his head. His hand grasped +firmly his harpoon to slay the hippopotamus, which was [as hard] as the +khenem[FN#96] stone in its mountain bed. + + + +[FN#94] The Crown of the South. + +[FN#95] The Crown of the North. + +[FN#96] A kind of jasper (?). + + + + +And Ra said unto Thoth, "Indeed [Heru-]Behutet is like a Master-fighter +in the slaughter of his enemies . . . . . ." + + +And Thoth said unto Ra, "He shall be called 'Neb-Ahau'" (i.e., Master- +fighter); and for this reason he hath been thus called by the priest of +this god unto this day. + + +And Isis made incantations of every kind in order to drive away the +fiend Ra from An-rut-f, and from the Great God in this place. And +Thoth said [unto Ra], "The priestess of this god shall be called by the +name of 'Nebt-Heka' for this reason." + +And Thoth said unto Ra, "Beautiful, beautiful is this place wherein +thou hast taken up thy seat, keeping watch, as for a king, over the +Great God who is in An-rut-f[FN#97] in peace." + + + +[FN#97] i.e., Osiris. + + + + + +And Thoth said, "This Great House in this place shall therefore be +called 'Ast-Nefert'[FN#98] from this day. It is situated to the +south-west of the city of Nart, and [covereth] a space of four +schoinoi." And Ra Heru-Behutet said unto Thoth, "Hast thou not +searched through this water for the enemy?" And Thoth said, "The water +of the God-house in this place shall be called by the name of 'Heh' +(i.e., sought out)." And Ra said, "Thy ship, O Heru-Behutet, is great +(?) upon Ant-mer (?) . . . . . . And Thoth said, "The name of [thy +ship] shall be called 'Ur', and this stream shall be called 'Ant-mer +(?).'" As concerning (or, now) the place Ab-Bat (?) is situated on the +shore of the water. "Ast-nefert" is the name of the Great house, "Neb- +Aha" [is the name of] the priest . . . . . . . . is the name of the +priestess, "Heh" is the name of the lake . . . . . . . [is the name] of +the water, "Am-her-net" is the name of the holy (?) acacia tree, "Neter +het" is the name of the domain of the god, "Uru" is the name of the +sacred boat, the gods therein are Heru-Behutet, the smiter of the +lands, Horus, the son of Isis [and] Osiris . . . . . . . . his +blacksmiths[FN#99] are to him, and those who are in his following are +to him in his territory, with his metal lance, with his [mace], with +his dagger, and with all his chains (or, fetters) which are in the city +of Heru-Behutet. + + + +[FN#98] i.e., "Beautiful Place." + +[FN#99] Or perhaps fighting men who were armed with metal weapons. + + + + +[And when he had reached the land of the North with his followers, he +found the enemy.] Now as for the blacksmiths who were over the middle +regions, they made a great slaughter of the enemy, and there were +brought back one hundred and six of them. Now as for the blacksmiths +of the West, they brought back one hundred and six of the enemy. Now +as for the blacksmiths of the East, among whom was Heru-Behutet, he +slew them (i.e., the enemy) in the presence of Ra in the Middle +Domains.[FN#100] + + + +[FN#100] In the sculptures (Naville, Mythe, pl. 17) Heru-Behutet is +seen standing in a boat spearing a crocodile, and immediately behind d +him in the boat is Ra-Harmachis in his shrine. The Mesentiu of the +West are represented by an armed warrior in a boat, who is spearing a +crocodile, and leads the way for Heru-Behutet. In a boat behind the +great god is a representative of the Mesentiu of the East spearing a +crocodile. + + + + +And Ra, said unto Thoth, "My heart [is satisfied] with the works of +these blacksmiths of Heru-Behutet who are in his bodyguard. They shall +dwell in sanctuaries, and libations and purifications and offerings +shall be made to their images, and [there shall be appointed for them] +priests who shall minister by the month, and priests who shall minister +by the hour, in all their God-houses whatsoever, as their reward +because they have slain the enemies of the god." + + +And Thoth said, "The [Middle] Domains shall be called after the names +of these blacksmiths from this day onwards, and the god who dwelleth +among them, Heru-Behutet, shall be called the 'Lord of Mesent' from +this day onwards, and the domain shall be called 'Mesent of the West' +from this day onwards." + + +As concerning Mesent of the West, the face (or, front) thereof shall be +towards [the East], towards the place where Ra riseth, and this Mesent +shall be called "Mesent of the East" from this day onwards. As +concerning the double town of Mesent, the work of these blacksmiths of +the East, the face (or, front) thereof shall be towards the South, +towards the city of Behutet, the hiding-place of Heru-Behutet. And +there shall be performed therein all the rites and ceremonies of Heru- +Behutet on the second day of the first month[FN#101] of the season of +Akhet, and on the twenty-fourth day of the fourth month[FN#102] of the +season of Akhet, and on the seventh day of the first month[FN#103] of +the season Pert, and on the twenty-first day of the second +month[FN#104] of the season Pert, from this day onwards. Their stream +shall be called "Asti," the name of their Great House shall be called +"Abet," the [priest (?)] shall be called "Qen-aha," and their domain +shall be called "Kau-Mesent" from this day onwards. + + + +[FN#101] The month Thoth. + +[FN#102] The month Choiak. + +[FN#103] The month Tybi. + +[FN#104] The mouth Mechir. + + + + +XVIII. And Ra said unto Heru-Behutet, "These enemies have sailed up +the river, to the country of Setet, to the end of the pillar-house of +Hat, and they have sailed up the river to the east, to the country or +Tchalt (or, Tchart),[FN#105] which is their region of swamps." And +Heru-Behutet said, "Everything which thou hast commanded hath come to +pass, Ra, Lord of the Gods; thou art the lord of commands." And they +untied the Boat of Ra, and they sailed up the river to the east. Then +he looked upon those enemies whereof some of them had fallen into the +sea (or, river), and the others had fallen headlong on the mountains. + + + +[FN#105] Zoan-Tanis. + + + + +And Heru-Behutet transformed himself into a lion which had the face of +a man, and which was crowned with the triple crown.[FN#106] His paw +was like unto a flint knife, and he went round and round by the side of +them, and brought back one hundred and forty-two [of the enemy], and be +rent them in pieces with his claws. He tore out their tongues, and +their blood flowed on the ridges of the land in this place; and he made +them the property of those who were in his following [whilst] he was +upon the mountains. + + + +[FN#106] In the sculpture (Naville, Mythe, pl. 18), we see a +representation of this lion, which is standing over the bodies of slain +enemies upon a rectangular pedestal, or block. + + + + +And Ra said unto Thoth, "Behold, Heru-Behutet is like unto a lion in +his lair [when] he is on the back of the enemy who have given unto him +their tongues." + + +And Thoth said, "This domain shall be called 'Khent-abt,' and it shall +[also] be called 'Tchalt' (or, Tchart) from this day onwards. And the +bringing of the tongues from the remote places of Tchalt (or, Tchart) +[shall be commemorated] from this day onwards. And this god shall be +called 'Heru-Behutet, Lord of Mesent,' from this day onwards." + + + +And Ra said unto Heru-Behutet, "Let us sail to the south up the river, +and let us smite the enemies [who are] in the forms of crocodiles and +hippopotami in the face of Egypt." + + + +And Heru-Behutet said, "Thy divine Ka, O Ra, Lord of the gods! Let us +sail up the river against the remainder--one third--of the enemies who +are in the water (or, river)." Then Thoth recited the Chapters of +protecting the Boat [of Ra] and the boats of the blacksmiths, [which he +used] for making tranquil the sea at the moment when a storm was raging +on it. + +And Ra said unto Thoth, "Have we not journeyed throughout the whole +land? Shall we not journey cover the whole sea in like manner?" And +Thoth said, "This water shall be called the 'Sea of journeying,' from +this day onward." + +And they sailed about over the water during the night, and they did not +see any of those enemies at all. + +Then they made a journey forth and arrived in the country of Ta- +sti,[FN#107] at the town of Shas-hertet, and he perceived the most able +of their enemies in the country of Uaua,[FN#108] and they were uttering +treason against Horus their Lord. + + + +[FN#107] Northern Nubia; the name means "Land of the Bow." + +[FN#108] A portion of Northern Nubia. + + + +And Heru-Behut changed his form into that of the Winged Disk, [and took +his place] above the bow of the Boat of Ra. And he made the goddess +Nekhebit[FN#109] and the goddess Uatchit[FN#110] to be with him in the +form of serpents, so that they might make the Sebau fiends to quake in +[all] their limbs (or, bodies). Their boldness (i.e., that of the +fiends) subsided through the fear of him, they made no resistance +whatsoever, and they died straightway. + + + +[FN#109] The goddess of the South. + +[FN#110] The goddess of the North. + + + +Then the gods who were in the following of the Boat of Heru-khuti said, +"Great, great is that which he hath done among them by means of the two +Serpent Goddesses,[FN#111] for he hath overthrown the enemy by means of +their fear of him." + + + +[FN#111] i.e., Nekhebit and Uatchit. + + + +And Ra Heru-khuti said, "The great one of the two Serpent Goddesses of +Heru-Behutet shall be called 'Ur-Uatchti'[FN#112] from this day +onwards." + + + +[FN#112] "Great one of the Two Uraei-goddesses;" these goddesses had +their places above the brow of the god, or at the right and left of the +solar disk. + + + +XIX. And Heru-khuti travelled on in his boat, and landed at the city +of Thes-Heru (Apollinopolis Magna). And Thoth said, "The being of +light who hath come forth from the horizon hath smitten the enemy in +the form which he hath made, and he shall be called Being of light who +hath come forth from the horizon from this day onwards."[FN#113] + + + +[FN#113] In the sculpture (Naville, Mythe, pl. 19) we see the god, who +is hawk-headed, and wears the crowns of the South and North, seated in +a shrine set upon a pedestal. In the right hand he holds the sceptre +and in the left the ankh. + + + +And Ra Heru-khuti (Ra Harmachis) said to Thoth, "Thou shalt make this +Winged Disk to be in every place wherein I seat myself (or, dwell), and +in [all] the seats of the gods in the South, and in [all] the seats of +the gods in the Land of the North . . . . . . . in the Country of +Horus, that it may drive away the evil ones from their domains." + +Then Thoth made the image of the Winged Disk to be in every sanctuary +and in every temple, where they now are, wherein are all the gods and +all the goddesses from this day onwards. Now through the Winged Disk +which is on the temple-buildings of all the gods and all the goddesses +of the Land of the Lily,[FN#114] and the Land of the Papyrus,[FN#115] +[these buildings] become shrines of Heru-Behutet. + + + +[FN#114] i.e., the North, especially the Delta. + +[FN#115] i.e., the South. + + + +As concerning Heru-Behutet, the great god, the lord of heaven, the +president of the Ater of the South,[FN#116] he it is who is made to be +on the right hand. This is Heru-Behutet on whom the goddess Nekhebit +is placed in the form of a serpent (or, uraeus). As concerning Heru- +Behutet, the great god, the lord of heaven, the lord of Mesent, the +president of the Ater of the North,[FN#117] he it is who is made to be +on the left hand. This Heru-Behutet on whom the goddess Uatchit is +placed is in the form of a serpent. + + + +[FN#116] i.e., the southern half of heaven. + +[FN#117] i.e., the northern half of heaven. + + + +As concerning Heru-Behutet, the great god, the lord of heaven, the lord +of Mesent, the president of the two Aterti of the South and North, Ra +Heru-khuti set it (i.e., the Winged Disk) in his every place, to +overthrow the enemies in every place wherein they are. And he shall be +called President of the two Aterti of the South and North because of +this from this day onwards.[FN#118] + + + +[FN#118] In the sculpture which illustrates this portion of the text +at Edfu, two Winged Disks are represented. The first has #### on each +side of it. The disk has an uraeus on each side. The second winged +symbol of the god consists of a beetle with outstretched wings, which +holds between his forelegs the solar disk, and between his hind legs +the symbol of the orbit of the sun. + + + + + +A HYMN TO OSIRIS AND A LEGEND OF THE ORIGIN OF HORUS. + + + +Homage to thee, Osiris, Lord of eternity, King of the gods, whose names +are manifold, whose transformations are sublime, whose form is hidden +in the temples whose Ka is holy, the Governor of Tetut,[FN#119] the +mighty one of possessions (?)in the shrine,[FN#120] the Lord of +praises[FN#121] in the nome of Anetch,[FN#122] President of the tchefa +food in Anu,[FN#123] Lord who art commemorated in [the town of] +Maati,[FN#124] the mysterious (or, hidden) Soul, the Lord of +Qerret,[FN#125] the sublime one in White Wall,[FN#126] the Soul of Ra +[and] his very body, who hast thy dwelling in Henensu,[FN#127] the +beneficent one, who art praised in Nart,[FN#128] who makest to rise up +thy Soul, Lord of the Great House in the city[FN#129] of the Eight +Gods,[FN#130] [who inspirest] great terror in Shas-hetep,[FN#131] Lord +of eternity, Governor of Abtu (Abydos). + + + +[FN#119] More fully Pa-Asar-neb-Tetut, the Busiris of the Greeks; +Busiris = Pa-Asar, "House of Osiris," par excellence. The variant +Tataut also occurs. + +[FN#120] An allusion, perhaps, to the town Sekhem, the capital of the +second nome (Letopolites) of Lower Egypt. + +[FN#121] i.e., lord whose praises are sung. + +[FN#122] Letopolites. + +[FN#123] Heliopolis. + +[FN#124] i.e., a famous sanctuary in the Letopolite nome where Ptah +was worshipped. + +[FN#125] The region of the First Cataract, where the Nile was believed +to rise. + +[FN#126] Memphis. + +[FN#127] Herakleopolis, the {hbw XaNeS} of Isaiah. + +[FN#128] A name of Herakleopolis. + +[FN#129] Khemenu or Hermopolis, the city of Thoth. + +[FN#130] These gods were: Nu and Nut; Hehu and Hehut; Kekui and +Kekuit; Kerh and Kerhet. + +[FN#131] The capital of Set, the eleventh nome of Upper Egypt; the +chief local deity was Khnemu. + + + +Thy seat (or, domain) reacheth far into Ta-tchesert,[FN#132] and thy +name is firmly stablished in the mouth[s] of men. Thou art the two- +fold substance of the Two Lands[FN#133] everywhere (?), and the divine +food (tchef) of the Kau,[FN#134] the Governor of the Companies[FN#135] +of the Gods, and the beneficent (or, perfect) Spirit-soul[FN#136] among +Spirit-souls. The god Nu draweth his waters from thee,[FN#137] and +thou bringest forth the north wind at eventide, and wind from thy +nostrils to the satisfaction of thy heart. Thy heart flourisheth, and +thou bringest forth the splendour of tchef food. + + + +[FN#132] A name of the Other World. + +[FN#133] i.e., the two Egypts, Upper and Lower. + +[FN#134] The Doubles of the beatified who are fed by Osiris in the +Other World. + +[FN#135] Three Companies are distinguished: the gods of Heaven, the +gods of Earth, and the gods of the Other World. + +[FN#136] The indestructible, immortal Spirit-soul as opposed to the +Ba-soul or animal-soul. + + +[FN#137] Here and in other places I have changed the pronoun of the +third person into that of the second to avoid the abrupt changes of the +original. + + + +The height of heaven and the stars [thereof] are obedient unto thee, +and thou makest to be opened the great gates [of the sky]. Thou art +the lord to whom praises are sung in the southern heaven, thou art he +to whom thanks are given in the northern heaven. The stars which never +diminish are under the place of thy face,[FN#138] and thy seats are the +stars which never rest.[FN#139] Offerings appear before thee by the +command of Keb. The Companies of the Gods ascribe praise unto thee, +the Star-gods of the Tuat smell the earth before thee,[FN#140] the +domains [make] bowings [before thee], and the ends of the earth make +supplication to thee [when] they see thee. + + + +[FN#138] i.e., they are under thy inspection and care. + +[FN#139] i.e., the stars which never set. The allusion is probably to +certain circumpolar stars. + +[FN#140] i.e., do homage. + + + +Those who are among the holy ones are in terror of him, and the Two +Lands, all of them, make acclamations to him when they meet His +Majesty. Thou art a shining Noble at the head of the nobles, permanent +in [thy] high rank, stablished in [thy] sovereignty, the beneficent +Power of the Company of the Gods. Well-pleasing [is thy] face, and +thou art beloved by him that seeth thee. Thou settest the fear of thee +in all lands, and because of their love for thee [men] hold thy name to +be pre-eminent. Every man maketh offerings unto thee, and thou art the +Lord who is commemorated in heaven and upon earth. Manifold are the +cries of acclamation to thee in the Uak[FN#141] festival, and the Two +Lands shout joyously to thee with one accord. Thou art the eldest, the +first of thy brethren, the Prince of the Company of the Gods, and the +stablisher of Truth throughout the Two Lands. Thou settest [thy] son +upon the great throne of his father Keb. Thou art the beloved one of +thy mother Nut, whose valour is most mighty [when] thou overthrowest +the Seba Fiend. Thou hast slaughtered thy enemy, and hast put the fear +of thee into thy Adversary. + + + +[FN#141] One of the chief festivals of Osiris, during which the god +made a periplus. + + + +Thou art the bringer in of the remotest boundaries, and art stable of +heart, and thy two feet are lifted up (?); thou art the heir of Keb and +of the sovereignty of the Two Lands, and he (i.e., Keb) hath seen thy +splendid qualities, and hath commanded thee to guide the lands (i.e., +the world) by thy hand so long as times [and seasons] endure. + +Thou hast made this earth with thy hand, the waters thereof, the winds +thereof, the trees and herbs thereof, the cattle thereof of every kind, +the birds thereof of every kind, the fish thereof of every kind, the +creeping things thereof, and the four-footed beasts thereof. The land +of the desert[FN#142] belongeth by right to the son of Nut, and the Two +Lands have contentment in making him to rise[FN#143] upon the throne of +his father like Ra. + + + +[FN#142] This may also represent the mountainous districts of Egypt, +or even foreign countries in general. + +[FN#143] To make him rise like the sun, or to enthrone him. + + + +Thou rollest up into the horizon, thou settest the light above the +darkness, thou illuminest [the Two Lands] with the light from thy two +plumes, thou floodest the Two Lands like the Disk at the beginning of +the dawn. Thy White Crown pierceth the height of heaven saluting the +stars,[FN#144] thou art the guide of every god. Thou art +perfect[FN#145] in command and word. Thou art the favoured one of the +Great Company of the Gods, and thou art the beloved one of the Little +Company of the Gods. + + + +[FN#144] Or, "becoming a brother to the stars," or the Star-gods. + +[FN#145] Or, beneficent. + + + +Thy sister [Isis] acted as a protectress to thee. She drove [thy] +enemies away, she averted seasons [of calamity from thee], she recited +the word (or, formula) with the magical power of her mouth, [being] +skilled of tongue and never halting for a word, being perfect in +command and word. Isis the magician avenged her brother. She went +about seeking for him untiringly. + +She flew round and round over this earth uttering wailing cries of +grief, and she did not alight on the ground until she had found him. +She made light [to come forth] from her feathers, she made air to come +into being by means of her two wings, and she cried out the death cries +for her brother. She made to rise up the helpless members of him whose +heart was at rest, she drew from him his essence, and she made +therefrom an heir. She suckled the child in solitariness and none knew +where his place was, and he grew in strength. His hand is mighty (or, +victorious) within the house of Keb, and the Company of the Gods +rejoice greatly at the coming of Horus, the son of Osiris, whose heart +is firmly stablished, the triumphant one, the son of Isis, the flesh +and bone of Osiris. The Tchatcha[FN#146] of Truth, and the Company of +the Gods, and Neb-er-tcher[FN#147] himself, and the Lords of Truth, +gather together to him, and assemble therein.[FN#148] Verily those who +defeat iniquity rejoice[FN#149] in the House of Keb to bestow the +divine rank and dignity upon him to whom it belongeth, and the +sovereignty upon him whose it is by right. + + + +[FN#146] Literally, the "Heads," I.e., the divine sovereign Chiefs at +the court of Osiris, who acted as administrators of the god, and even +as task-masters. + +[FN#147] "He who is the lord to the end (or, limit) of the world," a +name of Osiris. + +[FN#148] i.e., in the House of Keb. + +[FN#149] Or perhaps "take their seats in the House of Keb." + + + + +A LEGEND OF PTAH NEFER-HETEP AND THE PRINCESS OF BEKHTEN. + + + +The Horus: "Mighty Bull, the form(?) of risings[FN#150], stablished in +sovereignty like Tem." The Golden Horus: "Mighty one of +strength[FN#151], destroyer of the Nine Nations of the Bow."[FN#152] +King of the South and North: "The Lord of the Two Lands, User-Maat-Ra- +setep-en-Ra Son of Ra: Of his body, Ra-meses-meri-Amen, of Amen- +Ra;[FN#153] the Lord of the thrones of the Two Lands, and of the +Company of the Gods, the Lords of Thebes, the beloved one. The +beneficent god, the son of Amen, born of Mut, begotten of Heru-khuti, +the glorious offspring of Neb-tchert,[FN#154] begetting [as] the Bull +of his Mother, [FN#155] king of Egypt, Governor of the deserts, the +Sovereign who hath taken possession of the Nine Nations of the Bow; +[who] on coming forth from the womb ordained mighty things, who gave +commands whilst he was in the egg, the Bull, stable of heart, who hath +sent forth his seed; the king who is a bull, [and] a god who cometh +forth on the day of battle like Menthu,[FN#156] the mighty one of +strength like the son of Nut."[FN#157] + + + +[FN#150] i.e., the image who rises like the sun day by day, or the +image of [many] crowns. + +[FN#151] Or, mighty one of the thigh, i.e., he of the mighty thigh. + +[FN#152] The nations of Nubia who fought with bows and arrows. + +[FN#153] In this version of the protocol of Rameses II. the second +"strong name" of the king is omitted. + +[FN#154] i.e., Neb-er-tcher. + +[FN#155] Ka-mut-f, the {greek kamh^fic} of the Greeks. + +[FN#156] The War-god of Thebes. + +[FN#157] i.e., Osiris. + + + +Behold, His Majesty was in the country of Neheru[FN#158] according to +his custom every year, and the chiefs of every land, even as far as the +swamps, came [to pay] homage, bearing offerings to the Souls of His +Majesty; and they brought their gifts, gold, lapis-lazuli, turquoise, +bars of wood of every kind of the Land of the God,[FN#159] on their +backs, and each one surpassed his neighbour. + + + + +[FN#158] The "country of the rivers," the {hbw AaRam NaHaRaYim} of +Gen. xxiv. 10, the #### of Syrian writers. + +[FN#159] A name including Western Asia and a portion of the East Coast +of Africa. + + + +And the Prince of Bekhten [also] caused his gifts to be brought, and he +set his eldest daughter at the head of them all, and he addressed words +of praise to His Majesty, and prayed to him for his life. And the +maiden was beautiful, and His Majesty considered her to be the most +lovely [woman] in the world, and he wrote down as her title, "Great +Royal Wife, Ra-neferu"; and when His Majesty arrived in Egypt, he did +for her whatsoever was done for the Royal Wife. + +On the twenty-second day of the second month of the season of +Shemu,[FN#160] in the fifteenth year [of his reign], behold, His +Majesty was in Thebes, the Mighty [city], the Mistress of cities, +performing the praises of Father Amen, the Lord of the thrones of the +Two Lands, in his beautiful Festival of the Southern Apt,[FN#161] which +was the seat of his heart (i.e., the chosen spot) from primaeval time, +[when] one came to say to His Majesty, "An ambassador of the Prince of +Bekhten hath arrived bearing many gifts for the Royal Wife." + + + +[FN#160] The summer. The Copts called the second month of this season +Paoni. + + +[FN#161] The modern Temple of Luxor. + + + +And having been brought into the presence of His Majesty with his +gifts, he spake words of adoration to His Majesty, saying, "Praise be +unto thee, O thou Sun (Ra) of the Nine Nations of the Bow, permit us to +live before thee!" And when he had spoken, and had smelt the earth +before His Majesty, he continued his speech before His Majesty, saying, +"I have come unto thee, my King and Lord, on behalf of Bent-Resht, the +younger sister of the Royal Wife Ra-neferu. [Some] disease hath +penetrated into her members, and I beseech Thy Majesty to send a man of +learning to see her." + + +And His Majesty said, "Bring to me the magicians (or, scribes) of the +House of Life, and the nobles of the palace." And having been brought +into his presence straightway, His Majesty said unto them, "Behold, I +have caused you to be summoned [hither] in order that ye may hear this +matter. Now bring to me [one] of your company whose heart is +wise[FN#162], and whose fingers are deft." And the royal scribe +Tehuti-em-heb came into the presence of His Majesty, and His Majesty +commanded him to depart to Bekhten with that ambassador. + + + +[FN#162] Or, a skilled craftsman. + + + + +And when the man of learning had arrived in Bekhten, he found Bent- +Resht in the condition of a woman who is possessed by a spirit, and he +found 12 this spirit to be an evil one, and to be hostile in his +disposition towards him. + +And the Prince of Bekhten sent a messenger a second time into the +presence of His Majesty, saying, "O King, my Lord, I pray His (i.e., +Thy) Majesty to command that a god be brought hither to contend +against the spirit." + + +Now when the messenger came to His Majesty in the first month[FN#163] +of the season of Shemu, in the twenty-sixth year [of his reign], on the +day which coincided with that of the Festival of Amen, His Majesty was +in the palace (or, temple?) of Thebes. And His Majesty spake a second +time[FN#164] in the presence of Khensu in Thebes, [called] "Nefer- +Hetep," saying, "O my fair Lord, I present myself before thee a second +time on behalf of the daughter of the Prince of Bekhten." Then Khensu, +in Thebes, [called] "Nefer-Hetep", was carried to Khensu, [called] "Pa- +ari-sekher," the great god who driveth away the spirits which attack. +And His Majesty spake before Khensu in Thebes, [called] "Nefer-Hetep," +saying, "O my fair Lord, if thou wilt give (i.e., turn) thy face to +Khensu, [called] 'Pa-ari-sekher,' the great god who driveth away the +spirits which attack, permit thou that he may depart to Bekhten;" [and +the god] inclined his head with a deep inclination twice. And His +Majesty said, "Let, I pray, thy protective (or, magical) power [go] +with him, so that I may make His Majesty to go to Bekhten to deliver +the daughter of the Prince of Bekhten [from the spirit]." + + + +[FN#163] The month Pakhon of the Copts. + +[FN#164] The text makes no mention of the first application to Khensu. + + + + +And Khensu in Thebes, [called] "Nefer-Hetep," inclined his head with a +deep inclination twice. And he made [his] protective power to pass +into Khensu, [called] "Pa-ari-sekher-em-Uast," in a fourfold measure. +Then His Majesty commanded that Khensu, [called] "Pa-ari-sekher-em- +Uast," should set out on his journey in a great boat, [accompanied by] +five smaller boats, and chariots, and a large number of horses [which +marched] on the right side and on the left. + + +And when this god arrived in Bekhten at the end of a period of one year +and five months, the Prince of Bekhten came forth with his soldiers and +his chief[s] before Khensu, [called] "Pa-ari-sekher," and he cast +himself down upon his belly, saying, "Thou hast come to us, and thou +art welcomed by us, by the commands of the King of the South and North, +User-Maat-Ra-setep-en-Ra!" + + +And when this god had passed over to the place where Bent-Resht was, he +worked upon the daughter of the Prince of Bekhten with his magical +power, and she became better (i.e., was healed) straightway. And this +spirit which had been with her said, in the presence of Khensu, +[called] "Pa-ari-sekher-em-Uast," "Come in peace (i.e., Welcome!), O +great god, who dost drive away the spirits which attack! Bekhten is +thy city, the people thereof, both men and women, are thy (servants, +and I myself am thy servant. I will [now] depart unto the place whence +I came, so that I may cause thy heart to be content about the matter +concerning which thou hast come. I pray that Thy Majesty will command +that a happy day (i.e., a festival, or day of rejoicing) be made with +me, and with the Prince of Bekhten." And this god inclined his head +[in approval] to his priest, saying, "Let the Prince of Bekhten make a +great offering in the (presence of this spirit." + +Now whilst Khensu, [called] "Pa-ari-sekher-em-Uast," was arranging +these [things] with the spirit, the Prince of Bekhten and his soldiers +were standing there, and they feared with an exceedingly great fear. +And the Prince of Bekhten made a great offering in the presence of +Khensu, [called] "Pa-ari-sekher-em-Uast," and the spirit of the Prince +of Bekhten, and he made a happy day (i.e., festival) on their behalf, +and [then] the spirit departed in peace unto the place which he loved, +by the command of Khensu, [called] "Pa-ari-sekher-em-Uast." And the +Prince of Bekhten, and every person who was in the country of Bekhten, +rejoiced very greatly, and he took counsel with his heart, saying, "It +hath happened that this god hath been given as a gift to Bekhten, and I +will not permit him to depart to Egypt." + + +And [when] this god had tarried for three years and nine months in +Bekhten, the Prince of Bekhten, who was lying down asleep on his bed, +saw this god come forth outside his shrine (now he was in the form of a +golden hawk), and he flew up into the heavens and departed to Egypt; +and when the Prince woke up he was trembling. And he said unto the +prophet of Khensu, [called] "Pa-ari-sekher-em-Uast," "This god who +tarried with us hath departed to Egypt; let his chariot also depart to +Egypt." + + +And the Prince of Bekhten permitted [the image of] the god to set out +for Egypt, and he gave him many great gifts of beautiful things of all +kinds, and a large number of soldiers and horses [went with him]. And +when they had arrived in peace in Thebes, Khensu, [called] "Pa-ari- +sekher-em-Uast," went into the Temple of Khensu in Thebes, [called] +"Nefer-Hetep," and he placed the offerings which the Prince of Bekhten +had given unto him, beautiful things of all kinds, before Khensu in +Thebes, [called] "Nefer-Hetep," and he gave nothing thereof whatsoever +to his [own] temple. + + +Thus Khensu, [called] "Pa-ari-sekher-em-Uast," arrived in his temple in +peace, on the nineteenth day of the second month[FN#165] of the season +Pert, in the thirty-third year of the [reign of the] King of the South +and North, User-Maat-en-Ra-setep-en-Ra, the giver of life, like Ra, for +ever. + + + + +[FN#165] The month Mekhir of the Copts; the season Pert is the +Egyptian spring. + + + + + +A LEGEND OF THE GOD KHNEMU AND OF A SEVEN YEARS' FAMINE. + + + + +In the eighteenth year of the Horus, Neter-Khat, of the King of the +South and North, Neter-Khat, of the Lord of the Shrines of Uatchit and +Nekhebit, Neter-Khat, of the Golden Horus Tcheser,[FN#166] when Matar +was Ha Prince, and Erpa, and Governor of the temple-cities in the Land +of the South, and director of the Khenti[FN#167] folk in Abtu,[FN#168] +there was brought unto him the following royal despatch: "This is to +inform thee that misery hath laid hold upon me [as I sit] upon the +great throne by reason of those who dwell in the Great House.[FN#169] +My heart is grievously afflicted by reason of the exceedingly great evil +[which hath happened] because Hapi (i.e., the Nile) hath not come +forth[FN#170] in my time to the [proper] height for seven years. Grain +is very scarce, vegetables are lacking altogether, every kind of thing +which men eat for their food hath ceased, and every man [now] plundereth +"his neighbour. Men wish to walk, but are unable to move, the child +waileth, the young man draggeth his limbs along, and the hearts of the +aged folk are crushed with despair; their legs give way under them, and +they sink down to the ground, and their hands are laid upon their bodies +[in pain]. The shennu[FN#171] nobles are destitute of counsel, and +[when] the storehouses which should contain supplies are opened, there +cometh forth therefrom nothing but wind. Everything is in a state of +ruin. My mind hath remembered, going back to former time, when I had an +advocate, to the time of the gods, and of the Ibis-god, and of the chief +Kher-heb priest I-em-hetep,[FN#172] the son of Ptah of his Southern +Wall." + + + +[FN#166] Tcheser was a king of the IIIrd Dynasty, and is famous as the +builder of the Step Pyramid at Sakkarah. His tomb was discovered by +Mr. J. Garstang at Bet Khallaf in Upper Egypt in 1901. + + +[FN#167] i.e., the people who were in front of, that is, to the South +of Egypt, or the population of the country which lies between Dakkah +and Aswan. + + +[FN#168] The ancient Egyptian name for Elephantine Island, which +appears to have gained this name because it resembled an elephant in +shape. + + +[FN#169] i.e., the palace. + + +[FN#170] i.e., risen. + +[FN#171] i.e., the high court officials and administrators. + +[FN#172] The famous priest and magician, who was subsequently deified +and became one of the chief gods of Memphis. + + + +"Where is the place of birth of Hapi (the Nile)? What god, or what +goddess, presideth (?) over it? What manner of form hath he? It is he +who stablisheth revenue for me, and a full store of grain. I would go +to the Chief of Het-Sekhet[FN#173] whose beneficence strengtheneth all +men in their works. I would enter into the House of Life,[FN#174] I +would unfold the written rolls [therein], and I would lay my hand upon +them." + + + +[FN#173] Hermopolis. + + +[FN#174] Per-ankh, or Pa-ankh, was a name given to one of the temple- +colleges of priests and scribes. + + + + +Then [Matar] set out on his journey, and he returned to me straightway. +He gave me instruction concerning the increase of Hapi,[FN#175] and +told me all things which men had written concerning it, and he revealed +to me the secret doors (?) whereto my ancestors had betaken themselves +quickly, the like of which has never been, to [any] king since the time +of Ra, (?). And he said unto me: "There is a city in the middle of the +stream wherefrom Hapi maketh his appearance; "'Abu'[FN#176] was its +name in the beginning; it is the City of the Beginning, and it is the +Nome of the City of the Beginning. [It reacheth] to Uaua,[FN#177] +which is the beginning of the land. There is too a flight of +steps,[FN#178] which reareth itself to a great height, and is the +support of Ra, when he maketh his calculation to prolong life to +everyone; 'Netchemtchem Ankh'[FN#179] is the name of its abode. 'The +two Qerti'[FN#180] is the name of the water, and they are the two +breasts from which every good thing cometh forth (?). + + + + + + +[FN#175] i.e., the Inundation, or Nile Flood. + +[FN#176] The Elephant City, i.e., Elephantine. + +[FN#177] A portion of Northern Nubia. + +[FN#178] This is probably an allusion to the famous Nilometer on the +Island of Philae. + +[FN#179] i.e., "Sweet, sweet life." + +[FN#180] The Qerti were the two openings through which the Nile +entered this world from the great celestial ocean. + + + +"Here is the bed of Hapi (the Nile), wherein he reneweth his youth [in +his season], wherein he causeth the flooding of the land. He cometh +and hath union as he journeyeth, as a man hath union with a woman. And +again he playeth the part of a husband and satisfieth his desire. He +riseth to the height of twenty-eight cubits [at Abu], and he droppeth +at Sma-Behutet[FN#181] to seven cubits. The union(?) there is that of +the god Khnemu in [Abu. He smiteth the ground] with his sandals, and +[its] fulness becometh abundant; he openeth the bolt of the door with +his hand, and he throweth open the double door of the opening through +which the water cometh." + + + +[FN#181] Diospolis of Lower Egypt, or "Thebes of the North." + + + +"Moreover, he dwelleth there in the form of the god Shu,[FN#182] as one +who is lord over his own territory, and his homestead, the name of +which is 'Aa' (i.e., the 'Island'). There he keepeth an account of the +products of the Land of the South and of the Land of the North, "in +order to give unto every god his proper share, and he leadeth to each +[the metals], and the [precious stones, and the four-footed beasts], +and the feathered fowl, and the fish, and every thing whereon they +live. And the cord [for the measuring of the land] and the tablet +whereon the register is kept are there. + + + +[FN#182] The god who separated the Sky-goddess Nut from the embrace of +her husband, the Earth-god Keb, and who holds her above him each day. + + + + +"And there is an edifice of wood there, with the portals thereof formed +of reeds, wherein he dwelleth as one who is over his own territory, and +he maketh the foliage of the trees (?) to serve as a roof. + + +"His God-house hath an opening towards the south-east, and Ra (or, the +Sun) standeth immediately opposite thereto every day. The stream which +floweth along the south side thereof hath danger [for him that +attacketh it], and it hath as a defence a wall which entereth into the +region of the men of Kens[FN#183] on the South. Huge mountains [filled +with] masses of stone are round about its domain on the east side, and +shut it in. Thither come the quarrymen with things (tools?) of every +kind, [when] they "seek to build a House for any god in the Land of the +South, or in the Land of the North, or [shrines] as abodes for sacred +animals, or royal pyramids, and statues of all kinds. They stand up in +front of the House of the God and in the sanctuary chamber, and their +sweet smelling offerings are presented before the face of the god +Khnemu during his circuit, even as [when they bring] "garden herbs and +flowers of every kind. The fore parts thereof are in Abu +(Elephantine), and the hind parts are in the city of Sunt (?).[FN#184] +One portion thereof is on the east side[FN#185] of the river, and +another portion is on the west side[FN#186] of the river, and another +portion is in the middle[FN#187] of the river. The stream decketh the +region with its waters during a certain season of the year, and it is a +place of delight for every man. And works are carried on among these +quarries [which are] on the edges [of the river?], "for the stream +immediately faceth this city of Abu itself, and there existeth the +granite, the substance whereof is hard (?); 'Stone of Abu' it is +called. + + + +[FN#183] Kens extended south from Philae as far as Korosko. + +[FN#184] Perhaps Sunut, = the Syene of the Greeks, and the {hbw +SuWeNeH} of the Hebrews. + +[FN#185] i.e., Syene. + +[FN#186] i.e., Contra Syene. + +[FN#187] i.e., the Island of Elephantine. + + + + +"[Here is] a list of the names of the gods who dwell in the Divine +House of Khnemu. The goddess of the star Sept (Sothis), the goddess +Anqet, Hap (the Nile-god), Shu, Keb, Nut, Osiris, Horus, Isis, and +Nephthys. + + +"[Here are] "the names of the stones which lie in the heart of the +mountains, some on the east side, some on the west side, and some in +[the midst of] the stream of Abu. They exist in the heart of Abu, they +exist in the country on the east bank, and in the country on the west +bank, and in the midst of the stream, namely, "Bekhen-stone, Meri (or +Meli)-stone, Atbekhab (?)-stone, Rakes-stone, and white Utshi-stone; +these are found on the east bank. Per-tchani-stone is found on the +west bank, and the Teshi-stone in the river. + + +"[Here are] the names of the hard (or, hidden) precious stones, which +are found in the upper side, among them being the . . . . . stone, the +name[FN#188] of which hath spread abroad through [a space of] four atru +measures: Gold, Silver, Copper, Iron, Lapis-lazuli, Emerald, Thehen +(Crystal?), Khenem (Ruby), Kai, Mennu, Betka (?), Temi, Na (?). The +following come forth from the fore part[FN#189] of the land: Mehi- +stone, [He]maki-stone, Abheti-stone, iron ore, alabaster for statues, +mother-of-emerald, antimony, seeds (or, gum) of the sehi plant, seeds +(or, gum) of the amem plant, and seeds (or, gum) of the incense plant; +these are found in the fore parts of its double city." These were the +things which I learned therefrom (i.e., from Matar). + + + +[FN#188] i.e., the stone was very famous. + +[FN#189] The "fore part," or "front," of the land means the country +lying to the south of Nubia, and probably some part of the modern +Egyptian Sudan. + + + + +Now my heart was very happy when I heard these things, and I entered +into [the temple of Khnemu]. The overseers unrolled the documents +which were fastened up, the water of purification was sprinkled [upon +me], a progress was made [through] the secret places, and a great +offering [consisting] of bread-cakes, beer, geese, oxen (or, bulls), +and beautiful things of all kinds were offered to the gods and +goddesses who dwell in Abu, whose names are proclaimed at the place +[which is called], "Couch of the heart in life and power." + + +And I found the God standing in front of me, and I made him to be at +peace with me by means of the thank-offering which I offered unto him, +and I made prayer and supplication before him. Then he opened his +eyes, and his heart was inclined [to hear] me, and his words were +strong [when he said], "I am Khnemu,[FN#190] who fashioned thee. My +two hands were about thee and knitted together thy body, and "made +healthy thy members; and it is I who gave thee thy heart. Yet the +minerals (or, precious stones) [lie] under each other, [and they have +done so] from olden time, and no man hath worked them in order to build +the houses of the god, or to restore those which have fallen into ruin, +or to hew out shrines for the gods of the South and of the North, or to +do what he ought to do for his lord, notwithstanding that I am the Lord +and the Creator. + + + +[FN#190] He was the "builder of men, maker of the gods, the Father who +was from the beginning, the maker of things which are, the creator of +things which shall be, the source of things which exist, Father of +fathers, Mother of mothers, Father of the fathers of the gods and +goddesses, lord of created things, maker of heaven, earth, Tuat, water +and mountains" (Lanzone, Dizionario, p. 957). + + + + +"I am [he] who created himself, Nu, the Great [God], who came into being +at the beginning, [and] Hapi, who riseth according to his will, in +order to give health to him that laboureth for me. I am the Director +and Guide of all men at their seasons, the Most Great, the Father of the +Gods, Shu, the Great One, the Chief of the Earth. The two halves of the +sky (i.e., the East and the West) are as a habitation below me. A lake +of water hath been poured out for me, [namely,] Hap (i.e., the Nile), +which embraceth the field-land, and his embrace provideth the [means of] +life for "21 every nose (i.e., every one), according to the extent of +his embrace of the field-land. With old age [cometh] the condition of +weakness. I will make Hap (i.e., the Nile) rise for thee, and [in] no +year shall [he] fail, and he shall spread himself out in rest upon every +land. Green plants and herbs and trees shall bow beneath [the weight of] +their produce. The goddess Renenet[FN#191] shall be at the head of +everything, and every product shall increase by hundreds of thousands, +according to the cubit of the year. The people shall be filled, verily +to their hearts' desire, "and everyone. Misery shall pass away, and the +emptiness of their store-houses of grain shall come to an end. The land +of Ta-Mert (i.e., Egypt) shall come to be a region of cultivated land, +the districts [thereof] shall be yellow with grain crops, and the grain +[thereof] shall be goodly. And fertility shall come according to the +desire [of the people], more than there hath ever been before." + + + +[FN#191] The goddess of the harvest. + + + + + +Then I woke up at [the mention of] crops, my heart (or, courage) came +[back], and was equal to my [former] despair, and I made the following +decree in the temple of my father Khnemu:-- + + +The king giveth an offering to Khnemu[FN#192] the Lord of the city of +Qebhet,[FN#193] the Governor of Ta-Sti,[FN#194] in return for those +things which thou hast done for me. There shall be given unto thee on +thy right hand [the river bank] of Manu,[FN#195] and on thy left hand +the river bank of Abu, together with the land about the city, for a +space of twenty measures,[FN#196] on the east side and on the west +side, with the gardens, and the river front "everywhere throughout the +region included in these measures. From every husbandman who tilleth +the ground, and maketh to live again the slain, and placeth water upon +the river banks and all the islands which are in front of the region of +these measures, shall be demanded a further contribution from the +growing crops and from every storehouse, as "thy share. + + + +[FN#192] Or perhaps, Khnemu-Ra. + + +[FN#193] Qebhet is the name given to the whole region of the First +Cataract. + + +[FN#194] The "Land of the Bow," i.e., the Northern Sudan. + + +[FN#195] The Land of the setting sun, the West. + +[FN#196] Schoinos. + + + + +"Whatsoever is caught in the nets by every fisherman and by every +fowler, and whatsoever is taken by the catchers of fish, and by the +snarers of birds, and by every hunter of wild animals, and by every man +who snareth lions in the mountains, when these things enter [the city] +one tenth of them shall be demanded. + + +"And of all the calves which are cast throughout the regions which are +included in these measures, one tenth of their number "shall be set +apart as animals which are sealed for all the burnt offerings which are +offered up daily. + +"And, moreover, the gift of one tenth shall be levied upon the gold, +ivory, ebony, spices, carnelians (?), sa wood, seshes spice, dum palm +fruit (?), nef wood, and upon woods and products of every kind +whatsoever, which the Khentiu, [FN#197] and the Khentiu of Hen- +Resu,[FN#198] and the Egyptians, and every person whatsoever [shall +bring in]. + + + + +[FN#197] The inhabitants of the Northern Sudan, probably as far to the +south as Napata. + +[FN#198] The people of the Island of Meroë, and probably those living +on the Blue and White Niles. + + + + +"And [every] hand shall pass them by, and no officer of the revenue +whatsoever shall utter a word beyond these places to demand (or, levy +on) things from them, or to take things over and above [those which are +intended for] thy capital city. + + +"And I will give unto thee the land belonging to the city, which +beareth stones, and good land for cultivation. Nothing thereof shall be +[diminished] or withheld, "of all these things in order to deceive the +scribes, and the revenue officers, and the inspectors of the king, on +whom it shall be incumbent to certify everything. + + +"And further, I will cause the masons, and the hewers of ore (?), and +the workers in metal, and the smelters (?) of gold, and the sculptors +in stone, "and the ore-crushers, and the furnace-men (?), and +handicraftsmen of every kind whatsoever, who work in hewing, and +cutting, and polishing these stones, and in gold, and silver, and +copper, and lead, and every worker in wood who shall cut down any tree, +or carry on a trade of any kind, or work which is connected with the +wood trade, to "pay tithe upon all the natural products (?), and also +upon the hard stones which are brought from their beds above, and +quarried stones of all kinds. + + +"And there shall be an inspector over the weighing of the gold, and +silver, and copper, and real (i.e., precious) stones, and the [other] +things, which the metal-workers require for the House of Gold, "and the +sculptors of the images of the gods need in the making and repairing of +them, and [these things] shall be exempted from tithing, and the +workmen also. And everything shall be delivered (or, given) in front +of the storehouse to their children, a second time, for the protection +of everything. And whatsoever is before thy God-house shall be in +abundance, just as it hath ever been from the earliest time. + + +"And a copy of this decree shall be inscribed upon a stele, [which +shall be set up] in the holy place, according to the writing of the +[original] document which is cut upon wood, and [figures of] this god +and the overseers of the temple shall be [cut] thereon. Whosoever +shall spit upon that which is on it shall be admonished by the rope. +And the overseers of the priests, and every overseer of the people of +the House of the God, shall ensure the perpetuation of my name in the +House of the god Khnemu-Ra, the lord of Abu (Elephantine), for ever." + + + + + + +THE LEGEND OF THE DEATH OF HORUS THROUGH THE STING OF A SCORPION AND OF +HIS RESURRECTION THROUGH THOTH, AND OTHER MAGICAL TEXTS. + + + + +I.--INCANTATIONS AGAINST REPTILES AND NOXIOUS CREATURES IN GENERAL. + + + + + +Get thee back, Apep, thou enemy of Ra, thou winding serpent in the form +of an intestine, without arms [and] without legs. Thy body cannot +stand upright so that thou mayest have therein being, long is +thy[FN#199] tail in front of thy den, thou enemy; retreat before Ra. +Thy head shall be cut off, and the slaughter of thee shall be carried +out. Thou shalt not lift up thy face, for his (i.e., Ra's) flame is in +thy accursed soul. The odour which is in his chamber of slaughter is +in thy members, and thy form shall be overthrown by the slaughtering +knife of the great god. The spell of the Scorpion-goddess Serq driveth +back thy might. Stand still, stand still, and retreat through her +spell. + + + +[FN#199] Literally, "his." + + + + + +Be vomited, O poison, I adjure thee to come forth on the earth. Horus +uttereth a spell over thee, Horus hacketh thee in pieces, he spitteth +upon thee; thou shalt not rise up towards heaven, but shalt totter +downwards, O feeble one, without strength, cowardly, unable to fight, +blind, without eyes, and with thine head turned upside down. Lift not +up thy face. Get thee back quickly, and find not the way. Lie down in +despair, rejoice not, retreat speedily, and show not thy face because +of the speech of Horus, who is perfect in words of power. The poison +rejoiced, [but] the heart[s] of many were very sad thereat. Horus hath +smitten it with his magical spells, and he who was in sorrow is [now] +in joy. Stand still then, O thou who art in sorrow, [for] Horus hath +been endowed with life. He coineth charged, appearing himself to +overthrow the Sebiu fiends which bite. All men when they see Ra praise +the son of Osiris. Get thee back, Worm, and draw out thy poison which +is in all the members of him that is under the knife. Verily the might +of the word of power of Horus is against thee. Vomit thou, O Enemy, get +thee back, O poison. + + + + + +9. THE CHAPTER OF CASTING A SPELL ON THE CAT. + + + + + + +Recite [the following formula]:-- + +"Hail, Ra, come to thy daughter! A scorpion hath stung her on a +lonely road. Her cry hath penetrated the heights of heaven, and is +heard along the paths. The poison hath entered into her body, and +circulateth through her flesh. She hath set her mouth against +it;[FN#200] verily the poison is in her members. + + + +[FN#200] i.e., she hath directed her words against it. + + + + +"Come then with thy strength, with thy fierce attack, and with thy red +powers, and force it to be hidden before thee. Behold, the poison hath +entered into all the members of this Cat which is under my fingers. Be +not afraid, be not afraid, my daughter, my splendour, [for] I have set +myself near (or, behind) thee. I have overthrown the poison which is +in all the limbs of this Cat. O thou Cat, thy head is the head of Ra, +the Lord of the Two Lands, the smiter of the rebellious peoples. +Thy[FN#201] fear is in all lands, O Lord of the living, Lord of +eternity. O thou Cat, thy two eyes are the Eye of the Lord of the Khut +uraeus, who illumineth the Two Lands with his Eye, and illumineth the +face on the path of darkness. O thou Cat, thy nose is the nose of +Thoth, the Twice Great, Lord of Khemenu (Hermopolis), the Chief of the +Two Lands of Ra, who putteth breath into the nostrils of every person. +O thou Cat, thine ears are the ears of Nebertcher, who hearkeneth unto +the voice of all persons when they appeal to him, and weigheth words +(i.e., judgeth) in all the earth. O thou Cat, thy mouth is the mouth +of Tem, the Lord of life, the uniter (?) of creation, who hath caused +the union (?) of creation; he shall deliver thee from every poison. O +thou Cat, thy neck (nehebt) is the neck of Neheb-ka, President of the +Great House, vivifier of men and women by means of the mouth of his two +arms. O thou Cat, thy breast is the breast of Thoth, the Lord of +Truth, who hath given to thee breath to refresh (?) thy throat, and +hath given breath to that which is therein. O thou Cat, thy heart is +the heart of the god Ptah, who healeth thy heart of the evil poison +which is in all thy limbs. O thou Cat, thy hands 25 are the hands of +the Great Company of the gods and the Little Company of the gods, and +they shall deliver thy hand from the poison from the mouth of every +serpent. O thou Cat, thy belly is the belly of Osiris, Lord of +Busiris, the poison shall not work any of its wishes in thy belly. O +thou Cat, thy thighs are the thighs of the god Menthu, who shall make +thy thighs to stand up, and shall bring the poison to the ground. O +thou Cat, thy leg-bones are the leg-bones of Khensu,[FN#202] who +travelleth over all the Two Lands by day and by night, and shall lead +the poison to the ground. O thou Cat, thy legs (or, feet) are the legs +of Amen the Great, Horus, Lord of Thebes, who shall stablish thy feet +on the earth, and shall overthrow the poison. O thou Cat, thy haunches +are the haunches of Horus, the avenger (or, advocate) of his father +Osiris, and they shall place Set in the evil which he hath wrought. O +thou Cat, thy soles are the soles of Ra, who shall make the poison to +return to the earth. O thou Cat, thy bowels are the bowels of the Cow- +goddess Meh-urt, who shall overthrow and cut in pieces the poison which +is in thy belly and in all the members in thee, and in [all] the +members of the gods in heaven, and in [all] the members of the gods on +earth, and shall overthrow every poison in thee. There is no member in +thee without the goddess who shall overthrow and cut in pieces the +poison of every male serpent, and every female serpent, and every +scorpion, and every reptile, which may be in any member of this Cat +which is under the knife. Verily Isis weaveth and Nephthys spinneth +against the poison. This woven garment strengtheneth this [being, +i.e., Horus], who is perfect in words of power, through the speech of +Ra Heru-khuti, the great god, President of the South and North: 'O evil +poison which is in any member of this Cat which is under the knife, +come, issue forth upon the earth.'" + + + +[FN#201] Literally "his." + + +[FN#202] He was the messenger of the gods, and travelled across the +sky under the form of the Moon; he sometimes appears as a form of +Thoth. + + + + + + + +ANOTHER CHAPTER. + + + + +Say the [following] words:-- + +"O Ra-[Khuti], come to thy daughter. O Shu, come to thy wife. O Isis, +come to thy sister, and deliver her from the evil poison which is in +all her members. Hail, O ye gods, come ye and overthrow ye the evil +poison which is in all the members of the Cat which is under the knife. + + +"Hail, O aged one, who renewest thy youth in thy season, thou old man +who makest thyself to be a boy, grant thou that Thoth may come to me at +[the sound of] my voice, and behold, let him turn back from me Netater. +Osiris is on the water, the Eye of Horus is with him. A great +Beetle spreadeth himself over him, great by reason of his grasp, +produced by the gods from a child. He who is over the water appeareth +in a healthy form. If he who is over the water shall be approached +(or, attacked), the Eye of Horus, which weepeth, shall be approached. + + +"Get ye back, O ye who dwell in the water, crocodiles, fish, that +Enemy, male dead person and female dead person, male fiend and female +fiend, of every kind whatsoever, lift not up your faces, O ye who dwell +in the waters, ye crocodiles and fish. When Osiris journeyeth over +you, permit ye him to go to Busiris. Let your nostrils [be closed], +your throats stopped up. + + +"Get ye back, Seba fiends! Lift ye not up your faces against him that +is on the water . . . . . Osiris-Ra, riseth up in his Boat to look at +the gods of Kher-ahat, and the Lords of the Tuat stand up to slay thee +when [thou] comest, O Neha-her, against Osiris. [When] he is on the +water the Eye of Horus is over him to turn your faces upside down and +to set you on your backs. + + +"Hail, ye who dwell in the water, crocodiles and fish, Ra shutteth up +your mouths, Sekhet stoppeth up your throats, Thoth cutteth out your +tongues, and {cont} Heka blindeth your eyes. These are the four great +gods who protect Osiris by their magical power, and they effect the +protection of him that is on the water, of men and women of every kind, +and of beasts and animals of every kind which are on the water by day. +Protected are those who dwell in the waters, protected is the sky +wherein is Ra, protected is the great god who is in the sarcophagus, +protected is he who is on the water. + +"A voice [which] crieth loudly is in the House of Net (Neith), a loud +voice is in the Great House, a great outcry from the mouth of the Cat. +The gods and the goddesses say, 'What is it? What is it?' [It] +concerneth the Abtu Fish which is born. Make to retreat from me thy +footsteps, O Sebau fiend. I am Khnemu, the Lord of Her-urt. Guard +thyself again from the attack which is repeated, besides this which +thou hast done in the presence of the Great Company of the gods. Get +thee back, retreat thou from me. I am the god. Oh, Oh, O [Ra], hast +thou not heard the voice which cried out loudly until the evening on +the bank of Netit, the voice of all the gods and goddesses which cried +out loudly, the outcry concerning the wickedness which thou hast done, +O wicked Sebau fiend? Verily the lord Ra thundered and growled +thereat, and he ordered thy slaughter to be carried out. Get thee +back, Seba fiend! Hail! Hail!" + + + + + +II.--THE NARRATIVE OF ISIS. + + + + + + +I am Isis, [and] I have come forth from the dwelling (or, prison) +wherein my brother Set placed me. Behold the god Thoth, the great god, +the Chief of Maat[FN#203] [both] in heaven and on the earth, said unto +me, "Come now, O Isis, thou goddess, moreover it is a good thing to +hearken,[FN#204] [for there is] life to one who shall be guided [by the +advice] of another. Hide thou thyself with [thy] son the child, and +there shall come unto him these things. His members shall +grow,[FN#205] and two-fold strength of every kind shall spring up [in +him]. [And he] shall be made to take his seat upon the throne of his +father, [whom] he shall avenge,[FN#206] [and he shall take possession +of] the exalted position of Heq[FN#207] of the Two Lands."[FN#208] + + + +[FN#203] i.e., Law, or Truth. + +[FN#204] Or, obey. + +[FN#205] i.e., flourish. + + +[FN#206] He avenged his father Osiris by vanquishing Set. + + +[FN#207] i.e., tribal chief. + + +[FN#208] i.e., Upper and Lower Egypt. + + + + +I came forth [from the dwelling] at the time of evening, and there came +forth the Seven Scorpions which were to accompany me and to strike(?) +for me with [their] stings. Two scorpions, Tefen and Befen, were +behind me, two scorpions, Mestet and Mestetef, were by my side, and +three scorpions, Petet, Thetet, and Maatet (or, Martet), were for +preparing the road for me. I charged them very strictly (or, in a loud +voice), and my words penetrated into their ears: "Have no knowledge of +[any], make no cry to the Tesheru beings, and pay no attention to the +'son of a man' (i.e., anyone) who belongeth to a man of no account," +[and I said,] "Let your faces be turned towards the ground [that ye may +show me] the way." So the guardian of the company brought me to the +boundaries of the city of Pa-Sui,[FN#209] the city of the goddesses of +the Divine Sandals, [which was situated] in front of the Papyrus +Swamps.[FN#210] + + + +[FN#209] "The House of the Crocodile," perhaps the same town as Pa- +Sebekt, a district in the VIIth nome of Lower Egypt (Metelites). + +[FN#210] Perhaps a district in the Metelite nome. + + + +When I had arrived at the place where the people lived[FN#211] I came +to the houses wherein dwelt the wives [and] husbands. And a certain +woman of quality spied me as I was journeying along the road, and she +shut her doors on me. Now she was sick at heart by reason of those +[scorpions] which were with me. Then [the Seven Scorpions] took +counsel concerning her, and they all at one time shot out their venom +on the tail of the scorpion Tefen; as for me, the woman Taha[FN#212] +opened her door, and I entered into the house of the miserable lady. + + + +[FN#211] In Egyptian Teb, which may be the Tebut in the Metelite nome. + + +[FN#212] Taha may be the name of a woman, or goddess, or the word may +mean a "dweller in the swamps," as Golenischeff thinks. + + + + +Then the scorpion Tefen entered in under the leaves of the door and +smote (i.e., stung) the son of Usert, and a fire broke out in the house +of Usert, and there was no water there to extinguish it; [but] the sky +rained upon the house of Usert, though it was not the season for +rain.[FN#213] + + + +[FN#213] i.e., it was not the season of the inundation. + + + + +Behold, the heart of her who had not opened her door to me was +grievously sad, for she knew not whether he (i.e., her son) would live +[or not], and although she went round about through her town uttering +cries [for help], there was none who came at [the sound of] her voice. +Now mine own heart was grievously sad for the sake of the child, and [I +wished] to make to live [again] him that was free from fault. +[Thereupon] I cried out to the noble lady, "Come to me. Come to me. +Verily my mouth (?) possesseth life. I am a daughter [well] known in +her town, [and I] can destroy the demon of death by the spell (or, +utterance) which my father taught me to know. I am his daughter, the +beloved [offspring] of his body." + + +Then Isis placed her two hands on the child in order to make to live him +whose throat was stopped, [and she said], "O poison of the scorpion +Tefent, come forth and appear on the ground! Thou shalt neither enter +nor penetrate [further into the body of the child]. O poison of the +scorpion Befent, come forth and appear on the ground! I am Isis, the +goddess, the lady (or, mistress) of words of power, and I am the maker +of words of power (i.e., spells), and I know how to utter words with +magical effect.[FN#214] Hearken ye unto me, O every reptile which +possesseth the power to bite (i.e., to sting), and fall headlong to the +ground! O poison of the scorpion Mestet, make no advance [into his +body]. O poison of the scorpion Mestetef, rise not up [in his body]. O +poison of the scorpions Petet and Thetet, penetrate not [into his body]. +[O poison of] the scorpion Maatet (or, Martet), fall down on the +ground." + + + +[FN#214] By uttering spells Isis restored life to her husband Osiris +for a season, and so became with child by him. She made a magical +figure of a reptile, and having endowed it with life, it stung Ra as he +passed through the sky, and the great god almost died. In Greek times +it was believed that she discovered a medicine which would raise the +dead, and she was reputed to be a great expert in the art of healing +men's sicknesses. As a goddess she appeared to the sick, and cured +them. + + + + +[Here follows the] "Chapter of the stinging [of scorpions]." + +And Isis, the goddess, the great mistress of spells (or, words of +power), she who is at the head of the gods, unto whom the god Keb gave +his own magical spells for the driving away of poison at noon-day (?), +and for making poison to go back, and retreat, and withdraw, and go +backward, spake, saying, "Ascend not into heaven, through the command +of the beloved one of Ra, the egg of the Smen goose which cometh forth +from the sycamore. Verily my words are made to command the uttermost +limit of the night. I speak unto you, [O scorpions] I am alone and in +sorrow because our names will suffer disgrace throughout the nomes. Do +not make love, do not cry out to the Tesheru fiends, and cast no +glances upon the noble ladies in their houses. Turn your faces towards +the earth and [find out] the road, so that we may arrive at the hidden +places in the town of Khebt.[FN#215] Oh the child shall live and the +poison die! Ra liveth and the poison dieth! Verily Horus shall be in +good case (or, healthy) for his mother Isis. Verily he who is stricken +shall be in good case likewise." + + + +[FN#215] The island of Chemmis of classical writers. + + + + +And the fire [which was in the house of Usert] was extinguished, and +heaven was satisfied with the utterance of Isis, the goddess. + + +Then the lady Usert came, and she brought unto me her possessions, and +she filled the house of the woman Tah (?), for the Ka of Tah +(?) because [she] had opened to me her door. Now the lady Usert +suffered pain and anguish the whole night, and her mouth tasted (i.e., +felt) the sting [which] her son [had suffered]. And she brought her +possessions as the penalty for not having opened the door to me. Oh +the child shall live and the poison die! Verily Horus shall be in good +case for his mother Isis. Verily everyone who is stricken shall be in +good case likewise. + + +Lo, a bread-cake [made] of barley meal shall drive out (or, destroy) +the poison, and natron shall make it to withdraw, and the fire [made] +of hetchet-plant shall drive out (or, destroy) fever-heat from the +limbs. + + +"O Isis, O Isis, come thou to thy Horus, O thou woman of the wise +mouth! Come to thy son"--thus cried the gods who dwelt in her quarter +of the town--"for he is as one whom a scorpion hath stung, and like +one whom the scorpion Uhat, which the animal Antesh drove away, hath +wounded." + + +[Then] Isis ran out like one who had a knife [stuck] in her body, and +she opened her arms wide, [saying] "Behold me, behold me, my son Horus, +have no fear, have no fear, O son my glory! No evil thing of any kind +whatsoever shall happen unto thee, [for] there is in thee the essence +(or, fluid) which made the things which exist. Thou art the son from +the country of Mesqet,[FN#216] [thou hast] come forth from the +celestial waters Nu, and thou shalt not die by the heat of the poison. +Thou wast the Great Bennu,[FN#217] who art born (or, produced) or; the +top of the balsam-trees[FN#218] which are in the House of the Aged One +in Anu (Heliopolis). Thou art the brother of the Abtu Fish,[FN#219] +who orderest what is to be, and art the nursling of the Cat[FN#220] who +dwelleth in the House of Neith. The goddess Reret,[FN#221] the goddess +Hat, and the god Bes protect thy members. Thy head shall not fall to +the Tchat fiend that attacketh thee. Thy members shall not receive the +fire of that which is thy poison. Thou shalt not go backwards on the +land, and thou shalt not be brought low on the water. No reptile which +biteth (or, stingeth) shall gain the mastery over thee, and no lion +shall subdue thee or have dominion over thee. Thou art the son of the +sublime god 82 who proceeded from Keb. Thou art Horus, and the poison +shall not gain the mastery over thy members. Thou art the son of the +sublime god who proceeded from Keb, and thus likewise shall it be with +those who are under the knife. And the four august goddesses shall +protect thy members." + + + +[FN#216] Mesqet was originally the name of the bull's skin in which +the deceased was wrapped in order to secure for him the now life; later +the name was applied to the Other World generally. {See Book of the +Dead, Chap. xvii. 121.} + +[FN#217] The Bennu who kept the book of destiny. See Book of the Dead, +Chap. xvii. 25. + +[FN#218] These are the balsam-trees for which Heliopolis has been +always famous. They are described by Wansleben, L'Histoire de +l'Eglise, pp. 88-93, and by 'Abd al-Latif (ed. de Sacy), p. 88. + +[FN#219] The Abtu and Ant Fishes swam before the Boat of Ra and guided +it. + +[FN#220] This is the Cat who lived by the Persea tree in Heliopolis. +See Book of the Dead, Chap. xvii. 18. + +[FN#221] A hippopotamus goddess. + + + +[Here the narrative is interrupted by the following texts:] + +[I am] he who rolleth up into the sky, and who goeth down (i.e., +setteth) in the Tuat, whose form is in the House of height, through +whom when he openeth his Eye the light cometh into being, and when he +closeth his Eye it becometh night. [I am] the Water-god Het when he +giveth commands, whose name is unknown to the gods. I illumine the Two +Lands, night betaketh itself to flight, and I shine by day and by +night.[FN#222] I am the Bull of Bakha[FN#223], and the Lion of +Manu[FN#224]. I am he who traverseth the heavens by day and by night +without being repulsed. I have come 85 by reason of the voice (or, +cry) of the son of Isis. Verily the blind serpent Na hath bitten the +Bull. O thou poison which floweth through every member of him that is +under the knife, come forth, I charge thee, upon the ground. Behold, +he that is under the knife shall not be bitten. Thou art Menu, the +Lord of Coptos, the child of the White Shat[FN#225] which is in Anu +(Heliopolis), which was bitten [by a reptile]. O Menu, Lord of Coptos, +give thou air unto him that is under the knife; and air shall be given +to thee. Hail, divine father and minister of the god Nebun, [called] +Mer-Tem, son of the divine father and minister of the god Nebun, scribe +of the Water-god Het, [called] Ankh-Semptek (sic), son of the lady of +the house Tent-Het-nub! He restored this inscription after he had +found it in a ruined state in the Temple of Osiris-Mnevis, because he +wished to make to live her name . . . . . . . . . . and to give air +unto him that is under [the knife], and to give life unto the ancestors +of all the gods. And his Lord Osiris-Mnevis shall make long his life +with happiness of heart, [and shall give him] a beautiful burial after +[attaining to] an old age, because of what he hath done for the Temple +of Osiris-Mnevis. + + + +[FN#222] i.e., always. + +[FN#223] The land of the sunrise, the East. + + +[FN#224] The land of the sunset, the West. + + +[FN#225] Perhaps an animal of the Lynx class. + + + + +89. Horus was bitten (i.e., stung) in Sekhet-An, to the north of Hetep- +hemt, whilst his mother Isis was in the celestial houses making a +libation for her brother Osiris. And Horus sent forth his cry into the +horizon, and it was heard by those who were in . . . . . . Thereupon +the keepers of the doors who were in the [temple of] the holy Acacia +Tree started up at the voice of Horus. And one sent forth a cry of +lamentation, and Heaven gave the order that Horus was to be healed. +And [the gods] took counsel [together] concerning the life [of Horus, +saying,] "O goddess Pai(?), O god Asten, who dwellest in Aat-Khus(?) +. . . . .[FN#226] thy . . . . . . enter in . . . . . lord of sleep . . +. . . . the child Horus. Oh, Oh, bring thou the things which are thine +to cut off the poison which is in every member of Horus, the son of +Isis, and which is in every member of him that is under the knife +likewise." + + + +[FN#226] The text appears to be corrupt in this passage. + + + + + + +101. A HYMN OF PRAISE TO HORUS TO GLORIFY HIM, WHICH IS TO BE SAID 102 +OVER THE WATERS AND OVER THE LAND. + + + +Thoth speaketh and this god reciteth [the following]:-- + + +"Homage to thee, god, son of a god. Homage to thee, heir, son of an +heir. Homage to thee, bull, son of a bull, who wast brought forth by a +holy goddess. Homage to thee, Horus, who comest forth from Osiris, and +wast brought forth by the goddess Isis. I recite thy words of power, I +speak with thy magical utterance. I pronounce a spell in thine own +words, which thy heart hath created, and all the spells and +incantations which have come forth from thy mouth, which thy father Keb +commanded thee [to recite], and thy mother Nut gave to thee, and the +majesty of the Governor of Sekhem taught thee to make use of for thy +protection, in order to double (or, repeat) thy protective formulae, to +shut the mouth of every reptile which is in heaven, and on the earth, +and in the waters, to make men and women to live, to make the gods to +be at peace [with thee], and to make Ra to employ his magical spells +through thy chants of praise. Come to me this day, quickly, quickly, +as thou workest the paddle of the Boat of the god. Drive thou away +from me every lion on the plain, and every crocodile in the waters, and +all mouths which bite (or, sting) in their holes. Make thou them +before me like the stone of the mountain, like a broken pot lying about +in a quarter of the town. Dig thou out from me the poison which riseth +and is in every member of him that is under the knife. Keep thou watch +over him . . . . . . by means of thy words. Verily let thy name be +invoked this day. Let thy power (qefau) come into being in him. Exalt +thou thy magical powers. Make me to live and him whose throat is +closed up. Then shall mankind give thee praise, and the righteous (?) +shall give thanks unto thy forms. And all the gods likewise shall +invoke thee, and in truth thy name shall be invoked this day. I am +Horus [of] Shet[enu] (?). + + +"O thou who art in the cavern,[FN#227] O thou who art in the cavern. O +thou who art at the mouth of the cavern. O thou who art on the way, O +thou who art on the way. O thou who art at the mouth of the way. He +is Urmer (Mnevis) who approacheth every man and every beast. He is +like the god Sep who is in Anu (Heliopolis). He is the Scorpion-[god] +who is in the Great House (Het-ur). Bite him not, for he is Ra. Sting +him not, for he is Thoth. Shoot ye not your poison over him, for he is +Nefer-Tem. O every male serpent, O every female serpent, O every +antesh (scorpion?) which bite with your mouths, and sting with your +tails, bite ye him not with your mouths, and sting ye him not with your +tails. Get ye afar off from him, make ye not your fire to be against +him, for he is the son of Osiris. Vomit ye. [Say] four times:-- + +"I am Thoth, I have come from heaven to make protection of Horus, and +to drive away the poison of the scorpion which is in every member of +Horus. Thy head is to thee, Horus; it shall be stable under the Urert +Crown. Thine eye is to thee, Horus, [for] thou art Horus, the son of +Keb, the Lord of the Two Eyes, in the midst of the Company [of the +gods]. Thy nose is to thee, Horus, [for] thou art Horus the Elder, the +son of Ra, and thou shalt not inhale the fiery wind. Thine arm is to +thee, Horus, great is thy strength to slaughter the enemies of thy +father. Thy two thighs[FN#228] are to thee, Horus. Receive thou the +rank and dignity of thy father Osiris. Ptah hath balanced for thee thy +mouth on the day of thy birth. Thy heart (or, breast) is to thee, +Horus, and the Disk maketh thy protection. Thine eye is to thee, +Horus; thy right eye is like Shu, and thy left eye like Tefnut, who are +the children of Ra. Thy belly is to thee, Horus, and the Children are +the gods who are therein, and they shall not receive the essence (or, +fluid) of the scorpion. Thy strength is to thee, Horus, and the +strength of Set shall not exist against thee. Thy phallus is to thee, +Horus, and thou art Kamutef, the protector of his father, who maketh an +answer for his children in the course of every day. Thy thighs are to +thee, Horus, and thy strength shall slaughter the enemies of thy +father. Thy calves are to thee, Horus; the god Khnemu hath builded +[them], and the goddess Isis hath covered them with flesh. The soles +of thy feet are to thee, Horus, and the nations who fight with the bow +(Peti) fall under thy feet. Thou rulest the South, North, West, and +East, and thou seest like Ra. [Say] four times. And likewise him that +is under the knife." + + + +[FN#227] Or, den or hole. + +[FN#228] We ought, perhaps, to translate this as "forearms." + + + +Beautiful god, Senetchem-ab-Ra-setep-[en]-Amen, son of Ra, Nekht-Heru- +Hebit, thou art protected, and the gods and goddesses are protected, +and conversely. Beautiful god, Senetchem-ab-Ra-setep-[en]-Ra, son of +Ra, Nekht-Heru-Hebit, thou art protected, and Heru-Shet[enu], the great +god, is protected, and conversely. + + + + + +ANOTHER CHAPTER LIKE UNTO IT. "Fear not, fear not, O Bast, the strong +of heart, at the head of the holy field, the mighty one among all the +gods, nothing shall gain the mastery over thee. Come thou outside, +following my speech (or, mouth), O evil poison which is in all the +members of the lion (or, cat) which is under the knife." + + +[The narrative of the stinging of Horus by a scorpion is continued +thus]: + + +"I am Isis, who conceived a child by her husband, and she became heavy +with Horus, the divine [child]. I gave birth to Horus, the son of +Osiris, in a nest of papyrus plants.[FN#229] I rejoiced exceedingly +over this, because I saw [in him one] who would make answer for his +father. I hid him, and I concealed him through fear of that [fiend +(?)].[FN#230] I went away to the city of Am, [where] the people gave +thanks [for me] through [their] fear of my making trouble [for them]. +I passed the day in seeking to provide food for the child, [and] on +returning to take Horus into my arms I found him, Horus, the beautiful +one of gold, the boy, the child, without [life]. He had bedewed the +ground with the water of his eye, and with foam from his lips. His +body was motionless, his heart was powerless to move, and the sinews +(or, muscles) of his members were [helpless]. I sent forth a cry, +[saying]: + + + +[FN#229] Or, Ateh, the papyrus swamp. + + +[FN#230] i.e., Set. + + + + +"'I, even I, lack a son to make answer [for me].[FN#231] [My] two +breasts are full to overflowing, [but] my body is empty. [My] mouth +wished for that which concerned him.[FN#232] A cistern of water and a +stream of the inundation was I. The child was the desire of my heart, +and I longed to protect him (?). I carried him in my womb, I gave birth +to him, I endured the agony of the birth pangs, I was all alone, and +the great ones were afraid of disaster and to come out at the sound of +my voice. My father is in the Tuat,[FN#233] my mother is in +Aqert,[FN#234] and my elder brother is in the sarcophagus. Think of +the enemy and of how prolonged was the wrath of his heart against me, +[when] I, the great lady, was in his house.' + + + +[FN#231] i.e., to be my advocate. + + +[FN#232] Literally "his thing." + + +[FN#233] Tuat is a very ancient name of the Other World, which was +situated either parallel with Egypt or across the celestial ocean which +surrounded the world. + + +[FN#234] The "perfect place," i.e., the Other World. + + + + + +"I cried then, [saying,] 'Who among the people will indeed let their +hearts come round to me?' I cried then to those who dwelt in the +papyrus swamps (or, Ateh), and they inclined to me straightway. And +the people came forth to me from their houses, and they thronged about +me at [the sound of] my voice, and they loudly bewailed with me the +greatness of my affliction. There was no man there who set restraint +(?) on his mouth, every person among them lamented with great +lamentation. There was none there who knew how to make [my child] to +live. + + +"And there came forth unto me a woman who was [well] known in her city, +a lady who was mistress of her [own] estate.[FN#235] She came forth to +me. Her mouth possessed life, and her heart was filled with the matter +which was therein, [and she said,] 'Fear not, fear not, O son Horus! +Be not cast down, be not cast down, O mother of the god. The child of +the Olive-tree is by the mountain of his brother, the bush is hidden, +and no enemy shall enter therein. The word of power of Tem, the Father +of the gods, who is in heaven, maketh to live. Set shall not enter +into this region, he shall not go round about it. The marsh of Horus +of the Olive-tree is by the mountain of his brother; those who are in +his following shall not at any time . . . . . . it. This shall happen +to him: Horus shall live for his mother, and shall salute (?) [her] +with his mouth. A scorpion hath smitten (i.e., stung) him, and the +reptile Aun-ab hath wounded him.'" + + + +[FN#235] Or perhaps, "a lady who was at the head of her district." + + + + +Then Isis placed her nose in his mouth[FN#236] so that she might know +whether he who was in his coffin breathed, and she examined the +wound[FN#237] of the heir of the god, and she found that there was +poison in it. She threw her arms round him, and then quickly she +leaped about with him like fish when they are laid upon the hot coals, +[saying]: + + + + +[FN#236] i.e., the mouth of Horus. + + +[FN#237] Literally, "pain" or "disease." + + + + +"Horus is bitten, O Ra. Thy son is bitten, [O Osiris]. Horus is +bitten, the flesh and blood of the Heir, the Lord of the diadems (?) of +the kingdoms of Shu. Horus is bitten, the Boy of the marsh city of +Ateh, the Child in the House of the Prince. The beautiful Child of +gold is bitten, the Babe hath suffered pain and is not.[FN#238] Horus +is bitten, he the son of Un-Nefer, who was born of Auh-mu (?). Horus +is bitten, he in whom there was nothing abominable, the son, the youth +among the gods. Horus is bitten, he for whose wants I prepared in +abundance, for I saw that he would make answer[FN#239] for his father. +Horus is bitten, he for whom [I] had care [when he was] in the hidden +woman [and for whom I was afraid when he was] in the womb of his +mother. Horus is bitten, he whom I guarded to look upon. I have +wished for the life of his heart. Calamity hath befallen the child on +the water, and the child hath perished." + + + +[FN#238] He is nothing, i.e., he is dead. + +[FN#239] i.e., become an advocate for. + + + + +Then came Nephthys shedding tears and uttering cries of lamentation, and +going round about through the papyrus swamps. And Serq [came also and +they said]: "Behold, behold, what hath happened to Horus, son of Isis, +and who [hath done it]? Pray then to heaven, and let the mariners of Ra +cease their labours for a space, for the Boat of Ra cannot travel +onwards [whilst] son Horus [lieth dead] on his place." + +And Isis sent forth her voice into heaven, and made supplication to the +Boat of Millions of Years, and the Disk stopped[FN#240] in its +journeying, and moved not from the place whereon it rested. Then came +forth Thoth, who is equipped with his spells (or, words of power), and +possesseth the great word of command of maa-kheru,[FN#241] [and said:] +"What [aileth thee], what [aileth thee], O Isis, thou goddess who hast +magical spells, whose mouth hath understanding? Assuredly no evil +thing hath befallen [thy] son Horus, [for] the Boat of Ra hath him +under its protection. I have come this day in the Divine Boat of the +Disk from the place where it was yesterday,--now darkness came and the +light was destroyed--in order to heal Horus for his mother Isis and +every person who is under the knife likewise." + + + +[FN#240] Literally, "alighted." + + +[FN#241] When a god or a man was declared to be maa-kheru, "true of +voice," or "true of word," his power became illimitable. It gave him +rule and authority, and every command uttered by him was immediately +followed by the effect required. + + + +And Isis, the goddess, said: "O Thoth, great things [are in] thy heart, +[but] delay belongeth to thy plan. Hast thou come equipped with thy +spells and incantations, and having the great formula of maa-kheru, and +one [spell] after the other, the numbers whereof are not known? Verily +Horus is in the cradle(?) of the poison. Evil, evil is his case, +death, [and] misery to the fullest [extent]. The cry of his mouth is +towards his mother(?). I cannot [bear] to see these things in his +train. My heart [hath not] rested because of them since the +beginning(?) [when] I made haste to make answer [for] Horus-Ra (?), +placing [myself] on the earth, [and] since the day [when] I was taken +possession of by him. I desired Neheb-ka . . . . . . ." + +[And Thoth said:] "Fear not, fear not, O goddess Isis, fear not, fear +not, O Nephthys, and let not anxiety [be to you]. I have come from +heaven having life to heal(?) the child for his mother, Horus is . . . +Let thy heart be firm;[FN#242] he shall not sink under the flame. +Horus is protected as the Dweller in his Disk,[FN#243] who lighteth up +the Two Lands by the splendour of his two Eyes;[FN#244] and he who is +under the knife is likewise protected. Horus is protected as the +First-born son in heaven,[FN#245] who is ordained to be the guide of +the things which exist and of the things which are not yet created; and +he who under the knife is protected likewise. Horus is protected as +that great Dwarf (nemu)[FN#246] who goeth round about the Two Lands in +the darkness; and he who is under the knife is protected likewise. +Horus is protected as the Lord (?) in the night, who revolveth at the +head of the Land of the Sunset (Manu); and he who is under the knife is +protected likewise. Horus is protected as the Mighty Ram[FN#247] who +is hidden, and who goeth round about in front of his Eyes; and he who +is under the knife is protected likewise. Horus is protected as the +Great Hawk[FN#248] which flieth through heaven, earth, and the Other +World (Tuat); and he who is under the knife is protected likewise. +Horus is protected as the Holy Beetle, the mighty (?) wings of which +are at the head of the sky;[FN#249] and he who is under the knife is +protected likewise. Horus is protected as the Hidden Body,[FN#250] and +as he whose mummy is in his sarcophagus; and he who is under the knife +is protected likewise. Horus is protected [as the Dweller] in the +Other World [and in the] Two Lands, who goeth round about 'Those who +are over Hidden Things'; and he who is under the knife is protected +likewise. Horus is protected as the Divine Bennu[FN#251] who alighteth +in front of his two Eyes; and he who is under the knife is protected +likewise. Horus is protected 230 in his own body, and the spells which +his mother Isis hath woven protect him. Horus is protected by the +names of his father [Osiris] in his forms in the nomes;[FN#252] and he +who is under the knife is protected likewise. Horus is protected by +the weeping of his mother, and by the cries of grief of his brethren; +and he who is under the knife is protected likewise. Horus is +protected by his own name and heart, and the gods go round about him to +make his funeral bed; and he who is under the knife is protected +likewise." + + + +[FN#242] i.e., "Be of good courage." + +[FN#243] The Sun-god. + +[FN#244] The Sun and Moon. + +[FN#245] Osiris (?). + +[FN#246] Bes (?). + +[FN#247] Probably the Ram, Lord of Tattu, or the Ram of Mendes. + +[FN#248] Heru-Behutet. + +[FN#249] The beetle of Khepera, a form of the Sun-god when he is about +to rise on this earth. + +[FN#250] The Hidden Body is Osiris, who lay in his sarcophagus, with +Isis and Nephthys weeping over it. + +[FN#251] The Bennu was the soul of Ra and the incarnation of Osiris. + +[FN#252] See the names of Osiris and his sanctuaries in Chapter CXLII. +of the Book of the Dead. + + + +[And Thoth said:] + +"Wake up, Horus! Thy protection is established. Make thou happy the +heart of thy mother Isis. The words of Horus shall bind up hearts, he +shall cause to be at peace him who is in affliction. Let your hearts +be happy, O ye who dwell in the heavens (Nut). Horus, he who hath +avenged (or, protected) his father shall cause the poison to retreat. +Verily that which is in the mouth of Ra shall go round about (i.e., +circulate), and the tongue of the Great God shall repulse +[opposition]. The Boat [of Ra] standeth still, and travelleth not +onwards. The Disk is in the [same] place where it was yesterday to +heal Horus for his mother Isis, and to heal him that is under the knife +of his mother[FN#253] likewise. Come to the earth, draw nigh, O Boat +of Ra, make the boat to travel, O mariners of heaven, transport +provisions (?) of . . . . . . Sekhem[FN#254] to heal Horus for his +mother Isis, and to heal him that is under the knife of his mother +likewise. Hasten away, O pain which is in the region round about, and +let it (i.e., the Boat) descend upon the place where it was yesterday +to heal Horus for his mother Isis, and to heal him that is under the +knife of his mother likewise. Get thee round and round, O bald (?) +fiend, without horns at the seasons (?), not seeing the forms through +the shadow of the two Eyes, to heal Horus for his mother Isis, and to +heal him that is under the knife likewise. Be filled, O two halves of +heaven, be empty, O papyrus roll, return, O life, into the living to +heal Horus for his it mother Isis, and to heal him that is under the +knife likewise. Come thou to earth, O poison. Let hearts be glad, and +let radiance (or, light) go round about. + + + +[FN#253] We should probably strike out the words "of his mother." + +[FN#254] The city in the Delta called by the Greeks Letopolis. + + + +"I am Thoth,[FN#255] the firstborn son, the son of Ra, and Tem and the +Company of the gods have commanded me to heal Horus for his mother +Isis, and to heal him that is under the knife likewise. O Horus, O +Horus, thy Ka protecteth thee, and thy Image worketh protection for +thee. The poison is as the daughter of its [own] flame; [it is] +destroyed [because] it smote the strong son. Your temples are in good +condition for you, [for] Horus liveth for his mother, and he who is +under the knife likewise." + + + +[FN#255] Thoth stood by during the fight between Horus and Set, and +healed the wounds which they inflicted on each other. + + + +And the goddess Isis said: + + +"Set thou his face towards those who dwell in the North Land (Ateh), +the nurses who dwell in the city Pe-Tept (Buto), for they have offered +very large offerings in order to cause the child to be made strong for +his mother, and to make strong him that is under the knife likewise. +Do not allow them to recognize the divine Ka in the Swamp Land, in the +city (?) of Nemhettu (?) [and] in her city." + + +Then spake Thoth unto the great gods who dwell in the Swamp-Land +[saying]: "O ye nurses who dwell in the city of Pe, who smite [fiends] +with your hands, and overthrow [them] with your arms on behalf of that +Great One who appeareth in front of you [in] the Sektet Boat,[FN#256] +let the Matet[FN#257] (Mantchet) Boat travel on. Horus is to you, he +is counted up for life, and he is declared for the life of his father +[Osiris]. I have given gladness unto those who are in the Sektet Boat, +and the mariners [of Ra] make it to journey on. Horus liveth for his +mother Isis and he who is under the knife liveth for his mother +likewise. As for the poison, the strength thereof has been made +powerless. Verily I am a favoured one, and I will join myself to his +hour[FN#258] to hurl back the report of evil to him that sent it forth. +The heart of Ra-Heru-Khuti rejoiceth. Thy son Horus is counted up for +life [which is] on this child to make him to smite, and to retreat (?) +from those who are above, and to turn back the paths of the Sebiu +fiends from him, so that he may take possession of the throne of the +Two Lands. Ra is in heaven to make answer on 251 behalf of him and his +father. The words of power of his mother have lifted up his face, and +they protect him and enable him to go round about wheresoever he +pleaseth, and to set the terror of him in celestial beings. I have +made haste . . . . . ." + + +[FN#256] The boat in which Ra travelled from noon to sunset, or +perhaps until midnight. + + +[FN#257] The boat in which Ra travelled from dawn, or perhaps from +midnight, to noon. + +[FN#258] i.e., I will be with him at the moment of his need. + + + + + +THE HISTORY OF ISIS AND OSIRIS, + + +WITH EXPLANATIONS OF THE SAME, COLLECTED BY PLUTARCH, AND SUPPLEMENTED +BY HIS OWN VIEWS. + + + + +I. Though it be the wise man's duty, O Clea,[FN#259] to apply to the +gods for every good thing which he hopes to enjoy, yet ought he more +especially to pray to them for their assistance in his search after +that knowledge which more immediately regards themselves, as far as +such knowledge may be attained, inasmuch as there is nothing which they +can bestow more truly beneficial to mankind, or more worthy themselves, +than truth. For whatever other good things are indulged to the wants +of men, they have all, properly speaking, no relation to, and are of a +nature quite different from, that of their divine donors. For 'tis not +the abundance of their gold and silver, nor the command of the thunder, +but wisdom and knowledge which constitute the power and happiness of +those heavenly beings. It is therefore well observed by Homer (Iliad, +xiii. 354), and indeed with more propriety than be usually talks of the +gods, when, speaking of Zeus and Poseidon, he tells us that both were +descended from the same parents, and born in the same region, but that +Zeus was the elder and knew most; plainly intimating thereby that the +empire of the former was more august and honourable than that of his +brother, as by means of his age he was his superior, and more advanced +in wisdom and science. Nay, 'tis my opinion, I own, that even the +blessedness of that eternity which is the portion of the Deity himself +consists in that universal knowledge of all nature which accompanies +it; for setting this aside, eternity might be more properly styled an +endless duration than an enjoyment of existence. + + + +[FN#259] She is said to have been a priestess of Isis and of Apollo +Delphicus. + + + +II. To desire, therefore, and covet after truth, those truths more +especially which concern the divine nature, is to aspire to be +partakers of that nature itself, and to profess that all our studies +and inquiries are devoted to the acquisition of holiness. This +occupation is surely more truly religious than any external +purifications or mere service of the temple can be. But more +especially must such a disposition of mind be highly acceptable to that +goddess to whose service you are dedicated, for her especial +characteristics are wisdom and foresight, and her very name seems to +express the peculiar relation which she bears to knowledge. For +"Isis"[FN#260] is a Greek word, and means "knowledge," and +"Typhon,"[FN#261] the name of her professed adversary, is also a Greek +word, and means "pride and insolence." This latter name is well +adapted to one who, full of ignorance and error, tears in pieces and +conceals that holy doctrine which the goddess collects, compiles, and +delivers to those who aspire after the most perfect participation in +the divine nature. This doctrine inculcates a steady perseverance in +one uniform and temperate course of life, and an abstinence from +particular kinds of foods, as well as from all indulgence of the carnal +appetite, and it restrains the intemperate and voluptuous part within +due bounds, and at the same time habituates her votaries to undergo +those austere and rigid ceremonies which their religion obliges them to +observe. The end and aim of all these toils and labours is the +attainment of the knowledge of the First and Chief Being, who alone is +the object of the understanding of the mind; and this knowledge the +goddess invites us to seek after, as being near and dwelling +continually with her. And this also is what the very name of her +temple promiseth to us, that is to say, the knowledge and understanding +of the eternal and self-existent Being (tou ontas)-now, it is called +"Iseion," which suggests that if we approach the temple of the goddess +rightly, and with purity, we shall obtain the knowledge of that eternal +and self-existent Being (to on). + + + +[FN#260] The Egyptian form of the name is As-T, ####, ####, or ####. +Plutarch wishes to derive the name from some form of {greek oida}. + +[FN#261] In Egyptian, Tebh. + + + +III. The goddess Isis is said by some authors to be the +daughter[FN#262] of Hermes, [FN#263] and by others of Prometheus, both +of them famous for their philosophic turn of mind. The latter is +supposed to have first taught mankind wisdom and foresight, as the +former is reputed to have invented letters and music. + + + +[FN#262] According to the Egyptian Heliopolitan doctrine, Isis was the +daughter of Keb, the Earth-god, and Nut, the Sky-goddess; she was the +wife of Osiris, mother of Horus, and sister of Set and Nephthys. + +[FN#263] The Egyptian. Tehuti, or Thoth, who invented letters, +mathematics, &c. He was the "heart of Ra," the scribe of the gods, and +he uttered the words which created the world; he composed the "words of +power," or magical formulae which were beneficial for the dead, and the +religious works which were used by souls in their journey from this +world to the next. + + + + +They likewise call the former of the two Muses at Hermopolis[FN#264] +Isis as well as Dikaiosune,[FN#265] she being none other, it is said, +than Wisdom pointing out the knowledge of divine truths to her +votaries, the true Hierophori and Hierostoli. Now, by the former of +these are meant such who carry about them looked up in their souls, as +in a chest, the sacred doctrine concerning the gods, purified from all +such superfluities as superstition may have added thereto. And the +holy apparel with which the Hierostoli adorn the statues of these +deities, which is partly of a dark and gloomy and partly of a more +bright and shining colour, seems aptly enough to represent the notions +which this doctrine teaches us to entertain of the divine nature +itself, partly clear and partly obscure. And inasmuch as the devotees +of Isis after their decease are wrapped up in these sacred vestments, +is not this intended to signify that this holy doctrine still abides +with them, and that this alone accompanies them in another life? For +as 'tis not the length of the beard or the coarseness of the habit +which makes a philosopher, so neither will these frequent shavings, or +the mere wearing of a linen vestment, constitute a votary of Isis. He +alone is a true servant or follower of this goddess who, after he has +heard, and has been made acquainted in a proper manner with the history +of the actions of these gods, searches into the hidden truths which lie +concealed under them, and examines the whole by the dictates of reason +and philosophy. + + + + + +[FN#264] The Hermopolis here referred to is the city of Khemenu in +Upper Egypt, wherein was the great sanctuary of Thoth. + +[FN#265] i.e., Righteousness, or Justice. The goddess referred to is +probably Maat. + + + +IV. Nor, indeed, ought such an examination to be looked on as +unnecessary whilst there are so many ignorant of the true reason even +of the most ordinary rites observed by the Egyptian priests, such as +their shavings[FN#266] and wearing linen garments. Some, indeed, there +are who never trouble themselves to think at all about these matters, +whilst others rest satisfied with the most superficial accounts of +them: "They pay a peculiar veneration to the sheep,[FN#267] therefore +they think it their duty not only to abstain from eating its flesh, but +likewise from wearing its wool. They are continually mourning for +their gods, therefore they shave themselves. The light azure blossom +of the flax resembles the clear and bloomy colour of the ethereal sky, +therefore they wear linen"; whereas the true reason of the institution +and observation of these rites is but one, and that common to all of +them, namely, the extraordinary notions which they entertain of +cleanliness, persuaded as they are, according to the saying of Plato, +"none but the pure ought to approach the pure." Now, no superfluity of +our food, and no excrementitious substance, is looked upon by them as +pure and clean; such, however, are all kinds of wool and down, our hair +and our nails. It would be the highest absurdity, therefore, for those +who, whilst; they are in a course of purification, are at so much pains +to take off the hair from every part of their own bodies, at the same +time to clothe themselves with that of other animals. So when we are +told by Hesiod "not to pare our nails whilst we are present at the +festivals of the gods,"[FN#268] we ought to understand that he intended +hereby to inculcate that purity wherewith we ought to come prepared +before we enter upon any religious duty, that we have not to make +ourselves clean whilst we ought to be occupied in attending to the +solemnity itself. Now, with regard to flax, this springs out of the +immortal earth itself; and not only produces a fruit fit for food, but +moreover furnishes a light and neat sort of clothing, extremely +agreeable to the wearer, adapted to all the seasons of the year, and +not in the least subject, as is said, to produce or nourish vermin; but +more of this in another place. + + + + + +[FN#266] A rubric in the papyrus of Nes-Menu in the British Museum +orders the priestesses of Isis and Nephthys to have "the hair of their +bodies shaved off" (No. 10,188, col. 1), but they are also ordered to +wear fillets of rams' wool on their heads. + +[FN#267] Probably the ram of Amen. Animal sacrifices were invariably +bulls and cows. + + +[FN#268] This saying is by Pythagoras--{greek Para dusian +mh`onuxizou}. The saying of Hesiod (Works and Days, 740) is rendered +by Goodwin:-- + + +"Not at a feast of Gods from five-branched tree, +With sharp-edged steel to part the green from dry." + + + +V. Now, the priests are so scrupulous in endeavouring to avoid +everything which may tend to the increase of the above-mentioned +excrementitious substances, that, on this account, they abstain not +only from most sorts of pulse, and from the flesh of sheep and swine, +but likewise, in their more solemn purifications, they even exclude +salt from their meals. This they do for many reasons, but chiefly +because it whets their appetites, and incites them to eat more than +they otherwise would. Now, as to salt being accounted impure because, +as Aristagoras tells us, many little insects are caught in it whilst it +is hardening, and are thereby killed therein-this view is wholly +trifling and absurd. From these same motives also they give the Apis +Bull his water from a well specially set apart for the purpose,[FN#269] +and they prevent him altogether from drinking of the Nile, not indeed +that they regard the river as impure, and polluted because of the +crocodiles which are in it, as some pretend, for there is nothing which +the Egyptians hold in greater veneration than the Nile, but because its +waters are observed to be particularly nourishing[FN#270] and +fattening. And they strive to prevent fatness in Apis as well as in +themselves, for they are anxious that their bodies should sit as light +and easy about their souls as possible, and that their mortal part +should not oppress and weigh down the divine and immortal. + + + + + +[FN#269] It is quite possible that Apis drank from a special well, but +the water in it certainly came from the Nile by infiltration. In all +the old wells at Memphis the water sinks as the Nile sinks, and rises +as it rises. + +[FN#270] On account of the large amount of animal matter contained in +it. + + + +VI. The priests of the Sun at Heliopolis[FN#271] never carry wine into +their temples, for they regard it as indecent for those who are devoted +to the service of any god to indulge in the drinking of wine whilst +they are under the immediate inspection of their Lord and King.[FN#272] +The priests of the other deities are not so scrupulous in this respect, +for they use it, though sparingly. During their more solemn +purifications they abstain from wine wholly, and they give themselves +up entirely to study and meditation, and to the hearing and teaching of +those divine truths which treat of the divine nature. Even the kings, +who are likewise priests, only partake of wine in the measure which is +prescribed for them in the sacred books, as we are told by Hecataeus. +This custom was only introduced during the reign of Psammetichus, and +before that time they drank no wine at all. If they used it at any +time in pouring out libations to the gods, it was not because they +looked upon it as being acceptable to them for its own sake, but they +poured it out over their altars as the blood of their enemies who had +in times past fought against them. For they believe the vine to have +first sprung out of the earth after it was fattened by the bodies of +those who fell in the wars against the gods. And this, they say, is +the reason why drinking its juice in great quantities makes men mad and +beside themselves, filling them, as it were, with the blood of their +own ancestors. These things are thus related by Eudoxus in the second +book of his Travels, as he had them from the priests themselves. + + + + +[FN#271] Called ANU in the Egyptian texts; it was the centre of the +great solar cult of Egypt. It is the "On" of the Bible. + +[FN#272] The Sun-god was called Ra. + + + +VII. As to sea-fish, the Egyptians in general do not abstain from all +kinds of them, but some from one sort and some from another. Thus, for +example, the inhabitants of Oxyrhynchus[FN#273] will not touch any that +have been taken with an angle; for as they pay especial reverence to +the Oxyrhynchus Fish,[FN#274] from whence they derive their name, they +are afraid lest perhaps the hook may be defiled by having been at some +time or other employed in catching their favourite fish. The people of +Syene[FN#275] in like manner abstain from the Phagrus Fish[FN#276]; for +as this fish is observed by them to make his first appearance upon +their coasts just as the Nile begins to overflow, they pay special +regard to these voluntary messengers as it were of that most joyful +news. The priests, indeed, entirely abstain from all sorts in +general.[FN#277] Therefore, upon the ninth day of the first month, +when all the rest of the Egyptians are obliged by their religion to eat +a fried fish before the door of their houses, they only burn them, not +tasting them at all. For this custom they give two reasons: the first +and most curious, as falling in with the sacred philosophy of Osiris +and Typhon, will be more properly explained in another place. The +second, that which is most obvious and manifest, is that fish is +neither a dainty nor even a necessary kind of food, a fact which seems +to be abundantly confirmed by the writings of Homer, who never makes +either the delicate Pheacians or the Ithacans (though both peoples were +islanders) to feed upon fish, nor even the companions of Ulysses during +their long and most tedious voyage, till they were reduced thereto by +extreme necessity. In short, they consider the sea to have been forced +out of the earth by the power of fire, and therefore to lie out of +nature's confines; and they regard it not as a part of the world, or +one of the elements, but as a preternatural and corrupt and morbid +excrement. + + + +[FN#273] The Per-Matchet. + +[FN#274] Probably the pike, or "fighting fish." + +[FN#275] In Egyptian, SUNU, the Seweneh of the Bible, and the modern +Aswan. + + +[FN#276] A kind of bream, the an of the Egyptian texts. + +[FN#277] Compare Chap. CXXXVIIA of the Book of the Dead. "And behold, +these things shall be performed by a man who is clean, and is +ceremonially pure, one who hath eaten neither meat nor fish, and who +hath not had intercourse with women" (ll. 52, 53). + + + +VIII. This much may be depended upon: the, religious rites and +ceremonies of the Egyptians were never instituted upon irrational +grounds, never built upon mere fable and superstition, but founded with +a view to promote the morality and happiness of those who were to +observe them, or at least to preserve the memory of some valuable piece +of history, or to represent to us some of the phenomena of nature. As +concerning the abhorrence which is expressed for onions, it is wholly +improbable that this detestation is owing to the loss of Diktys, who, +whilst he was under the guardianship of Isis, is supposed to have +fallen into the river and to have been drowned as he was reaching after +a bunch of them. No, the true reason of their abstinence from onions +is because they are observed to flourish most and to be in the greatest +vigour at the wane of the moon, and also because they are entirely +useless to them either in their feasts[FN#278] or in their times of +abstinence and purification, for in the former case they make tears +come from those who use them, and in the latter they create thirst. +For much the same reason they likewise look upon the pig as an impure +animal, and to be avoided, observing it to be most apt to engender upon +the decrease of the moon, and they think that those who drink its milk +are more subject to leprosy and such-like cutaneous diseases than +others. The custom of abstaining from the flesh of the pig[FN#279] is +not always observed, for those who sacrifice a sow to Typhon once a +year, at the full moon, afterwards eat its flesh. The reason they give +for this practice is this: Typhon being in pursuit of this animal at +that season of the moon, accidentally found the wooden chest wherein +was deposited the body of Osiris, which he immediately pulled to +pieces. This story, however, is not generally admitted, there being +some who look upon it, as they do many other relations of the same +kind, as founded upon some mistake or misrepresentation. All agree, +however, in saying that so great was the abhorrence which the ancient +Egyptians expressed for whatever tended to promote luxury, expense, and +voluptuousness, that in order to expose it as much as possible they +erected a column in one of the temples of Thebes, full of curses +against their king Meinis, who first drew them off from their former +frugal and parsimonious course of life. The immediate cause for the +erection of the pillar is thus given: Technatis,[FN#280] the father of +Bocchoris, leading an army against the Arabians, and his baggage and +provisions not coming up to him as soon as he expected, was therefore +obliged to eat some of the very poor food which was obtainable, and +having eaten, he lay down on the bare ground and slept very soundly. +This gave him a great affection for a mean and frugal diet, and induced +him to curse the memory of Meinis, and with the permission of the +priests he made these curses public by cutting them upon a +pillar.[FN#281] + + + +[FN#278] Bunches of onions were offered to the dead at all periods of +Egyptian history, and they were regarded as typical of the "white +teeth" of Horus. The onion was largely used in medicine. + +[FN#279] The pig was associated with Set, or Typhon, and the black +variety was specially abominated because it was a black pig which +struck Horus in the eye, and damaged it severely. See Book of the +Dead, Chap. CXII. + +[FN#280] In Egyptian, TAFNEKHT, the first king of the XXIVth Dynasty. + +[FN#281] An unlikely story, for Tafnekht had no authority at Thebes. + + + +IX. Now, the kings of Egypt were always chosen either out of the +soldiery or priesthood, the former order being honoured and respected +for its valour, and the latter for its wisdom. If the choice fell upon +a soldier, he was immediately initiated into the order of priests, and +by them instructed in their abstruse and hidden philosophy, a +philosophy for the most part involved in fable and allegory, and +exhibiting only dark hints and obscure resemblances of the truth. This +the priesthood hints to us in many instances, particularly by the +sphinxes, which they seem to have placed designedly before their +temples as types of the enigmatical nature of their theology. To this +purpose, likewise, is that inscription which they have engraved upon +the base of the statue of Athene[FN#282] at Sais, whom they identify +with Isis: "I am everything that has been, that is, and that shall be: +and my veil no man hath raised." In like manner the word "Amoun," or +as it is expressed in the Greek language, "Ammon," which is generally +looked upon as the proper name of the Egyptian Zeus, is interpreted by +Manetho[FN#283] the Sebennite[FN#284] to signify "concealment" or +"something which is hidden."[FN#285] Hecataeus of Abdera indeed tells +us that the Egyptians make use of this term when they call out to one +another. If this be so, then their invoking Amoun is the same thing as +calling upon the supreme being, whom they believe to be "hidden" and +"concealed" in the universal nature, to appear and manifest itself to +them. So cautious and reserved was the Egyptian wisdom in those things +which appertained to religion. + + + +[FN#282] The Egyptian goddess Net, in Greek {greek Nhid}, the great +goddess of Sais, in the Western Delta. She was self-existent, and +produced her son, the Sun-god, without union with a god. In an address +to her, quoted by Mallet (Culte de Neit, p. 140), are found the words, +"thy garment hath not been unloosed," thus Plutarch's quotation is +correct. + +[FN#283] He compiled a History of Egypt for Ptolemy II., and +flourished about B.C. 270; only the King-List from this work is +preserved. + +[FN#284] He was a native of the town of Sebennytus. + +[FN#285] Amen means "hidden," and AMEN is the "hidden god." + + + +X. And this is still farther evinced from those voyages which have +been made into Egypt by the wisest men among the Greeks, namely, by +Solo, Thales Plato, Eudoxus, Pythagoras, and, as some say, even by +Lycurgus himself, on purpose to converse with the priests. And we are +also told that Eudoxus was a disciple of Chnouphis the Memphite, Solo +of Sonchis the Saite, and Pythagoras of Oinuphis the Heliopolite. But +none of these philosophers seems either to have been more admired and +in greater favour with the priests, or to have paid a more especial +regard to their method of philosophising, than this last named, who has +particularly imitated their mysterious and symbolical manner in his own +writings, and like them conveyed his doctrines to the world in a kind +of riddle. For many of the precepts of Pythagoras come nothing short +of the hieroglyphical representations themselves, such as, "eat not in +a chariot," "sit not on a measure (choenix)," "plant not a palm-tree," +and "stir not the fire with a sword in the house." And I myself am of +the opinion that, when the Pythagoreans appropriated the names of +several of the gods to particular numbers, as that of Apollo to the +unit, of Artemis to the duad, of Athene to the seven, and of Poseidon +to the first cube, in this they allude to something which the founder +of their sect saw in the Egyptian temples, or to some ceremonies +performed in them, or to some symbols there exhibited. Thus, their +great king and lord Osiris is represented by the hieroglyphics for an +eye and a sceptre,[FN#286] the name itself signifying "many-eyed," as +we are told by some[FN#287] who would derive it from the words +os,[FN#288] "many," and iri,[FN#289] an "eye," which have this meaning +in the Egyptian language. Similarly, because the heavens are eternal +and are never consumed or wax old, they represent them by a heart with +a censer placed under it. Much in the same way are those statues of +the Judges at Thebes without hands, and their chief, or president, is +represented with his eyes turned downwards, which signifies that +justice ought not to be obtainable by bribes, nor guided by favour or +affection. Of a like nature is the Beetle which we see engraven upon +the seals of the soldiers, for there is no such thing as a female +beetle of this species; for they are all males, and they propagate +their kind by casting their seed into round balls of dirt, which afford +not only a proper place wherein the young may be hatched, but also +nourishment for them as soon as they are born. + + + + +[FN#286] The oldest form of the name is As-Ar, ####; the first sign, +####, is a throne, and the second, ####, is an eye, but the exact +meaning represented by the two signs is not known. In late times a +sceptre, #### took the place of the throne, but only because of its +phonetic value as or us. Thus we have the forms #### and ####. + +[FN#287] This is a mistake. + + +[FN#288] In Egyptian, #### ash, "many." + +[FN#289] In Egyptian, #### art, Coptic ####, "eye." + + + + +XI. When you hear, therefore, the mythological tales which the +Egyptians tell of their gods, their wanderings, their mutilations, and +many other disasters which befell them, remember what has just been +said, and be assured that nothing of what is thus told you is really +true, or ever happened in fact. For can it be imagined that it is the +dog[FN#290] itself which is reverenced by them under the name of +Hermes[FN#291]? It is the qualities of this animal, his constant +vigilance, and his acumen in distinguishing his friends from his foes, +which have rendered him, as Plato says, a meet emblem of that god who +is the chief patron of intelligence. Nor can we imagine that they +think that the sun, like a newly born babe, springs up every day out of +a lily. It is quite true that they represent the rising sun in this +manner,[FN#292] but the reason is because they wish to indicate thereby +that it is moisture to which we owe the first kindling of this +luminary. In like manner, the cruel and bloody king of Persia, Ochus, +who not only put to death great numbers of the people, but even slew +the Apis Bull himself, and afterwards served him up in a banquet to his +friends, is represented by them by a sword, and by this name he is +still to be found in the catalogue of their kings. This name, +therefore, does not represent his person, but indicates his base and +cruel qualities, which were best suggested by the picture of an +instrument of destruction. If, therefore, O Clea, you will hear and +entertain the story of these gods from those who know how to explain it +consistently with religion and philosophy, if you will steadily persist +in the observance of all these holy rites which the laws require of +you, and are moreover fully persuaded that to form true notions of the +divine nature is more acceptable to them than any sacrifice or mere +external act of worship can be, you will by this means be entirely +exempt from any danger of falling into superstition, an evil no less to +be avoided than atheism itself. + + + +[FN#290] The animal here referred to must be the dog-headed ape, ####, +which we see in pictures of the Judgment assisting Thoth to weigh the +heart of the dead. This dog-headed ape is a wonderfully intelligent +creature, and its weird cleverness is astonishing. + +[FN#291] The Egyptian Tehuti, or Thoth. + +[FN#292] ####. + + + +XII. Now, the story of Isis and Osiris, its most insignificant and +superfluous parts being omitted, runs thus:-- + +The goddess Rhea,[FN#293] they say, having accompanied with +Kronos[FN#294] by stealth, was discovered by Helios[FN#295] who +straightway cursed her, and declared that she should not be delivered +in any month or year. Hermes, however, 'being also in love with the +same goddess, in return for the favours which he had received from her, +went and played at dice with Selene,[FN#296] and won from her the +seventieth part of each day. These parts he joined together and made +from them five complete days, and he added them to the three hundred +and sixty days of which the year formerly consisted. These five days +are to this day called the "Epagomenae,"[FN#297] that is, the +superadded, and they are observed by them as the birthdays of their +gods.[FN#298] On the first of these, they say, Osiris was born, and as +he came into the world a voice was heard saying, "The Lord of +All[FN#299] is born." Some relate the matter in a different way, and +say that a certain person named Pamyles, as he was fetching water from +the temple of Dios at Thebes, heard a voice commanding him to proclaim +aloud that the good and great king Osiris was then born, and that for +this reason Kronos committed the education of the child to him, and +that in memory of this event the Pamylia were afterwards instituted, +which closely resemble the Phallephoria or Priapeia of the Greeks. +Upon the second of these days was born Aroueris,[FN#300] whom some call +Apollo, and others the Elder Horus. Upon the third day Typhon was +born, who came into the world neither at the proper time nor by the +right way, but he forced a passage through a wound which he made in his +mother's side. Upon the fourth day Isis was born, in the marshes of +Egypt,[FN#301] and upon the fifth day Nephthys, whom some call Teleute, +or Aphrodite, or Nike, was born. As regards the fathers of these +children, the first two are said to have been begotten by Helios, Isis +by Hermes, and Typhon and Nephthys by Kronos. Therefore, since the +third of the superadded days was the birthday of Typhon, the kings +considered it to be unlucky,[FN#302] and in consequence they neither +transacted any business in it, nor even suffered themselves to take any +refreshment until the evening. They further add that Typhon married +Nephthys,[FN#303] and that Isis and Osiris, having a mutual affection, +enjoyed each other in their mother's womb before they were born, and +that from this commerce sprang Aroueris, whom the Egyptians likewise +call Horus the Elder, and the Greeks Apollo. + + + +[FN#293] i.e., Nut, the Sky-goddess. + +[FN#294] i.e., Keb, the Earth-god. + +[FN#295] i.e., Ra. + +[FN#296] i.e., Aah. + +[FN#297] In Egyptian, "the five days over the year," + +[FN#298] In Egyptian thus:-- +I. Birthday of Osiris, +II. Birthday of Horus, +III. Birthday of Set, +IV. Birthday of Isis, +V. Birthday of Nephthys + +[FN#299] One of the chief titles of Osiris was Neb er tcher, i.e., +"lord to the uttermost limit of everything." + +[FN#300] i.e., Heru-ur, "Horus the Elder." + +[FN#301] It was Horus, son of Isis, who was born in the marshes of +Egypt. + +[FN#302] This day is described as unlucky in the hieroglyphic texts. + +[FN#303] Set and Nephthys are regarded as husband and wife in the +texts; their offspring was Anubis, Anpu. + + + +XIII. Osiris having become king of Egypt, applied himself to +civilizing his countrymen by turning them from their former indigent +and barbarous course of life. He taught them how to cultivate and +improve the fruits of the earth, and he gave them a body of laws +whereby to regulate their conduct, and instructed them in the reverence +and worship which they were to pay to the gods. With the same good +disposition he afterwards travelled over the rest of the world, +inducing the people everywhere to submit to his discipline, not indeed +compelling them by force of arms, but persuading them to yield to the +strength of his reasons, which were conveyed to them in the most +agreeable manner, in hymns and songs, accompanied with instruments of +music. From this last circumstance the Greeks identified him with +their Dionysos, or Bacchus. During the absence of Osiris from his +kingdom, Typhon had no opportunity of making any innovations in the +state, Isis being extremely vigilant in the government, and always upon +her guard. After his return, however, having first persuaded seventy- +two other people to join with him in the conspiracy, together with a +certain queen of Ethiopia called Aso, who chanced to be in Egypt at +that time, he formed a crafty plot against him. For having privily +taken the measure of the body of Osiris, he caused a chest to be made +of exactly the same size, and it was very beautiful and highly +decorated. This chest he brought into a certain banqueting room, where +it was greatly admired by all who were present, and Typhon, as if in +jest, promised to give it to that man whose body when tried would be +found to fit it. Thereupon the whole company, one after the other, +went into it, but it did not fit any of them; last of all Osiris +himself lay down in it. Thereupon all the conspirators ran to the +chest, and clapped the cover upon it, and then they fastened it down +with nails on the outside, and poured melted lead over it. They next +took the chest to the river, which carried it to the sea through the +Tanaitic mouth of the Nile; and for this reason this mouth of the Nile +is still held in the utmost abomination by the Egyptians, and is never +mentioned by them except with marks of detestation. These things, some +say, took place on the seventeenth day of the month of Hathor, when the +sun was in Scorpio, in the twenty-eighth year of the reign of Osiris, +though others tell us that this was the year of his life and not of his +reign. + + + +XIV. The first who had knowledge of the accident which had befallen +their king were the Pans and Satyrs, who inhabited the country round +about Chemmis,[FN#304] and they having informed the people about it, +gave the first occasion to the name of Panic Terrors, which has ever +since been made use of to signify any sudden fright or amazement of a +multitude. As soon as the report reached Isis, she immediately cut off +one of the locks of her hair, and put on mourning apparel in that very +place where she happened to be; for this reason the place has ever +since been called "Koptos," or the "city of mourning," though some are +of opinion that this word rather signifies "deprivation." After this +she wandered round about through the country, being full of disquietude +and perplexity, searching for the chest, and she inquired of every +person she met, including some children whom she saw, whether they knew +what was become of it. Now, it so happened that these children had +seen what Typhon's accomplices had done with the body, and they +accordingly told her by what mouth of the Nile it had been conveyed to +the sea. For this reason the Egyptians look upon children as endued +with a kind of faculty of divining, and in consequence of this notion +are very curious in observing the accidental prattle which they have +with one another whilst they are at play, especially if it be in a +sacred place, forming omens and presages from it. Isis meanwhile +having been informed that Osiris, deceived by her sister Nephthys, who +was in love with him, had unwittingly enjoyed her instead of herself, +as she concluded from the melilot-garland which he had left with her, +made it her business likewise to search out the child, the fruit of +this unlawful commerce (for her sister, dreading the anger of her +husband Typhon, had exposed it as soon as it was born). Accordingly, +after much pains and difficulty, by means of some dogs that conducted +her to the place where it was, she found it and bred it up; and in +process of time it became her constant guard and attendant, and +obtained the name of Anubis, and it is thought that it watches and +guards the gods as dogs do men. + + + +[FN#304] In Egyptian, Khebt, in the VIIIth nome of Lower Egypt. + + + +XV. At length Isis received more particular news that the chest had +been carried by the waves of the sea to the coast of Byblos, and there +gently lodged in the branches of a bush of tamarisk, which in a short +time had grown up into a large and beautiful tree, and had grown round +the chest and enclosed it on every side so completely that it was not +to be seen. Moreover, the king of the country, amazed at its unusual +size, had cut the tree down, and made that part of the trunk wherein +the chest was concealed into a pillar to support the roof of his house. +These things, they say, having been made known to Isis in an +extraordinary manner by the report of demons, she immediately went to +Byblos, where, setting herself down by the side of a fountain, she +refused to speak to anybody except the queen's women who chanced to be +there. These, however, she saluted and caressed in the kindest manner +possible, plaiting their hair for them, and transmitting into them part +of that wonderful odour which issued from her own body. This raised a +great desire in the queen their mistress to see the stranger who had +this admirable faculty of transfusing so fragrant a smell from herself +into the hair and skin of other people. She therefore sent for her to +court, and, after a further acquaintance with her, made her nurse to +one of her sons. Now, the name of the king who reigned at this time at +Byblos was Melkander (Melkarth?), and that of his wife was Astarte, or, +according to others, Saôsis, though some call her Nemanoun, which +answers to the Greek name Athenais. + + + +XVI. Isis nursed the child by giving it her finger to suck instead of +the breast. She likewise put him each night into the fire in order to +consume his mortal part, whilst, having transformed herself into a +swallow, she circled round the pillar and bemoaned her sad fate. This +she continued to do for some time, till the queen, who stood watching +her, observing the child to be all of a flame, cried out, and thereby +deprived him of some of that immortality which would otherwise have +been conferred upon him. The goddess then made herself known, and +asked that the pillar which supported the roof might be given to her. +Having taken the pillar down, she cut it open easily, and having taken +out what she wanted, she wrapped up the remainder of the trunk in fine +linen, and having poured perfumed oil over it, she delivered it again +into the hands of the king and queen. Now, this piece of wood is to +this day preserved in the temple, and worshipped by the people of +Byblos. When this was done, Isis threw herself upon the chest, and +made at the same time such loud and terrible cries of lamentation over +it, that the younger of the king's sons who heard her was frightened +out of his life. But the elder of them she took with her, and set sail +with the chest for Egypt. Now, it being morning the river Phaedrus +sent forth a keen and chill air, and becoming angry she dried up its +current. + + + +XVII. At the first place where she stopped, and when she believed that +she was alone, she opened the chest, and laying her face upon that of +her dead husband, she embraced him and wept bitterly. Then, seeing +that the little boy had silently stolen up behind her, and had found +out the reason of her grief, she turned upon him suddenly, and, in her +anger, gave him so fierce and terrible a look that he died of fright +immediately. Others say that his death did not happen in this manner, +but, as already hinted, that he fell into the sea. Afterwards he +received the greatest honour on account of the goddess, for this +Maneros, whom the Egyptians so frequently call upon at their banquets, +is none other than he. This story is contradicted by those who tell us +that the true name of this child was Palaestinus, or Pelusius, and that +the city of this name was built by the goddess in memory of him. And +they further add that this Maneros is thus honoured by the Egyptians at +their feasts because he was the first who invented music. Others again +state that Maneros is not the name of any particular person, but a were +customary form of complimentary greeting which the Egyptians use +towards each other at their more solemn feasts and banquets, meaning no +more by it than to wish "that what they were then about might prove +fortunate and happy to them." This is the true import of the word. In +like manner they say that the human skeleton which is carried about in +a box on festal occasions, and shown to the guests, is not designed, as +some imagine, to represent the particular misfortunes of Osiris, but +rather to remind them of their mortality, and thereby to excite them +freely to make use of and to enjoy the good things which are set before +them, seeing that they must quickly become such as they there saw. +This is the true reason for introducing the skeleton at their banquets. +But to proceed with the narrative. + + + +XVIII. When Isis had come to her son Horus, who was being reared at +Buto,[FN#305] she deposited the chest in a remote and unfrequented +place. One night, however, when Typhon was hunting by the light of the +moon, he came upon it by chance, and recognizing the body which was +enclosed in it, he tore it into several pieces, fourteen[FN#306] in +all, and scattered them in different places up and down the country. +When Isis knew what had been done, she set out in search of the +scattered portions of her husband's body; and in order to pass more +easily through the lower, marshy parts of the country, she made use of +a boat made of the papyrus plant. For this reason, they say, either +fearing the anger of the goddess, or else venerating the papyrus, the +crocodile never injures anyone who travels in this sort of +vessel.[FN#307] And this, they say, hath given rise to the report that +there are very many different sepulchres of Osiris in Egypt, for +wherever Isis found one of the scattered portions of her husband's +body, there she buried it. Others, however, contradict this story, and +tell us that the variety of sepulchres of Osiris was due rather to the +policy of the queen, who, instead of the real body, as she pretended, +presented to these cities only an image of her husband. This she did +in order to increase the honours which would by these means be paid to +his memory, and also to defeat Typhon, who, if he were victorious in +his fight against Horus in which he was about to engage, would search +for the body of Osiris, and being distracted by the number of +sepulchres would despair of ever being able to find the true one. We +are told, moreover, that notwithstanding all her efforts, Isis was +never able to discover the phallus of Osiris, which, having been thrown +into the Nile immediately upon its separation from the rest of the +body,[FN#308] had been devoured by the Lepidotus, the Phagrus, and the +Oxyrhynchus, fish which above all others, for this reason, the +Egyptians have in more especial avoidance. In order, however, to make +some amends for the loss, Isis consecrated the phallus made in +imitation of it, and instituted a solemn festival to its memory, which +is even to this day observed by the Egyptians. + + + +[FN#305] In Egyptian, the double city Pe-Tep. See the texts from the +Metternich Stele printed in this volume. + +[FN#306] The fourteen members are: head, feet, bones, arms, heart, +interior, tongue, eyes, fists, fingers, back, ears, loins, and body. +Some of the lists in Egyptian add the face of a ram and the hair. The +cities in which Isis buried the portions of his body are: Koptos, +Philae in Elephantine, Herakleopolis Magna, Kusae, Heliopolis, +Diospolis of Lower Egypt, Letopolis, Sais, Hermopolis of Lower Egypt, +Athribis, Aq (Schedia), Ab in the Libyan nome, Netert, Apis. + +[FN#307] Moses was laid in an ark of bulrushes, i.e., papyrus, and was +found uninjured. + +[FN#308] We meet with a similar statement in the Tale of the Two +Brothers, where we are told that the younger brother, having declared +his innocence to the elder brother, out off his phallus and threw it +into the river, where it was devoured by the naru fish. + + + +XIX. After these things Osiris returned from the other world, and +appeared to his son Horus, and encouraged him to fight, and at the same +time instructed him in the exercise of arms. He then asked him what he +thought was the most glorious action a man could perform, to which +Horus replied, "To revenge the injuries offered to his father[FN#309] +and mother." Osiris then asked him what animal he thought most +serviceable to a soldier, and Horus replied, "A horse." On this Osiris +wondered, and he questioned him further, asking him why he preferred a +horse to a lion, and Horus replied, "Though the lion is the more +serviceable creature to one who stands in need of help, yet is the +horse more useful in overtaking and cutting off a flying +enemy."[FN#310] These replies caused Osiris to rejoice greatly, for +they showed him that his son was sufficiently prepared for his enemy. +We are, moreover, told that amongst the great numbers who were +continually deserting from Typhon's party was his concubine +Thoueris,[FN#311] and that a serpent which pursued her as she was +coming over to Horus was slain by his soldiers. The memory of this +action is, they say, still preserved in that cord which is thrown into +the midst of their assemblies, and then chopped in pieces. Afterwards +a battle took place between Horus and Typhon, which lasted many days, +but Horus was at length victorious, and Typhon was taken prisoner. He +was delivered over into the custody of Isis, who, instead of putting +him to death, loosed his fetters and set him free. This action of his +mother incensed Horus to such a degree that he seized her, and pulled +the royal crown off her head; but Hermes came forward, and set upon her +head the head of an ox instead of a helmet.[FN#312] After this Typhon +accused Horus of illegitimacy, but, by the assistance of Hermes, his +legitimacy was fully established by a decree of the gods +themselves.[FN#313] After this two other battles were fought between +Horus and Typhon, and in both Typhon was defeated. Moreover, Isis is +said to have had union with Osiris after his death,[FN#314] and she +brought forth Harpokrates,[FN#315] who came into the world before his +time, and was lame in his lower limbs. + + + +[FN#309] The texts give as a very common title of Horus, "Horus, the +avenger of his father." + +[FN#310] There is no evidence that the Egyptians employed the horse in +war before the XVIIIth Dynasty, a fact which proves that the dialogue +here given is an invention of a much later date than the original +legend of Osiris. + +[FN#311] In Egyptian, TA-URT, the hippopotamus goddess. + +[FN#312] According to the legend given in the Fourth Sallier Papyrus, +the fight between Horus and Set began on the 26th day of the month of +Thoth, and lasted three days and three nights. It was fought in or +near the hall of the lords of Kher-aha, i.e., near Heliopolis, and in +the presence of Isis, who seems to have tried to spare both her brother +Set and her son Horus. For some reason Horus became enraged with his +mother, and attacking her like a "leopard of the south," he cut off the +head of Isis. Thereupon Thoth came forward, and using words of power, +created a substitute in the form of a cow's head, and placed it on her +body (Sallier, iv., p. 2; see Select Papyri, pl. cxlv.). + +[FN#313] Horus inherited the throne by his father's will, a fact which +is so often emphasized in the texts that it seems there may be some +ground for Plutarch's view. + +[FN#314] This view is confirmed by the words in the hymn to Osiris, +"she moved the inactivity of the Still-Heart (Osiris), she drew from +him his essence, she made an heir." + +[FN#315] In Egyptian, HERU-PA-KHART, "Horus the Child." + + + +XX. Such then are the principal circumstances of this famous story, +the more harsh and shocking parts of it, such as the cutting up of +Horus and the beheading of Isis, being omitted. Now, if such could be +supposed to be the real sentiments of the Egyptians concerning those +divine Beings whose most distinguishing characteristics are happiness +and immortality, or could it be imagined that they actually believed +what they thus tell us ever to have actually taken place, I should not +need to warn you, O Clea, you who are already sufficiently averse to +such impious and absurd notions of the God, I should not, I say, have +need to caution you, to testify your abhorrence of them, and, as +Aeschylus expresses it, "to spit and wash your mouth" after the recital +of them. In the present case, however, it is not so. And I doubt not +that you yourself are conscious of the difference between this history +and those light and idle fictions which the poets and other writers of +fables, like spiders, weave and spin out of their own imaginations, +without having any substantial ground or firm foundation to work upon. +There must have been some real distress, some actual calamity, at the +bottom as the ground-work of the narration; for, as mathematicians +assure us, the rainbow is nothing else but a variegated image of the +sun, thrown upon the sight by the reflection of his beams from the +clouds; and thus ought we to look upon the present story as the +representation, or rather reflection, of something real as its true +cause. And this notion is still farther suggested to us as well by +that solemn air of grief and sadness which appears in their sacrifices, +as by the very form and arrangement of their temples, which extend into +long avenues and open aisles in some portions,[FN#316] and in others +retreating into dark and gloomy chapels which resembled the underground +vaults which are allotted to the dead. That the history has a +substantial foundation is proved by the opinion which obtains generally +concerning the sepulchres of Osiris. There are many places wherein his +body is said to have been deposited, and among these are Abydos and +Memphis, both of which are said to contain his body. It is for this +reason, they say, that the richer and more prosperous citizens wish to +be buried in the former of these cities, being ambitious of lying, as +it were, in the grave with Osiris.[FN#317] The title of Memphis to be +regarded as the grave of Osiris seems to rest upon the fact that the +Apis Bull, who is considered to be the image of the soul of Osiris, is +kept in that city for the express purpose that it may be as near his +body as possible.[FN#318] Others again tell us that the interpretation +of the name Memphis[FN#319] is "the haven of good men," and that the +true sepulchre of Osiris lies in that little island which the Nile +makes at Philae.[FN#320] This island is, they say, inaccessible, and +neither bird can alight on it, nor fish swim near it, except at the +times when the priests go over to it from the mainland to solemnize +their customary rites to the dead, and to crown his tomb with flowers, +which, they say, is overshadowed by the branches of a tamarisk-tree, +the size of which exceeds that of an olive-tree. + + + +[FN#316] Plutarch refers to the long colonnaded courts which extend in +a straight line to the sanctuary, which often contains more than one +shrine, and to the chambers wherein temple properties, vestments, &c., +were kept. + +[FN#317] In what city the cult of Osiris originated is not known, but +it is quite certain that before the end of the VIth Dynasty Abydos +became the centre of his worship, and that he dispossessed the local +god An-Her in the affections of the people. Tradition affirmed that +the head of Osiris was preserved at Abydos in a box, and a picture of +it, #### became the symbol of the city. At Abydos a sort of miracle +play, in which all the sufferings and resurrection of Osiris were +commemorated, was performed annually, and the raising up of a model of +his body, and the placing of his head upon it, were the culminating +ceremonies. At Abydos was the famous shaft into which offerings were +cast for transmission to the dead in the Other World, and through the +Gap in the hills close by souls were believed to set out on their +journey thither. One tradition places the Elysian Fields in the +neighbourhood of Abydos. A fine stone bier, a restoration probably of +the XXVIth Dynasty, which represented the original bier of Osiris, was +discovered there by M. Amelineau. It is now in the Egyptian Museum at +Cairo. + +[FN#318] Apis is called the "life of Osiris," ####, and on the death +of the Bull, its soul went to heaven and joined itself to that of +Osiris, and it formed with him the dual-god Asar-Hep, i.e., Osiris- +Apis, or Sarapis. The famous Serapeum at Memphis was called ####. + +[FN#319] In Egyptian, Men-Nefer, i.e., "fair haven." + +[FN#320] Osiris and Isis were worshipped at Philae until the reign of +Justinian, when his general, Narses, closed the temple and carried off +the statues of the gods to Constantinople, where they were probably +melted down. + + + +XXI. Eudoxus indeed asserts that, although there are many pretended +sepulchres of Osiris in Egypt, the, place where his body actually lies +is Busiris,[FN#321] where likewise he was born.[FN#322] As to +Taphosiris, there is no need to mention it particularly, for its very +name indicates its claim to be the tomb of Osiris. There are likewise +other circumstances in the Egyptian ritual which hint to us the reality +upon which this history is grounded, such as their cleaving the trunk +of a tree, their wrapping it up in linen which they tear in pieces for +that purpose, and the libations of oil which they afterwards pour upon +it; but these I do not insist on, because they are intermixed with such +of their mysteries as may not be revealed. + + + +[FN#321] In Egyptian, Pa-Asar-neb-Tetu, "the house of Osiris, the lord +of Tetu." In the temple of Neb-Sekert, the backbone of the god was +preserved, according to one text, but another says it was his jaws(?) +and interior. + +[FN#322] This view represents a late tradition, or at all events one +which sprang up after the decay of Abydos. + + + +[FIRST EXPLANATION OF THE STORY.] + + + +XXII. Now as to those who, from many things of this kind, some of +which are proclaimed openly, and others are darkly hinted at in their +religious institutions, would conclude that the whole story is no other +than a mere commemoration of the various actions of their kings and +other great men, who, by reason of their excellent virtue and the +mightiness of their power, added to their other titles the honour of +divinity, though they afterwards fell into many and grievous +calamities, those, I say, who would in this manner account for the +various scenes above-mentioned, must be owned indeed to make use of a +very plausible method of eluding such difficulties as may arise about +this subject, and ingeniously enough to transfer the most shocking +parts of it from the divine to the human nature. Moreover, it must be +admitted that such a solution is not entirely destitute of any +appearance of historical evidence for its support. For when the +Egyptians themselves tell us that Hermes had one hand shorter than +another, that Typhon was of red complexion, Horus fair, and Osiris +black, does not this show that they were of the human species, and +subject to the same accidents as all other men?[FN#323] Nay, they go +farther, and even declare the particular work in which each was engaged +whilst alive. Thus they say that Osiris was a general, that Canopus, +from whom the star took its name, was a pilot, and that the ship which +the Greeks call Argo, being made in imitation of the ship of Osiris, +was, in honour of him, turned into a constellation and placed near +Orion and the Dog-star, the former being sacred to Horus and the latter +to Isis. + + + +[FN#323] Red is the colour attributed to all fiends in the Egyptian +texts. One of the forms of Horus is described as being "blue-eyed," +and the colour of the face of Osiris is often green, and sometimes +black. + + + +XXIII. But I am much afraid that to give in to this explanation of the +story will be to move things which ought not to be moved; and not only, +as Simonides says, "to declare war against all antiquity," but likewise +against whole families and nations who are fully possessed with the +belief in the divinity of these beings. And it would be no less than +dispossessing those great names of their heaven, and bringing them down +to the earth. It would be to shake and loosen a worship and faith +which have been firmly settled in nearly all mankind from their +infancy. It would be to open a wide door for atheism to enter in at, +and to encourage the attempts of those who would humanize the divine +nature. More particularly it would give a clear sanction and authority +to the impostures of Euhemerus the Messenian, who from mere +imagination, and without the least appearance of truth to support it, +has invented a new mythology of his own, asserting that "all those in +general who are called and declared to be gods are none other than so +many ancient generals and sea-captains and kings." Now, he says that +he found this statement written in the Panchaean dialect in letters of +gold, though in what part of the globe his Panchaeans dwell, any more +than the Tryphillians, whom he mentions at the same time with them, he +does not inform us. Nor can I learn that any other person, whether +Greek or Barbarian, except himself, has ever yet been so fortunate as +to meet with these imaginary countries. + + + + +[In Sec. XXIV. Plutarch goes on to say that the Assyrians commemorate +Semiramis, the Egyptians Sesostris, the Phrygians Manis or Masdis, the +Persians Cyrus, and the Macedonians Alexander, yet these heroes are not +regarded as gods by their peoples. The kings who have accepted the +title of gods have afterwards had to suffer the reproach of vanity and +presumption, and impiety and injustice.] + + + +[SECOND EXPLANATION OF THE STORY.] + + + +XXV. There is another and a better method which some employ in +explaining this story. They assert that what is related of Typhon, +Osiris, and Isis is not to be regarded as the afflictions of gods, or +of mere mortals, but rather as the adventures of certain great Daemons. +These beings, they say, are supposed by some of the wisest of the Greek +philosophers, that is to say, Plato, Pythagoras, Xenocrates, and +Chrysippus, in accordance with what they had learned from ancient +theologians, to be stronger and more powerful than men, and of a nature +superior to them. They are, at the same time, inferior to the pure and +unmixed nature of the gods, as partaking of the sensations of the body, +as well as of the perceptions of the soul, and consequently liable to +pain as well as pleasure, and to such other appetites and affections, +as flow from their various combinations. Such affections, however, +have a greater power and influence over some of them than over others, +just as there are different degrees of virtue and vice found in these +Daemons as well as in mankind. In like manner, the wars of the Giants +and the Titans which are so much spoken of by the Greeks, the +detestable actions of Kronos, the combats between Apollo and the +Python, the flights of Dionysos, and the wanderings of Demeter, are +exactly of the same nature as the adventures of Osiris and Typhon. +Therefore, they all are to be accounted for in the same manner, and +every treatise of mythology will readily furnish us with an abundance +of other similar instances. The same thing may also be affirmed of +those other things which are so carefully concealed under the cover of +mysteries and imitations. + + + +[In Sec. XXVI. Plutarch points out that Homer calls great and good men +"god-like" and "God's compeers," but the word Daemon is applied to the +good and bad indifferently (see Odyssey, vi. 12; Iliad, xiii. 810, v. +438, iv. 31, &c.). Plato assigns to the Olympian Gods good things and +the odd numbers, and the opposite to the Daemons. Xenocrates believed +in the existence of a series of strong and powerful beings which take +pleasure in scourgings and fastings, &c. Hesiod speaks of "holy +daemons" (Works and Days, 126) and "guardians of mankind," and +"bestowers of wealth," and these are regarded by Plato as a "middle +order of beings between the gods and men, interpreters of the wills of +the gods to men, and ministering to their wants, carrying the prayers +and supplications of mortals to heaven, and bringing down thence in +return oracles and all other blessings of life." Empedocles thought +that the Daemons underwent punishment, and that when chastened and +purified they were restored to their original state.] + + + + +[Sec. XXVII. To this class belonged Typhon, who was punished by Isis. In +memory of all she had done and suffered, she established certain rites +and mysteries which were to be types and images of her deeds, and +intended these to incite people to piety, and, to afford them +consolation. Isis and Osiris were translated from good Daemons into +gods, and the honours due to them are rightly of a mixed kind, being +those due to gods and Daemons. Osiris is none other than Pluto, and +Isis is not different from Proserpine.] + + + +[Sec. XXX. Typhon is held by the Egyptians in the greatest contempt, and +they do all they can to vilify him. The colour red being associated +with him, they treat with contumely all those who have a ruddy +complexion; the ass[FN#324] being usually of a reddish colour, the men +of Koptos are in the habit of sacrificing asses by casting them down +precipices. The inhabitants of Busiris and Lycopolis never use +trumpets, because their sounds resemble the braying of an ass. The +cakes which are offered at the festivals during Paoni and Paopi are +stamped with the figure of a fettered ass. The Pythagoreans regarded +Typhon as a daemon, and according to them he was produced in the even +number fifty-six; and Eudoxus says that a figure of fifty-six angles +typifies the nature of Typhon.] + + + +[FN#324] The ass is associated with Set, or Typhon, in the texts, but +on account of his virility he also typifies a form of the Sun-god. In +a hymn the deceased prays, "May I smite the Ass, may I crush the +serpent-fiend Sebau," but the XLth Chapter of the Book of the Dead is +entitled, "Chapter of driving back the Eater of the Ass." The vignette +shows us the deceased in the act of spearing a monster serpent which +has fastened its jaws in the back of an ass. In Chapter CXXV. there is +a dialogue between the Cat and the Ass. + + + +[Sec. XXXI. The Egyptians only sacrifice red-coloured bulls, and a single +black or white hair in the animal's head disqualifies it for sacrifice. +They sacrifice creatures wherein the souls of the wicked have been +confined, and through this view arose the custom of cursing the animal +to be sacrificed, and cutting off its bead and throwing it into the +Nile. No bullock is sacrificed which has not on it the seal of the +priests who were called "Sealers." The impression from this seal +represents a man upon his knees, with his hands tied behind him, and a +sword pointed at his throat. The ass is identified with Typhon not +only because of his colour, but also because of his stupidity and the +sensuality of his disposition. The Persian king Ochus was nicknamed +the "Ass," which made him to say, "This ass shall dine upon your ox," +and accordingly he slew Apis. Typhon is said to have escaped from +Horus by a flight of seven days on an ass.] + + + +[THIRD EXPLANATION OF THE STORY.] + + + +XXXII. Such then are the arguments of those who endeavour to account +for the above-mentioned history of Isis and Osiris upon a supposition +that they were of the order of Daemons; but there are others who +pretend to explain it upon other principles, and in more philosophical +manner. To begin, then, with those whose reasoning is the most simple +and obvious. As the Greeks allegorize their Kronos into Time, and +their Hera into Air, and tell us that the birth of Hephaistos is no +other but the change of air into fire, so these philosophers say that +by Osiris the Egyptians mean the Nile, by Isis that part of the country +which Osiris, or the Nile, overflows, and by Typhon the sea, which, by +receiving the Nile as it runs into it, does, as it were, tear it into +many pieces, and indeed entirely destroys it, excepting only so much of +it as is admitted into the bosom of the earth in its passage over it, +which is thereby rendered fertile. The truth of this explanation is +confirmed, they say, by that sacred dirge which they make over Osiris +when they bewail "him who was born on the right side of the world and +who perished on the left."[FN#325] For it must be observed that the +Egyptians look upon the east as the front or face of the world,[FN#326] +upon the north as its right side,[FN#327] and upon the south as its +left.[FN#328] As, therefore, the Nile rises in the south, and running +directly northwards is at last swallowed up by the sea, it may rightly +enough be said to be born on the right and to perish on the left side. +This conclusion, they say, is still farther strengthened from that +abhorrence which the priests express towards the sea, as well as salt, +which they call "Typhon's foam." And amongst their prohibitions is one +which forbids salt being laid on their tables. And do they not also +carefully avoid speaking to pilots, because this class of men have much +to do with the sea and get their living by it? And this is not the +least of their reasons for the great dislike which they have for fish, +and they even make the fish a symbol of "hatred," as is proved by the +pictures which are to be seen on the porch of the temple of Neith at +Sais. The first of these is a child, the second is an old man, the +third is a hawk, and then follow a fish and a hippopotamus. The +meaning of all these is evidently, "O you who are coming into the +world, and you who are going out of it (i.e., both young and old), God +hateth impudence." For by the child is indicated "all those who are +coming into life"; by the old man, "those who are going out of it"; by +the hawk, "God"; by the fish, "hatred," on account of the sea, as has +been before stated; and by the hippopotamus, "impudence," this creature +being said first to slay his sire, and afterwards to force his +dam.[FN#329] The Pythagoreans likewise may be thought perhaps by some +to have looked upon the sea as impure, and quite different from all the +rest of nature, and that thus much is intended by them when they call +it the "tears of Kronos." + + + +[FN#325] Plutarch here refers to Osiris as the Moon, which rises in +the West. + +[FN#326] According to the texts the front of the world was the south, +khent, #### and from this word is formed the verb #### #### "to sail to +the south." + +[FN#327] In the texts the west is the right side, unemi, #### in +Coptic, ####. + +[FN#328] In the texts the east is the left side, abti. + +[FN#329] Each of these signs, ####, except the last, does mean what +Plutarch says it means, but his method of reading them together is +wrong, and it proves that he did not understand that hieroglyphics were +used alphabetically as well as ideographically. + + + +[Secs. XXXIII., XXXIV. Some of the more philosophical priests assert that +Osiris does not symbolize the Nile only, nor Typhon the sea only, but +that Osiris represents the principle and power of moisture in general, +and that Typhon represents everything which is scorching, burning, and +fiery, and whatever destroys moisture. Osiris they believe to have +been of a black[FN#330] colour, because water gives a black tinge to +everything with which it is mixed. The Mnevis Bull[FN#331] kept at +Heliopolis is, like Osiris, black in colour, "and even Egypt[FN#332] +itself, by reason of the extreme blackness of the soil, is called by +them 'Chemia,' the very name which is given to the black part or pupil +of the eye.[FN#333] It is, moreover, represented by them under the +figure of a human heart." The Sun and Moon are not represented as +being drawn about in chariots, but as sailing round the world in ships, +which shows that they owe their motion, support, and nourishment to the +power of humidity.[FN#334] Homer and Thales both learned from Egypt +that "water was the first principle of all things, and the cause of +generation."[FN#335]] + + + +[FN#330] Experiments recently conducted by Lord Rayleigh indicate that +the true colour of water is blue. + +[FN#331] In Egyptian, Nem-ur, or Men-ur, and he was "called the life +of Ra." + +[FN#332] The commonest name of Egypt is Kemt, "black land," as opposed +to the reddish-yellow sandy deserts on each side of the "valley of +black mud." The word for "black" is kam. + +[FN#333] Plutarch seems to have erred here. The early texts call the +pupil of the eye "the child in the eye," as did the Semitic peoples +(see my Liturgy of Funerary Offerings, p. 136). The Copts spoke of the +"black of the eye," derived from the hieroglyphic "darkness," +"blackness." + +[FN#334] There is no support for this view in the texts. + +[FN#335] It was a very common belief in Egypt that all things arose +from the great celestial ocean called Nu, whence came the Nile. + + + +[Sec. XXXVI. The Nile and all kinds of moisture are called the "efflux of +Osiris." Therefore a water-pitcher[FN#336] is always carried first in +his processions, and the leaf of a fir-tree represents both Osiris and +Egypt.[FN#337] Osiris is the great principle of fecundity, which is +proved by the Pamylia festivals, in which a statue of the god with a +triple phallus is carried about.[FN#338] The three-fold phallus merely +signifies any great and indefinite number.] + + + +[FN#336] Plutarch refers to the vessel of water, with which the priest +sprinkles the ground to purify it. + +[FN#337] He seems to refer here to the olive-tree: Beqet, "olive +land," was one of the names of Egypt. + +[FN#338] Plutarch seems to be confounding Osiris with Menu, the god of +generation, who is generally represented in an ithyphallic form. The +festival of the phallus survived in Egypt until quite recently. + + + +[Sec. XXXVIII. The Sun is consecrated to Osiris, and the lion is +worshipped, and temples are ornamented with figures of this animal, +because the Nile rises when the sun is in the constellation of the +Lion. Horus, the offspring of Osiris, the Nile, and Isis, the Earth, +was born in the marshes of Buto, because the vapour of damp land +destroys drought. Nephthys, or Teleute, represents the extreme limits +of the country and the sea-shore, that is, barren land. Osiris (i.e., +the Nile) overflowed this barren land, and Anubis[FN#339] was the +result.[FN#340]] + + + +[FN#339] The Egyptian Anpu. The texts make one form of him to be the +son of Set and Nephthys. + +[FN#340] Plutarch's explanations in this chapter are unsupported by +the texts. + + + +[Sec. XXXIX. In the first part of this chapter Plutarch continues his +identification of Typhon with drought, and his ally Aso, Queen of +Ethiopia, he considers to be the Etesian or north winds, which blow for +a long period when the Nile is falling. He goes on to say:--] + +As to what they relate of the shutting up of Osiris in a box, this +appears to mean the withdrawal of the Nile to its own bed. This is the +more probable as this misfortune is said to have happened to Osiris in +the month of Hathor, precisely at that season of the year when, upon +the cessation of the Etesian or north winds the Nile returns to its own +bed, and leaves the country everywhere bare and naked. At this time +also the length of the nights increases, darkness prevails, whilst +light is diminished and overcome. At this time the priests celebrate +doleful rites, and they exhibit as a suitable representation of the +grief of Isis a gilded ox covered with a fine black linen cloth. Now, +the ox is regarded as the living image of Osiris. This ceremony is +performed on the seventeenth and three following days,[FN#341] and they +mourn: 1. The falling of the Nile; 2. The cessation of the north +winds; 3. The decrease in the length of the days; 4. The desolate +condition of the land. On the nineteenth of the month Pachons they +march in procession to the sea, whither the priests and other officials +carry the sacred chest, wherein is enclosed a small boat of gold; into +this they first pour some water, and then all present cry out with a +loud voice, "Osiris is found." This done, they throw some earth, +scent, and spices into the water, and mix it well together, and work it +up into the image of a crescent, which they afterwards dress in +clothes. This shows that they regard the gods as the essence and power +of water and earth. + + + +[FN#341] The 17th day is very unlucky; the 18th is very lucky; the +19th and 20th are very unlucky. On the 17th day Isis and Nephthys made +great lamentation for their brother Un-nefer at Sais; on the 19th no +man should leave the house; and the man born on the 20th would die of +the plague. + + + +[Sec. XL. Though Typhon was conquered by Horus, Isis would not allow him +to be destroyed. Typhon was once master of all Egypt, i.e., Egypt was +once covered by the sea, which is proved by the sea-shells which are +dug out of the mines, and are found on the tops of the hills. The Nile +year by year creates new land, and thus drives away the sea further and +further, i.e., Osiris triumphs over Typhon.] + + + +[FOURTH EXPLANATION OF THE STORY.] + + + +[Sec. XLI. Osiris is the Moon, and Typhon is the Sun; Typhon is therefore +called Seth,[FN#342] a word meaning "violence," "force," &c. Herakles +accompanies the Sun, and Hermes the Moon. In Sec. XLII. Plutarch connects +the death-day of Osiris, the seventeenth of Hathor, with the +seventeenth day of the Moon's revolution, when she begins to wane. The +age of Osiris, twenty-eight years, suggests the comparison with the +twenty-eight days of the Moon's revolution. The tree-trunk which is +made into the shape of a crescent at the funeral of Osiris refers to +the crescent moon when she wanes. The fourteen pieces into which +Osiris was broken refer to the fourteen days in which the moon wanes.] + + + +[FN#342] In Egyptian, ####, or #### which Plutarch seems to connect +with set, ####. + + + +[Sec. XLIII. The height of the Nile in flood at Elephantine is twenty- +eight cubits, at Mendes and Xois low Nile is seven cubits, and at +Memphis middle Nile is fourteen cubits; these figures are to be +compared with the twenty-eight days of the Moon's revolution, the +seven-day phase of the Moon, and the fourteen days' Moon, or full moon. +Apis was begotten by a ray of light from the Moon, and on the +fourteenth day of the month Phamenoth[FN#343] Osiris entered the Moon. +Osiris is the power of the Moon, Isis the productive faculty in it.] + + + +[FN#343] Marked in the papyrus Sallier IV. as a particularly unlucky +day. + + + +[FIFTH EXPLANATION OF THE STORY.] + + + +[Sec. XLIV. The philosophers say that the story is nothing but an +enigmatical description of the phenomena of Eclipses. In Sec. XLV. +Plutarch discusses the five explanations which he has described, and +begins to state his own views about them. It must be concluded, he +says, that none of these explanations taken by itself contains the true +explanation of the foregoing history, though all of them together do. +Typhon means every phase of Nature which is hurtful and destructive, +not only drought, darkness, the sea, &c. It is impossible that any one +cause, be it bad or even good, should be the common principle of all +things. There must be two opposite and quite different and distinct +Principles. In Sec. XLVI., Plutarch compares this view with the Magian +belief in Ormazd and Ahriman, the former springing from light (Sec. +XLVII.), and the latter from darkness. Ormazd made six good gods, and +Ahriman six of a quite contrary nature. Ormazd increased his own bulk +three times, and adorned the heaven with stars, making the Sun to be +the guard of the other stars. He then created twenty-four other gods, +and placed them in an egg, and Ahriman also created twenty-four gods; +the latter bored a hole in the shell of the egg and effected an +entrance into it, and thus good and evil became mixed together. In Sec. +XLVIII. Plutarch quotes Empedocles, Anaxagoras, Aristotle, and Plato in +support of his hypothesis of the Two Principles, and refers to Plato's +Third Principle. Sec. XLIX. Osiris represents the good qualities of the +universal Soul, and Typhon the bad; Bebo[FN#344] is a malignant being +like Typhon, with whom Manetho identifies him. Sec. L. The ass, +crocodile, and hippopotamus are all associated with Typhon; in the form +of a crocodile Typhon escaped from Horus.[FN#345] + + + +[FN#344] In Egyptian, Bebi, or Baba, or Babai, he was the first-born +Son of Osiris. + +[FN#345] See the Legend of Heru-Behutet, {pr. 67}. + + + +The cakes offered on the seventh day of the month Tybi have a +hippopotamus stamped on them. Sec. LI. Osiris symbolizes wisdom and +power, and Typhon all that is malignant and bad.] + +The remaining sections contain a long series of fanciful statements by +Plutarch concerning the religion and manners and customs of the +Egyptians, of which the Egyptian texts now available give no proofs. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Legends Of The Gods, by E. A. Wallis Budge + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LEGENDS OF THE GODS *** + +This file should be named 9411-8.txt or 9411-8.zip + +Produced by John B. Hare and Carrie R. 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