{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_74354/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_74354","id":"gutenberg_74354","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/74354","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Legends -- Egypt","Mythology, Egyptian"],"text":"WISDOM OF THE EAST\n\n\n  ANCIENT\n  EGYPTIAN LEGENDS\n\n\n  BY M. A. MURRAY\n\n\n\n  LONDON\n  JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, W.\n  1920\n\n\n\n\n  FIRST EDITION .... January 1913\n  Reprinted .... March 1920\n\n\n  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED\n\n\n\n\n  TO\n\n  MY STUDENTS, PAST AND PRESENT,\n\n  I DEDICATE THIS BOOK\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE\n\nIn this book I have retold the legends of the Gods of ancient Egypt,\nlegends, which were current in the \"morning of the world,\" preserved\nto the present day engraved on stone and written on papyri.  I have\ntold them in my own way, adhering strictly to the story, but\narranging the words and phrases according to the English method;\nretaining, however, as far as possible the expressions and metaphors\nof the Egyptian.  In some cases I have inserted whole sentences in\norder to make the sense clear; these are in places where the story\ndivides naturally into several parts, as in \"The Battles of Horus,\"\nand \"The Regions of Night and Thick Darkness\"; where each incident,\nso like the one preceding and the one following, is kept distinct in\nthe mind of the reader by this means.  This repetition is quite in\naccordance with the style of Egyptian literature.\n\nThe book is intended entirely for the general public, who are\nincreasingly interested in the religion and civilisation of ancient\nEgypt, but whose only means of obtaining knowledge of that country is\napparently through magazine stories in which a mummy is the principal\ncharacter.  It may be worth noting that in these legends of ancient\nEgypt mummies are not mentioned, except in the Duat, the home of the\ndead, where one naturally expects to find them.\n\nThough the book is intended for the unscientific reader, I have made\nsome provision for the more serious student, in the Notes at the end.\nIn these I have given the origin of the legend, the book or books in\nwhich that original is published, and the book where the translation\ninto a modern language by one of the great scholars of the day can be\nfound.  Other translations there are in plenty, which can be seen in\nspecialist libraries; many of these, however, are of use only to a\nstudent of Egyptian literature and language.\n\nI have arranged the sequence of the stories according to my own\nideas: first, the legends of various, one might almost say\nmiscellaneous, gods; then the legends of Osiris and the deities\nconnected with him; lastly, the legends of Ra.  At the very end are\nNotes on the legends, and a short index of all the gods mentioned.\n\nM. A. M.\n\n_November_ 1912\n\n\n\n\n  CONTENTS\n\n\n  I. THE PRINCESS AND THE DEMON\n  Notes\n\n  II. THE KING'S DREAM\n  Notes\n\n  III. THE COMING OF THE GREAT QUEEN\n  Notes\n\n  IV. THE BOOK OF THOTH\n  Notes\n\n  V. OSIRIS\n  Notes\n\n  VI. THE SCORPIONS OF ISIS\n  Notes\n\n  VII. THE BLACK PIG\n  Notes\n\n  VIII. THE BATTLES OF HORUS\n  Notes\n\n  IX. THE BEER OF HELIOPOLIS\n  Notes\n\n  X. THE NAME OF RA\n  Notes\n\n  XI. THE REGIONS OF NIGHT AND THICK DARKNESS\n  Notes\n\n\n\n\nEDITORIAL NOTE\n\nThe object of the Editors of this series is a very definite one.\nThey desire above all things that, in their humble way, these books\nshall be the ambassadors of good-will and understanding between East\nand West--the old world of Thought and the new of Action.  In this\nendeavour, and in their own sphere, they are but followers of the\nhighest example in the land.  They are confident that a deeper\nknowledge of the great ideals and lofty philosophy of Oriental\nthought may help to a revival of that true spirit of Charity which\nneither despises nor fears the nation of another creed and colour.\n\n  L. CRANMER-BYNG,\n  S. A. KAPADIA.\n\n  NORTHBROOK SOCIETY,\n    21 CROMWELL ROAD,\n      KENSINGTON, S.W.\n\n\n\n\nANCIENT EGYPTIAN LEGENDS\n\n\n\nI\n\nTHE PRINCESS AND THE DEMON\n\nIt was in the reign of King Rameses, son of the Sun, beloved of Amon,\nking of the gods.  A mighty warrior was Rameses; in the day of battle\nlike to Mentu, god of war; very valorous was he, like the son of the\nSky-goddess.\n\nNow his Majesty was in Naharaina, where the great river Euphrates\nrolls down to the sea.  And he received the tribute of the\nvassal-princes, for he was the conqueror of the nine Archer-tribes,\nand none could stand before his face when he came forth equipped with\nall his weapons of war.  The princes prostrated themselves before\nhim, bowing their foreheads to the ground, breathing the earth which\nhis feet had trodden.  Great and splendid was their tribute: gold,\nand precious stones of all colours, blue lapis lazuli and the green\nturquoise sacred to Hathor, goddess of love and joy.  And slaves came\nbearing on their backs sweet-scented woods, perfumed and aromatic,\nlike the trees in the land of the Gods.\n\nThe prince of Bekhten came also, and with him his eldest daughter;\nand he placed her in front of the slaves, for she was the choicest\npart of his tribute.  Very beautiful was she, fair in her limbs, tall\nand slender as a palm-tree, and the heart of the King turned to her\nwith delight, and he loved her more than anything on earth.  He made\nher the Great Royal Wife, and he gave her a name by which she should\nbe known in the land of Egypt; Neferu-Ra, \"Beauty of Ra,\" was she\ncalled, for her beauty was like the shining of the sun.  And the name\nwas written in the royal oval, as is the custom of the kings of Egypt\nand their queens.\n\nThen King Rameses returned to Egypt, and with him went the Great\nRoyal Wife, Queen Neferu-Ra.  And when they came to the Black Land,\nthe land of Egypt, she performed all the ceremonies of a queen in the\ntemples of Egypt.\n\nNow it happened that King Rameses was in Thebes the Mighty on the\ntwenty-second of the month Payni.  And he went into the temple of\nAmon, for this was the day of the beautiful festival of the god, when\nthe boats go up and down upon the water with torches and lights, and\nthe Sacred Barque, adorned with gold and painted with glorious\ncolours, is borne aloft, that men may see the figure of Amon-Ra\nhimself within.  And Queen Neferu-Ra was with his Majesty, for the\nGreat Royal Wife in Egypt has ever been the worshipper of Amon-Ra,\nking of the gods.\n\nThere came into the temple courtiers of the King to announce the\narrival of a messenger from the prince of Bekhten.  Loaded was he\nwith gifts for Neferu-Ra, Queen of Egypt, daughter of the prince of\nBekhten, and he carried also a message to the King.  When he entered\nthe royal presence, he bowed to the earth saying, \"Glory to thee, O\nSun of the nine Archer-tribes!  May we live before thee!\"  Then he\nbowed to the earth again and spoke the message that he had brought\nfrom the prince of Bekhten to Rameses, King of Egypt:\n\n\"I come to thee, O living King, my Lord, on account of Bent-reshy,\nthe little sister of the Great Royal Wife, Neferu-Ra; for there is a\nmalady in all her limbs.  Send therefore a learned man that he may\nsee and heal her.\"\n\nThe King turned to his courtiers and said, \"Bring hither a scribe of\nthe House of Life, and bring also those who speak the hidden things\nof the Inner Chamber.\"  And the courtiers hastened and brought them\ninto the presence forthwith, and the King said to them, \"I have\nbrought you hither to hear this matter.  Tell me then of a man,\nlearned and skilful, to send to the prince of Bekhten.\"\n\nThen they took counsel among themselves as to a learned and skilful\nman, and they brought the scribe Tehuti-em-heb before the King, and\nthe King bade him go with the messenger of the prince of Bekhten to\nheal Bent-reshy, the little sister of the Great Royal Wife.\n\nWhen the scribe Tehuti-em-heb came to Bekhten, he was brought into\nthe presence of Bent-reshy.  He was a learned and a skilful man, and\nhe found the princess under the dominion of a spirit, a spirit that\nwas hostile to him, against whom his learning and skill were of no\navail, who set his magic arts at naught.\n\nThen the prince of Bekhten was sad, and sorrow was in his heart, but\nTehuti-em-heb the scribe counselled him to send again to Egypt and to\nimplore the help of Khonsu, the Expeller of Demons, to cast out the\nevil spirit from Bentreshy, the little sister of the Great Royal Wife.\n\nNow so great was the distance from Bekhten to Egypt that from the\ntime that Tehuti-em-heb the scribe departed out of Thebes till the\nsecond message came to King Rameses was three years, and throughout\nthat time the evil spirit dwelt in Bent-reshy and would not be cast\nout.\n\nAnd when the second messenger arrived, King Rameses was again in\nThebes, and it was the first of the month Pakhons, the month that is\nsacred to Khonsu.  He entered into the temple, and with him came his\ncourtiers, and the messenger of the prince of Bekhten.  In the temple\nwere two statues of Khonsu; very marvellous figures were these, very\nsacred, very holy; the one was called Khonsu in Thebes Neferhotep,\nand the other Khonsu, the Expeller of Demons.  Now Khonsu is the God\nof the Moon, the son of Amon-Ra and of Mut, Lady of Ashru, and men\nrepresent him with the curled lock of youth, for he is ever young and\nbeautiful.\n\nThen the King stood before the great statue of Khonsu in Thebes\nNeferhotep and said, \"O my good Lord, I come again into thy presence\non account of the daughter of the prince of Bekhten.\"\n\nThen the priests lifted the statue of Khonsu in Thebes Neferhotep and\nplaced it in front of Khonsu, the Expeller of Demons.  And the King\nspoke again before Khonsu in Thebes Neferhotep and said, \"My good\nLord, turn thy face to Khonsu, the Expeller of Demons.  Grant that he\nmay go to Bekhten.\"\n\nKhonsu in Thebes Neferhotep inclined his head twice in token of\nassent.  Very marvellous was the figure of Khonsu in Thebes\nNeferhotep.\n\nAnd yet again King Rameses spoke, \"Let thy protection be with him.\nGrant that I may send the Majesty of Khonsu to Bekhten to save\nBent-reshy, the little sister of the Great Royal Wife.\"\n\nKhonsu in Thebes Neferhotep inclined his head twice in token of\nassent.  Very marvellous was the figure of Khonsu in Thebes\nNeferhotep.  And he gave his magical protection four times to Khonsu,\nthe Expeller of Demons.\n\nThen King Barneses gave command, and Khonsu, the Expeller of Demons,\nwas placed in the Great Boat; and around the Great Boat were five\nsmall boats, with chariots and horses, numerous and splendid, on the\nright hand and on the left.  The retinue of Khonsu, the Expeller of\nDemons, was the retinue of a king.  For a year and five months they\njourneyed until they reached Bekhten.\n\nThe prince of Bekhten came out with his bowmen and his courtiers to\nmeet Khonsu, the Expeller of Demons, with a royal welcome, and they\nentered into his presence as into the presence of a king.  The prince\nof Bekhten fell on his knees and laid his forehead on the ground at\nthe feet of Khonsu, the Expeller of Demons, and said, \"Thou hast come\nto us.  O, be kind to us according to the words of Rameses, King of\nEgypt.\"\n\nThey brought Khonsu, the Expeller of Demons, to the chamber of\nBent-reshy, the little sister of the Great Royal Wife; and he made a\nmagical protection over her.  Lo, there happened a wonder and a\nmarvel, for she was well and whole in a moment.\n\nThen the spirit, who had been in her, spoke in the presence of\nKhonsu, the Expeller of Demons, \"Thou hast come in peace, O great\nGod, Expeller of Demons.  Bekhten is thy city, its people are thy\nslaves.  I bow before thee, for I also am thy slave.  I will go to\nthat place from which I came that thy heart may have peace.  But ere\nI go, let the Majesty of Khonsu give command that a holy day be made\nfor me by the prince of Bekhten.\"\n\nWhen he had heard these words, Khonsu, the Expeller of Demons,\ninclined his head to the priest and said, \"Let the prince of Bekhten\nmake a great sacrifice for this spirit.\"\n\nThe prince of Bekhten, and his soldiers and his courtiers heard the\nvoices of the spirit and of the god, and they trembled and were\nexceedingly afraid.  They obeyed the command of the god and prepared\na great sacrifice for Khonsu, the Expeller of Demons, and for the\nspirit that came out of Bent-reshy, the little sister of the Great\nRoyal Wife, the daughter of the prince of Bekhten.  And they made a\nholy day with offerings, sacrifices, and libations.\n\nSo the spirit, in the form of a Shining One, went his way in peace\nout of the land of Bekhten, and he went whithersoever it pleased him,\nas Khonsu, the Expeller of Demons, had commanded.\n\nThe prince of Bekhten was glad and his heart rejoiced, and all the\npeople rejoiced also that the spirit had been driven out of\nBent-reshy and out of the land of Bekhten.  But in the midst of his\njoy and gladness, fear came upon the heart of the prince of Bekhten\nlest the spirit should return and take up his abode again in the\nland, when Khonsu, the Expeller of Demons, had departed.  He took\ncounsel with himself and said, \"I will keep Khonsu, the Expeller of\nDemons, in Bekhten.  I will not let him return to Egypt.\"  So Khonsu,\nthe Expeller of Demons, remained three years, four months, and five\ndays in Bekhten, for the prince of Bekhten would not let him go.\n\nAnd at the end of that time the prince of Bekhten lay upon his bed at\nnight and slept, and while he slept a vision passed before his eyes.\nHe dreamed that he stood before the shrine of Khonsu, the Expeller of\nDemons; the great doors of the shrine were folded back and the god\ncame forth, stepping out between the doors.  He changed into the form\nof a hawk with feathers of gold, burnished and beautiful, and soared\nhigh into the air with wings outspread, and like an arrow he darted\ntowards Egypt.\n\nWhen the prince of Bekhten awoke, he was exceedingly afraid, for he\nfeared the wrath of the Gods.  And he sent for the priest of Khonsu,\nthe Expeller of Demons, and said to him, \"The god is estranged from\nus, he has returned to Egypt.  Let his chariot also return to Egypt.\"\nThe prince of Bekhten gave command that the god should be taken back\nto Egypt, and he loaded the god with gifts.  Great and numerous were\nthe gifts of all manner of beautiful things that the prince of\nBekhten gave to Khonsu, the Expeller of Demons.\n\nFor many months they journeyed, and with them went an escort of\nsoldiers and horses from the land of Bekhten.  They arrived in safety\nat Thebes, and entered into the temple of Khonsu in Thebes Neferhotep.\n\nThen Khonsu, the Expeller of Demons, gave to Khonsu in Thebes\nNeferhotep all the gifts, the rich and costly gifts, which he had\nreceived from the prince of Bekhten; nothing did he keep for himself.\nThus ended the journey of Khonsu, the Expeller of Demons, the great\nGod.\n\n\n\n\nII\n\nTHE KING'S DREAM\n\nLong, long ago lived Thothmes, King of Egypt; Lord of the Two Lands\nwas he, Wearer of the double Diadem, he whom the Gods loved.  He was\nnot that Thothmes, the mighty Bull, who conquered Syria, Nubia, and\nthe nine Archer-tribes.  But he bore the same name, and was a great\nand valorous king; Syria bowed before him, Nubia was his servant, and\nhe trod the nine Archer-tribes beneath his feet.  When he was a\nchild, he was like unto Harpocrates, the son of Isis, he who was born\nin the marshes of the North Country.  Beautiful was he with the\nbeauty of the Gods, in form like Horus, the Avenger of his father.\n\nAnd in all manly sports did he excel; he hunted the wild game on the\ndeserts both north and south of Memphis, he coursed the lions and the\ndeer, he shot arrows at a target, he drove in his chariot, and his\nhorses were fleeter than the wind.  Alone did he hunt, or with two\ncompanions only, and none knew the path that he would follow, for in\nthe desert none live save wild beasts.\n\nWhen his followers required rest in the heat of the day, he took them\nto the great statue of Harmachis close to Kher-aha, where the Road of\nthe God leads eastward to On.  Of stone was this mighty figure, hewn\nout of the living rock, his face the face of a man, stern and\nmajestic, turned to the rising sun, his body the body of a lion; upon\nhis brow is the death-dealing snake with head erect, ready to strike.\nMen call this figure Harmachis, and the Sphinx, and the Father of\nTerrors.  Great and exalted is this figure of the God, resting in his\nchosen place; mighty is his power, for the Shadow of the Sun is upon\nhim.  The temples of Memphis and the temples of every town on both\nsides adore him, they stretch out their hands to him in adoration,\nsacrifices and libations are made before him.\n\nOne day, ere Thothmes was yet king, before he had ascended the throne\nof Horus the Living One, it came to pass that he hunted alone in the\ndesert, and it was noontide.  Very fierce was the heat, very blinding\nthe sunbeams, and he rested in the shadow of the great God.  And as\nhe rested, heated and weary, in the coolness of the shadow, sleep\nheavy and deep came upon him at the moment when the sun reached the\nzenith.\n\nThus he slept at broad midday, and in his sleep dreams and visions\ncame to him.  In his dream he stood before the giant figure of the\nGod, but no longer was it of stone, for behold it was the God\nhimself.  The breath of life was in him, and his lips moved, and he\nspoke with gentle speech as a father speaks with his child, for his\nwords were words of blessing.\n\n\"See now, O my son Thothmes,\" he said, \"look at me, behold me.  I am\nthy father, I who am Harmachis, and Ra, and Khepera, and Atmu also.\nFor I am the Sun-god to whom all lands are subject.  Through me alone\nshall the kingdom of Egypt come to thee; thou shalt wear the White\nCrown of the South Land and the Red Crown of the North Land, thou\nshalt sit upon the throne of Geb the inheritor.  To thee shall belong\nthe whole land in its length and breadth, that land which the\nuniversal Lord makes glorious.  Want and trouble shall never come\nnigh thee, for gifts shall be brought to thee from every country,\nnear and afar; the duration of thy life shall be for many years; my\nface shall be towards thee and my heart shall incline to thee if thou\nwilt do for me that which I desire of thee.\"\n\nAnd Thothmes looked, and he saw that the figure lay half-buried in\nthe sand, and it seemed as though the God struggled to free himself,\nfor naught but the head appeared above the plain, and the sands came\nup about him like the waves of the sea when they swallow up a ship\nthat is on the rocks.\n\nThen the Majesty of the God spoke again, and said, \"The sand of the\ndesert on which I rest is about me, it overwhelms me, it covers me.\nHasten to do that which my heart desires, for I know that thou art a\nson who honours the behests of his father.\"\n\nSleep fell from the eyelids of Thothmes, and he awoke.\n\n[Here the inscription is broken away and the end of the story is not\nknown.]\n\n\n\n\nIII\n\nTHE COMING OF THE GREAT QUEEN\n\nNow Amon-Ra, king of the gods, sat upon his throne, and around him\nstood the greatest of the gods and goddesses.  On his right was\nOsiris crowned with the great White Crown of the South Land; on his\nleft was Mentu, god of war, and on the head of Mentu were two great\nfeathers and the flashing disk of the sun.  With Osiris were the twin\ngoddesses Isis and Nephthys, beside them stood Hathor, goddess of\nlove, whom the Greeks call Aphrodite; Horus, the son of Isis, with\nthe far-seeing eyes of the hawk; and Anubis, son of Nephthys, the\nfaithful guardian of Isis.  With Mentu were Atmu, the god of the\nsunset; Shu and his twin-sister Tefnut; Geb the earth-god, and Nut\nthe sky-goddess.  These two are the oldest of the gods, from whom all\nothers proceed.\n\nAmon-Ra, king of the gods, sat upon his throne and looked upon the\nland of Egypt, and he spoke, saying, \"I will create a queen to rule\nover Ta-mery, I will unite the Two Lands in peace for her, and in her\nhands I will place the whole world.  Egypt and Syria, Nubia and Punt,\nthe land of the Gods, shall be under her sway.\"  And when he had\nspoken there was silence among the gods.\n\nWhile he yet spoke, Thoth entered into his presence, Thoth, the\ntwice-great, the maker of magic, the lord of Khemennu.  He listened\nto the words of Amon-Ra, king of the gods, and in the silence that\nfollowed he spoke:\n\n\"O Amon-Ra, Lord of the thrones of the Two Lands, King of the gods,\nMaker of men.  Behold in the Black Land in the palace of the king is\na maiden, fair and beautiful is she in all her limbs.  Aahmes is her\nname, and she is wife to the king of Egypt.  She alone can be the\nmother of the great Queen, whom thou wilt create to rule over the Two\nLands.  She is in the palace of the king.  Come, let us go to her.\"\n\nNow the form of Thoth is the form of an ibis, that he may fly swiftly\nthrough the air and none may know him, and as an ibis he went to the\npalace of the king.  But Amon-Ra took upon himself the shape of the\nking of Egypt.  Great was the majesty of Amon-Ra, splendid his\nadornments.  On his neck was the glittering collar of gold and\nprecious stones, on his arms were bracelets of pure gold and\nelectrum, and on his head were two plumes; by the plumes alone could\nmen know the King of the gods.  In one hand he carried the sceptre of\npower, in the other the emblem of life.  Glorious was he as the sun\nat midday, and the perfumes of the land of Punt were around him.\n\nIn the palace of the king of Egypt was queen Aahmes, and it was\nnight.  She lay upon her couch, and sleep was upon her eyelids.  Like\na jewel was she in her beauty, and the chamber in which she slept was\nlike the setting of the jewel; black bronze and electrum, acacia wood\nand ebony, were the adornments of the palace, and her couch was in\nthe form of a fierce lion.\n\nThrough the two Great Doors of the palace went the gods; none saw\nthem, none beheld them.  And with them came Neith, goddess of Sa\u00efs,\nand Selk the scorpion goddess.  On the head of Neith were the shield\nand crossed arrows; on the head of Selk a scorpion bearing in each\nclaw the emblem of life.\n\nThe fragrance of the perfumes of Punt filled the chamber, and queen\nAahmes awoke and beheld Amon-Ra, King of the gods, Maker of men.  In\nmajesty and beauty he appeared before her, and her heart was filled\nwith joy.  He held towards her the sign of life, and in her hand he\nlaid the sign of life and the sceptre of power.  And Neith and Selk\nlifted the couch on which the queen reposed and held it high in the\nair, that she might be raised above the ground, on which mortal men\nlive, while she spoke with the immortal Gods.\n\nThen Amon-Ra returned and was enthroned among the Gods.  And he\nsummoned to his presence Khnum the creator, he who fashions the\nbodies of men, who dwells beside the rushing waters of the cataract.\nTo Khnum he gave command saying, \"O Khnum, fashioner of the bodies of\nmen, fashion for me my daughter, she who shall be the great Queen of\nEgypt.  For I will give to her all life and satisfaction, all\nstability and all joy of heart for ever.\"\n\nKhnum the creator, the fashioner of the bodies of men, the dweller by\nthe cataract, made answer to Amon-Ra, \"I will form for thee thy\ndaughter, and her form shall be more glorious than the Gods, for the\ngreatness of her dignity as King of the South and North.\"\n\nThen he brought his potter's wheel, and took clay, and with his hands\nhe fashioned the body of the daughter of queen Aahmes and the body of\nher _ka_.  And the body of the child and the body of the _ka_ were\nalike in their limbs and their faces, and none but the Gods could\nknow them apart.  Beautiful were they with the beauty of Amon-Ra,\nmore glorious were they than the Gods.\n\nBeside the potter's wheel knelt Hekt, lady of Herur, goddess of\nbirth.  In each hand she held the sign of life, and as the wheel\nturned and the bodies were fashioned, she held it towards them that\nlife might enter into the lifeless clay.\n\nThen Khnum, the fashioner of the bodies of men, and Hekt the goddess\nof birth, came to the palace of the king of Egypt; and with them came\nIsis, the great Mother, and her sister Nephthys; Meskhent also and\nTa-urt, and Bes the protector of children.  The spirits of P\u00e9 and the\nspirits of Dep came with them to greet the daughter of Amon-Ra and of\nqueen Aahmes.\n\nAnd when the child appeared, the goddesses rejoiced, and the spirits\nof P\u00e9 and the spirits of Dep chanted praises to her honour, for the\ndaughter of Amon-Ra was to sit upon the throne of Horus of the\nLiving, and rule the Land of Egypt to the glory of the Gods.\nHatshepsut was she called, Chief of Noble Women, divine of Diadems,\nfavourite of the Goddesses, beloved of Amon-Ra.  And to her the Gods\ngranted that she should be mistress of all lands within the circuit\nof the sun, and that she should appear as king upon the throne of\nHorus before the glories of the Great House.  And upon her was the\nfavour of Amon-Ra for ever.\n\n\n\n\nIV\n\nTHE BOOK OF THOTH\n\nNow Ahura was the wife of Nefer-ka-ptah, and their child was Merab;\nthis was the name by which he was registered by the scribes in the\nHouse of Life.  And Nefer-ka-ptah, though he was the son of the King,\ncared for naught on earth but to read the ancient records, written on\npapyrus in the House of Life or engraved on stone in the temples; all\nday and every day he studied the writings of the ancestors.\n\nOne day he went into the temple to pray to the Gods, but when he saw\nthe inscriptions on the walls he began to read them; and he forgot to\npray, he forgot the Gods, he forgot the priests, he forgot all that\nwas around him until he heard laughter behind him.  He looked round\nand a priest stood there, and from him came the laughter.\n\n\"Why laughest thou at me?\" said Nefer-ka-ptah.\n\n\"Because thou readest these worthless writings,\" answered the priest.\n\"If thou wouldest read writings that are worth the reading I can tell\nthee where the Book of Thoth lies hidden.\"\n\nThen Nefer-ka-ptah was eager in his questions, and the priest\nreplied, \"Thoth wrote the Book with his own hand, and in it is all\nthe magic in the world.  If thou readest the first page, thou wilt\nenchant the sky, the earth, the abyss, the mountains, and the sea;\nthou wilt understand the language of the birds of the air, and thou\nwilt know what the creeping things of earth are saying, and thou wilt\nsee the fishes from the darkest depths of the sea.  And if thou\nreadest the other page, even though thou wert dead and in the world\nof ghosts, thou couldest come back to earth in the form thou once\nhadst.  And besides this, thou wilt see the sun shining in the sky\nwith the full moon and the stars, and thou wilt behold the great\nshapes of the Gods.\"\n\nThen said Nefer-ka-ptah, \"By the life of Pharaoh, that Book shall be\nmine.  Tell me whatsoever it is that thou desirest, and I will do it\nfor thee.\"\n\n\"Provide for my funeral,\" said the priest.  \"See that I am buried as\na rich man, with priests and mourning women, offerings, libations,\nand incense.  Then shall my soul rest in peace in the Fields of Aalu.\nOne hundred pieces of silver must be spent upon my burying.\"\n\nThen Nefer-ka-ptah sent a fleet messenger to fetch the money, and he\npaid one hundred pieces of silver into the priest's hands.  When the\npriest had taken the silver, he said to Nefer-ka-ptah:\n\n  \"The Book is at Koptos in the middle of the river.\n  In the middle of the river is an iron box,\n  In the iron box is a bronze box,\n  In the bronze box is a ket\u00e9-wood box,\n  In the ket\u00e9-wood box is an ivory-and-ebony box,\n  In the ivory-and-ebony box is a silver box,\n  In the silver box is a gold box,\n  And in the gold box is the Book of Thoth.\n\nRound about the great iron box are snakes and scorpions and all\nmanner of crawling things, and above all there is a snake which no\nman can kill.  These are set to guard the Book of Thoth.\"\n\nWhen the priest had finished speaking, Nefer-ka-ptah ran out of the\ntemple, for his joy was so great that he knew not where he was.  He\nran quickly to find Ahura to tell her about the Book and that he\nwould go to Koptos and find it.\n\nBut Ahura was very sorrowful, and said, \"Go not on this journey, for\ntrouble and grief await thee in the Southern Land.\"\n\nShe laid her hand upon Nefer-ka-ptah as though she would hold him\nback from the sorrow that awaited him.  But he would not be\nrestrained, and broke away from her and went to the King his father.\n\nHe told the King all that he had learned, and said, \"Give me the\nroyal barge, O my father, that I may go to the Southern Land with my\nwife Ahura and my son Merab.  For the Book of Thoth I must and will\nhave.\"\n\nSo the King gave orders and the royal barge was prepared, and in it\nNefer-ka-ptah, Ahura, and Merab sailed up the river to the Southern\nLand as far as Koptos.  When they arrived at Koptos, the high priest\nand all the priests of Isis of Koptos came down to the river to\nwelcome Nefer-ka-ptah, Ahura, and Merab.  And they went in a great\nprocession to the temple of the Goddess, and Nefer-ka-ptah sacrificed\nan ox and a goose and poured a libation of wine to Isis of Koptos and\nher son Harpocrates.  After this, the priests of Isis and their wives\nmade a great feast for four days in honour of Nefer-ka-ptah and Ahura.\n\nOn the morning of the fifth day, Nefer-ka-ptah called to him a priest\nof Isis, a great magician learned in all the mysteries of the Gods.\nAnd together they made a little magic box, like the cabin of a boat,\nand they made men and a great store of tackle, and put the men and\nthe tackle in the magic cabin.  Then they uttered a spell over the\ncabin, and the men breathed and were alive, and began to use the\ntackle.  And Nefer-ka-ptah sank the magic cabin in the river, saying,\n\"Workmen, workmen!  Work for me!\"  And he filled the royal barge with\nsand and sailed away alone, while Ahura sat on the bank of the river\nat Koptos, and watched and waited, for she knew that sorrow must come\nof this journey to the Southern Land.\n\nThe magic men in the magic cabin toiled all night and all day for\nthree nights and three days along the bottom of the river; and when\nthey stopped the royal barge stopped also, and Nefer-ka-ptah knew\nthat he had arrived where the Book lay hidden.\n\nHe took the sand out of the royal barge and threw it into the water,\nand it made a gap in the river, a gap of a schoenus long and a\nschoenus wide; in the middle of the gap lay the iron box, and beside\nthe box was coiled the great snake that no man can kill, and all\naround the box on every side to the edge of the walls of water were\nsnakes and scorpions and all manner of crawling things.\n\nThen Nefer-ka-ptah stood up in the royal barge, and across the water\nhe cried to the snakes and scorpions and crawling things; a loud and\nterrible cry, and the words were words of magic.  As soon as his\nvoice was still, the snakes and scorpions and crawling things were\nstill also, for they were enchanted by means of the magical words of\nNefer-ka-ptah, and they could not move.  Nefer-ka-ptah brought the\nroyal barge to the edge of the gap, and he walked through the snakes\nand scorpions and crawling things, and they looked at him, but could\nnot move because of the spell that was on them.\n\nAnd now Nefer-ka-ptah was face to face with the snake that no man\ncould kill, and it reared itself up ready for battle.  Nefer-ka-ptah\nrushed upon it and cut off its head, and at once the head and body\ncame together, each to each, and the snake that no man could kill was\nalive again, and ready for the fray.  Again Nefer-ka-ptah rushed upon\nit, and so hard did he strike that the head was flung far from the\nbody, but at once the head and body came together again, each to\neach, and again the snake that no man could kill was alive and ready\nto fight.  Then Nefer-ka-ptah saw that the snake was immortal and\ncould not be slain, but must be overcome by subtle means.  Again he\nrushed upon it and cut it in two, and very quickly he put sand on\neach part, so that when the head and body came together there was\nsand between them and they could not join, and the snake that no man\ncould kill lay helpless before him.\n\nThen Nefer-ka-ptah went to the great box where it stood in the gap in\nthe middle of the river, and the snakes and scorpions and crawling\nthings watched, but they could not stop him.\n\n  He opened the iron box and found a bronze box,\n  He opened the bronze box and found a ket\u00e9-wood box,\n  He opened the ket\u00e9-wood box and found an\n      ivory-and-ebony box,\n  He opened the ivory-and-ebony box and found\n      a silver box,\n  He opened the silver box and found a gold box,\n  He opened the gold box and found the Book of Thoth.\n\nHe opened the Book and read a page, and at once he had enchanted the\nsky, the earth, the abyss, the mountains, and the sea, and he\nunderstood the language of birds, fish, and beasts.  He read the\nsecond page and he saw the sun shining in the sky, with the full moon\nand the stars, and he saw the great shapes of the Gods themselves;\nand so strong was the magic that the fishes came up from the darkest\ndepths of the sea.  So he knew that what the priest had told him was\ntrue.\n\nThen he thought of Ahura waiting for him at Koptos, and he cast a\nmagic spell upon the men that he had made, saying \"Workmen, workmen!\nWork for me! and take me back to the place from which I came.\"  They\ntoiled day and night till they came to Koptos, and there was Ahura\nsitting by the river, having eaten nothing and drunk nothing since\nNefer-ka-ptah went away.  For she sat waiting and watching for the\nsorrow that was to come upon them.\n\nBut when she saw Nefer-ka-ptah returning in the royal barge, her\nheart was glad and she rejoiced exceedingly.  Nefer-ka-ptah came to\nher and put the Book of Thoth into her hands and bade her read it.\nWhen she read the first page, she enchanted the sky, the earth, the\nabyss, the mountains, and the sea, and she understood the language of\nbirds, fish, and beasts; and when she read the second page, she saw\nthe sun shining in the sky, with the full moon and the stars, and she\nsaw the great shapes of the Gods themselves; and so strong was the\nmagic that the fishes came up from the darkest depths of the sea.\n\nNefer-ka-ptah now called for a piece of new papyrus and for a cup of\nbeer; and on the papyrus he wrote all the spells that were in the\nBook of Thoth.  Then he took the cup of beer and washed the papyrus\nin the beer, so that all the ink was washed off and the papyrus\nbecame as though it had never been written on.  And Nefer-ka-ptah\ndrank the beer, and at once he knew all the spells that had been\nwritten on the papyrus, for this is the method of the great magicians.\n\nThen Nefer-ka-ptah and Ahura went to the temple of Isis and gave\nofferings to Isis and Harpocrates, and made a great feast, and the\nnext day they went on board the royal barge and sailed joyfully away\ndown the river towards the Northern Land.\n\nBut behold, Thoth had discovered the loss of his Book, and Thoth\nraged like a panther of the South, and he hastened before Ra and told\nhim all, saying, \"Nefer-ka-ptah has found my magic box and opened it,\nand has stolen my Book, even the Book of Thoth; he slew the guards\nthat surrounded it, and the snake that no man can kill lay helpless\nbefore him.  Avenge me, O Ra, upon Nefer-ka-ptah, son of the King of\nEgypt.\"\n\nThe Majesty of Ra answered and said, \"Take him and his wife and his\nchild, and do with them as thou wilt.\"  And now the sorrow for which\nAhura watched and waited was about to come upon them, for Thoth took\nwith him a Power from Ra to give him his desire upon the stealer of\nhis Book.\n\nAs the royal barge sailed smoothly down the river, the little boy\nMerab ran out from the shade of the awning and leaned over the side\nwatching the water.  And the Power of Ra drew him, so that he fell\ninto the river and was drowned.  When he fell, all the sailors on the\nroyal barge and all the people walking on the river-bank raised a\ngreat cry, but they could not save him.  Nefer-ka-ptah came out of\nthe cabin and read a magical spell over the water, and the body of\nMerab came to the surface and they brought it on board the royal\nbarge.  Then Nefer-ka-ptah read another spell, and so great was its\npower that the dead child spoke and told Nefer-ka-ptah all that had\nhappened among the Gods, that Thoth was seeking vengeance, and that\nRa had granted him his desire upon the stealer of his Book.\n\nNefer-ka-ptah gave command, and the royal barge returned to Koptos,\nthat Merab might be buried there with the honour due to the son of a\nprince.  When the funeral ceremonies were over, the royal barge\nsailed down the river towards the Northern Land.  A joyful journey\nwas it no longer, for Merab was dead, and Ahura's heart was heavy on\naccount of the sorrow that was still to come, for the vengeance of\nThoth was not yet fulfilled.\n\nThey reached the place where Merab had fallen into the water, and\nAhura came out from under the shade of the awning, and she leaned\nover the side of the barge, and the Power of Ra drew her so that she\nfell into the river and was drowned.  When she fell, all the sailors\nin the royal barge and all the people walking on the river-bank\nraised a great cry, but they could not save her.  Nefer-ka-ptah came\nout of the cabin and read a magical spell over the water, and the\nbody of Ahura came to the surface, and they brought it on board the\nroyal barge.  Then Nefer-ka-ptah read another spell, and so great was\nits power that the dead woman spoke and told Nefer-ka-ptah all that\nhad happened among the Gods, that Thoth was still seeking vengeance,\nand that Ra had granted him his desire upon the stealer of his Book.\n\nNefer-ka-ptah gave command and the royal barge returned to Koptos,\nthat Ahura might be buried there with the honour due to the daughter\nof a king.  When the funeral ceremonies were over, the royal barge\nsailed down the river towards the Northern Land.  A sorrowful journey\nwas it now, for Ahura and Merab were dead, and the vengeance of Thoth\nwas not yet fulfilled.\n\nThey reached the place where Ahura and Merab had fallen into the\nwater, and Nefer-ka-ptah felt the Power of Ra drawing him.  Though he\nstruggled against it he knew that it would conquer him.  He took a\npiece of royal linen, fine and strong, and made it into a girdle, and\nwith it he bound the Book of Thoth firmly to his breast, for he was\nresolved that Thoth should never have his Book again.\n\nThen the Power drew him yet more strongly, and he came from under the\nshade of the awning and threw himself into the river and was drowned.\nWhen he fell, all the sailors of the royal barge and all the people\nwalking on the river-bank raised a great cry, but they could not save\nhim.  And when they looked for his body they could not find it.  So\nthe royal barge sailed down the river till they reached the Northern\nLand and came to Memphis, and the chiefs of the royal barge went to\nthe King and told him all that had happened.\n\nThe King put on mourning raiment; he and his courtiers, the high\npriest and all the priests of Memphis, the King's army and the King's\nhousehold, were clothed in mourning apparel, and they walked in\nprocession to the haven of Memphis to the royal barge.  When they\ncame to the haven, they saw the body of Nefer-ka-ptah floating in the\nwater beside the barge, close to the great steering-oars.  And this\nmarvel came to pass because of the magical powers of Nefer-ka-ptah;\neven in death he was a great magician by reason of the spells he had\nwashed off the papyrus and drunk in the beer.\n\nThen they drew him out of the water, and they saw the Book of Thoth\nbound to his breast with the girdle of royal linen.  And the King\ngave command that they should bury Nefer-ka-ptah with the honour due\nto the son of a king, and that the Book of Thoth should be buried\nwith him.\n\nThus was the vengeance of Thoth fulfilled, but the Book remained with\nNefer-ka-ptah.\n\n\n\n\nV\n\nOSIRIS\n\nIn the beginning Ra cursed Nut, and his curse was that none of her\nchildren should be born on any day of any year.  And Nut cried to\nThoth who loved her, Thoth, the twice great, god of magic and\nlearning and wisdom, he whom the Greeks called Hermes Trismegistos.\nThough the curse of the great God Ra once uttered could never be\nrecalled, Thoth by his wisdom opened a way of escape.  He went to the\nMoon-god, whose brightness was almost equal to that of the Sun\nitself, and challenged him to a game of dice.  Great were the stakes\non either side, but the Moon's were the greatest, for he wagered his\nown light.  Game after game they played and always the luck was with\nThoth, till the Moon would play no more.  Then Thoth, the twice\ngreat, gathered up the light he had won, and by his power and might\nhe formed it into five days.  And since that time the Moon has not\nhad light enough to shine throughout the month; but dwindles away\ninto darkness, and then comes slowly to his full glory; for the light\nof five whole days was taken from him.  And these five days Thoth\nplaced between the end of the old year and the beginning of the new\nyear, keeping them distinct from both; and on these five days the\nfive children of Nut were born; Osiris on the first day, Horus on the\nsecond, Set on the third, Isis on the fourth, and Nephthys on the\nfifth.  Thus the curse of Ra was both fulfilled and made of no\neffect, for the days on which the children of Nut were born belonged\nto no year.\n\nWhen Osiris was born, wonders and marvels, prodigies and signs, were\nheard and seen throughout the world, for a voice cried over the whole\nearth, \"The Lord of all comes forth to the light.\"  And a woman\ndrawing water from the holy place of the temple was filled with the\ndivine afflatus and rushed forth crying, \"Osiris the King is born.\"\n\nNow Egypt was a barbarous country where men fought together and ate\nhuman flesh; naught did they know of the gods, lawless were they and\nsavage.  But Osiris became the King of Egypt, and he showed his\npeople how to till the land and to plant corn and the vine, and he\ntaught them the honour due to the Gods, and made laws, and abolished\ntheir barbarous and savage customs.  Wherever he went, the people\nbowed at his feet, for they loved the very ground he trod on; and\nwhatever he commanded, that they did.  Thus did Osiris rule over the\nEgyptians till, with music playing and banners flying, he passed out\nof Egypt to bring all nations beneath his gracious sway.\n\nBut Set hated his brother Osiris, and he gathered to himself\nseventy-two conspirators, and with them was Aso, queen of Ethiopia.\nAnd they made a plan that when Osiris returned they should kill him\nand place Set on the throne; but they hid their plans, and with\nsmiling faces went out to meet Osiris when he re-entered Egypt in\ntriumph.\n\nIn secret they met again and again, in secret also they prepared a\ncoffer made of costly wood painted and decorated with rich designs\nand glowing colours, an interweaving of tints and a wealth of cunning\nworkmanship, so that all who saw it longed to have it for their own.\nSet, that Wicked One, had in secret measured the body of Osiris, and\nthe coffer was made to fit the body of the King, for this was part of\nthe plan.\n\nWhen all was ready, Set bade his brother and the seventy-two\nconspirators to a feast in his great banqueting-hall.  When the feast\nwas over, they sang the chant of Maneros, as was the custom, and\nslaves carried round cups of wine and threw garlands of flowers round\nthe necks of the guests, and poured perfume upon them, till the hall\nwas filled with sweet odours.  And while their hearts were glad,\nslaves entered bearing the coffer, and all the guests cried out at\nthe sight of its beauty.\n\nThen Set stood up in his place and said, \"He who lies down in this\ncoffer and whom it fits, to that man I will give it.\"  His words were\nsweet as honey, but in his heart was the bitterness of evil.\n\nOne after one, the conspirators lay down in the coffer with jests and\nlaughter; for one it was too long, and for another it was too short,\nand for a third it was too wide, and for a fourth too narrow.  Then\ncame Osiris to take his turn, and he, all unsuspecting, lay down in\nit.  At once the conspirators seized the lid and clapped it on; some\nnailed it firmly in its place, while others poured molten lead into\nall the openings lest he should breathe and live.  Thus died the\ngreat Osiris, he who is called Unnefer the Triumphant, and by his\ndeath he entered into the Duat, and became King of the Dead and Ruler\nof those who are in the West.\n\nThe conspirators lifted the chest, which was now a coffin, and\ncarried it to the river-bank.  They flung it far into the water, and\nHapi the Nile-god caught it and carried it upon his stream to the\nsea; the Great Green Waters received it and the waves bore it to\nByblos and lifted it into a tamarisk-tree that grew by the shore.\nThen the tree shot forth great branches and put out leaves and\nflowers to make a fit resting-place for the God, and the fame of its\nbeauty went throughout the land.\n\nIn Byblos ruled King Malkander and his wife, Queen Athenais.  They\ncame to the sea-shore to gaze upon the tree, for naught could be seen\nbut leaves and blossoms which hid the coffin from all eyes.  Then\nKing Malkander gave command and the tree was cut down and carried to\nthe royal palace to make a pillar therein, for it was worthy to be\nused in a king's house.  All men wondered at its beauty, though none\nknew that it held the body of a God.\n\nNow Isis feared Set exceedingly.  His smooth words did not deceive\nher, and she knew of his enmity to Osiris, but the great King would\nnot believe in his brother's wickedness.  When the soul of Osiris\npassed from his body, at once Isis was aware that he was dead, though\nno man told her.  She took her little son, whom men call Harpocrates\nor Horus the Child, and fled with him to the marshes of the Delta,\nand hid him in the city of P\u00e9.  Ancient and gray was this city of P\u00e9\nand it stood on an island; there dwelt the goddess Uazet, whom men\ncall also Buto and Latona, for she is worshipped under many names.\nUazet took the child and sheltered him, and Isis by her divine power\nloosed the island from its moorings, and it floated on the surface of\nthe Great Green Waters, so that no man could tell where to find it.\nFor she feared the power of Set lest he should destroy the child as\nhe had destroyed the father.\n\nAs the souls of men cannot rest until the funeral rites are performed\nand the funeral sacrifices offered, she journeyed, solitary and\nalone, to seek the body of her husband, and bury it as became his\ngreatness.  Many people did she meet, both men and women, but none\nhad seen the chest, and in this matter her power was of no avail.\nThen she thought to ask the children, and at once they told her of a\npainted coffer floating on the Nile.  And to this day children have\nprophetic power and can declare the will of the Gods and the things\nthat are yet for to come.\n\nThus, asking always of the children, Isis came to Byblos.  She sat by\nthe Great Green Waters, and the maidens of Queen Athenais came to\nbathe and disport themselves in the waves.  Then Isis spoke to them\nand braided their hair and adjusted their jewels; the breath of the\nGoddess was sweeter than the odours of the Land of Punt, and it\nperfumed the hair and the jewels and the garments of the maidens.\nWhen they returned to the palace, Queen Athenais asked them whence\nthey had obtained the perfume, and they answered, \"A woman, strange\nand sad, sat by the sea-shore when we went to bathe, and she braided\nour hair and adjusted our jewels, and from her came the perfume,\nthough we know not how.\"  Queen Athenais went to the shore to see the\nstrange woman and conversed with her, and they spoke together as\nmothers speak, for each had a little son; the son of Isis was far\naway and the son of Athenais was sick unto death.\n\nThen rose up Isis, the Mighty in Magic, the skilful Healer, and said,\n\"Bring me to your son!\"  Together the Goddess and the Queen returned\nto the palace, and Isis took little Diktys in her arms and said, \"I\ncan make him strong and well, but in my own way will I do it, and\nnone must interfere.\"\n\nEvery day Queen Athenais marvelled at her son.  From a little puling\nbabe he became a strong and healthy child, but Isis spoke no word and\nnone knew what she did.  Athenais questioned her maidens, and they\nanswered, \"We know not what she does, but this we know, that she\nfeeds him not, and at night she bars the doors of the hall of the\npillar, and piles the fire high with logs, and when we listen, naught\ncan we hear but the twittering of a swallow.\"\n\nAthenais was filled with curiosity and hid herself at night in the\ngreat hall, and watched how Isis barred the doors and piled the logs\nupon the fire till the flames rose high and scorching.  Then, sitting\nbefore the fire, she made a space between the blazing logs, a space\nthat glowed red and crimson, and in that space she laid the child,\nand turning herself into the form of a swallow, she circled round the\npillar, mourning and lamenting, and the lamentation was like the\ntwittering of a swallow.  Queen Athenais shrieked and snatched the\nchild from the fire, and turned to flee.  But before her stood Isis\nthe Goddess, tall and terrible.\n\n\"O foolish mother!\" said Isis.  \"Why didst thou seize the child?  But\na few days longer and all that is mortal in him would have been burnt\naway, and as the Gods would he have been, immortal and for ever\nyoung.\"\n\nA great awe fell upon the Queen, for she knew that she looked upon\none of the Gods.  In humblest wise she and King Malkander prayed the\nGoddess to accept a gift.  All the riches of Byblos were spread\nbefore her, but to her they were as naught.\n\n\"Give me,\" she said, \"what this pillar holds and I shall be content.\"\nAt once the workmen were summoned, and they took down the pillar, and\nsplit it open, and lifted out the coffin.  And Isis took sweet spices\nand scented blossoms; these she strewed upon the pillar, then wrapped\nit in fine linen and gave it to the King and Queen.  And all the\npeople of Byblos worship it to this day, because once it held the\nbody of a god.\n\nBut Isis took the coffin on a boat and sailed away from Byblos, and\nwhen the waves of the river Phaedrus, lashed by the wind, threatened\nto sweep the coffin away, she dried up the water by her magical\nspells.  Then, in a solitary place, she opened the coffin, and,\ngazing upon the face of the dead God, she mourned and lamented.\n\nNow some say that when Isis left Byblos she took Diktys with her, and\nthat he fell out of the boat and was drowned.  Others say that the\nsound of her lamentation was so terrible in its grief that his heart\nbroke and he died.  But I think that he remained in Byblos; and\nbecause he had lain in the arms of the Divine Mother, and had passed\nthrough the purifying fire, he grew up to be a great and noble King,\nruling his people wisely.\n\nThen Isis hid the coffin and set out for the city of P\u00e9, where it\nstood on the floating island and where her little son Harpocrates was\nsafe under the care of Uazet, the Goddess of the North Country.  And\nwhile she was away, Set came hunting wild boars with his dogs.  He\nhunted by moonlight, for he loved the night, when all evil red things\nare abroad; and the air was filled with the whoop and halloa of the\nhuntsman and the cries of the dogs as they rushed after their quarry.\nAnd as he dashed past, Set saw the painted chest, the colours\nglinting and gleaming in the moonlight.\n\nAt that sight, hatred and anger came upon him like a red cloud, and\nhe raged like a panther of the South.  He dragged the coffin from the\nplace where it was hidden and forced it open; he seized the body and\ntore it into fourteen pieces, and by his mighty and divine strength\nhe scattered the pieces throughout the land of Egypt.  And he laughed\nand said, \"It is not possible to destroy the body of a God, but I\nhave done what is impossible, I have destroyed Osiris.\"  And his\nlaughter echoed across the world, and those who heard it fled\ntrembling.\n\nWhen Isis returned, she found naught but the broken coffin, and knew\nthat Set had done this thing.  All her search was now to begin again.\nShe took a little shallop made of papyrus-reeds lashed together, and\nsailed through the marshes to look for the pieces of Osiris' body,\nand all the birds and beasts went with her to help her; and to this\nday the crocodiles will not touch a boat of papyrus-reeds, for they\nthink it is the weary Goddess still pursuing her search.\n\nA mighty and a cunning enemy was hers, and by wisdom only could he be\novercome; therefore, wheresoever she found a fragment of the divine\nbody, she built a beautiful shrine and performed the funeral rites as\nthough she had buried it there.  But in truth she took the fragments\nwith her; and when, after long wanderings, she had found all, by the\nmighty power of her magic she united them again as one body.  For\nwhen Horus the Child should be grown to manhood, then he should fight\nwith Set and avenge his father; and after he had obtained the victory\nOsiris should live again.\n\nBut until that day Osiris lives in the Duat, where he rules the Dead\nwisely and nobly as he ruled the living when on earth.  For though\nHorus fights with Set and the battles rage furiously, yet the\ndecisive victory is not yet accomplished, and Osiris has never\nreturned to earth again.\n\n\n\n\nVI\n\nTHE SCORPIONS OF ISIS\n\nI am Isis, the great Goddess, the Mistress of Magic, the Speaker of\nSpells.\n\nI came out of my house which my brother Set had given to me, for\nThoth called to me to come, Thoth the twice great, mighty of truth in\nearth and in heaven.  He called, and I came forth when Ra descended\nin glory to the western horizon of heaven, and it was evening.\n\nAnd with me came the seven scorpions, and their names were Tefen and\nBefen, Mestet and Mestetef, Petet, Thetet, and Matet.  Behind me were\nTefen and Befen; on either side were Mestet and Mestetef; in front\nwere Petet, Thetet, and Matet, clearing the way that none should\noppose or hinder me.  I called aloud to the scorpions, and my words\nrang through the air and entered into their ears, \"Beware of the\nBlack One, call not the Red One, look neither at children nor at any\nsmall helpless creature.\"\n\nThen I wandered through the Land of Egypt, Tefen and Befen behind me,\nMestet and Mestetef on either side of me, Petet, Thetet, and Matet\nbefore me; and we came to Per-sui, where the crocodile is God, and to\nthe Town of the Two Sandals, which is the city of the Twin Goddesses.\nHere it is that the swamps and marshes of the North Country begin,\nwhere there are fields of papyrus-reeds, and where the marshmen\ndwell; from here to the Great Green Waters is the North Land.\n\nThen we came near houses where the marsh-people dwelt, and the name\nof one of the women was \"Glory,\" though some called her \"Strength\"\nalso.  She stood at her door, and from afar she saw me coming,\nwayworn and weary, and I would fain have sat me down in her house to\nrest.  But when I would have spoken to her, she shut the door in my\nface, for she feared the seven scorpions that were with me.\n\nI went farther, and one of the marshwomen opened her door to me, and\nin her house I rested.  But Mestet and Mestetef, Petet, Thetet, and\nMatet, and Befen also, they came together and laid their poison upon\nthe sting of Tefen; thus the sting of Tefen had sevenfold power.\nThen returned Tefen to the house of the woman Glory, she who had\nclosed her door against me; the door was still shut, but between it\nand the threshold was a narrow space.  Through this narrow space\ncrept Tefen and entered the house, and stung with a sting of\nsevenfold power the son of the woman Glory.  So fierce and burning\nwas the poison that the child died and fire broke out in the house.\n\nThen the woman Glory cried and lamented, but no man hearkened to her,\nand Heaven itself sent water upon her house.  A great marvel was this\nwater from Heaven, for the time of the inundation was not yet.\n\nThus she mourned and lamented, and her heart was full of sorrow when\nshe remembered how she had shut her door in my face when, weary and\nwayworn, I would have rested in her house.  And the sound of her\ngrief came to my ears, and my heart swelled with sorrow for her\nsorrow, and I turned back and went with her to where her dead child\nlay.\n\nAnd I, Isis, the Mistress of magic, whose voice can awake the dead, I\ncalled aloud the Words of Power, the Words that even the dead can\nhear.  And I laid my arms upon the child that I might bring back Life\nto the lifeless.  Cold and still he lay, for the sevenfold poison of\nTefen was in him.  Then did I speak magical spells to the poison of\nthe scorpions, saying, \"O poison of Tefen, come out of him and fall\nupon the ground!  Poison of Befen, advance not, penetrate no farther,\ncome out of him, and fall upon the ground!  For I am Isis, the great\nEnchantress, the Speaker of spells.  Fall down, O poison of Mestet!\nHasten not, poison of Mestetef!  Rise not, poison of Petet and\nThetet!  Approach not, poison of Matet!  For I am Isis, the great\nEnchantress, the Speaker of spells.  The child shall live, the poison\nshall die!  As Horus is strong and well for me, his mother, so shall\nthis child be strong and well for his mother!\"\n\nThen the child recovered, and the fire was quenched, and the rain\nfrom heaven ceased.  And the woman Glory brought all her wealth, her\nbracelets and her neck-ornaments, her gold-work and silver-work, to\nthe house of the marshwoman, and laid them at my feet in token of\nrepentance that she had shut the door upon me when, weary and\nwayworn, I had come to her house.\n\nAnd to this day men make dough of wheat-flour kneaded with salt and\nlay it upon the wound made by the sting of a scorpion, and over it\nthey recite the Words of Power which I recited over the child of the\nwoman Glory when the sevenfold poison was in him.  For I am Isis, the\ngreat Enchantress, the Mistress of magic, the Speaker of spells.\n\n\n\n\nVII\n\nTHE BLACK PIG\n\nThe reason why the city of P\u00e9 was given to Horus, I know and I will\ntell you.\n\nBetween Horus and Set there is enmity and hatred, war and battle.\nEver the fight goes on and the combatants rage furiously, and victory\nis not yet declared to either, though the Gods are with Horus.\n\nNow Set is cunning and crafty, and seeks to conquer by subtlety\nrather than by courage and skill in the fray; and such power is his\nthat he can take what form he will and deceive both men and Gods.\nThis is the power of Set, but the power of Horus is not the same; for\nto Horus belong righteousness and truth; deceit and falsehood are not\nin him.  Whoso gazes into the blue eyes of Horus can see the future\nreflected there, and both Gods and men seek Horus to learn what shall\ncome to pass.\n\nIt came to the knowledge of Set that Ra would consult with Horus, and\nit seemed to him that an opportunity was at hand to injure Horus, so\nhe took upon himself the form of a Black Pig.  Fierce was his aspect,\nlong and sharp his tushes, and his colour was the blackness of the\nthundercloud; savage and evil was his look, and struck fear into the\nhearts of men.\n\nThen came the Majesty of Ra to Horus and spoke to him saying, \"Let me\nlook in thine eyes and behold what is to come.\"  And he gazed into\nthe eyes of Horus, and their colour was that of the Great Green\nWaters when the summer sky shines upon them.  And while he gazed, the\nBlack Pig passed by.\n\nRa knew not that it was the Evil God, and he cried out to Horus and\nsaid, \"Look at that Black Pig!  Never have I seen one so huge and so\nfierce.\"\n\nAnd Horus looked; neither did he know Set in this strange form, and\nthought it was a wild boar from the thickets of the North Country.\nThus he was off his guard and unprotected against his enemy.\n\nThen Set aimed a blow of fire at the eye of Horus, and Horus shouted\naloud with the pain of the fire, and raged furiously, and cried, \"It\nis Set, and he has smitten me with fire on the eyes.\"\n\nBut Set was no longer there, for he had conveyed himself away, and\nthe Black Pig was seen no more.  And Ra cursed the pig because of\nSet, and said, \"Let the pig be an abomination to Horus.\"  And to this\nday men sacrifice the pig when the Moon is at the full, because Set,\nthe enemy of Horus, and the murderer of Osiris, took its form in\norder to injure the blue-eyed God.  And for this reason also\nswineherds are unclean throughout the land of Egypt; never may they\nenter the temples and sacrifice to the Gods, and their sons and\ndaughters may not marry with the worshippers of the Gods.\n\nAnd when the eyes of Horus were healed, Ra gave to him the city of\nP\u00e9, and he gave to him two divine brethren in the city of P\u00e9, and two\ndivine brethren in the city of Nekhen to be with him as everlasting\njudges.  Then was the heart of Horus glad and he rejoiced, and at the\njoy of Horus the earth blossomed, and thunderclouds and rain were\nblotted out.\n\n\n\n\nVIII\n\nTHE BATTLES OF HORUS\n\nIt was in the three hundred and sixty-third year of the reign of the\nGod Ra-Horakhti upon earth that the great war happened between Horus\nand Set.\n\nThe Majesty of the God Ra, whom men call Ra-Horakhti also, was in\nNubia with his army, a great and innumerable multitude of soldiers,\nfootmen and horsemen, archers and chariots.  He came in his Boat upon\nthe river; the prow of the Boat was of palm-wood, its stern was of\nacacia-wood, and he landed at Thest-Hor, to the east of the Inner\nWaters.  And to him came Horus of Edfu, he whose name is Harpooner\nand Hero, seeking for that Wicked One, Set, the murderer of Osiris.\nLong had he sought, but Set had ever eluded him.\n\nThe Majesty of Ra had gathered his forces, for Set had rebelled\nagainst him, and Horus was glad at the thought of battle, for he\nloved an hour of fighting more than a day of rejoicing.  He entered\ninto the presence of Thoth, the twice great, god of magic, and Thoth\ngave him the power to change himself into a great winged disk, a disk\nthat glowed like a ball of fire, with great wings on either side like\nthe colours of the sky at sunset when the blue shades from dark to\nlight, and is shot with gold and flame.  Men try to copy these hues\nwhen they carve the winged disk above the temple-doors, or make it\ninto a breast-ornament of gold inlaid with turquoise and carnelian\nand lazuli.\n\nThus Horus, as a great winged disk, sat on the prow of the Boat of\nRa, and his splendour flashed across the waters and fell upon his\nfoes as they lay in ambush.  Upon his glorious wings he rose into the\nair, and against his crafty enemies he made a curse, a curse terrible\nand fear-striking, saying, \"Your eyes shall be blinded, and ye shall\nnot see; and your ears shall be deaf, and ye shall not hear.\"\n\nAnd at once, when each man looked at his neighbour, he saw a\nstranger; and when he heard his own familiar mother-tongue it sounded\nlike a foreign language, and they cried out that they were betrayed,\nand that the enemy had come among them.  They turned their weapons\neach against the other, and in the quickness of a moment many had\nceased to live, and the rest had fled, while over them flew the\ngleaming Disk watching for Set.  But Set was in the marshes of the\nNorth Country and these were but his advance-guard.\n\nThen Horus flew back to Ra, and Ra embraced him and gave him a\ndraught of wine mixed with water.  And to this day men pour a\nlibation of wine and water to Horus at this place in remembrance.\nWhen Horus had drunk the wine, he spoke to the Majesty of Ra and\nsaid, \"Come and see thine enemies, how they lie overthrown in their\nblood.\"  Ra came, and with him came Astarte, Mistress of Horses,\ndriving her furious steeds; and they saw the corpse-strewn field\nwhere the army of Set had slain one another.\n\nNow this is the first encounter in the South, but the last great\nbattle was not yet.\n\nThen the associates of Set came together and took counsel, and took\nupon themselves the likeness of crocodiles and hippopotamuses, for\nthese great beasts can live under water and no human weapon can\npierce their hides.  They came up the river, the water swirling\nbehind them, and rushed upon the Boat of Ra to overturn it.  But\nHorus had gathered together his band of armourers and weapon-smiths,\nand they had prepared arrows and spears of metal, smelted and welded,\nhammered and shaped, with magical words and spells chanted over them.\nWhen the fierce beasts came up the river in waves of foam, the\nFollowers of Horus drew their bowstrings and let fly their arrows,\nthey cast their javelins, and charged with their spears.  And the\nmetal pierced the hides and reached the hearts, and of these wicked\nanimals six hundred and fifty were slain, and the rest fled.\n\nNow this is the second encounter in the South, but the last great\nbattle was not yet.\n\nThe associates of Set fled, some up the river and some down the\nriver; their hearts were weak and their feet failed for fear of\nHorus, the Harpooner, the Hero.  And those whose faces were towards\nthe South Land fled fastest, for Horus was at their back in the Boat\nof Ra; and with him came his Followers, their weapons in their hands.\n\nAt the south-east of Denderah, the city of Hathor, Horus saw the\nenemy, and he rushed upon them with his Followers, while Ra and Thoth\nwatched the conflict as they waited in the Boat.\n\nThen said the Majesty of Ra to Thoth, \"See, how he wounds his\nenemies!  See, how Horus of Edfu carries destruction among them!\"\nAnd afterwards men built a shrine in this place in remembrance of the\nfight, and the Gods in the shrine were Ra and Miri and Horus of Edfu.\n\nNow this is the third encounter in the South, but the last great\nbattle was not yet.\n\nThen quickly they turned the Boat, and swiftly was it carried\ndownstream, following the fugitives, whose faces were towards the\nNorth Land.  For a night and a day they followed after, and at the\nnorth-east of Denderah Horus saw them.  And he made haste, he and his\nFollowers, and fell upon them, and slew them.  Great and terrible was\nthe slaughter as he drove them before him.\n\nThus was destroyed Set's army in the South in four great encounters,\nbut the last great battle was not yet.\n\nNow the allies of Set turned their faces towards the lake and towards\nthe marshes of the sea.  Horus came behind them in the Boat of Ra,\nand his form was the form of a great winged disk; and with him came\nhis Followers, their weapons in their hands.  Then Horus commanded\nsilence, and silence was upon their mouths.\n\nFour days and four nights were they upon the water seeking the enemy.\nBut none did they find, for their foes had turned their shapes into\nthe shapes of crocodiles and hippopotamuses, and lay hidden in the\nwater.  On the morning of the fifth day Horus saw them; at once he\ngave battle, and the air was filled with the noise of the combat,\nwhile Ra and Thoth watched the conflict as they waited in the Boat.\n\nThen the Majesty of Ra cried aloud when he saw Horus like a devouring\nflame upon the battlefield, \"See, how he casts his weapon against\nthem, he kills them, he destroys them with his sword, he cuts them in\npieces, he utterly defeats them!  See and behold Horus of Edfu!\"  At\nthe end of the fight Horus came back in triumph and he brought one\nhundred and forty-two prisoners to the Boat of Ra.\n\nNow this is the first encounter in the North, but the last great\nbattle was not yet.\n\nFor the enemies, who were upon the Northern Waters, turned their\nfaces towards the canal to reach the sea, and they came to the\nWestern Waters of Mert, where the Ally of Set had his dwelling.\nBehind them followed Horus, equipped with all his glittering weapons,\nand he went in the Boat of Ra, and Ra was in the Boat with eight of\nhis train.  They were upon the Northern Canal, and backwards and\nforwards they went, turning and re-turning, but nothing did they see\nor hear.  Then they went northward for a night and a day and they\ncame to the House of Rerhu.\n\nThere Ra spoke to Horus and said, \"Behold, thy enemies are gathered\ntogether at the Western Waters of Mert, where dwell the Allies of\nSet.\"  And Horus of Edfu prayed the Majesty of Ra to come in his Boat\nagainst the Allies of Set.\n\nAgain they travelled to the northwards, where the never-setting Stars\nwheel round a certain point in the sky, and on the banks of the\nWestern Waters of Mert were the Allies of Set, ready for battle.\nThen Horus of Edfu delayed not a moment, but rushed upon the foe, and\nwith him came his Followers, their weapons in their hands.  Death and\ndestruction they dealt to right and to left till the enemy fled\nbefore them.  When the conflict was over, they counted the prisoners;\nthree hundred and eighty-one were taken, and these Horus slew before\nthe Boat of Ra, and their weapons he gave to his Followers.\n\nNow this is the second encounter in the North, but the last great\nbattle was not yet.\n\nAnd now, at last, Set himself came forth from his hiding-place.\nFierce and savage he is, cunning and cruel; in his nature like a\nbeast of prey, without ruth or pity; and men make his image with the\nhead of a wild beast, for human feeling is to him unknown.  From his\nhiding-place he came forth and he roared terribly.  The earth and the\nheavens trembled at the sound of his roaring and at the words which\nhe uttered, for he boasted that he would himself fight against Horus\nand destroy him as he had destroyed Osiris.\n\nThe wind bore the words of his boasting to Ra, and Ra said to Thoth\nthe twice great, Lord of Magic and Wisdom, \"Cause that these high\nwords of the Terrible One be cast down.\"\n\nThen Horus of Edfu sprang forward and rushed at his enemy, and a\ngreat fight raged.  Horus cast his weapon and killed many, and his\nFollowers fought also and prevailed.  Out of the dust and the noise\nof the combat came Horus, dragging a prisoner; and the captive's arms\nwere bound behind him, and the staff of Horus was tied across his\nmouth so that he could make no sound, and the weapon of Horus was at\nhis throat.\n\nHorus dragged him before the Majesty of Ra.  And Ra spoke and said to\nHorus, \"Do with him as thou wilt.\"  Then Horus fell upon his enemy,\nand struck the weapon into his head and into his back, and cut off\nhis head, and dragged the body about by the feet, and at last he cut\nthe body into pieces.  Thus did he treat the body of his adversary as\nSet had treated the body of Osiris.  This took place on the seventh\nday of the first month of the season when the earth appears after the\ninundation.  And the lake is called the Lake of Fighting to this day.\n\nNow this is the third encounter in the North, but the last great\nbattle was not yet.\n\nFor it was the Ally of Set whom Horus had slain, and Set himself was\nstill alive, and he raged against Horus as a panther of the South.\nAnd he stood up and roared in the face of heaven, and his voice was\nthe voice of thunder, and as he roared he changed himself into a\ngreat snake, and entered into the earth.  None saw him go and none\nsaw him change, but he was fighting against the Gods, and by their\npower and knowledge are they aware of what comes to pass, though no\nman tells them.  And Ra said to Horus, \"Set has transformed himself\ninto a hissing snake and has entered the earth.  We must cause that\nhe never comes forth; never, never no more!\"\n\nThe associates of Set took courage, knowing that their leader was\nalive, and they assembled again, and their boats filled the canal.\nThe Boat of Ra went against them, and above the Boat shone the glory\nof the great winged Disk.  When Horus saw the enemy gathered together\nin one place, he drove at them and routed them and slew them without\nnumber.\n\nNow this is the fourth encounter in the North, but the last great\nbattle was not yet.\n\nThen Horus of Edfu remained in the Boat of Ra upon the canal for six\ndays and six nights, watching for the enemy, but he saw none, for\nthey lay as corpses in the water.\n\nAnd to this day men make ceremonies in remembrance of the Battles of\nHorus on the first day of the first month of the inundation, on the\nseventh day of the first month of the appearing of the earth after\nthe inundation, and on the twenty-first and twenty-fourth days of the\nsecond month of the earth's appearing.  These days are kept holy at\nAst-abt, which is at the south side of Anrudef, where is one of the\ngraves of Osiris.  And Isis made magical spells round Anrudef that no\nenemy might come near it; and the priestess of Anrudef is called \"The\nLady of Spells\" to this day in remembrance; and the waters are called\n\"The Waters of Seeking,\" for there it was that Horus sought for his\nfoe.\n\nAnd Horus sent out his Followers, and they hunted down the enemy, and\nbrought in prisoners; one hundred and six from the East and one\nhundred and six from the West.  These they slew before Ra in the\nsanctuaries.\n\nThen Ra gave to Horus and his fighters two cities which are called\nthe Mesen-cities to this day, for the Followers of Horus are Mesenti,\nthe Metal-workers.  In the shrines of the Mesen-cities Horus is the\nGod, and his secret ceremonies are held on four days in the year.\nGreat and holy are these days in the Mesen-cities, for they are in\nremembrance of the Battles of Horus which he fought against Set, the\nmurderer of Osiris.\n\nNow these enemies, they gathered again in the East, and they\ntravelled towards Tharu.  Then was launched the Boat of Ra to follow\nafter them, and Horus of Edfu transformed himself into the likeness\nof a lion with the face of a man; his arms were like flint, and on\nhis head was the Atef-crown, which is the white diadem of the South\nLand with feathers and horns, and on either side a crowned serpent.\nAnd he hastened after his enemies, and defeated them, and brought of\nprisoners one hundred and forty-two.\n\nThen said Ra to Horus of Edfu, \"Let us journey northwards to the\nGreat Green Waters, and smite the foe there as we have smitten him in\nEgypt.\"\n\nNorthwards they went, and the enemy fled before them, and they\nreached the Great Green Waters, where the waves broke on the shore\nwith the noise of thunder.  Then Thoth arose and he stood in the\nmidst of the Boat, and he chanted strange words over the boats and\nbarges of Horus and his Followers, and the sea fell calm as the sound\nof the words floated across its waves.  And there was silence on the\nGreat Green Waters, for the wind was lulled, and naught was in sight\nsave the boats of Ra and of Horus.\n\nThen said the Majesty of Ra, \"Let us sail round the whole extent of\nthe land, let us sail to the South Land.\"  And they knew that Ra was\naware of the enemy.  They made haste and sailed to the South Land by\nnight, to the country of Ta-kens, and they came to the town of Sha\u00efs,\nbut until they reached Sha\u00efs they saw naught of any enemy.  Now Sha\u00efs\nis on the border of Nubia, and in Nubia were the guards of the enemy.\n\nThen Horus of Edfu changed himself into a great winged Disk with\ngleaming pinions outspread, and on either side of him came the\ngoddesses Nekhbet and Uazet, and their form was the form of great\nhooded snakes with crowns upon their heads; on the head of Nekhbet\nwas the white crown of the South Land, on the head of Uazet was the\nred crown of the North Land.\n\nAnd the Gods in the Boat of Ra cried aloud and said, \"See, O Thou who\nart twice great, he has placed himself between the two goddesses.\nBehold how he overthrows his adversaries and destroys them.\"\n\nNow this is the encounter in Nubia, but the last great battle was not\nyet.\n\nThen came Ra in his Boat and he moored at Thest-Hor, and he gave\ncommandment that in every temple throughout the Two Lands men should\ncarve the Winged Disk, and on the right and left of the Disk should\nbe Nekhbet and Uazet as great hooded snakes with crowns upon their\nheads.  And the temple at the point of Thest-Hor is called \"The House\nof Horus in the South\" to this day in remembrance, and a great\noffering is made there to Ra and Horus.  And Ra gave to Horus the\nprovince of the House of Fighting, and Ast-Abt, and the Mesen-cities\nof the East and the West, and Edfu of the North, and Tharu, and\nGauti, and the Sea of Sailing, and Upper Shasu, and\nEdfu-of-the-House-of-Ra.  And from the lake south of\nEdfu-of-the-House-of-Ra they bring water to the two Houses of the\nKing on the day of the Sed-festival.  And Isis carried Ar-stone of\nsand to Thest-Hor--Ar-stone of the Star was it; and in every place in\nthe South Land to which Horus went, there is Ar-stone found to this\nday.\n\nNow some say that the last great battle is still to come, and that in\nthe end Horus will kill Set, and that Osiris and all the Gods will\nreign on earth when their enemy is utterly destroyed.  But others say\nthat the battle is already ended and that Horus slew the great and\nwicked Foe who had wrought misery and calamity to all.\n\nAnd this is what they say: After months and years Horus the Child\ngrew to manhood.  Then came Set with his allies, and he challenged\nHorus in the presence of Ra.  And Horus came forth, his Followers\nwith him in their boats, with their armour, and their glittering\nweapons with handles of worked wood, and their cords, and their\nspears.\n\nAnd Isis made golden ornaments for the prow of the boat of Horus, and\nshe laid them in their places with magic words and spells, saying,\n\"Gold is at the prow of thy boat, O Lord of Mesen, Horus, Chieftain\nof the boat, the great boat of Horus, the boat of rejoicing.  May the\nvalour of Ra, the strength of Shu, power and fear be around thee.\nThou art victorious, O son of Osiris, son of Isis, for thou fightest\nfor the throne of thy father.\"\n\nThen Set took upon himself the form of a red hippopotamus, great and\nmighty, and he came from the South Land with his Allies, travelling\nto the North Land to meet Horus of Edfu.  And at Elephantine, Set\nstood up and spoke a great curse against Horus of Edfu and against\nIsis, and said, \"Let there come a great wind, even a furious\nnorth-wind and a raging tempest\"; and the sound of his voice was like\nthunder in the East of the sky.  His words were cried from the\nsouthern heaven and rolled back to the northern heaven, a word and a\ncry from Set, the enemy of Osiris and the Gods.\n\nAt once a storm broke over the boats of Horus and his Followers, the\nwind roared, and the water was lashed into great waves, and the boats\nwere tossed like straws.  But Horus held on his way; and through the\ndarkness of the storm and the foam of the waves gleamed the golden\nprow like the rays of the sun.\n\nAnd Horus took upon himself the form of a young man; his height was\neight cubits; in his hand he held a harpoon, the blade was four\ncubits, the shaft twenty cubits, and a chain of sixty cubits was\nwelded to it.  Over his head he brandished the weapon as though it\nwere a reed, and he launched it at the great red hippopotamus which\nstood in the deep waters, ready to destroy Horus and his Followers\nwhen the storm should wreck their boats.\n\nAnd at the first cast the weapon struck deep into the head of the\ngreat red hippopotamus and entered the brain.  Thus died Set, that\ngreat and wicked One, the enemy of Osiris and the Gods.\n\nAnd to this day the priests of Horus of Edfu, and the King's\ndaughters, and the women of Busiris and the women of P\u00e9 chant a hymn\nand strike the drum for Horus in triumph.\n\nAnd this is their song: \"Rejoice, O women of Busiris!  Rejoice, O\nwomen of P\u00e9!  Horus has overthrown his enemies!\n\n\"Exult, dwellers in Edfu!  Horus, the great God, Lord of heaven, has\nsmitten the enemy of his father!\n\n\"Eat ye the flesh of the vanquished, drink ye his blood, burn ye his\nbones in the flame of the fire.  Let him be cut in pieces, and let\nhis bones be given to the cats, the fragments of him to the reptiles.\n\n\"O Horus, the Striker, the great One of Valour, the Slayer, the Chief\nof the Gods, the Harpooner, the Hero, the only begotten, Captor of\ncaptives, Horus of Edfu, Horus the Avenger!\n\n\"He has destroyed the wicked One, he has made a whirlpool with the\nblood of his enemy, his shaft has made a prey.  Behold ye, see ye\nHorus at the prow of his boat.  Like Ra, he shines on the horizon.\nHe is decked in green linen, in binding linen, in fine linen and\nbyssus.  The double diadem is upon thy head, the two serpents upon\nthy brow, O Horus the Avenger!\n\n\"Thy harpoon is of metal, the shaft is of the sycomore of the desert,\nthe net is woven by Hathor of the Roses.  Thou hast aimed to the\nright, thou hast cast to the left.  We give praise to thee to the\nheight of heaven, for thou hast chained the wickedness of thine\nenemy.  We give praise to thee, we worship thy majesty, O Horus of\nEdfu, Horus the Avenger!\"\n\n\n\n\nIX\n\nTHE BEER OF HELIOPOLIS\n\nNow the Majesty of Ra reigned over the Two Lands.  He was the second\nking of Egypt, and in his reign peace was on earth, and harvests were\nso plentiful that to this day men speak of the good things which\n\"happened in the time of Ra.\"  By his own power he created himself,\nand he created heaven and earth, gods and men, and he ruled over them\nall.\n\nFor hundreds and hundreds of years he ruled until he waxed old, and\nmen no longer feared him, but laughed and said, \"Look at Ra!  He is\nold, his bones are like silver, his flesh like gold, and his hair\nlike true lapis lazuli.\"\n\nThen Ra was wroth when he heard their jests and their laughter, and\nhe called to those who were in his train, \"Summon hither my daughter,\nthe apple of my eye, and summon also the gods Shu and Tefnut, Geb and\nNut, and the great god Nun, whose dwelling is in the waters of the\nsky.  Do my bidding secretly lest men should hear you and see you,\nfor then would they be afraid and hide themselves.\"\n\nIn secret went the messengers, very softly they came to summon the\ngods and goddesses.  Secretly and softly came the gods and goddesses\nto the Mansion of Ra in the Hidden Place.  Naught did men see or\nhear; and they laughed again at Ra, not knowing the punishment that\nshould fall upon them.\n\nOn each side of the throne came the gods and goddesses, and they\nbowed before the Majesty of Ra with their foreheads to the ground,\nsaying, \"Speak that we may hear.\"\n\nThen said Ra to Nun, the great god whose dwelling is in the waters of\nthe sky, \"O eldest of the gods and all ye ancestor-gods!  Behold the\nmen whom I have created, how they speak against me.  Tell me what ye\nwould that I should do to them, for verily I will not slay them till\nI have heard your words.\"\n\nAnd Nun, the great god whose dwelling is in the waters of the sky,\nmade answer, \"My son Ra, greatest of gods, mightiest of kings, thy\nthrone is set fast, and thy fear will be upon all the world when thou\nsendest out thy daughter, the apple of thine eye, against those who\nattack thee.\"\n\nThe Majesty of Ra spoke again, \"Lo, they will flee to the deserts and\nthe mountains and hide themselves, if fear falls upon their hearts on\naccount of their jests and laughter; and in the deserts and mountains\nnone can find them.\"\n\nThen said the gods and goddesses, bowing before him with their\nforeheads on the ground, \"Send forth thy daughter, the apple of thine\neye, against them.\"\n\nAnd at once there came the daughter of Ra.  Sekhmet is she called,\nand Hathor, fiercest of the goddesses; like a lion she rushes on her\nprey, slaughter is her delight, and her pleasure is in blood.\n\nAt her father's bidding she entered the Two Lands to slay those who\nhad rebelled against the Majesty of Ra, and had turned their\nrebellion to jest and laughter.  In the land of Ta-mery she killed\nthem, and on the mountains which lie to the east and west of the\ngreat river.  To and fro she hastened, slaying all who crossed her\npath, and before her fled the rebels against Ra.\n\nAnd Ra looked forth upon the earth and cried to his daughter, the\napple of his eye, \"Come in peace, O Hathor!  Hast thou done that\nwhich I gave thee to do?\"\n\nAnd Hathor laughed as she answered, and her laugh was the terrible\nvoice of the lioness as she tears her prey.  \"By thy life, O Ra,\" she\ncried, \"I work my will upon men, and my heart rejoices.\"\n\nFor many nights the river ran red, and the goddess waded in the blood\nof men, and her feet were red as she strode through the land of Egypt\nas far as Henen-seten.\n\nThen Ra looked forth upon the earth again, and his heart was filled\nwith pity for men, though they had rebelled against him.  But none\ncould stop the ruthless goddess, not even the Majesty of Ra himself;\nof herself must she cease to slay, for neither gods nor men could\ncompel her.  By subtlety alone could this be accomplished.\n\nRa gave command, saying, \"Call hither to me messengers who are swift\nas the blast of the storm wind.\"  And when they were brought, he\nsaid, \"Run to Elephantine, hasten, go quickly, and bring back to me\nthe fruit that causes sleep.  Be swift, be swift, for all this must\nbe accomplished ere the day dawn.\"\n\nThe messengers hastened, and their speed was the speed of a blast of\nthe storm-wind.  They came to Elephantine, where the great river\nrages among the rocks that bar its passage; they took the fruit that\ncauses sleep, and with the fleetness of the wind they brought it to\nRa.  Crimson and scarlet was the fruit, and its juice was the colour\nof man's blood; and the messengers carried to it Heliopolis, the city\nof Ra.\n\nThen the women of Heliopolis crushed barley and made beer, and with\nthe beer they mixed the juice of the fruit that causes sleep, and the\nbeer became the colour of blood.  Seven thousand measures of beer did\nthey make, and in haste they brewed it, for the night was drawing to\na close and the day was about to break.  In haste came the Majesty of\nRa, and all the gods and goddesses, who were with him, to Heliopolis\nto inspect the beer.  Ra saw that it was like human blood, and he\nsaid, \"Very good is this beer.  By this I can protect mankind.\"\n\nAt the dawning of the day, he gave command, \"Carry this beer to the\nplace where men and women have been slain, and pour it out upon the\nfields before the beauty of the night has passed.\"  So they poured it\nout upon the fields.  Four palms deep it lay upon the ground, and its\ncolour was the colour of blood.\n\nIn the morning came the fierce Sekhmet, ready to slay, and as she\npassed by she looked to this side and that, watching for her prey.\nBut no living thing did she see, only the fields that lay four palms\ndeep in the beer that was the colour of blood.  Then she laughed with\nthe laugh like the roar of a lioness, for she thought it was the\nblood she had shed.  And she stooped and drank.  Again and again she\ndrank, and she laughed the more, for the juice of the fruit that\ncauses sleep mounted to her brain, and no longer could she see to\nslay by reason of the juice of that fruit.\n\nThen the Majesty of Ra said to her, \"Come in peace, O sweet one.\"\nAnd to this day the maidens of Amu are called \"Sweet Ones\" in\nremembrance.\n\nAnd the Majesty of Ra spoke again to the goddess, saying, \"For thee\nshall be prepared drinks from the fruits that cause sleep; every year\nshall these be made at the great Festival of the New Year, and the\nnumber of them shall be according to the number of the priestesses\nwho serve me.\"\n\nAnd to this day, on the festival of Hathor, drinks are made of the\nfruits that cause sleep, according to the number of the priestesses\nof Ra, in remembrance of the protection of mankind from the fury of\nthe goddess.\n\n\n\n\nX\n\nTHE NAME OF RA\n\nNow the Majesty of Ra was the creator of heaven and earth, of gods,\nmen, and cattle, of fire, and the breath of life; and he ruled over\ngods and men.  And Isis saw his might, the might that reached over\nheaven and earth, before which all gods and men bowed; and she longed\nin her heart for that power, that thereby she should be greater than\nthe gods and have dominion over men.\n\nThere was but one way to obtain that power.  By the knowledge of his\nown name did Ra rule, and none but himself knew that secret name.\nWhosoever could learn the secret, to that one--god or man--would\nbelong the dominion over all the world, and even Ra himself must be\nin subjection.  Jealously did Ra guard his secret, and kept it ever\nin his breast, lest it should be taken from him, and his power\ndiminished.\n\nEvery morning Ra came forth in his glory at the head of his train\nfrom the horizon of the East, journeying across the sky, and in the\nevening they came to the horizon of the West, and the Majesty of Ra\nsank in his glory to lighten the thick darkness of the Duat.  Many,\nmany times had Ra made the journey, so many times that now he had\nwaxed old.  Very aged was Ra, and the saliva ran down from his mouth\nand fell upon the earth.\n\nThen Isis took earth and mixed it with the saliva, and she kneaded\nthe clay and moulded it, and formed it into the shape of a snake, the\nshape of the great hooded snake that is the emblem of all goddesses,\nthe royal serpent which is upon the brow of the Kings of Egypt.  No\ncharms or magic spells did she use, for in the snake was the divine\nsubstance of Ra himself.  She took the snake and laid it hidden in\nthe path of Ra, the path on which he travelled in journeying from the\neastern to the western horizon of heaven.\n\nIn the morning came Ra and his train in their glory journeying to the\nwestern horizon of heaven, where they enter the Duat and lighten the\nthick darkness.  And the serpent shot out its pointed head which was\nshaped like a dart, and its fangs sank into the flesh of Ra, and the\nfire of its poison entered into the God, for the divine substance was\nin the serpent.\n\nRa cried aloud, and his cry rang through the heavens from the eastern\nto the western horizon; across the earth it rang, and gods and men\nalike heard the cry of Ra.  And the gods who follow in his train said\nto him, \"What aileth thee?  What aileth thee?\"\n\nBut Ra answered never a word, he trembled in all his limbs, and his\nteeth chattered, and naught did he say, for the poison spread over\nhis body as Hapi spreads over the land, when the waters rise above\ntheir banks at the time of the overflowing of the river.\n\nWhen he had become calm, he called to those who followed him and\nsaid, \"Come to me, ye whom I created.  I am hurt by a grievous thing.\nI feel it, though I see it not, neither is it the creation of my\nhands, and I know not who has made it.  Never, never have I felt pain\nlike this, never, never has there been an injury worse than this.\nWho can hurt me?  For none know my secret name, that name which was\nspoken by my father and by my mother, and hidden in me that none\nmight work witchcraft upon me.  I came forth to look upon the world\nwhich I had made, I passed across the Two Lands when something--I\nknow not what--struck me.  Is it fire?  Is it water?  I burn, I\nshiver, I tremble in all my limbs.  Call to me the children of the\ngods, they who have skill in healing, they who have knowledge of\nmagic, they whose power reaches to heaven.\"\n\nThen came all the gods with weeping and mourning and lamentations;\ntheir power was of no avail against the serpent, for in it the divine\nsubstance was incorporated.  With them came Isis the Healer, the\nMistress of Magic, in whose mouth is the Breath of Life, whose words\ndestroy disease and awake the dead.\n\nShe spoke to the Majesty of Ra and said, \"What is this, O divine\nFather? what is this?  Has a snake brought pain to thee?  Has the\ncreation of thy hand lifted up its head against thee?  Lo, it shall\nbe overthrown by the might of my magic, I will drive it out by means\nof thy glory.\"\n\nThen the Majesty of Ra answered, \"I passed along the appointed path,\nI crossed over the Two Lands, when a serpent that I saw not struck me\nwith its fangs.  Was it fire?  Was it water?  I am colder than water,\nI am hotter than fire, I tremble in all my limbs, and the sweat runs\ndown my face as down the faces of men in the fierce heat of summer.\"\n\nAnd Isis spoke again, and her voice was low and soothing, \"Tell me\nthy Name, O divine Father, thy true Name, thy secret Name, for he\nonly can live who is called by his name.\"\n\nThen the Majesty of Ra answered, \"I am the Maker of heaven and earth,\nI am the Establisher of the mountains, I am the Creator of the\nwaters, I am the Maker of the secrets of the two Horizons, I am Light\nand I am Darkness, I am the Maker of Hours, the Creator of Days, I am\nthe Opener of Festivals, I am the Maker of running streams, I am the\nCreator of living flame.  I am Khepera in the morning, Ra at\nnoontide, and Atmu in the evening.\"\n\nBut Isis held her peace; never a word did she speak, for she knew\nthat Ra had told her the names that all men know; his true Name, his\nsecret Name, was still hidden in his breast.  And the power of the\npoison increased, and ran through his veins like burning flame.\n\nAfter a silence she spoke again, \"Thy Name, thy true Name, thy secret\nName, was not among those.  Tell me thy Name that the poison may be\ndriven out, for only he whose name I know can be healed by the might\nof my magic.\"  And the power of the poison increased, and the pain\nwas as the pain of living fire.\n\nThen the Majesty of Ra cried out and said, \"Let Isis come with me,\nand let my Name pass from my breast to her breast.\"\n\nAnd he hid himself from the gods that followed in his train.  Empty\nwas the Boat of the Sun, empty was the great throne of the God, for\nRa had hidden himself from his Followers and from the creations of\nhis hands.\n\nWhen the Name came forth from the heart of Ra to pass to the heart of\nIsis, the goddess spoke to Ra and said, \"Bind thyself with an oath, O\nRa, that thou wilt give thy two eyes unto Horus.\"  Now the two Eyes\nof Ra are the sun and the moon, and men call them the Eyes of Horus\nto this day.\n\nThus was the Name of Ra taken from him and given to Isis, and she,\nthe great Enchantress, cried aloud the Word of Power, and the poison\nobeyed, and Ra was healed by the might of his Name.\n\nAnd Isis, the great One, Mistress of the Gods, Mistress of magic, she\nis the skilful Healer, in her mouth is the Breath of Life, by her\nwords she destroys pain, and by her power she awakes the dead.\n\n\n\n\nXI\n\nTHE REGIONS OF NIGHT AND THICK DARKNESS\n\nWhen the world came into being, there were two rivers, the river of\nEgypt and the river of the sky.  Great is the Nile, the river of\nEgypt, rising in his two caverns in the South beyond the cataract,\nflooding the land of Egypt and bringing joy and good harvests to\nTa-mery.  Great and mighty is the river of the sky, flowing across\nthe heavens and through the Duat, the world of night and of thick\ndarkness, and on that river floats the Boat of Ra.  Boat of Millions\nof Years is its name, but men call it the Manzet Boat in the dawn,\nwhen Ra rises in splendour on the eastern horizon of heaven; the\nMesektet Boat is it called in the evening, when Ra enters in glory\nwithin the portals of the Duat, where the mountain of Manu lifts its\npeaks to the western sky.  On the western horizon is the mountain of\nManu.  and on the eastern horizon the mountain of Bakhu; vast and\nhuge are they, raising their crests above the earth, and the sky\nrests upon their summits.  And on the topmost peak of the mountain of\nBakhu dwells a serpent; thirty cubits in length is he, and his scales\nare of flint and of glittering metal.  He guards the mountain and the\nGreat Green Waters, and none can pass by him save Ra in his Boat.\n\nIn the evening Ra descends in majesty to the Western horizon of\nheaven, to the portals of the Duat at the Gap of Abydos.  Splendid is\nthe Mesektet Boat, glorious its trappings, and its colours are of\namethyst and emerald, jasper and turquoise, lazuli and the lustre of\ngold.  At the Gap of Abydos waits a company of gods to prepare the\nBoat for the journey through the Duat, the land of night and of thick\ndarkness.  Stripped is the Boat of its splendour, bare and without\nglory is it when it passes through the portals of the Duat, and in it\nis the body of Ra, lifeless and dead.\n\nThen the gods take the great towing-ropes: slowly the Boat moves\nalong the river.  The portals of the Duat are flung wide, and the\ntwelve goddesses of the night take their place upon the Boat to guide\nit through the gloom and perils of the Duat; pilots of the river are\nthey, and without them not Ra himself could pass through unscathed.\n\n\"Watercourse of Ra,\" is the name of the first country of the Duat.\nSombre is this land, yet not wholly dark; for on either side the\nriver are six serpents, coiled and with heads erect, and the breath\nof their mouths is a flame of fire.  In the cabin of the Boat is Ra,\ndead and lifeless; in the prow are Up-uaut, the Opener of the Ways,\nand Sa, and the goddess of the hour.  Round about the cabin are a\ncompany of gods; these are they who guard Ra from all perils and\ndangers, and from the attack of the abominable Apep.\n\nSlowly goes the Boat of Ra, passing through the Duat, to regions of\nthick darkness, of horror and dismay, where the dead have their\nhabitations, and Apep lies in wait for the coming of Ra.  Thus passes\nthe first hour of the night, and the second hour is at hand.\n\nAt the entrance of every country of the Duat is a gate; tall are the\nwalls, and narrow is the passage; upon the walls are spearheads,\nsharp and pointed, that no man may climb over.  The door of the gate\nis of wood, turning on a pivot, and a monstrous snake guards the\ndoor.  None may pass by him save those only to whom his name is\nknown.  At the turn of the passage are two great hooded snakes, the\none above, the other below.  The breath of their mouths is fire and\npoison mingled; through the narrow portal on every side they send\nforth streams of flame and venom.  At either end of the passage\nstands a warder, keeping watch.\n\nThen the goddess of the first hour makes way for the goddess of the\nsecond hour, and she calls aloud the name of the Guardian of the\ngate.  Flung wide are the portals, the fire and poison cease, and the\nBoat of Ra passes through.\n\n\"Ur-nes\" do we name this second country of the Duat, but the Hanebu\nand those who inhabit the isles of the Great Green Waters call it\nOuranos.  The river is wide and bears on its dark waters four\nshallops; no oars have they, neither masts nor rudders, but float\nupon the stream and are carried by the current.  Mysterious and\nstrange are they, and the shadowy shapes which fill them have forms\nlike the forms of men.  In this country Ra is Lord and King, and\nthose who live here are in peace, for none can pass the great hooded\nsnakes who guard the gates, whose breath is mingled flame and venom.\nHappy are those who inhabit this land, for here dwell the spirits of\nthe corn, Besa and Nepra and Tepu-yn.  These are they who make the\nwheat and barley to flourish and cause the fruits of the earth to\nincrease.\n\nSlowly goes the Boat of Ra, passing through the Duat, through regions\nof thick darkness, of horror and dismay, where the dead have their\nhabitation, and Apep lies in wait for the coming of Ra.  Thus passes\nthe second hour of the night, and the third hour is at hand.  Then\nthe goddess of the second hour makes way for the goddess of the third\nhour, and she calls aloud the name of the Guardian of the gate.\nFlung wide are the portals, and the Boat of Ra passes through.\n\n\"Watercourse of the only God\" is the name of the third country of the\nDuat, and here in the beautiful Amentet is the Kingdom of Osiris.  On\neither side the river are the great shapes of the gods surrounding\nthe form of Osiris himself.  Enthroned is he, appearing in splendour\nas king, with the White Crown of the South Land and the Red Crown of\nthe North Land upon his head.\n\nGreat is Osiris, god of the dead, for all who die come before him for\njudgment, and their hearts are weighed in the balance against the\nfeather of Truth.  His throne is set upon a running stream, clear and\ndeep, and from the waters rises a single lotus-blossom, the colour of\nthe sky at morning.  Upon the blossom stand the four Children of\nHorus, they who assist Osiris at the Judgment, who protect the bodies\nof the dead.  To them belong the South and the North, the West and\nthe East, and the four great goddesses are their protectors.  They\nstand upon the lotus-blossom and their faces are towards Osiris; the\nfirst has the face of a man, the second the face of an ape, the third\nthe face of a jackal, and the fourth the face of a bird of prey.\nThis is the hour which evil-doers fear; by their own actions are they\njudged, and naught can avail them.  Heavy is the heart of the\nevil-doer and drags down the scale; lower and lower it sinks till it\nreaches the jaws of Amemt, the Devourer of Hearts.  Then is the\nevil-doer driven forth into the thick darkness of the Duat, to dwell\nwith the abominable Apep and to fall at last into the Pits of Fire.\n\nBut some there are who have wrought righteousness upon earth; who\nhave hurt no man by fraud or violence; who have succoured the widow,\nthe orphan, and the shipwrecked mariner; who have given food to the\nhungry and clothes to the naked; who have not stirred up strife, nor\ncaused the shedding of tears.  When these come to the Judgment of\nOsiris, and their hearts are put in the balance, then is the feather\nof Truth the heavier.  The scale with the feather sinks down, and the\nscale with the heart rises up.  Then does Thoth, the twice-great,\ntake the heart and place it again in the breast of the man, and Horus\ntakes him by the hand and leads him to the foot of the throne of\nOsiris that he may dwell in the kingdom of Osiris for ever and for\nevermore.  And now only can he see the most pure and truly holy\nOsiris, for \"the souls of men are not able to participate of the\ndivine nature whilst they are encompassed about with bodies and\npassions....  When they are freed from these impediments and remove\ninto those purer and unseen regions ... 'tis then that this God\nbecomes their Leader and King; upon him they wholly depend, still\nbeholding without satiety, and still ardently longing after that\nbeauty, which 'tis not possible for man to express or think.\"*\n\n\n* Plutarch, _De Iside et Oasride_ (Squire's translation).\n\n\nSlowly goes the Boat of Ra, passing through the Duat, to regions of\nthick darkness, of horror and dismay, where the abominable Apep lies\nin wait for the coming of Ra, and where the Pits of Fire are prepared\nfor the wicked.  Thus passes the third hour of the night, and the\nfourth hour is at hand.  Then the goddess of the third hour makes way\nfor the goddess of the fourth hour, and she calls aloud the name of\nthe Guardian of the gate.  Flung wide are the portals, and the Boat\nof Ra passes through.\n\n\"Living one of forms\" is the name of the fourth country of the Duat,\nand Sokar has dominion in this land.  Dreary is the waste of sand,\nlimitless the desert, gloomy and sombre the landscape.  No blade of\ngrass is seen, no tree, no herbage; naught grows, naught lives, save\nmonstrous many-headed serpents, gliding along the ground or creeping\nupon legs.  Terrible are they of aspect as they writhe and turn and\nhiss and roar; they raise their hideous crests on high and hold their\ndusky wings outspread.  But their anger is not towards Ra, and he\npasses safely through their midst.\n\nEngulfed is the great river and lost beneath the shifting sands, and\nwhere it ran is now a deep ravine.  The walls of rock rise high and\nsteep, and ever the way winds and turns between the rocks.  Men call\nthis place Re-stau, the Mouth of the Tomb.  Even in this gloomy\ndesert Osiris has dominion; Lord of Re-stau is he called, therefore\nnone need fear when traversing the narrow path.  And now the Boat of\nRa can no longer float upon the water, but is changed into a great\nand mighty serpent with glittering scales.  At the prow is a\nserpent's head with eyes watchful and fierce, at the stern is a\nserpent's head with poison-fangs prepared.  Over the sand it glides\nas a boat glides over the water.\n\nSlowly goes the Boat of Ra, passing through the Duat, through regions\nof thick darkness, of horror and dismay, to the place where Apep lies\nin wait for the coming of Ra.  Thus passes the fourth hour of the\nnight, and the fifth hour is at hand.  Then the goddess of the fourth\nhour makes way for the goddess of the fifth hour, and she calls aloud\nthe name of the Guardian of the gate.  Flung wide are the portals,\nand the Boat of Ra passes through.\n\n\"Hidden\" is the name of the fifth country of the Duat, and in this\ndark and gloomy region dwells Sokar, its Lord and King, god of those\nwho are buried.  Beside a turn of the winding way is his dwelling\ndeep below the ground; above it rises a high mountain of sand.\nGuarding it on either side are two sphinxes; lions are they in their\nbodies, with the faces of men; and their claws are outstretched like\nthe talons of a beast of prey.  In the midst lies a serpent with\nthree heads, and between his wings stands Sokar in the form of a man\nwith the head of a hawk.  Savage and fierce as a hawk is Sokar, and\nterrible is the punishment he metes out to those who rebel against\nhim.  Hard by his dwelling is a lake where the water boils and\nbubbles with heat as water boils in a pot.  Into the boiling lake are\ncast the rebels, and they cry to Ra for help, but Ra lies cold and\nlifeless, waiting for the coming of Khepera, and their cries are\nunheeded while the Boat passes on its way.\n\nOn the farther wall of the ravine is a high and vaulted building, the\nhome of Night and Darkness.  Two birds cling on either side, and\nround about it glides a two-headed serpent.  He lifts his savage\nheads, and his poison is ever ready to strike the rash intruder who\nshould dare to try to pass.  Faithful is his watch, for in the home\nof Night and Darkness lives Khepera, the great Soul of the universe,\nhe whose emblem is the beetle, the god of resurrection.  In the form\nof a scarab he watches the coming of Ra, and he flies upon the Boat\nand awaits there the time when he shall bring Life back to the god.\nAnd now through the thick darkness along the narrow passage falls a\ngleam of light; the Morning Star stands by the gate to lead the Boat\nonwards; for in the darkest of the night is a promise of the coming\nday.\n\nSlowly goes the Boat of Ra, passing through the Duat, through regions\nof thick darkness, of terror and dismay, to the place where the\nabominable Apep lies in wait for the coming of Ra.  Thus passes the\nfifth hour of the night, and the sixth hour is at hand.  Then the\ngoddess of the fifth hour makes way for the goddess of the sixth\nhour, and she calls aloud the name of the Guardian of the gate.\nFlung wide are the portals, and the Boat of Ra passes through.\n\n\"Abyss of waters\" is the name of the sixth country of the Duat, and\nOsiris has dominion over it, Osiris, the great god, Lord of the city\nof Daddu, the living King, Creator of men, of cattle, and of the\ngreen things which grow upon the earth, Osiris, to whom all men bow\nin praise and adoration.\n\nThe river rises out of the sand again, and the Boat floats upon its\nwaters, and those who are in it rejoice, for the hours of the night\nare passing away.  On the banks of the river are the great shapes of\nthe gods, mysterious and wonderful; nine sceptres of sovereignty\nstand there also, and a monstrous lion looms through the darkness,\nfaintly seen in the light which comes from the Boat of Ra.  Three\nshrines stand beside the river, and a serpent whose breath is flame\nguards each one.  Mystic and strange are the forms within the\nshrines, and to man it is not given to know the meaning of them; in\none is a human head, in another the wing of a bird, in the third the\nhind part of a lion.  Here also lives the great coiled serpent with\nfive heads, and within his coils lies Khepera, god of resurrection.\nOn his head he places the scarab, beneath his feet is the sign of\nflesh; thus does he send Life into the dead, and thus will he\nre-vivify Ra.  For this is the farthest point of the Duat, and beyond\nthe gate lies the way to the sunrise.\n\nSlowly goes the Boat of Ra, passing through the Duat, through regions\nof thick darkness, of horror and dismay, where the abominable Apep\nlies in wait for the coming of Ra.  Thus passes the sixth hour of the\nnight, and the seventh hour is at hand.  Then the goddess of the\nsixth hour makes way for the goddess of the seventh hour, and she\ncalls aloud the name of the Guardian of the gate.  Flung wide are the\nportals, and the Boat of Ra passes through.\n\n\"Secret cavern\" is the name of the seventh country of the Duat.  Full\nof danger and peril is it, for the abominable Apep dwells in this\nland.  As a great and monstrous serpent does he appear and with\nwide-open mouth he swallows the waters of the river, that the Boat\nmay be wrecked and that Ra may perish.  Then would the earth belong\nto the powers of darkness, and evil and wickedness would overcome the\ngods.\n\nBut in the prow of the Boat stands Isis, the great enchantress, whose\nmagic none can withstand; Isis, the greatest of the goddesses, she\nwho can raise the dead, and to whom all mankind pay love and\nreverence.  With arms outstretched, she recites the Words of Power;\ncalling aloud across the dark river.  Over the body of Ra, the\nserpent Mehen casts his protecting coils, for now is the time of\ndanger.\n\nOn a sandbank in the midst of the river lies the abominable Apep.\nFour hundred and fifty cubits long is the sandbank; the coils of Apep\ncover it so that naught can be seen but the river around him.  Loud\ndoes he hiss and roar, and the Duat is filled with the thunder of his\nvoice, yet Isis flinches not, nor does she cease her incantations and\nthe magical movements of her hands.  Her spells prevail and the\nabominable Apep lies helpless on the sand.  Then Selk and Her-desuf\nleap from the Boat of Ra and bind him with cords, and with sharp\nknives they pierce his flesh, hoping to destroy him.  But Apep is\nimmortal, and every night will he await and attack the Boat of Ra.\nYet Selk and Her-desuf hold him fast while the Boat continues on its\nway, past the great sandbanks, where he writhes and twists and\nstruggles to get free, but the cords are strong and the knives are\nsharp and his efforts are in vain.\n\nOnward goes the Boat to the burial-places of the gods.  These stand\nbeside the river; high mounds of sand are they, over each mound is a\nbuilding, and at each end the head of a man watches the passing of Ra.\n\nSoftly goes the Boat of Ra, passing through the Duat, moving through\nthe darkness to the sunrise and the day.  Thus passes the seventh\nhour of the night, and the eighth hour is at hand.  Then the goddess\nof the seventh hour makes way for the goddess of the eighth hour, and\nshe calls aloud the name of the Guardian of the gate.  Flung wide are\nthe portals, and the Boat of Ra passes through.\n\n\"Sarcophagus of the gods\" is the name of the eighth country of the\nDuat, for here dwell the dead gods.  Dead and buried are they,\nembalmed and bandaged as men embalm and bandage the dead upon earth.\nThey cry aloud salutations to Ra as he passes, calling to him across\nthe vast expanse, but so far away are they that the sound of their\nvoices is as the roaring of savage bulls, as the cry of birds of\nprey, as the wail of mourners, as the murmur of bees.  Before the\nBoat go nine Followers of the Gods; strange are their forms,\nmysterious and wonderful, like naught that is upon the earth.  In\nfront of them march the four souls of Tatanen in the likeness of\nrams, great and fierce, with horns wide-spreading and sharp-pointed.\nThe first is crowned with high upstanding plumes, the second with the\nRed crown of the North Land, the third with the White crown of the\nSouth Land, the fourth with the glittering disk of the sun.  Ancient\nis Tatanen, dweller in Memphis, where the abode of Ptah is on the\nsouth of the wall.\n\nSoftly goes the Boat of Ra, passing through the Duat, moving through\nthe darkness to the sunrise and the day.  Thus passes the eighth hour\nof the night, and the ninth hour is at hand.  Then the goddess of the\neighth hour makes way for the goddess of the ninth hour, and she\ncalls aloud the name of the Guardian of the gate.  Flung wide are the\nportals, and the Boat of Ra passes through.\n\n\"Procession of images\" is the name of the ninth country of the Duat.\nFull and strong runs the river, and the Boat is borne forward upon\nthe rushing stream.  Twelve star-gods guard the Boat, with paddles in\ntheir hands, ready to help the Boat in case of need.  Thick darkness\nbroods not upon this land, for twelve great hooded snakes lie coiled\nupon the bank, and the breath of their mouths is a flame of fire,\ngleaming upon the dark water and upon those who dwell in the Duat.\nThree shallops float upon the sombre river; strange is the shape of\nthese shallops, not like the boats of men; and the shadowy forms\nwithin them are in the likeness of a cow, of a ram, and of the soul\nof a man.  From them the dwellers in this land receive the offerings\nwhich are made to them upon the earth.  Then the star-gods break into\nsinging; and the twelve goddesses and the weaving gods and the\ndwellers in this land chant the glory and honour of Ra, praising the\nLord of the Boat, the Maker of earth and of heaven.  With joy and\nsinging they follow the appointed path.\n\nOnward goes the Boat of Ra, passing through the Duat, travelling to\nthe sunrise and the light of open day.  Thus passes the ninth hour of\nthe night, and the tenth hour is at hand.  Then the goddess of the\nninth hour makes way for the goddess of the tenth hour, and she calls\naloud the name of the Guardian of the gate.  Flung wide are the\nportals, and the Boat of Ra passes through.\n\n\"Abyss of waters, lofty of banks\" is the name of the tenth country of\nthe Duat, and the ruler is Ra.  The dwellers in this land come to\nmeet their king as he passes by upon the swelling river.  Deep and\nfull and strong runs the stream, and the Boat is borne forward upon\nthe rushing current.  Divine warriors armed with glittering weapons\nof war are a guard for their king; light is on their faces like the\nlight of the sun.  By the side of the river are four goddesses; upon\nthe darkness they cast beams of light, making bright the way of Ra\nupon the gloomy river.  Before the Boat of Ra moves the Star of\nMorning in the form of a double-headed serpent walking upon legs, and\nupon his heads are the crowns of the South Land and the North Land;\nbetween his coils is the great hawk of the sky; Leader of Heaven is\nhis name, for the stars of heaven follow him, but men call him Hesper\nand Lucifer also.  In a shallop on the stream is a snake, Life of the\nEarth is he called, and he watches in the Duat against the enemies of\nRa.\n\nThe greatest of all the countries of the Duat is this, for in this\nrealm of wonder and mystery Khepera joins himself to Ra, and Ra\nhimself is created anew.  Yet the dead body of Ra remains in the\nBoat; but his soul is united to the soul of Khepera.\n\nOnward goes the Boat of Ra, passing through the Duat, travelling to\nthe sunrise and the light of open day.  Thus passes the tenth hour of\nthe night and the eleventh hour is at hand.  Then the goddess of the\ntenth hour makes way for the goddess of the eleventh hour, and she\ncalls aloud the name of the Guardian of the gate.  Flung wide are the\nportals, and the Boat of Ra passes through.\n\n\"Mouth of the cavern\" is the name of the eleventh country of the\nDuat, and Ra is its ruler.  Low has the river fallen and sluggishly\nit runs, and the Boat is drawn onwards by the gods; not with cords do\nthey tow it, but with the body of the great serpent Mehen, the\nprotector of Ra.  On the prow of the Boat is a fiery star, but its\nlight is not redder than the strange and lurid glow which fills this\nland; terrible and red is it and the sight of it is full of horror.\nThis is the region feared by evil-doers, for their punishment awaits\nthem here.  Far and near are pits of fire; goddesses, whose breath is\nflame, guard the pits, holding in their hands gleaming swords of\nfire.  With their knives do they torment the wicked and cast them\ninto the pits of flame till they perish utterly.  Horus stands by and\nbeholds their torments, for these are the enemies of Osiris and of\nRa, doers of evil upon the earth and blasphemers of the gods.  No\nhelp can come to them, no escape is possible; doomed are they by\ntheir own actions to the sword and fire.  And the smoke and flame of\ntheir torment rise up in the Duat.\n\nOn the far side of the river are the stars; Shedu is there in the\nfashion of a snake; scarlet and crimson is he, and the stars which\nform his body are ten in number.  There also a shape is seen,\nmysterious and wonderful; like a winged snake with legs does he\nappear, and between the wings is the shadowy likeness of a man.  Men\ncall him Atmu, dweller in Heliopolis; ancient is Atmu, more ancient\nthan Ra himself; and he sends the sweet breezes of the North Wind\nupon the land of Egypt.  On either side of him the Eyes of Horus show\ndimly in the faint and lurid light.  And now springs up the breeze of\nmorning; gentle is it and slight, but with it comes the promise of\nthe day.\n\nOnward goes the Boat of Ra, passing through the Duat, travelling to\nthe sunrise and the light of open day.  Thus passes the eleventh\nhour, and the twelfth hour and the dawn are at hand.  Then the\ngoddess of the eleventh hour makes way for the goddess of the twelfth\nhour, and she calls aloud the name of the Guardian of the gate.\nFlung wide are the portals, and the Boat of Ra passes through.\n\n\"Darkness has fallen, and births shine forth\" is the name of the\ntwelfth country of the Duat.  On the prow of the Boat is the great\nscarab of Khepera, ready to make the transformations of Ra ere he\nreaches the end of the Duat.  Not like other lands is this twelfth\nregion of the Duat, for it is enclosed in the body of a vast and\nmonstrous serpent.  \"Life of the Gods\" is his name, and through this\ngreat and huge frame travels the Boat of Millions of Years.  Twelve\nof the worshippers of Ra seize the towing-ropes and drag the Boat\nonward, and here in the body of the serpent is Ra transformed into\nKhepera and is alive again, for now the journey through the Duat is\nnear the end.  Standing by the mouth of the serpent are twelve\ngoddesses; to these the Worshippers of Ra yield the towing-ropes, and\nthey draw the Boat to the eastern horizon of heaven.  And now the\ndead corpse of Ra is cast out of the Boat, as the husk is cast away\nwhen the grain is winnowed out, for the soul and the life of Ra are\nin the scarab of Khepera, and the transformations of Ra are\ncompleted.  With shouting and singing, with joy and with gladness,\nthe Boat of Ra passes out of the Duat.\n\nGlorious is the Manzet Boat, speeding to the sunrise!  Wide, swing\nwide the portals, and usher in the day.  Between the sycomores of\nturquoise comes the Boat of Ra, and the mountain of Bakhu is flushed\nwith light.  The serpent, guardian of the Great Green Waters, beholds\nRa in glory in the eastern horizon of heaven, and the rays glitter on\nhis scales.\n\nGlorious is the Manzet Boat, borne upon the river, flashing in the\nsplendour and the light of open day.  In the foam at the prow of the\nBoat sports the Abtu-fish, darting through the gleaming spray, and\nthe Ant-fish is seen in the whirlpool of turquoise.  From the earth\nrises up the sound of rejoicing, for all created things praise Ra at\nhis rising.\n\nHail to thee, Ra, at thy rising; the night and the darkness are past.\nAt the dawn of the day thou shinest, the heavens are filled with thy\nlight.  King of the Gods art thou, all glory and triumph are thine.\nThe Gods come as dogs to thy feet, rejoicing to greet thee at dawn.\nHail to thee Ra, at thy rising; at thy coming all men are glad.  In\njoy dost thou come in the morning, with glory thou rulest the world.\nThe stars of the heavens adore thee, the Gods of the earth exalt\nthee, Lord of the Heavens art thou.  Hail to thee, Ra, at thy rising!\nNone can express thy glory, Lord of all Wisdom and Truth.  The souls\nof the East attend thee, the souls of the West are thy servants, the\nNorth and the South adore thee.  Worshipped art thou, our Ruler, by\nthose whom thou hast created, Thou risest in heaven's horizon, thou\ncausest mankind to rejoice.  Hail to thee, Ra, at thy rising; at thy\nrising in beauty, O Ra.\n\n\n\n\nNOTES\n\n\nI. THE PRINCESS AND THE DEMON\n\nPublished: Prisse d'Avennes, _Monuments Egyptiens_, pl. xxiv.\n\nTranslated: Wiedemann, _Religion of the Ancient Egyptians_, p. 275.\n\nThis tale is sculptured on a sandstone tablet found by Champollion in\nthe temple of Khonsu at Thebes, and now in the Bibliotheque Nationale\nat Paris.\n\nThere are twenty-eight horizontal lines of inscription, and above\nthem is a scene of two boats of Khonsu borne on the shoulders of\npriests, with the king offering incense before them.\n\nWhen first translated, the tale was supposed to be a record of fact,\nbut now it is generally considered a folk-tale, redounding to the\ncredit and glory of Khonsu, and therefore made use of by the priests\nof that god.  The king mentioned in it cannot be identified with any\nof the historical monarchs of Egypt, although his personal name,\nRameses, is sufficiently common among the rulers of the xxth dynasty.\n\n\nII. THE KING'S DREAM\n\nPublished: Lepsius, _Denkm\u00e4ler_, iii, 68.\n\nTranslated: Breasted, _Ancient Records_, ii, 810-815.\n\nThe inscription is sculptured on a round-topped stela of red granite,\nfourteen feet high, set up in the little temple which lies between\nthe paws of the Great Sphinx.\n\nThe temple was excavated by Captain Caviglia in 1817.  It forms the\nend of a processional way which leads downwards by paved causeways\nand flights of steps from the edge of the desert into the sanctuary\n(see Vyse, _Pyramids of Oizeh_, iii, 107).  The tiny shrine is only\nten feet long by five wide, and at its farthest end, with its back to\nthe breast of the Sphinx, stands this stela.\n\nThe inscription, which is in horizontal lines, is surmounted by a\nscene, duplicated to right and left, of the king making a libation of\nwater and burning incense before the figure of a Sphinx couchant upon\na pylon or altar.  The lower half of the stela is so mutilated that\nthe inscription is either destroyed or illegible.\n\nThe inscription purports to be of the time of Thothmes IV, a king of\nthe xviiith dynasty, about 1400 B.C.; erected by that monarch as a\nvotive offering.  But from the evidence of the language in which the\ninscription is couched it is obviously much later; Erman dates it to\na period between the xxiiird and xxvith dynasties.  It may, however,\nbe a restoration of an earlier record, though of the early\ninscription nothing remains.\n\n\nIII.  THE COMING OF THE GREAT QUEEN\n\nPublished: Naville, _Deir el Bahari_, ii, pls. xlvi-li (with\ntranslation).\n\nTranslated: Breasted, _Ancient Records_, ii, 187-220.\n\nThe inscription, with the scenes illustrating it, are sculptured on\nthe walls of the temple of Deir el Bahari, on the north side of the\nretaining wall of the upper platform.\n\nThe great building, known in modern times as the temple of Deir el\nBahari, was erected by Queen Hatshepsut of the xviiith dynasty, about\n1500 B.C., for the double purpose of her own funerary cult, and of\nthe worship of the goddess Hathor.  The chief events of the Queen's\nreign are sculptured on the walls; the record of her divine descent\nnaturally holds a prominent place.  The inscriptions in the temple\nwere wrecked and restored anciently, therefore much of the record is\nlost.  Fortunately, however, Amenhotep III, a king of the same\ndynasty rather more than a century later than Hatshepsut, adorned his\ntemple of Luxor with similar scenes and inscriptions, relating to his\nown divine descent, changing of course the names of the mother and\nchild and making a few immaterial alterations in the inscriptions.\nBy means of this later example the whole of the earlier record is\nmade clear.\n\nThe white colonnades of Hatshepsut's temple, set against a background\nof dark cliffs, form one of the most striking scenes in the valley of\nthe Nile.  The temple was used at one time as a Coptic village; hence\nits modern name of Deir el Bahari, the Northern Convent.\n\nIt has recently been excavated and restored by Dr. Navillo for the\nEgypt Exploration Fund.\n\n\nIV. THE BOOK OF THOTH\n\nPublished: Spiegelberg, _Demotische Papyrus_ (Cairo Catalogue).\n\nTranslated: Petrie, _Egyptian Tales_, ii, 89.\n\nThis story is written in demotic on a papyrus found at Thebes in the\ngrave of a Coptic monk.  It was among other papyri, written in\nhieratic and in Coptic, in a wooden chest, and is now in the Cairo\nMuseum.  Demotic is the script in which the latest form of the\nEgyptian language was written; the earliest example remaining is of\nthe reign of Shabaka of the xxvth dynasty, about 715 B.C.; it\ncontinued in use till Roman times, when it was superseded by the\nGreek alphabet.\n\nThe papyrus is of the Ptolemaic period, but the exact date is\nuncertain, as the colophon at the end is partly illegible.  The year\n15 only is visible, which, however, is not sufficient guide to the\nreign of the king under whom it was written.\n\nThe legend given in this book is part only of a much longer tale; it\nis in fact a story within a story, told by the _ka_ of Ahura to the\nhigh priest of Memphis, when he ventured into the tomb of\nNefer-ka-ptah in search of the Book of Thoth.\n\nThe Book of Thoth is said to contain only two pages; it must\ntherefore have been a roll of papyrus written on both sides.\n\n\nV. OSIRIS\n\nOriginal: Plutarch, _De Iside et Osiride_.\n\nTranslated: Mead, _Thrice-greatest Hermes_, i, 278.\n\nThe treatise on Isis and Osiris was written by Plutarch, himself an\ninitiate into the Osiris-mysteries, to a fellow-initiate, a woman\nnamed Klea.  It was written at Delphi in the second century A.D.\n\nIt is the only connected account remaining of the death of Osiris and\nthe wanderings of Isis.  Though of so late a date, it is found to be\ncorrect on the whole when checked by the inscriptions and sculpture\nof Pharaonic times.\n\nThe so-called Ritual of Denderah is our principal authority for the\nworship of Osiris in the chief temples of Egypt on the festivals of\nthe month of Khoiakh.  The Ritual is sculptured on the walls of the\ntemple of Denderah, and gives in great detail the rites in use, and\neven the size and material of the symbolical images.  The inscription\ndates to the Ptolemaic period, but the Ritual is considerably earlier.\n\n\"Mystery-plays\" of the death of Osiris and of the repulse of Set by\nHorus appear to have been enacted on certain great occasions at the\nchief centres of worship.  The principal part was that of Horus,\nwhich was acted by the Pharaoh himself in the capital, and by the\nchief local notabilities in provincial centres.\n\n\nVI. THE SCORPIONS OF ISIS\n\nPublished: Golenischeff, _Metternichstele_ (with German translation).\n\nTranslated: Budge, _Legends of the Gods_, p. 157.\n\nThis inscription is sculptured on a round-topped stela of serpentine\n(?), fixed in a square pedestal.  It was found at Alexandria at the\nbeginning of the nineteenth century, and was presented to Prince\nMetternich by Mohamed Ali in 1828.\n\nThe front, back, and sides of both stela and pedestal are sculptured\nwith horizontal and vertical lines of inscription and with\nmythological figures.  The stela belongs to a class of amuletic\nobjects, usually called Cippi of Horus, which are inscribed with\nmagical spells against all animals \"biting with their mouths or\nstinging with their tails.\"  This stela is the largest Cippus of\nHorus known.  On the front is sculptured in high relief the figure of\nHorus represented as a naked child, standing on two crocodiles, and\nholding a lion, a gazelle, scorpions, and snakes in his hands.  He\nstands within a shrine, which is surmounted by the head of Bes.  Isis\nand Thoth, the goddesses of the South and North, and other\nmythological figures and emblems are within and without the shrine.\nAbove this scene are horizontal registers filled with figures,\npossibly representing scenes from legends which are now lost.\n\nThe text which preserves the story of the scorpions of Isis is\ninscribed on the back of the tablet, ll. 48-70.  The date of the\nstela is about 370 B.C., in the reign of Neotanebo I. of the xxxth\ndynasty.\n\n\nVII. THE BLACK PIG\n\nPublished: Naville, _Das Aegyptische Todtenbuch_, pl. cxxiv.\n\nTranslated: Budge, _Book of the Dead_, ch. cxii.\n\nThe so-called Book of the Dead is a compilation of texts which are\nfound, written on papyri or on coffins, in the tombs.  No copy\ncontaining all the chapters is known; the order has therefore been\narranged from a comparison of many examples.\n\nThe ancient name of these texts is \"Chapters of Coming forth to the\nDay\"; the modern name is \"Book of the Dead,\" as it is evidently a\nmanual for the use of the dead.  It consists of a series of prayers,\nhymns, magical formulae, and allusions to mythological stories, a\nknowledge of which was considered necessary in order to escape the\nperils and dangers of the life hereafter.  It is obviously very\nancient, for even in the earliest known examples, the Pyramid Texts\nof the vith dynasty, the text is often very corrupt.  The Pyramid\nTexts show traces of very primitive usages and cults, many of which\nare lost in the later forms of the Book of the Dead.\n\nThe story related under the name of the Black Pig refers to an\nincident in the war between Horus and Set, and is not known\nelsewhere.  Probably many such legends were current in ancient Egypt,\nbut few have been preserved to us intact.  Horus was the great\nhero-god, and, like the heroes of other countries, he absorbed all\nthe legends of local champions.  Some of his exploits and adventures\nseem to have been so well known that a mere allusion was sufficient\nto recall them to the mind of the reader.  Sometimes a short and, to\nus confused account is given, as in chapter cxiii of the Book of the\nDead, where the restoration to Horus of his hands and arms, which\nhave been lost in a swamp, is related in a manner which conveys very\nlittle to the modern reader.\n\nA great number of legends have been preserved in magical papyri, but\neven among these the quantity of tantalising allusions is larger than\nthe number of complete legends.  Thus, in the Demotic Papyrus of\nLondon and Leyden, a charm against fever begins \"Horus was going up a\nhill at midday in the verdure season, mounted on a white horse.\"  He\nfinds the gods eating, and they invite him to join them, but he\nrefuses as he has fever.  This is all that is said, but it is\nevidently an allusion to a well-known story.\n\n\nVIII. THE BATTLES OF HORUS\n\nPublished: Naville, _Mythe d'Horus_ (with French translation).\n\nTranslated: Wiedemann, _Religion of the Ancient Egyptians_, p. 69.\n\nThe account of the war between Horus and Set is sculptured on the\ninner part of the west side of the girdle-wall of the temple of Edfu.\nThe whole temple is dedicated to Horus; though undoubtedly an early\nfoundation, the present structure dates only to the Ptolemaic period.\nIt was begun by Ptolemy III Euergetes I, and took 180 years to build\nand decorate.  The girdle-wall, on which these scenes and\ninscriptions were sculptured, was built and decorated about 100 B.C.,\neither by Soter II or Alexander I.\n\nThe temple was excavated by Mariette, and is the most perfect in\ncondition of all the temples in Egypt, for with the exception of the\nwanton mutilation of the faces, probably by Christian fanatics, both\nbuilding and sculpture are untouched save by time.\n\nThe inscription appears to give in legendary form a fairly accurate\naccount of tribal battles of a very early period.  Though the actual\ninscription is of a late date, many primitive ideas are preserved,\nespecially in the hymns of the women to Horus.  \"Eat ye the flesh of\nthe vanquished, drink ye his blood,\" is not a sentiment of the\ncivilisation of Ptolemaic times.  Human sacrifice, however, appears\nto have been practised in Egypt at all periods.  Harvest victims were\nburnt at Eleithyapolis (El Kab).  Amasis II of the xxvith dynasty put\nan end to human sacrifice at Heliopolis; Diodorus says that\nred-haired men were offered up at the sepulchre of Osiris; as the\nking was the incarnate Osiris, this would mean that human sacrifices\nwere made at the royal graves, probably during the funeral\nceremonies.  The Book of the Dead also continually alludes to human\nsacrifice.  At Edfu an altar was found sculptured with\nrepresentations of offerings in which human beings are the victims.\nSmall figures, carved in the round, are known, which are in the form\nof bound captives; and show probably the method of binding the\nvictim; the legs are bent at the knees, and the feet bound to the\nthighs; the arms are bent at the elbows and securely lashed to the\nbody.  This is not the ordinary way of binding a prisoner, but is a\nspecial method reserved probably for a human victim.  The figures\nrepresent sometimes men, sometimes women.\n\nJudging by the representations and scenes on the girdle-wall, a\n\"mystery-play\" was acted in the temple of Edfu, the Pharaoh playing\nthe principal part, that of Horus.  In early times it seems more than\nprobable that Set, or the Ally of Set, was played by a human being,\nwho was actually killed during the performance.  When the custom of\nhuman sacrifice begins to die out, the human victim is often replaced\nby an animal.  This is the case at Edfu, where Set is called a\nhippopotamus and represented as a pig.\n\n\nIX. THE BEER OF HELIOPOLIS\n\nPublished: L\u00e9f\u00e9bure, _Tombeau de Sety Ie_, pt. iii, pls. 15-18\n(_Annales du Mus\u00e9e Ouimet_, ix).\n\nTranslated: Wiedemann, _Religion of the Ancient Egyptians_, p. 62.\n(For a description of the tomb of Sety I see the Notes on Legend xi).\n\nThis story is sculptured on the walls of a side-chamber off one of\nthe inner halls of the tomb of Sety I (room xii of the guide-books).\nOn one of the walls is a representation of a cow standing under the\nstar-sprinkled vault of heaven.  This is Nut, the sky-goddess; she is\nraised on the uplifted hands of the god Shu, and each leg is\nsupported by two gods; planets, and Boats of the Sun travel across\nher body.  The connection between this representation and the legend\nis quite uncertain.\n\nThe tale occurs only in this one place, but every excavator hopes\nthat he may one day find a tomb with a complete copy of the story\nsculptured on the walls.\n\n\nX. THE NAME OF RA\n\nPublished: Pleyte and Rossi, _Papyrus de Turin_, pls.  31, 77,\n131-138.\n\nTranslated: Wiedemann, _Religion of the Ancient Egyptians_; p. 54.\n\nThis tale is found in a hieratic papyrus of the xxth dynasty (about\n1200-1100 B.C.).  It is written on both sides; the handwriting on one\nside differs from the handwriting on the other, showing that it is\nthe work of two scribes.  The writing is in black ink with occasional\nsentences in red.  Hieratic is the running hand, derived from the\nhieroglyphs; the earliest example occurs in the first dynasty; it was\nsuperseded by demotic in the latest period of Egyptian history.\n\nThis papyrus is not quite complete, but the part containing the\nlegend is fortunately uninjured.  The text consists of magical\nformulae against the bites of serpents.  In healing by magic, the\nmagician recited an event in the career of some deity in which the\ngod suffered from the same malady as the human patient then seeking\nrelief.  The words which cured the divine patient would also cure the\nhuman invalid.  The same idea prevails in the legend of the Scorpions\nof Isis.\n\n\nXI. THE REGIONS OF NIGHT AND THICK DARKNESS\n\nPublished: L\u00e9f\u00e9bure, _Tombeau de Seti I_.  (_Annales du Mus\u00e9e\nGuimet_, ix).\n\nTranslated: J\u00e9quier, _Livre de ce qu'il y a dans l'Had\u00e8s_; Budge,\n_Egyptian Heaven and Hell_.\n\nThe description of the Journey of Ra through the Other World is\nsculptured on the walls of the tomb of Seti I at Thebes.  This is the\ngreat tomb discovered by Belzoni in October 1817.  The length is 330\nfeet, and it consists of long corridors, pillared halls, and\nside-chambers, hewn out of the solid rock.  The Book of Am Duat is\nsculptured on the walls of corridor iii, halls v, vi, and x, and\nside-chambers xi and xiii.  Eleven hours only are given; the twelfth\nhour, though frequently found on papyri, is rare in sculpture.\n\nThere are two versions of the Sun's journey through the Duat.  One\nwas called by the Egyptians themselves the Book of that which is in\nthe Other World (Am Duat); the other has no Egyptian name, but is now\ncalled the Book of Gates, for in it the gates are more important than\nthe countries which they divide.  (For a comparison of the two books,\nsee Budge, _Egyptian Heaven and Hell_.)  The Book of Gates is rarer\nthan the Book of Am Duat, and is found sculptured on sarcophagi; the\nfinest example being the alabaster sarcophagus of Seti I, now in the\nSoane Museum in London.\n\nThe Book of Am Duat is found both in papyri and on tomb walls, the\nearliest example of the latter being the tomb of Amenhotep II of the\nxviiith dynasty.  It is a compilation by the theologians of that\nperiod; an attempt to combine into one homogeneous whole several\ndistinct ideas of the next world and the life hereafter.  The fourth\nand fifth countries of the Duat are obviously one complete kingdom,\nruled by the god Sokar, the Memphite god of the dead.  As Memphis was\na very important religious centre, its god of the dead and his\nkingdom had to be included in the Duat of Ra, in spite of the fact\nthat it was a waterless desert, and that it ended with the Morning\nStar.  It was a region totally different from any other kingdom of\nthe hereafter; no river ran through it; it was inhabited by neither\ngods nor spirits, but by enormous and horrible reptiles.  The\ningenuity of the compilers of this Book in turning the Boat of Ra\ninto a serpent, which could dispense with the river and glide over\nthe sand, is certainly remarkable.\n\nAnother Morning Star appears also in the tenth hour, and the breeze\nof morning seems to be felt by the goddesses in the eleventh hour,\nfor they raise their hands to shelter their faces from it.  Budge\n(_Egyptian Heaven and Hell_) suggests also that the Egyptians looked\nupon the red clouds of the dawn as being tinged with the reflection\nfrom the pits of flame.  These indications of morning appearing in\nthe wrong place point clearly to the fact of the book being a\ncompilation, more or less clumsy.\n\nThe first hour seems to have been added in order to make a good\nintroduction to the compilation.  The last hour is evidently a\ncompromise.  The most ancient idea with regard to the sunrise was\nthat the Sun was born anew every morning of the Sky-goddess Nut.\nThis theory does not fit with the dogma of the Sun's nightly journey\nthrough the Other World in a Boat; therefore the last hour is\nrepresented as a dark and tortuous passage symbolising the womb of\nthe goddess.  The birth of the Sun was the most important event of\nthe day to his worshippers, consequently the account of the last hour\nis found frequently on papyri, buried in the graves.\n\nThe Duat, or Other World, was generally supposed to be the region\nlying to the north of Egypt; the delta by the Egyptians of the South;\nthe Mediterranean and its islands by the delta-people.\n\nThe Egyptians had an abridgment or summary of this long account of\nKa's night-journey.  It was always written on papyrus in vertical\ncolumns, with all the scenes and long speeches omitted.  It gives the\nname of each gate and country and of the goddess of every hour;\nsometimes, though not always, the names of the gods who live in the\ndifferent regions; and always the magical words of Ra to the\ninhabitants of each land.  Felicitous results here and hereafter are\npromised to all who know the words and scenes thoroughly.\n\nThe hymn to Ra is a paraphrase of hymns which are still extant.\n\n\n\n\nINDEX OF NAMES OF GODS\n\n\n_Abtu-fish_.--A mythological fish which accompanies the Boat of Ra at\nsunrise.\n\n_Amemt_.--The mythical animal which devours the hearts of the wicked\nat the Judgment of Osiris.\n\n_Amon_.--God of Thebes.  In and after the xviiith dynasty he became\nthe supreme deity of Egypt under the name of Amon-Ra.\n\n_Ant-fish_.--A mythological fish which accompanies the Boat of Ra at\nsunrise.\n\n_Anubis_.--A jackal-headed deity who presided over the embalming of\nthe dead.  He was said to be the illegitimate son of Osiris and\nNephthys, and, in the form of a dog, to have protected Isis in her\nwanderings.\n\n_Apep_.--The enemy of Ra in the Duat.\n\n_Astarte_.--A Syrian goddess, whose name is found occasionally in\nEgyptian inscriptions.\n\n_Atmu_.--An early name of the solar deity worshipped at Heliopolis.\nIn later times, the name of the setting sun.\n\n_Bee_.--A bandy-legged dwarf with horns.  God of music and pleasure,\nand protector of children.  Possibly also a god of birth.\n\n_Besa_.--A spirit of the corn.\n\n_Geb_.--The earth-god, father of Osiris.\n\n_Harmakhis_.--Horus on the Horizon, i.e. the sun at its rising and\nsetting.\n\n_Harpocrates_.--Horus the Child, son of Isis and Osiris.\n\n_Hathor_.--Goddess of love and beauty; often identified with all the\nother goddesses, including Sekhmet.\n\n_Hekt_.--The frog-headed goddess of birth.\n\n_Her-desuf_.--A form of Horus.\n\n_Horakhti_.--The Horizon-Horus.  The same as Harmakhis.\n\n_Horus_.--The hawk-headed god is, properly speaking, the brother of\nIsis and Osiris; but is constantly confused with Horus the Child, and\nis called Avenger or Protector of his Father.\n\n_Isis_.--The greatest of Egyptian goddesses, wife of Osiris, and\nmother of Harpocrates.\n\n_Khepera_.--The rising sun, god of resurrection.\n\n_Khnum_.--The ram-headed god of the cataract, who creates man upon\nthe potter's wheel.\n\n_Khonsu_.--The moon-god at Thebes.\n\n_Mehen_.--The serpent who protects Ra in the Duat.\n\n_Mentu_.--God of war.\n\n_Meskhent_.--Goddess of birth.\n\n_Min_.--Father of gods and men.  God of Koptos.\n\n_Neith_.--Goddess of Sa\u00efs.  Identified by the Greeks with Athena.\n\n_Nekhbet_.--The vulture-goddess of Upper Egypt.\n\n_Nephthys_.--Sister of Isis and Osiris.\n\n_Nepra_.--A spirit of the corn.\n\n_Nun_.--God of the primaeval waters.\n\n_Nut_.--The sky-goddess, mother of Osiris.\n\n_Osiris_.--One of the chief gods of Egypt.  Murdered and torn to\npieces by his brother Set, re-vivified by Isis and Horus.\n\n_Ra_.--The Sun-god, one of the chief gods of Egypt.  Heliopolis (the\nOn of the Bible) was the principal centre of his worship.\n\n_Sekhmet_.--The lioness-headed goddess of Memphis.\n\n_Selk_.--The scorpion-goddess.\n\n_Set_.--Brother and murderer of Osiris.  Looked upon, in late times,\nas the Author of Evil.\n\n_Shu_.--Twin-brother of Tefnut.  He holds up the sky above the earth.\n\n_Sokar_.--The hawk-headed god of the dead.  When fused with Ptah\n(Ptah-Sokar) he appears in the form of a misshapen dwarf, and is then\nlooked upon as a god of resurrection.\n\n_Tatanen_.--An obscure god, generally fused with Ptah of Memphis as\nPtah-Tatanen.\n\n_Ta-urt_.--The hippopotamus goddess of birth.\n\n_Tefnut_.--Lioness-headed.  Twin-sister of Shu.  The two form the\nconstellation Gemini.\n\n_Tepu-yn_.--A spirit of the corn.\n\n_Thoth_.--The ibis-headed god of all learning and magic.  Chief\ncentre of worship Khemennu or Hermopolis, now called Eshmunen.\n\n_Uazet_.--Goddess of Lower Egypt.\n\n_Up-uaut_.--The jackal-god of Siut.\n\n\n\n  PRINTED BY\n  HAZELL, WATSON AND VINEY, LD.,\n  LONDON AND AYLESBURY,\n  ENGLAND.","title":"Ancient Egyptian legends","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":26450}