{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_9411/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_9411","id":"gutenberg_9411","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/9411","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Egypt","Egyptian literature -- Translations into English","Mythology","Mythology, Egyptian","Paganism"],"text":"Produced by John B. Hare and Carrie R. Lorenz\n\n\n\n\nLEGENDS OF THE GODS\n\nThe Egyptian Texts, edited with Translations\n\nby E. A. Wallis Budge\n\nLondon, 1912\n\n\n\n\n\n[Editorial note: Throughout the text \"####\" represents images which\n                 cannot be transcribed.]\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE\n\n\nThe welcome which has been accorded to the volumes of this Series, and\nthe fact that some of them have passed into second and third editions,\nsuggest that these little books have been found useful by beginners in\nEgyptology and others.  Hitherto the object of them has been to supply\ninformation about the Religion, Magic, Language, and History of the\nancient Egyptians, and to provide editions of the original texts from\nwhich such information was derived.  There are, however, many branches\nof Egyptology which need treatment in a similar manner in this Series,\nand it has been suggested in many quarters that the time has now\narrived when the publication of a series of groups of texts\nillustrating Egyptian Literature in general might well be begun.\nSeeing that nothing is known about the authors of Egyptian works, not\neven their names, it is impossible to write a History of Egyptian\nLiterature in the ordinary sense of the word.  The only thing to be\ndone is to print the actual works in the best and most complete form\npossible, with translations, and then to put them in the hands of the\nreader and leave them to his judgment.\n\nWith this object in view, it has been decided to publish in the Series\nseveral volumes which shall be devoted to the reproduction in\nhieroglyphic type of the best and most typical examples of the various\nkinds of Egyptian Literature, with English translations, on a much\nlarger scale than was possible in my \"First Steps in Egyptian\" or in my\n\"Egyptian Reading Book.\"  These volumes are intended to serve a double\npurpose, i.e., to supply the beginner in Egyptian with new material and\na series of reading books, and to provide the general reader with\ntranslations of Egyptian works in a handy form.\n\nThe Egyptian texts, whether the originals be written in hieroglyphic or\nhieratic characters, are here printed in hieroglyphic type, and are\narranged with English translations, page for page.  They are printed as\nthey are written in the original documents, i.e., the words are not\ndivided.  The beginner will find the practice of dividing the words for\nhimself most useful in acquiring facility of reading and understanding\nthe language.  The translations are as literal as can reasonably be\nexpected, and, as a whole, I believe that they mean what the original\nwriters intended to say.  In the case of passages where the text is\ncorrupt, and readings are mixed, or where very rare words occur, or\nwhere words are omitted, the renderings given claim to be nothing more\nthan suggestions as to their meanings.  It must be remembered that the\nexact meanings of many Egyptian words have still to be ascertained, and\nthat the ancient Egyptian scribes were as much puzzled as we are by\nsome of the texts which they copied, and that owing to carelessness,\nignorance, or weariness, or all three, they made blunders which the\nmodern student is unable to correct.  In the Introduction will be found\nbrief descriptions of the contents of the Egyptian texts, in which\ntheir general bearing and importance are indicated, and references\ngiven to authoritative editions of texts and translations.\n\n\n\n\nE. A. WALLIS BUDGE.\n\n\n\nBRITISH MUSEUM,\nNovember 17,1911.\n\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER\n\n   I.  THE LEGEND OF THE CREATION\n\n  II.  THE LEGEND OF THE DESTRUCTION OF MANKIND\n\n III.  THE LEGEND OF RA AND THE SNAKE-BITE\n\n  IV.  THE LEGEND OF HORUS OF EDFU AND THE WINGED DISK\n\n   V.  THE LEGEND OF THE ORIGIN OF HORUS\n\n  VI.  A LEGEND OF KHENSU NEFER-HETEP AND THE PRINCESS OF BEKHTEN\n\n VII.  THE LEGEND OF KHNEMU AND A SEVEN YEARS' FAMINE\n\nVIII.  THE LEGEND OF THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF HORUS\n\n  IX.  THE LEGEND OF ISIS AND OSIRIS ACCORDING TO CLASSICAL WRITERS\n\n\n\n\n\n\nLIST OF PLATES AND ILLUSTRATIONS ON OR FOLLOWING PAGE:\n\n\nThe History of Creation\n\n    I.  Horus holding the Hippopotamus-fiend with chain and spear\n\n   II.  Horus spearing the Hippopotamus-fiend\n\n  III.  Horus spearing the Hippopotamus-fiend\n\n   IV.  Horus and Isis capturing the Hippopotamus fiend\n\n    V.  Horus on the back of the Hippopotamus-fiend\n\n   VI.  The slaughter of the Hippopotamus-fiend\n\n  VII.  Horus of Behutet and Ra-Harmakhis in a shrine\n\n VIII.  Horus of Behutet and Ra-Harmakhis in a shrine\n\n   IX.  Ashthertet in her chariot\n\n    X.  Horus holding captive foes and spearing Typhonic animals\n\n   XI.  Horus spearing human foes\n\n  XII.  Horus spearing the crocodile\n\n XIII.  Horus in the form of a lion\n\n  XIV.  The Procreation of Horus, son of Isis.\n\n   XV.  The Resurrection of Osiris.\n\n  XVI.  The Bekhten Stele\n\n XVII.  The Metternich Stele--Obverse\n\nXVIII.  The Metternich Stele--Reverse\n\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION\n\n\nI.\n\n\nTHE LEGEND OF THE GOD NEB-ER-TCHER, AND THE HISTORY OF CREATION.\n\n\n\n\nThe text of the remarkable Legend of the Creation which forms the first\nsection of this volume is preserved in a well-written papyrus in the\nBritish Museum, where it bears the number 10,188.  This papyrus was\nacquired by the late Mr. A. H. Rhind in 1861 or 1862, when he was\nexcavating some tombs on the west bank of the Nile at Thebes.  He did\nnot himself find it in a tomb, but he received it from the British\nConsul at Luxor, Mustafa Agha, during an interchange of gifts when Mr.\nRhind was leaving the country.  Mustafa Agha obtained the papyrus from\nthe famous hiding-place of the Royal Mummies at Der-al-Bahari, with the\nsituation of which he was well acquainted for many years before it\nbecame known to the Egyptian Service of Antiquities.  When Mr. Rhind\ncame to England, the results of his excavations were examined by Dr.\nBirch, who, recognising the great value of the papyrus, arranged to\npublish it in a companion volume to Facsimiles of Two Papyri, but the\ndeath of Mr. Rhind in 1865 caused the project to fall through.  Mr.\nRhind's collection passed into the hands of Mr. David Bremner, and the\npapyrus, together with many other antiquities, was purchased by the\nTrustees of the British Museum. In 1880 Dr. Birch suggested the\npublication of the papyrus to Dr. Pleyte, the Director of the Egyptian\nMuseum at Leyden.  This savant transcribed and translated some passages\nfrom the Festival Songs of Isis and Nephthys, which is the first text\nin it, and these he published in Recueil de Travaux, Paris, tom. iii.,\npp. 57-64.  In 1886 by Dr. Birch's kindness I was allowed to work at\nthe papyrus, and I published transcripts of some important passages and\nthe account of the Creation in the Proceedings of the Society of\nBiblical Archaeology, 1886-7, pp. 11-26.  The Legend of the Creation\nwas considered by Dr. H. Brugsch to be of considerable value for the\nstudy of the Egyptian Religion, and encouraged by him[FN#1] I made a\nfull transcript of the papyrus, which was published in Archaeologia,\n(vol. lii., London, 1891), with transliterations and translations.  In\n1910 I edited for the Trustees of the British Museum the complete\nhieratic text with a revised translation.[FN#2]\n\n\n\n[FN#1]  Ein in moglichst wortgetreuer Uebersetzung vorglegter Papyrus-\ntext soll den Schlussstein meines Werkes bilden.  Er wird den Beweis\nfur die Richtigkeit meiner eigenen Untersuchungen vollenden, indem er\ndas wichtigste Zeugniss altagyptischen Ursprungs den zahlreichen, von\nmir angezogenen Stellen aus den Inschriften hinzufugt.  Trotz mancher\nSchwierigkeit im Einzelnen ist der Gesammtinhalt des Textes, den zuerst\nein englischer Gelehrter der Wissenschaft zuganglich gemacht hat, such\nnicht im geringsten misszuverstehen (Brugsch, Religion, p. 740).  He\ngives a German translation of the Creation Legend on pp. 740, 741, and\na transliteration on p. 756.\n\n[FN#2]  Egyptian Hieratic Papyri in the British Museum, London, 1910,\nfolio.\n\n\n\nThe papyrus is about 16 ft. 8 in. in length, and is 9 1/4 in. in width.\nIt contains 21 columns of hieratic text which are written in short\nlines and are poetical in character, and 12 columns or pages of text\nwritten in long lines; the total number of lines is between 930 and\n940.  The text is written in a small, very black, but neat hand, and\nmay be assigned to a time between the XXVIth Dynasty and the Ptolemaic\nPeriod.  The titles, catch-words, rubrics, names of Apep and his\nfiends, and a few other words, are written in red ink.  There are two\ncolophons; in the one we have a date, namely, the \"first day of the\nfourth month of the twelfth year of Pharaoh Alexander, the son of\nAlexander,\" i.e., B.C. 311, and in the other the name of the priest who\neither had the papyrus written, or appropriated it, namely, Nes-Menu,\nor Nes-Amsu.\n\nThe Legend of the Creation is found in the third work which is given in\nthe papyrus, and which is called the \"Book of overthrowing Apep, the\nEnemy of Ra, the Enemy of Un-Nefer\" (i.e., Osiris).  This work\ncontained a series of spells which were recited during the performance\nof certain prescribed ceremonies, with the object of preventing storms,\nand dispersing rain-clouds, and removing any obstacle, animate or\ninanimate, which could prevent the rising of the sun in the morning, or\nobscure his light during the day.  The Leader-in Chief of the hosts of\ndarkness was a fiend called Apep who appeared in the sky in the form of\na monster serpent, and, marshalling all the fiends of the Tuat,\nattempted to keep the Sun-god imprisoned in the kingdom of darkness.\nRight in the midst of the spells which were directed against Apep we\nfind inserted the legend of the Creation, which occurs in no other\nknown Egyptian document (Col. XXVI., l. 21, to Col. XXVII., l. 6).\nCuriously enough a longer version of the legend is given a little\nfarther on (Col. XXVIII., l. 20, to Col. XXIX., l. 6).  Whether the\nscribe had two copies to work from, and simply inserted both, or\nwhether he copied the short version and added to it as he went along,\ncannot be said.  The legend is entitled: Book of knowing the evolutions\nof Ra [and of] overthrowing Apep.\n\nThis curious \"Book\" describes the origin not only of heaven, and earth,\nand all therein, but also of God Himself.  In it the name of Apep is\nnot even mentioned, and it is impossible to explain its appearance in\nthe Apep Ritual unless we assume that the whole \"Book\" was regarded as\na spell of the most potent character, the mere recital of which was\nfraught with deadly effect for Apep and his friends.\n\nThe story of the Creation is supposed to be told by the god Neb-er-\ntcher.  This name means the \"Lord to the uttermost limit,\" and the\ncharacter of the god suggests that the word \"limit\" refers to time and\nspace, and that he was, in fact, the Everlasting God of the Universe.\nThis god's name occurs in Coptic texts, and then he appears as one who\npossesses all the attributes which are associated by modern nations\nwith God Almighty.  Where and how Neb-er-tcher existed is not said, but\nit seems as if he was believed to have been an almighty and invisible\npower which filled all space.  It seems also that a desire arose in him\nto create the world, and in order to do this he took upon himself the\nform of the god Khepera, who from first to last was regarded as the\nCreator, par excellence, among all the gods known to the Egyptians.\nWhen this transformation of Neb-er-tcher into Khepera took place the\nheavens and the earth had not been created, but there seems to have\nexisted a vast mass of water, or world-ocean, called Nu, and it must\nhave been in this that the transformation took place.  In this\ncelestial ocean were the germs of all the living things which\nafterwards took form in heaven and on earth, but they existed in a\nstate of inertness and helplessness.  Out of this ocean Khepera raised\nhimself, and so passed from a state of passiveness and inertness into\none of activity.  When Khepera raised himself out of the ocean Nu, he\nfound himself in vast empty space, wherein was nothing on which he\ncould stand.  The second version of the legend says that Khepera gave\nbeing to himself by uttering his own name, and the first version states\nthat he made use of words in providing himself with a place on which to\nstand.  In other words, when Khepera was still a portion of the being\nof Neb-er-tcher, he spake the word \"Khepera,\" and Khepera came into\nbeing.  Similarly, when he needed a place whereon to stand, he uttered\nthe name of the thing, or place, on which he wanted to stand, and that\nthing, or place, came into being.  This spell he seems to have\naddressed to his heart, or as we should say, will, so that Khepera\nwilled this standing-place to appear, and it did so forthwith.  The\nfirst version only mentions a heart, but the second also speaks of a\nheart-soul as assisting Khepera in his first creative acts; and we may\nassume that he thought out in his heart what manner of thing be wished\nto create, and then by uttering its name caused his thought to take\nconcrete form.  This process of thinking out the existence of things is\nexpressed in Egyptian by words which mean \"laying the foundation in the\nheart.\"\n\nIn arranging his thoughts and their visible forms Khepera was assisted\nby the goddess Maat, who is usually regarded as the goddess of law,\norder, and truth, and in late times was held to be the female\ncounterpart of Thoth, \"the heart of the god Ra.\"  In this legend,\nhowever, she seems to play the part of Wisdom, as described in the Book\nof Proverbs,[FN#3] for it was by Maat that he \"laid the foundation.\"\n\n\n\n[FN#3]   \"The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his\nworks of old.  I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or\never the earth was.  When there were no depths I was brought forth . .\n. . . . . Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I\nbrought forth: while as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields,\nnor the highest part of the dust of the world.  When he prepared the\nheavens I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth:\nwhen he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the\nfountains of the deep: when he gave to the sea his decree, . . . . . .\nwhen he appointed the foundations of the earth: then I was by him, as\none brought up with him. . . . . . .\"  Proverbs, viii. 22 ff.}\n\n\n\nHaving described the coming into being of Khepera and the place on\nwhich he stood, the legend goes on to tell of the means by which the\nfirst Egyptian triad, or trinity, came into existence.  Khepera had, in\nsome form, union with his own shadow, and so begot offspring, who\nproceeded from his body under the forms of the gods Shu and Tefnut.\nAccording to a tradition preserved in the Pyramid Texts[FN#4] this\nevent took place at On (Heliopolis), and the old form of the legend\nascribes the production of Shu and Tefnut to an act of masturbation.\nOriginally these gods were the personifications of air and dryness, and\nliquids respectively; thus with their creation the materials for the\nconstruction of the atmosphere and sky came into being.  Shu and Tefnut\nwere united, and their offspring were Keb, the Earth-god, and Nut, the\nSky-goddess.  We have now five gods in existence; Khepera, the creative\nprinciple, Shu, the atmosphere, Tefnut, the waters above the heavens,\nNut, the Sky-goddess, and Keb, the Earth-god.  Presumably about this\ntime the sun first rose out of the watery abyss of Nu, and shone upon\nthe world and produced day.  In early times the sun, or his light, was\nregarded as a form of Shu.  The gods Keb and Nut were united in an\nembrace, and the effect of the coming of light was to separate them. As\nlong as the sun shone, i.e., as long as it was day, Nut, the Sky-\ngoddess, remained in her place above the earth, being supported by Shu;\nbut as soon as the sun set she left the sky and gradually descended\nuntil she rested on the body of the Earth-god, Keb.\n\n\n\n[FN#4]   Pepi I., l. 466.\n\n\n\nThe embraces of Keb caused Nut to bring forth five gods at a birth,\nnamely, Osiris, Horus, Set, Isis, and Nephthys.  Osiris and Isis\nmarried before their birth, and Isis brought forth a son called Horus;\nSet and Nephthys also married before their birth, and Nephthys brought\nforth a son named Anpu (Anubis), though he is not mentioned in the\nlegend.  Of these gods Osiris is singled out for special mention in the\nlegend, in which Khepera, speaking as Neb-er-tcher, says that his name\nis Ausares, who is the essence of the primeval matter of which he\nhimself is formed.  Thus Osiris was of the same substance as the Great\nGod who created the world according to the Egyptians, and was a\nreincarnation of his great-grandfather.  This portion of the legend\nhelps to explain the views held about Osiris as the great ancestral\nspirit, who when on earth was a benefactor of mankind, and who when in\nheaven was the saviour of souls.\n\nThe legend speaks of the sun as the Eye of Khepera, or Neb-er-tcher,\nand refers to some calamity which befell it and extinguished its light.\nThis calamity may have been simply the coming of night, or eclipses, or\nstorms; but in any case the god made a second Eye, i.e., the Moon, to\nwhich he gave some of the splendour of the other Eye, i.e., the Sun,\nand he gave it a place in his Face, and henceforth it ruled throughout\nthe earth, and had special powers in respect of the production of\ntrees, plants, vegetables, herbs, etc.  Thus from the earliest times\nthe moon was associated with the fertility of the earth, especially in\nconnection with the production of abundant crops and successful\nharvests.\n\nAccording to the legend, men and women sprang not from the earth, but\ndirectly from the body of the god Khepera, or Neb-er-tcher, who placed\nhis members together and then wept tears upon them, and men and women,\ncame into being from the tears which had fallen from his eyes.  No\nspecial mention is made of the creation of beasts in the legend, but\nthe god says that he created creeping things of all kinds, and among\nthese are probably included the larger quadrupeds.  The men and women,\nand all the other living creatures which were made at that time,\nreproduced their species, each in his own way, and so the earth became\nfilled with their descendants which we see at the present time.\n\nSuch is the Legend of Creation as it is found in the Papyrus of Nes-\nMenu.  The text of both versions is full of difficult passages, and\nsome readings are corrupt; unfortunately variant versions by which they\nmight be corrected are lacking.  The general meaning of the legend in\nboth versions is quite clear, and it throws considerable light on the\nEgyptian religion.  The Egyptians believed in the existence of God, the\nCreator and Maintainer of all things, but they thought that the\nconcerns of this world were committed by Him to the superintendence of\na series of subordinate spirits or beings called \"gods,\" over whom they\nbelieved magical spells and ceremonies to have the greatest influence.\nThe Deity was a Being so remote, and of such an exalted nature, that it\nwas idle to expect Him to interfere in the affairs of mortals, or to\nchange any decree or command which He had once uttered.  The spirits or\n\"gods,\" on the other hand, possessing natures not far removed from\nthose of men, were thought to be amenable to supplications and\nflattery, and to wheedling and cajolery, especially when accompanied by\ngifts.  It is of great interest to find a legend in which the power of\nGod as the Creator of the world and the sun and moon is so clearly set\nforth, embedded in a book of magical spells devoted to the destruction\nof the mythological monster who existed solely to prevent the sun from\nrising and shining.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nII.\n\n\n\nTHE LEGEND OF THE DESTRUCTION OF MANKIND.\n\n\n\nThe text containing the Legend of the Destruction of Mankind is written\nin hieroglyphs, and is found on the four walls of a small chamber which\nis entered from the \"hall of columns\" in the tomb of Seti I., which is\nsituated on the west bank of the Nile at Thebes.  On the wall facing\nthe door of this chamber is painted in red the figure of the large \"Cow\nof Heaven.\"  The lower part of her belly is decorated with a series of\nthirteen stars, and immediately beneath it are the two Boats of Ra,\ncalled Semketet and Mantchet, or Sektet and Matet.  Each of her four\nlegs is held in position by two gods, and the god Shu, with\noutstretched uplifted arms, supports her body.  The Cow was published\nby Champollion,[FN#5] without the text.  This most important\nmythological text was first published and translated by Professor E.\nNaville in 1874.[FN#6]  It was republished by Bergmann[FN#7] and\nBrugsch,[FN#8] who gave a transcription of the text, with a German\ntranslation.  Other German versions by Lauth,[FN#9] Brugsch,[FN#10] and\nWiedemann[FN#11] have appeared, and a part of the text was translated\ninto French by Lefebure.[FN#12]  The latest edition of the text was\npublished by Lefebure,[FN#13] and text of a second copy, very much\nmutilated, was published by Professor Naville, with a French\ntranslation in 1885.[FN#14]  The text printed in this volume is that of\nM. Lefebure.\n\n\n\n[FN#5]  Monuments, tom. iii., p. 245.\n\n[FN#6]  Trans. Soc. Bibl. Arch., vol. iv., p. 1 ff.\n\n[FN#7]  Hieroglyphische Inschriften, Bl. 85 fl.\n\n[FN#8]  Die neue Weltordnung nach Vernichtung des sundigen\nMenschengeschlechtes, Berlin, 1881.\n\n[FN#9]  Aus Aegyptens Vorzeit, p. 71.\n\n[FN#10]  Religion der alten Aegypter, p. 436.\n\n[FN#11]  Die Religion, p. 32.\n\n[FN#12]  A. Z., 1883, p. 32.\n\n[FN#13]  Tombeau de Seti I., Part IV., plates 15-18.\n\n[FN#14]  Trans. Soc. Bibl. Arch., vol. viii., p. 412 ft.\n\n\n\nThe legend takes us back to the time when the gods of Egypt went about\nin the country, and mingled with men and were thoroughly acquainted\nwith their desires and needs.  The king who reigned over Egypt was Ra,\nthe Sun-god, who was not, however, the first of the Dynasty of Gods who\nruled the land.  His predecessor on the throne was Hephaistos, who,\naccording to Manetho, reigned 9000 years, whilst Ra reigned only 992\nyears; Panodorus makes his reign to have lasted less than 100 years.\nBe this as it may, it seems that the \"self-created and self-begotten\"\ngod Ra had been ruling over mankind for a very long time, for his\nsubjects were murmuring against him, and they were complaining that he\nwas old, that his bones were like silver, his body like gold, and his\nhair like lapis-lazuli.  When Ra heard these murmurings he ordered his\nbodyguard to summon all the gods who had been with him in the primeval\nWorld-ocean, and to bid them privately to assemble in the Great House,\nwhich can be no other than the famous temple of Heliopolis.  This\nstatement is interesting, for it proves that the legend is of\nHeliopolitan origin, like the cult of Ra itself, and that it does not\nbelong, at least in so far as it applies to Ra, to the Predynastic\nPeriod.\n\nWhen Ra entered the Great Temple, the gods made obeisance to him, and\ntook up their positions on each side of him, and informed him that they\nawaited his words.  Addressing Nu, the personification of the World-\nocean, Ra bade them to take notice of the fact that the men and women\nwhom his Eye had created were murmuring against him.  He then asked\nthem to consider the matter and to devise a plan of action for him, for\nhe was unwilling to slay the rebels without hearing what his gods had\nto say.  In reply the gods advised Ra to send forth his Eye to destroy\nthe blasphemers, for there was no eye on earth that could resist it,\nespecially when it took the form of the goddess Hathor.  Ra accepted\ntheir advice and sent forth his Eye in the form of Hathor to destroy\nthem, and, though the rebels had fled to the mountains in fear, the Eye\npursued them and overtook them and destroyed them.  Hathor rejoiced in\nher work of destruction, and on her return was praised by Ra, for what\nshe had done.  The slaughter of men began at Suten-henen\n(Herakleopolis), and during the night Hathor waded about in the blood\nof men.  Ra asserted his intention of being master of the rebels, and\nthis is probably referred to in the Book of the Dead, Chapter XVII., in\nwhich it is said that Ra rose as king for the first time in Suten-\nhenen.  Osiris also was crowned at Suten-henen, and in this city lived\nthe great Bennu bird, or Phoenix, and the \"Crusher of Bones\" mentioned\nin the Negative Confession.\n\nThe legend now goes on to describe an act of Ra, the significance of\nwhich it is difficult to explain.  The god ordered messengers to be\nbrought to him, and when they arrived, he commanded them to run like\nthe wind to Abu, or the city of Elephantine, and to bring him large\nquantities of the fruit called tataat.  What kind of fruit this was is\nnot clear, but Brugsch thought they were \"mandrakes,\" the so-called\n\"love-apples,\" and this translation of tataat may be used\nprovisionally.  The mandrakes were given to Sekti, a goddess of\nHeliopolis, to crush and grind up, and when this was done they were\nmixed with human blood, and put in a large brewing of beer which the\nwomen slaves had made from wheat.  In all they made 7,000 vessels of\nbeer.  When Ra saw the beer he approved of it, and ordered it to be\ncarried up the river to where the goddess Hathor was still, it seems,\nengaged in slaughtering men.  During the night he caused this beer to\nbe poured out into the meadows of the Four Heavens, and when Hathor\ncame she saw the beer with human blood and mandrakes in it, and drank\nof it and became drunk, and paid no further attention to men and women.\nIn welcoming the goddess, Ra, called her \"Amit,\" i.e., \"beautiful one,\"\nand from this time onward \"beautiful women were found in the city of\nAmit,\" which was situated in the Western Delta, near Lake\nMareotis.[FN#15]  Ra also ordered that in future at every one of his\nfestivals vessels of \"sleep-producing beer\" should be made, and that\ntheir number should be the same as the number of the handmaidens of Ra.\nThose who took part in these festivals of Hathor and Ra drank beer in\nvery large quantities, and under the influence of the \"beautiful\nwomen,\" i.e., the priestesses, who were supposed to resemble Hathor in\ntheir physical attractions, the festal celebrations degenerated into\ndrunken and licentious orgies.\n\n\n\n[FN#15]  It was also called the \"City of Apis,\" (Brugsch, Dict. Geog.,\np. 491), and is the Apis city of classical writers.  It is, perhaps,\nrepresented by the modern Kom al-Hisn.\n\n\n\nSoon after this Ra complained that he was smitten with pain, and that\nhe was weary of the, children of men.  He thought them a worthless\nremnant, and wished that more of them had been slain.  The gods about\nhim begged him to endure, and reminded him that his power was in\nproportion to his will.  Ra was, however, unconsoled, and he complained\nthat his limbs were weak for the first time in his life.  Thereupon the\ngod Nu told Shu to help Ra, and he ordered Nut to take the great god Ra\non her back.  Nut changed herself into a cow, and with the help of Shu\nRa got on her back. As soon as men saw that Ra was on the back of the\nCow of Heaven, and was about to leave them, they became filled with\nfear and repentance, and cried out to Ra to remain with them and to\nslay all those who had blasphemed against him.  But the Cow moved on\nher way, and carried Ra to Het-Ahet, a town of the nome of Mareotis,\nwhere in later days the right leg of Osiris was said to be preserved.\nMeanwhile darkness covered the land.  When day broke the men who had\nrepented of their blasphemies appeared with their bows, and slew the\nenemies of Ra.  At this result Ra was pleased, and he forgave those who\nhad repented because of their righteous slaughter of his enemies.  From\nthis time onwards human sacrifices were offered up at the festivals of\nRa celebrated in this place, and at Heliopolis and in other parts of\nEgypt.\n\nAfter these things Ra declared to Nut that he intended to leave this\nworld, and to ascend into heaven, and that all those who would see his\nface must follow him thither.  Then he went up into heaven and prepared\na place to which all might come.  Then he said, \"Hetep sekhet aa,\"\ni.e., \"Let a great field be produced,\" and straightway \"Sekhet-hetep,\"\nor the \"Field of peace,\" came into being.  He next said, \"Let there be\nreeds (aaru) in it,\" and straightway \"Sekhet Aaru,\" or the \"Field of\nReeds,\" came into being.  Sekhet-hetep was the Elysian Fields of the\nEgyptians, and the Field of Reeds was a well-known section of it.\nAnother command of the god Ra resulted in the creation of the stars,\nwhich the legend compares to flowers.  Then the goddess Nut trembled in\nall her body, and Ra, fearing that she might fall, caused to come into\nbeing the Four Pillars on which the heavens are supported.  Turning to\nShu, Ra entreated him to protect these supports, and to place himself\nunder Nut, and to hold her up in position with his hands.  Thus Shu\nbecame the new Sun-god in the place of Ra, and the heavens in which Ra\nlived were supported and placed beyond the risk of falling, and mankind\nwould live and rejoice in the light of the new sun.\n\nAt this place in the legend a text is inserted called the \"Chapter of\nthe Cow.\"  It describes how the Cow of Heaven and the two Boats of the\nSun shall be painted, and gives the positions of the gods who stand by\nthe legs of the Cow, and a number of short magical names, or formulae,\nwhich are inexplicable.  The general meaning of the picture of the Cow\nis quite clear.  The Cow represents the sky in which the Boats of Ra,\nsail, and her four legs are the four cardinal points which cannot be\nchanged.  The region above her back is the heaven in which Ra reigns\nover the beings who pass thereto from this earth when they die, and\nhere was situated the home of the gods and the celestial spirits who\ngovern this world.\n\nWhen Ra had made a heaven for himself, and had arranged for a\ncontinuance of life on the earth, and the welfare of human beings, he\nremembered that at one time when reigning on earth he had been bitten\nby a serpent, and had nearly lost his life through the bite.  Fearing\nthat the same calamity might befall his successor, he determined to\ntake steps to destroy the power of all noxious reptiles that dwelt on\nthe earth.  With this object in view he told Thoth to summon Keb, the\nEarth-god, to his presence, and this god having arrived, Ra told him\nthat war must be made against the serpents that dwelt in his dominions.\nHe further commanded him to go to the god Nu, and to tell him to set a\nwatch over all the reptiles that were in the earth and in water, and to\ndraw up a writing for every place in which serpents are known to be,\ncontaining strict orders that they are to bite, no one.  Though these\nserpents knew that Ra was retiring from the earth, they were never to\nforget that his rays would fall upon them.  In his place their father\nKeb was to keep watch over them, and he was their father for ever.\n\nAs a further protection against them Ra promised to impart to magicians\nand snake-charmers the particular word of power, hekau, with which he\nguarded himself against the attacks of serpents, and also to transmit\nit to his son Osiris.  Thus those who are ready to listen to the\nformulae of the snake-charmers shall always be immune from the bites of\nserpents, and their children also.  From this we may gather that the\nprofession of the snake-charmer is very ancient, and that this class of\nmagicians were supposed to owe the foundation of their craft to a\ndecree of Ra himself.\n\nRa next sent for the god Thoth, and when he came into the presence of\nRa, he invited him to go with him to a distance, to a place called\n\"Tuat,\" i.e., hell, or the Other World, in which region he had\ndetermined to make his light to shine.  When they arrived there he told\nThoth, the Scribe of Truth, to write down on his tablets the names of\nall who were therein, and to punish those among them who had sinned\nagainst him, and he deputed to Thoth the power to deal absolutely as he\npleased with all the beings in the Tuat.  Ra loathed the wicked, and\nwished them to be kept at a distance from him.  Thoth was to be his\nvicar, to fill his place, and \"Place of Ra,\" was to be his name.  He\ngave him power to send out a messenger (hab), so the Ibis (habi) came\ninto being.  All that Thoth would do would be good (khen), therefore\nthe Tekni bird of Thoth came into being.  He gave Thoth power to\nembrace (anh) the heavens, therefore the Moon-god (Aah) came into\nbeing.  He gave Thoth power to turn back (anan) the Northern peoples,\ntherefore the dog-headed ape of Thoth came into being.  Finally Ra told\nThoth that he would take his place in the sight of all those who were\nwont to worship Ra, and that all should praise him as God.  Thus the\nabdication of Ra was complete.\n\nIn the fragmentary texts which follow we are told how a man may benefit\nby the recital of this legend.  He must proclaim that the soul which\nanimated Ra was the soul of the Aged One, and that of Shu, Khnemu (?),\nHeh, &c., and then he must proclaim that he is Ra himself, and his word\nof power Heka.  If he recites the Chapter correctly he shall have life\nin the Other World, and he will be held in greater fear there than\nhere.  A rubric adds that he must be dressed in new linen garments, and\nbe well washed with Nile water; he must wear white sandals, and his\nbody must be anointed with holy oil.  He must burn incense in a censer,\nand a figure of Maat (Truth) must be painted on his tongue with green\npaint.  These regulations applied to the laity as well as to the\nclergy.\n\n\n\n\nIII.\n\n\n\nTHE LEGEND OF RA AND ISIS.\n\n\n\nThe original text of this very interesting legend is written in the\nhieratic character on a papyrus preserved at Turin, and was published\nby Pleyte and Rossi in their Corpus of Turin Papyri.[FN#16]  French and\nGerman translations of it were published by Lefebure,[FN#17] and\nWiedemann[FN#18] respectively, and summaries of its contents were given\nby Erman[FN#19] and Maspero.[FN#20]  A transcript of the hieratic text\ninto hieroglyphics, with transliteration and translation, was published\nby me in 1895.[FN#21]\n\n\n\n[FN#16]  Papyrus de Turin, pll. 31, 77, 131-138.\n\n[FN#17]  A. Z., 1883, p. 27 ff.\n\n[FN#18]  Die Religion, p. 29.\n\n[FN#19]  Aegypten, p. 359 ff.\n\n[FN#20]  Les Origines, V. 162-4.\n\n\n[FN#21]  First Steps in Egyptian, p. 241 ff.\n\n\n\nIt has already been seen that the god Ra, when retiring from the\ngovernment of this world, took steps through Thoth to supply mankind\nwith words of power and spells with which to protect themselves against\nthe bites of serpents and other noxious reptiles.  The legend of the\nDestruction of Mankind affords no explanation of this remarkable fact,\nbut when we read the following legend of Ra and Isis we understand why\nRa, though king of the gods, was afraid of the reptiles which lived in\nthe kingdom of Keb.  The legend, or \"Chapter of the Divine God,\" begins\nby enumerating the mighty attributes of Ra as the creator of the\nuniverse, and describes the god of \"many names\" as unknowable, even by\nthe gods.  At this time Isis lived in the form of a woman who possessed\nthe knowledge of spells and incantations, that is to say, she was\nregarded much in the same way as modern African peoples regard their\n\"medicine-women,\" or \"witch-women.\"  She had used her spells on men,\nand was tired of exercising her powers on them, and she craved the\nopportunity of making herself mistress of gods and spirits as well as\nof men.  She meditated how she could make herself mistress both of\nheaven and earth, and finally she decided that she could only obtain\nthe power she wanted if she possessed the knowledge of the secret name\nof Ra, in which his very existence was bound up.  Ra guarded this name\nmost jealously, for he knew that if he revealed it to any being he\nwould henceforth be at that being's mercy.  Isis saw that it was\nimpossible to make Ra declare his name to her by ordinary methods, and\nshe therefore thought out the following plan.  It was well known in\nEgypt and the Sudan at a very early period that if a magician obtained\nsome portion of a person's body, e.g., a hair, a paring of a nail, a\nfragment of skin, or a portion of some efflux from the body, spells\ncould be used upon them which would have the effect of causing grievous\nharm to that person.  Isis noted that Ra had become old and feeble, and\nthat as he went about he dribbled at the mouth, and that his saliva\nfell upon the ground.  Watching her opportunity she caught some of the\nsaliva of the and mixing it with dust, she moulded it into the form of\na large serpent, with poison-fangs, and having uttered her spells over\nit, she left the serpent lying on the path, by which Ra travelled day\nby day as he went about inspecting Egypt, so that it might strike at\nhim as he passed along.  We may note in passing that the Banyoro in the\nSudan employ serpents in killing buffaloes at the present day.  They\ncatch a puff-adder in a noose, and then nail it alive by the tip of its\ntail to the round in the middle of a buffalo track, so that when an\nanimal passes the reptile may strike at it.  Presently a buffalo comes\nalong, does what it is expected to do, and then the puff-adder strikes\nat it, injects its poison, and the animal dies soon after.  As many as\nten buffaloes have been killed in a day by one puff-adder.  The body of\nthe first buffalo is not eaten, for it is regarded as poisoned meat,\nbut all the others are used as food.[FN#22]\n\n\n\n[FN#22]  Johnston, Uganda, vol. ii., p. 584.  The authority for this\nstatement is Mr. George Wilson, formerly Collector in Unyoro.\n\n\n\nSoon after Isis had placed the serpent on the Path, Ra passed by, and\nthe reptile bit him, thus injecting poison into his body.  Its effect\nwas terrible, and Ra cried out in agony.  His jaws chattered, his lips\ntrembled, and he became speechless for a time; never before had be\nsuffered such pain.  The gods hearing his cry rushed to him, and when\nhe could speak he told them that he had been bitten by a deadly\nserpent.  In spite of all the words of power which were known to him,\nand his secret name which had been hidden in his body at his birth, a\nserpent had bitten him, and he was being consumed with a fiery pain.\nHe then commanded that all the gods who had any knowledge of magical\nspells should come to him, and when they came, Isis, the great lady of\nspells, the destroyer of diseases, and the revivifier of the dead, came\nwith them.  Turning to Ra she said, \"What hath happened, O divine\nFather?\" and in answer the god told her that a serpent had bitten him,\nthat he was hotter than fire and colder than water, that his limbs\nquaked, and that he was losing the power of sight.  Then Isis said to\nhim with guile, \"Divine Father, tell me thy name, for he who uttereth\nhis own name shall live.\"  Thereupon Ra proceeded to enumerate the\nvarious things that he had done, and to describe his creative acts, and\nended his speech to Isis by saying, that he was Khepera in the morning,\nRa at noon, and Temu in the evening.  Apparently he thought that the\nnaming of these three great names would satisfy Isis, and that she\nwould immediately pronounce a word of power and stop the pain in his\nbody, which, during his speech, had become more acute.  Isis, however,\nwas not deceived, and she knew well that Ra had not declared to her his\nhidden name; this she told him, and she begged him once again to tell\nher his name.  For a time the god refused to utter the name, but as the\npain in his body became more violent, and the poison passed through his\nveins like fire, he said, \"Isis shall search in me, and my name shall\npass from my body into hers.\"  At that moment Ra removed himself from\nthe sight of the gods in his Boat, and the Throne in the Boat of\nMillions of Years had no occupant.  The great name of Ra was, it seems,\nhidden in his heart, and Isis, having some doubt as to whether Ra would\nkeep his word or not, agreed with Horus that Ra must be made to take an\noath to part with his two Eyes, that is, the Sun and the Moon.  At\nlength Ra allowed his heart to be taken from his body, and his great\nand secret name, whereby he lived, passed into the possession of Isis.\nRa thus became to all intents and purposes a dead god.  Then Isis,\nstrong in the power of her spells, said: \"Flow, poison, come out of Ra.\nEye of Horus, come out of Ra, and shine outside his mouth.  It is I,\nIsis, who work, and I have made the poison to fall on the ground.\nVerily the name of the great god is taken from him, Ra shall live and\nthe poison shall die; if the poison live Ra shall die.\"\n\nThis was the infallible spell which was to be used in cases of\npoisoning, for it rendered the bite or sting of every venomous reptile\nharmless.  It drove the poison out of Ra, and since it was composed by\nIsis after she obtained the knowledge of his secret name it was\nirresistible.  If the words were written on papyrus or linen over a\nfigure of Temu or Heru-hekenu, or Isis, or Horus, they became a mighty\ncharm.  If the papyrus or linen were steeped in water and the water\ndrunk, the words were equally efficacious as a charm against snake-\nbites.  To this day water in which the written words of a text from the\nKur'an have been dissolved, or water drunk from a bowl on the inside of\nwhich religious texts have been written, is still regarded as a never-\nfailing charm in Egypt and the Sudan.  Thus we see that the modern\ncustom of drinking magical water was derived from the ancient\nEgyptians, who believed that it conveyed into their bodies the actual\npower of their gods.\n\n\n\n\n\nIV.\n\n\n\n\nTHE LEGEND OF HERU-BEHUTET AND THE WINGED DISK.\n\n\n\n\nThe text of this legend is cut in hieroglyphics on the walls of the\ntemple of Edfu in Upper Egypt, and certain portions of it are\nillustrated by large bas-reliefs.  Both text and reliefs were published\nby Professor Naville in his volume entitled Mythe d'Horus, fol., plates\n12-19, Geneva, 1870.  A German translation by Brugsch appeared in the\nAhandlungen der Gottinger Akademie, Band xiv., pp. 173-236, and another\nby Wiedemann in his Die Religion, p. 38 ff. (see the English\ntranslation p. 69 ff.).  The legend, in the form in which it is here\ngiven, dates from the Ptolemaic Period, but the matter which it\ncontains is far older, and it is probable that the facts recorded in it\nare fragments of actual history, which the Egyptians of the late period\ntried to piece together in chronological order.  We shall see as we\nread that the writer of the legend as we have it was not well\nacquainted with Egyptian history, and that in his account of the\nconquest of Egypt he has confounded one god with another, and mixed up\nhistorical facts with mythological legends to such a degree that his\nmeaning is frequently uncertain.  The great fact which he wished to\ndescribe is the conquest of Egypt by an early king, who, having subdued\nthe peoples in the South, advanced northwards, and made all the people\nwhom he conquered submit to his yoke.  Now the King of Egypt was always\ncalled Horus, and the priests of Edfu wishing to magnify their local\ngod, Horus of Behutet, or Horus of Edfu, attributed to him the\nconquests of this human, and probably predynastic, king.  We must\nremember that the legend assumes that Ra, was still reigning on earth,\nthough he was old and feeble, and had probably deputed his power to his\nsuccessor, whom the legend regards as his son.\n\n\n\nPLATE I.\nHorus holding the Hippopotamus-fiend with chain and spear.  Behind\nstand Isis and Heru Khenti-Khatti.\n\nPLATE II.\nHorus driving his spear into the Hippopotamus-fiend; behind him stands\none of his \"Blacksmiths\".\n\nPLATE III.\nHorus driving his spear into the belly of the Hippopotamus-fiend as he\nlies on his back; behind stands on of his \"Blacksmiths\".\n\nPLATE IV.\nHorus and Isis capturing the Hippopotamus-fiend.\n\n\n\nIn the 363rd year of his reign Ra-Harmakhis[FN#23] was in Nubia with\nhis army with the intention of destroying those who had conspired\nagainst him; because of their conspiracy (auu) Nubia is called \"Uaua\"\nto this day.  From Nubia Ra-Harmakhis sailed down the river to Edfu,\nwhere Heru-Behutet entered his boat, and told him that his foes were\nconspiring against him.  Ra-Harmakhis in answer addressed Heru-Behutet\nas his son, and commanded him to set out without delay and slay the\nwicked rebels.  Then Heru-Behutet took the form of a great winged Disk,\nand at once flew up into the sky, where he took the place of Ra, the\nold Sun-god.  Looking down from the height of heaven he was able to\ndiscover the whereabouts of the rebels, and he pursued them in the form\nof a winged disk.  Then he attacked them with such violence that they\nbecame dazed, and could neither see where they were going, nor hear,\nthe result of this being that they slew each other, and in a very short\ntime they were all dead.  Thoth, seeing this, told Ra that because\nHorus had appeared as a great winged disk he must be called \"Heru-\nBehutet,\" and by this name Horus was known ever after at Edfu.  Ra\nembraced Horus, and referred with pleasure to the blood which he had\nshed, and Horus invited his father to come and look upon the slain.  Ra\nset out with the goddess Ashthertet (`Ashtoreth) to do this, and they\nsaw the enemies lying fettered on the ground.  The legend here\nintroduces a number of curious derivations of the names of Edfu, &c.,\nwhich are valueless, and which remind us of the derivations of place-\nnames propounded by ancient Semitic scribes.\n\n\n\n[FN#23]  i.e., Ra on the horizon.\n\n\n\nPLATE V.\nHorus standing on the back of the Hippopotamus-fiend, and spearing him\nin the presence of Isis.\n\nPLATE VI.\nThe \"Butcher-priest\" slicing open the Hippopotamus-fiend.\n\n\n\nIn gladness of heart Ra proposed a sail on the Nile, but as soon as his\nenemies heard that he was coming, they changed themselves into\ncrocodiles and hippopotami, so that they might be able to wreck his\nboat and devour him.  As the boat of the god approached them they\nopened their jaws to crush it, but Horus and his followers came quickly\non the scene, and defeated their purpose.  The followers of Horus here\nmentioned are called in the text \"Mesniu,\" i.e., \"blacksmiths,\" or\n\"workers in metal,\" and they represent the primitive conquerors of the\nEgyptians, who were armed with metal weapons, and so were able to\novercome with tolerable ease the indigenous Egyptians, whose weapons\nwere made of flint and wood.  Horus and his \"blacksmiths\" were provided\nwith iron lances and chains, and, baying cast the chains over the\nmonsters in the river, they drove their lances into their snouts, and\nslew 651 of them.  Because Horus gained his victory by means of metal\nweapons, Ra decreed that a metal statue of Horus should be placed at\nEdfu, and remain there for ever, and a name was given to the town to\ncommemorate the great battle that had taken place there.  Ra applauded\nHorus for the mighty deeds which be had been able to perform by means\nof the spells contained in the \"Book of Slaying the Hippopotamus.\"\nHorus then associated with himself the goddesses Uatchet and Nekhebet,\nwho were in the form of serpents, and, taking his place as the winged\nDisk on the front of the Boat of Ra, destroyed all the enemies of Ra\nwheresoever he found them.  When the remnant of the enemies of Ra, saw\nthat they were likely to be slain, they doubled back to the South, but\nHorus pursued them, and drove them down the river before him as far as\nThebes.  One battle took place at Tchetmet, and another at Denderah,\nand Horus was always victorious; the enemies were caught by chains\nthrown over them, and the deadly spears of the Blacksmiths drank their\nblood.\n\nAfter this the enemy fled to the North, and took refuge in the swamps\nof the Delta, and in the shallows of the Mediterranean Sea, and Horus\npursued them thither.  After searching for them for four days and four\nnights he found them, and they were speedily slain.  One hundred and\nforty-two of them and a male hippopotamus were dragged on to the Boat\nof Ra, and there Horus dug out their entrails, and hacked their\ncarcases in pieces, which he gave to his Blacksmiths and the gods who\nformed the crew of the Boat of Ra.  Before despatching the\nhippopotamus, Horus leaped on to the back of the monster as a mark of\nhis triumph, and to commemorate this event the priest of Heben, the\ntown wherein these things happened, was called \"He who standeth on the\nback ever after.\"\n\nThe end of the great fight, however, was not yet.  Another army of\nenemies appeared by the North Lake, and they were marching towards the\nsea; but terror of Horus smote their hearts, and they fled and took\nrefuge in Mertet-Ament, where they allied themselves with the followers\nof Set, the Arch-fiend and great Enemy of Ra.  Thither Horus and his\nwell-armed Blacksmiths pursued them, and came up with them at the town\ncalled Per-Rerehu, which derived its name from the \"Two Combatants,\" or\n\"Two Men,\" Horus and Set.  A great fight took place, the enemies of Ra\nwere defeated with great slaughter, and Horus dragged 381 prisoners on\nto the Boat of Ra, where he slew them, and gave their bodies to his\nfollowers.\n\n\n\nPLATE VII.\nHorus of Behutet and Ra-Harmakhis in a shrine.\n\nPLATE VIII.\nHorus of Behutet and Harmakhis in a shrine.\n\nPLATE IX.\n\nAshthertet ('Ashtoreth') driving her chariot over the prostrate foe.\n\nPLATE X.\nLeft: Horus of Behutet spearing a Typhonic animal, and holding his\nprisoners with rope.\n\nRight: Horus of Behutet, accompanied by Ra-Harmakhis and Menu, spearing\nthe Hippopotamus-fiend.\n\n\n\nThen Set rose up and cursed Horus because he had slain his allies, and\nhe used such foul language that Thoth called him \"Nehaha-her,\" i.e.,\n\"Stinking Face,\" and this name clung to him ever after.  After this\nHorus and Set engaged in a fight which lasted a very long time, but at\nlength Horus drove his spear into the neck of Set with such violence\nthat the Fiend fell headlong to the ground.  Then Horus smote with his\nclub the mouth which had uttered such blasphemies, and fettered him\nwith his chain.  In this state Horus dragged Set into the presence of\nRa, who ascribed great praise to Horus, and special names were given to\nthe palace of Horus and the high priest of the temple in commemoration\nof the event.  When the question of the disposal of Set was being\ndiscussed by the gods, Ra ordered that he and his fiends should be\ngiven over to Isis and her son Horus, who were to do what they pleased\nwith them.  Horus promptly cut off the heads of Set and his fiends in\nthe presence of Ra and Isis, and be dragged Set by his feet through the\ncountry with his spear sticking in his head and neck.  After this Isis\nappointed Horus of Behutet to be the protecting deity of her son Horus.\n\nThe fight between the Sun-god and Set was a very favourite subject with\nEgyptian writers, and there are many forms of it.  Thus there is the\nfight between Heru-ur and Set, the fight between Ra and Set, the fight\nbetween Heru-Behutet and Set, the fight between Osiris and Set, and the\nfight between Horus, son of Isis, and Set.  In the oldest times the\ncombat was merely the natural opposition of light to darkness, but\nlater the Sun-god became the symbol of right and truth as well as of\nlight, and Set the symbol of sin and wickedness as well as of darkness,\nand ultimately the nature myth was forgotten, and the fight between the\ntwo gods became the type of the everlasting war which good men wage\nagainst sin.  In Coptic literature we have the well-known legend of the\nslaughter of the dragon by St. George, and this is nothing but a\nChristian adaptation of the legend of Horus and Set.\n\nAfter these things Horus, son of Ra, and Horus, son of Isis, each took\nthe form of a mighty man, with the face and body of a hawk, and each\nwore the Red and White Crowns, and each carried a spear and chain.  In\nthese forms the two gods slew the remnant of the enemies.  Now by some\nmeans or other Set came to life again, and he took the form of a mighty\nhissing or \"roaring\" serpent, and hid himself in the ground, in a place\nwhich was ever after called the \"place of the roarer.\"  In front of his\nhiding-place Horus, son of Isis, stationed himself in the form of a\nhawk-headed staff to prevent him from coming out.  In spite of this,\nhowever, Set managed to escape, and he gathered about him the Smai and\nSeba fiends at the Lake of Meh, and waged war once more against Horus;\nthe enemies of Ra were again defeated, and Horus slew them in the\npresence of his father.\n\n\n\nPLATE XI.\nHorus of Behutet and Thoth spearing human victims with the assistance\nof Isis.\n\nPLATE XII.\nHorus of Behutet and Thoth spearing Set in the form of a crocodile.\n\n\n\nHorus, it seems, now ceased to fight for some time, and devoted himself\nto keeping guard over the \"Great God\" who was in An-rut-f, a district\nin or near Herakleopolis.  This Great God was no other than Osiris, and\nthe duty of Horus was to prevent the Smai fiends from coming by night\nto the place.  In spite of the power of Horus, it was found necessary\nto summon the aid of Isis to keep away the fiends, and it was only by\nher words of power that the fiend Ba was kept out of the sanctuary.  As\na reward for what he had already done, Thoth decreed that Horus should\nbe called the \"Master-Fighter.\" Passing over the derivations of place-\nnames which occur here in the text, we find that Horus and his\nBlacksmiths were again obliged to fight bodies of the enemy who had\nmanaged to escape, and that on one occasion they killed one hundred and\nsix foes.  In every fight the Blacksmiths performed mighty deeds of\nvalour, and in reward for their services a special district was\nallotted to them to dwell in.\n\nThe last great fight in the North took place at Tanis, in the eastern\npart of the Delta.  When the position of the enemy had been located,\nHorus took the form of a lion with the face of a man, and he put on his\nhead the Triple Crown.  His claws were like flints, and with them he\ndragged away one hundred and forty-two of the enemy, and tore them in\npieces, and dug out their tongues, which he carried off as symbols of\nhis victory.\n\n\n\nMeanwhile rebellion had again broken out in Nubia, where about one-\nthird of the enemy had taken refuge in the river in the forms of\ncrocodiles and hippopotami.  Ra counselled Horus to sail up the Nile\nwith his Blacksmiths, and when Thoth had recited the \"Chapters of\nprotecting the Boat of Ra\" over the boats, the expedition set sail for\nthe South.  The object of reciting these spells was to prevent the\nmonsters which were in the river from making the waves to rise and from\nstirring up storms which might engulf the boats of Ra and Horus and the\nBlacksmiths.  When the rebels and fiends who had been uttering, treason\nagainst Horus saw the boat of Ra, with the winged Disk of Horus\naccompanied by the goddesses Uatchet and Nekhebet in the form of\nserpents, they were smitten with fear, and their hearts quaked, and all\npower of resistance left them, and they died of fright straightway.\nWhen Horus returned in triumph to Edfu, Ra ordered that an image of the\nwinged Disk should be placed in each of his sanctuaries, and that in\nevery place wherein a winged Disk was set, that sanctuary should be a\nsanctuary of Horus of Behutet.  The winged disks which are seen above\nthe doorways of the temples still standing in Egypt show that the\ncommand of Ra, was faithfully carried out by the priests.\n\n\n\nPLATE XIII.\nHorus of Behutet in the form of a lion slaying his foes.\n\n\n\n\nV.\n\n\n\n\nLEGEND OF THE BIRTH OF HORUS, SON OF ISIS AND OSIRIS.\n\n\n\nPLATE XIV.\nThe Procreation of Horus, son of Isis.\n\n\n\nThe text which contains this legend is found cut in hieroglyphics upon\na stele which is now preserved in Paris.  Attention was first called to\nit by Chabas, who in 1857 gave a translation of it in the Revue\nArcheologique, p. 65 ff., and pointed out the importance of its\ncontents with his characteristic ability.  The hieroglyphic text was\nfirst published by Ledrain in his work on the monuments of the\nBibliotheque Nationale in Paris,[FN#24] and I gave a transcript of the\ntext, with transliteration and translation, in 1895.[FN#25]\n\n\n\n[FN#24]  Les Monuments Egyptiens (Cabinet des Medailles et Antiques),\nIn the Bibliotheque de l'Ecole des Hautes Etudes, Paris, 1879-1882,\nplate xxii. ff.\n\n\n[FN#25]  First Steps in Egyptian, pp. 179-188.\n\n\n\nThe greater part of the text consists of a hymn to Osiris, which was\nprobably composed under the XVIIIth Dynasty, when an extraordinary\ndevelopment of the cult of that god took place, and when he was placed\nby Egyptian theologians at the head of all the gods.  Though unseen in\nthe temples, his presence filled all Egypt, and his body formed the\nvery substance of the country.  He was the God of all gods and the\nGovernor of the Two Companies of the gods, he formed the soul and body\nof Ra, he was the beneficent Spirit of all spirits, he was himself the\ncelestial food on which the Doubles in the Other World lived. He was\nthe greatest of the gods in On (Heliopolis), Memphis, Herakleopolis,\nHermopolis, Abydos, and the region of the First Cataract, and so.  He\nembodied in his own person the might of Ra-Tem, Apis and Ptah, the\nHorus-gods, Thoth and Khnemu, and his rule over Busiris and Abydos\ncontinued to be supreme, as it had been for many, many hundreds of\nyears.  He was the source of the Nile, the north wind sprang from him,\nhis seats were the stars of heaven which never set, and the\nimperishable stars were his ministers.  All heaven was his dominion,\nand the doors of the sky opened before him of their own accord when he\nappeared.  He inherited the earth from his father Keb, and the\nsovereignty of heaven from his mother Nut.  In his person he united\nendless time in the past and endless time in the future.  Like Ra he\nhad fought Seba, or Set, the monster of evil, and had defeated him, and\nhis victory assured to him lasting authority over the gods and the\ndead.  He exercised his creative power in making land and water, trees\nand herbs, cattle and other four-footed beasts, birds of all kinds, and\nfish and creeping things; even the waste spaces of the desert owed\nallegiance to him as the creator.  And he rolled out the sky, and set\nthe light above the darkness.\n\nThe last paragraph of the text contains an allusion to Isis, the sister\nand wife of Osiris, and mentions the legend of the birth of Horus,\nwhich even under the XVIIIth Dynasty was very ancient, Isis, we are\ntold, was the constant protectress of her brother, she drove away the\nfiends that wanted to attack him, and kept them out of his shrine and\ntomb, and she guarded him from all accidents.  All these things she did\nby means of spells and incantations, large numbers of which were known\nto her, and by her power as the \"witch-goddess.\"  Her \"mouth was\ntrained to perfection, and she made no mistake in pronouncing her\nspells, and her tongue was skilled and halted not.\"  At length came the\nunlucky day when Set succeeded in killing Osiris during the war which\nthe \"good god\" was waging against him and his fiends.  Details of the\nengagement are wanting, but the Pyramid Texts state that the body of\nOsiris was hurled to the ground by Set at a place called Netat, which\nseems to have been near Abydos.[FN#26]  The news of the death of Osiris\nwas brought to Isis, and she at once set out to find his body.  All\nlegends agree in saying that she took the form of a bird, and that she\nflew about unceasingly, going hither and thither, and uttering wailing\ncries of grief.  At length she found the body, and with a piercing cry\nshe alighted on the ground.  The Pyramid Texts say that Nephthys was\nwith her that \"Isis came, Nephthys came, the one on the right side, the\nother on the left side, one in the form of a Hat bird, the other in the\nform of a Tchert bird, and they found Osiris thrown on the ground in\nNetat by his brother Set.\"  The late form of the legend goes on to say\nthat Isis fanned the body with her feathers, and produced air, and that\nat length she caused the inert members of Osiris to move, and drew from\nhim his essence, wherefrom she produced her child Horus.\n\n\n\n[FN#26]  Pepi I., line 475; Pepi II., line 1263.\n\n\n\nThis bare statement of the dogma of the conception of Horus does not\nrepresent all that is known about it, and it may well be supplemented\nby a passage from the Pyramid Texts,[FN#27] which reads, \"Adoration to\nthee, O Osiris.[FN#28]  Rise thou up on thy left side, place thyself on\nthy right side.  This water which I give unto thee is the water of\nyouth (or rejuvenation).  Adoration to thee, O Osiris!  Rise thou up on\nthy left side, place thyself on thy right side.  This bread which I\nhave made for thee is warmth.  Adoration to thee, O Osiris!  The doors\nof heaven are opened to thee, the doors of the streams are thrown wide\nopen to thee.  The gods in the city of Pe come [to thee], Osiris, at\nthe sound (or voice) of the supplication of Isis and Nephthys. . . . .\nThy elder sister took thy body in her arms, she chafed thy hands,\nshe clasped thee to her breast [when] she found thee [lying] on thy\nside on the plain of Netat.\"  And in another place we read:[FN#29] \"Thy\ntwo sisters, Isis and Nephthys, came to thee, Kam-urt, in thy name of\nKam-ur, Uatchet-urt, in thy name of Uatch-ur . . . . . . . Isis and\nNephthys weave magical protection for thee in the city of Saut, for\nthee their lord, in thy name of 'Lord of Saut,' for their god, in thy\nname of 'God.'  They praise thee; go not thou far from them in thy name\nof 'Tua.'  They present offerings to thee; be not wroth in thy name of\n'Tchentru.'  Thy sister Isis cometh to thee rejoicing in her love for\nthee.[FN#30]  Thou hast union with her, thy seed entereth her.  She\nconceiveth in the form of the star Septet (Sothis).  Horus-Sept issueth\nfrom thee in the form of Horus, dweller in the star Septet.  Thou\nmakest a spirit to be in him in his name 'Spirit dwelling in the god\nTchentru.'  He avengeth thee in his name of 'Horus, the son who avenged\nhis father.'  Hail, Osiris, Keb hath brought to thee Horus, he hath\navenged thee, he hath brought to thee the hearts of the gods, Horus\nhath given thee his Eye, thou hast taken possession of the Urert Crown\nthereby at the head of the gods.  Horus hath presented to thee thy\nmembers, he hath collected them completely, there is no disorder in\nthee.  Thoth hath seized thy enemy and hath slain him and those who\nwere with him.\"  The above words are addressed to dead kings in the\nPyramid Texts, and what the gods were supposed to do for them was\nbelieved by the Egyptians to have been actually done for Osiris.  These\nextracts are peculiarly valuable, for they prove that the legend of\nOsiris which was current under the XVIIIth Dynasty was based upon\ntraditions which were universally accepted in Egypt under the Vth and\nVIth Dynasties.\n\n\n\n[FN#27]  Mer-en-Ra, line 336; Pepi II., line 862.\n\n[FN#28]  I omit the king's names.\n\n[FN#29]  Teta, line 274; Pepi I., line 27; Mer-en-Ra, line 37; and Pepi\nII., line 67.\n\n[FN#30]  Pyramid Text, Teta, l. 276.\n\n\n\nPLATE XV.\n\n\nPLATE XVI.\nThe Stele recording the casting out of a devil from the Princess of\nBekhten.\n\n\n\nThe hymn concludes with a reference to the accession of Horus, son of\nIsis, the flesh and bone of Osiris, to the throne of his grandfather\nKeb, and to the welcome which he received from the Tchatcha, or\nAdministrators of heaven, and the Company of the Gods, and the Lords of\nTruth, who assembled in the Great House of Heliopolis to acknowledge\nhis sovereignty.  His succession also received the approval of Neb-er-\ntcher, who, as we saw from the first legend in this book, was the\nCreator of the Universe.\n\n\n\n\n\nVI.\n\n\n\nA LEGEND OF KHENSU NEFER-HETEP[FN#31] AND THE PRINCESS OF BEKHTEN.\n\n\n\n[FN#31]    In the headlines of this section, p. 106 ff., for Ptah\nNefer-hetep read Khensu Nefer-hetep.\n\n\n\nThe text of this legend is cut in hieroglyphics upon a sandstone stele,\nwith a rounded top, which was found in the temple of Khensu at Thebes,\nand is now preserved in the Bibliotheque Nationale at Paris; it was\ndiscovered by Champollion, and removed to Paris by Prisse d'Avennes in\n1846.  The text was first published by Prisse d'Avennes,[FN#32] and it\nwas first translated by Birch[FN#33] in 1853.  The text was republished\nand translated into French by E. de Rouge in 1858,[FN#34] and several\nother renderings have been given in German and in English since that\ndate.[FN#35]  When the text was first published, and for some years\nafterwards, it was generally thought that the legend referred to events\nwhich were said to have taken place under a king who was identified as\nRameses XIII., but this misconception was corrected by Erman, who\nshowed[FN#36] that the king was in reality Rameses II.  By a careful\nexamination of the construction of the text he proved that the\nnarrative on the stele was drawn up several hundreds of years after the\nevents described in it took place, and that its author was but\nimperfectly acquainted with the form of the Egyptian language in use in\nthe reign of Rameses II.  In fact, the legend was written in the\ninterests of the priests of the temple of Khensu, who wished to magnify\ntheir god and his power to cast out devils and to exorcise evil\nspirits; it was probably composed between B.C. 650 and B.C. 250.[FN#37]\n\n\n\n[FN#32]  Choix de Monuments Egyptiens, Paris, 1847, plate xxiv.\n\n[FN#33]  Transactions of the Royal Society of Literature, New Series,\nvol. iv., p. 217 ff.\n\n[FN#34]  Journal Asiatique (Etude sur une Stele Egyptienne), August,\n1856, August, 1857, and August-Sept., 1858, Paris, 8vo, with plate.\n\n[FN#35]  Brugsch, Geschichte Aegyptens, 1877, p. 627 ff.; Birch,\nRecords of the Past, Old Series, vol. iv., p. 53 ff.; Budge, Egyptian\nReading Book, text and transliteration, p. 40 ff.; translation, p.\nxxviii. ff.\n\n[FN#36]  Aeg. Zeit., 1883, pp. 54-60.\n\n[FN#37]  Maspero, Les Contes Populaires, 3rd edit., p. 166.\n\n\n\n\nThe legend, after enumerating the great names of Rameses II., goes on\nto state that the king was in the \"country of the two rivers,\" by which\nwe are to understand some portion of Mesopotamia, the rivers being the\nTigris and Euphrates, and that the local chiefs were bringing to him\ntribute consisting of gold, lapis-lazuli, turquoise, and logs of wood\nfrom the Land of the God.  It is difficult to understand how gold and\nlogs of wood from Southern Arabia and East Africa came to be produced\nas tribute by chiefs who lived so far to the north.  Among those who\nsent gifts was the Prince of Bekhten, and at the head of all his\ntribute he sent his eldest daughter, bearing his message of homage and\nduty.  Now the maiden was beautiful, and the King of Egypt thought her\nso lovely that be took her to wife, and bestowed upon her the name \"Ra-\nneferu,\" which means something like the \"beauties of Ra.\"  He took her\nback with him to Egypt, where she was installed as Queen.\n\nDuring the summer of the fifteenth year of his reign, whilst Rameses\nII. was celebrating a festival of Amen-Ra in the Temple of Luxor, one\ncame to him and reported that an envoy had arrived from the Prince of\nBekhten, bearing with him many gifts for the Royal Wife Ra-neferu.\nWhen the envoy had been brought into the presence, he addressed words\nof homage to the king, and, having presented the gifts from his lord,\nhe said that he had come to beg His Majesty to send a \"learned man,\"\ni.e., a magician, to Bekhten to attend Bent-enth-resh, His Majesty's\nsister-in-law, who was stricken with some disease.  Thereupon the king\nsummoned the learned men of the House of Life, i.e., the members of the\ngreat College of Magic at Thebes, and the qenbetu officials, and when\nthey had entered his presence, he commanded them to select a man of\n\"wise heart and deft fingers\" to go to Bekhten.  The choice fell upon\none Tehuti-em-heb, and His Majesty sent him to Bekhten with the envoy.\nWhen they arrived in Bekhten, Tehuti-em-heb found that the Princess\nBent-enth-resh was possessed by an evil spirit which refused to be\nexorcised by him, and he was unable to cast out the devil.  The Prince\nof Bekhten, seeing that the healing of his daughter was beyond the\npower of the Egyptian, sent a second envoy to Rameses II., and besought\nhim to send a god to drive out the devil.  This envoy arrived in Egypt\nin the summer of the twenty-sixth year of the reign of Rameses II., and\nfound the king celebrating a festival in Thebes.  When he heard the\npetition of the envoy, he went to the Temple of Khensu Nefer-hetep \"a\nsecond time,\"[FN#38] and presented himself before the god and besought\nhis help on behalf of his sister-in-law.\n\n\n\n[FN#38]  Thus the king must have invoked the help of Khensu on the\noccasion of the visit of the first envoy.\n\n\n\nThen the priests of Khensu Nefer-hetep carried the statue of this god\nto the place where was the statue of Khensu surnamed \"Pa-ari-sekher,\"\ni.e., the \"Worker of destinies,\" who was able to repel the attacks of\nevil spirits and to drive them out.  When the statues of the two gods\nwere facing each other, Rameses II. entreated Khensu Nefer-hetep to\n\"turn his face towards,\" i.e., to look favourably upon Khensu.  Pa-ari-\nsekher, and to let him go to Bekhten to drive the devil out of the\nPrincess of Bekhten.  The text affords no explanation of the fact that\nKhensu Nefer-hetep was regarded as a greater god than Khensu Pa-ari-\nsekher, or why his permission had to be obtained before the latter\ncould leave the country.  It is probable that the demands made upon\nKhensu Nefer-hetep by the Egyptians who lived in Thebes and its\nneighbourhood were so numerous that it was impossible to let his statue\ngo into outlying districts or foreign lands, and that a deputy-god was\nappointed to perform miracles outside Thebes.  This arrangement would\nbenefit the people, and would, moreover, bring much money to the\npriests.  The appointment of a deputy-god is not so strange as it may\nseem, and modern African peoples are familiar with the expedient.\nAbout one hundred years ago the priests of the god Bobowissi of\nWinnebah, in the Tshi region of West Africa, found their business so\nlarge that it was absolutely necessary for them to appoint a deputy.\nThe priests therefore selected Brahfo, i.e., \"deputy,\" and gave out\nthat Bobowissi had deputed all minor matters to him, and that his\nutterances were to be regarded as those of Bobowissi.  Delegates were\nordered to be sent to Winnebah in Ashanti, where they would be shown\nthe \"deputy\" god by the priests, and afterwards he would be taken to\nMankassim, where he would reside, and do for the people all that\nBobowissi had done hitherto.[FN#39]\n\n\n\n[FN#39]  Ellis, Tshi-speaking Peoples, p. 55.\n\n\n\nWhen Rameses II. had made his petition to Khensu Nefer-hetep, the\nstatue of the god bowed its head twice, in token of assent.  Here it is\nclear that we have an example of the use of statues with movable limbs,\nwhich were worked, when occasion required, by the priests.  The king\nthen made a second petition to the god to transfer his sa, or magical\npower, to Khensu Pa-ari-sekher so that when he had arrived in Bekhten\nhe would be able to heal the Princess.  Again the statue of Khensu\nNefer-hetep bowed its head twice, and the petition of the king was\ngranted.  The text goes on to say that the magical power of the greater\ngod was transferred to the lesser god four times, or in a fourfold\nmeasure, but we are not told how this was effected.  We know from many\npassages in the texts that every god was believed to possess this\nmagical power, which is called the \"sa of life,\" or the \"sa of the\ngod,\".[FN#40]  This sa could be transferred by a god or goddess to a\nhuman being, either by an embrace or through some offering which was\neaten.  Thus Temu transferred the magical power of his life to Shu and\nTefnut by embracing them,[FN#41] and in the Ritual of the Divine\nCult[FN#42] the priest says, The two vessels of milk of Temu are the \"sa\nof my limbs.\"  The man who possessed this sa could transfer it to his\nfriend by embracing him and then \"making passes\" with his hands along\nhis back.  The sa could be received by a man from a god and then\ntransmitted by him to a statue by taking it in his arms, and this\nceremony was actually performed by the king in the Ritual of the Divine\nCult.[FN#43]  The primary source of this sa was Ra, who bestowed it\nwithout measure on the blessed dead,[FN#44] and caused them to live for\never thereby.  These, facts make it tolerably certain that the magical\npower of Khensu Nefer-hetep was transferred to Khensu Pa-ari-sekher in\none of two ways: either the statue of the latter was brought near to\nthat of the former and it received the sa by contact, or the high\npriest first received the sa from the greater god and then transmitted\nit to the lesser god by embraces and \"passes\" with his hands.  Be this\nas it may, Khensu Pa-ari-sekher received the magical power, and having\nbeen placed in his boat, he set out for Bekhten, accompanied by five\nsmaller boats, and chariots and horses which marched on each side of\nhim.\n\n\n\n[FN#40]  Text of Unas, line 562.\n\n[FN#41]  Pyramid Texts, Pepi I., l. 466.\n\n[FN#42]  Ed. Moret, p. 21.\n\n[FN#43]  Ibid., p. 99.\n\n[FN#44]  Pepi I., line 666.\n\n\n\nWhen after a journey of seventeen months Khensu Pa-ari-sekher arrived\nin Bekhten, he was cordially welcomed by the Prince, and, having gone\nto the place where the Princess who was possessed of a devil lived, he\nexercised his power to such purpose that she was healed immediately.\nMoreover, the devil which had been cast out admitted that Khensu Pa-\nari-sekher was his master, and promised that he would depart to the\nplace whence he came, provided that the Prince of Bekhten would\ncelebrate a festival in his honour before his departure. Meanwhile\nthe Prince and his soldiers stood by listening to the conversation\nbetween the god and the devil, and they were very much afraid.\nFollowing the instructions of Khensu Pa-ari-sekher the Prince made\na great feast in honour of the supernatural visitors, and then the\ndevil departed to the \"place which he loved,\" and there was general\nrejoicing in the land.  The Prince of Bekhten was so pleased with the\nEgyptian god that he determined not to allow him to return to Egypt.\nWhen the statue of Khensu Pa-ari-sekher had been in Bekhten for three\nyears and nine months, the Prince in a vision saw the god, in the form\nof a golden hawk, come forth from his shrine, and fly up into the air\nand direct his course to Egypt.  Realizing that the statue of the god\nwas useless without its indwelling spirit, the Prince of Bekhten\npermitted the priests of Khensu Pa-ari-sekher to depart with it to\nEgypt, and dismissed them with gifts of all kinds.  In due course they\narrived in Egypt and the priests took their statue to the temple of\nKhensu Nefer-hetep, and handed over to that god all the gifts which the\nPrince of Bekhten had given them, keeping back nothing for their own\ngod.  After this Khensu Pa-ari-sekher returned to his temple in peace,\nin the thirty-third year of the reign of Rameses II., having been\nabsent from it about eight years.\n\n\n\n\n\nVII.\n\n\n\nA LEGEND OF KHNEMU AND OF A SEVEN YEARS' FAMINE.\n\n\n\nThe text of this most interesting legend is found in hieroglyphics on\none side of a large rounded block of granite some eight or nine feet\nhigh, which stands on the south-east portion of Sahal, a little island\nlying in the First Cataract, two or three miles to the south of\nElephantine Island and the modern town of Aswan.  The inscription is\nnot cut into the rock in the ordinary way, but was \"stunned\" on it with\na blunted chisel, and is, in some lights, quite invisible to anyone\nstanding near the rock, unless he is aware of its existence.  It is in\nfull view of the river-path which leads from Mahallah to Philae, and\nyet it escaped the notice of scores of travellers who have searched the\nrocks and islands in the Cataract for graffiti and inscriptions.  The\ninscription, which covers a space six feet by five feet, was discovered\naccidentally on February 6th, 1889, by the late Mr. C. E. Wilbour, a\ndistinguished American gentleman who spent many years in research in\nEgypt.  He first copied the text, discovering in the course of his work\nthe remarkable nature of its contents and then his friend Mr. Maudslay\nphotographed it.  The following year he sent prints from Mr. Maudslay's\nnegatives to Dr. Brugsch, who in the course of 1891 published a\ntranscript of the text with a German translation and notes in a work\nentitled Die biblischen sieben Jahre der Hungersnoth, Leipzig, 8vo.\n\nThe legend contained in this remarkable text describes a terrible\nfamine which took place in the reign of Tcheser, a king of the IIIrd\nDynasty, and lasted for seven years.  Insufficient Nile-floods were, of\ncourse, the physical cause of the famine, but the legend shows that the\n\"low Niles\" were brought about by the neglect of the Egyptians in\nrespect of the worship of the god of the First Cataract, the great god\nKhnemu.  When, according to the legend, king Tcheser had been made to\nbelieve that the famine took place because men had ceased to worship\nKhnemu in a manner appropriate to his greatness, and when he had taken\nsteps to remove the ground of complaint, the Nile rose to its\naccustomed height, the crops became abundant once more, and all misery\ncaused by scarcity of provisions ceased.  In other words, when Tcheser\nrestored the offerings of Khnemu, and re-endowed his sanctuary and his\npriesthood, the god allowed Hapi to pour forth his streams from the\ncaverns in the Cataract, and to flood the land with abundance.  The\ngeneral character of the legend, as we have it here, makes it quite\ncertain that it belongs to a late period, and the forms of the\nhieroglyphics and the spellings of the words indicate that the text was\n\"stunned\" on the rock in the reign of one of the Ptolemies, probably at\na time when it was to the interest of some men to restore the worship\nof Khnemu, god of the First Cataract.  These interested people could\nonly have been the priests of Khnemu, and the probability that this was\nso becomes almost a certainty when we read in the latter part of the\ntext the list of the tolls and taxes which they were empowered to levy\non the merchants, farmers, miners, etc., whose goods passed down the\nCataract into Egypt.  Why, if this be the case, they should have chosen\nto connect the famine with the reign of Tcheser is not clear.  They may\nhave wished to prove the great antiquity of the worship of Khnemu, but\nit would have been quite easy to select the name of some king of the\nIst Dynasty, and had they done this, they would have made the authority\nof Khnemu over the Nile coaeval with Dynastic civilization.  It is\nimpossible to assume that no great famine took place in Egypt between\nthe reign of Tcheser and the period when the inscription was made, and\nwhen we consider this fact the choice by the editor of the legend of a\nfamine which took place under the IIIrd Dynasty to illustrate the power\nof Khnemu seems inexplicable.\n\nOf the famines which must have taken place in the Dynastic period the\ninscriptions tell us nothing, but the story of the seven years' famine\nmentioned in the Book of Genesis shows that there is nothing improbable\nin a famine lasting so long in Egypt.  Arab historians also mention\nseveral famines which lasted for seven years.  That which took place in\nthe years 1066-1072 nearly ruined the whole country.  A cake of bread\nwas sold for 15 dinanir, (the dinar = 10s.), a horse was sold for 20, a\ndog for 5, a cat for 3, and an egg for 1 dinar.  When all the animals\nwere eaten men began to eat each other, and human flesh was sold in\npublic.  \"Passengers were caught in the streets by hooks let down from\nthe windows, drawn up, killed, and cooked.\"[FN#45]  During the famine\nwhich began in 1201 people ate human flesh habitually. Parents killed\nand cooked their own children, and a wife was found eating her husband\nraw.  Baby fricassee and haggis of children's heads were ordinary\narticles of diet.  The graves even were ransacked for food.  An ox sold\nfor 70 dinanir. [FN#46]\n\n\n\n[FN#45]  Lane Poole, Middle Ages, p. 146.\n\n[FN#46]  Ibid., p. 216.\n\n\n\nThe legend begins with the statement that in the 18th year of the reign\nof King Tcheser, when Matar, the Erpa Prince and Ha, was the Governor\nof the temple properties of the South and North, and was also the\nDirector of the Khenti men at Elephantine (Aswan), a royal despatch was\ndelivered to him, in which the king said: \"I am in misery on my throne.\nMy heart is very sore because of the calamity which hath happened, for\nthe Nile hath not come forth[FN#47] for seven years.  There is no\ngrain, there are no vegetables, there is no food, and every man is\nrobbing his neighbour.  Men wish to walk, but they are unable to move;\nthe young man drags along his limbs, the hearts of the aged are crushed\nwith despair, their legs fail them, they sink to the ground, and they\nclutch their bodies with their hands in pain.  The councillors are\ndumb, and nothing but wind comes out of the granaries when they are\nopened.  Everything is in a state of ruin.\"  A more graphic picture of\nthe misery caused by the famine could hardly be imagined.  The king\nthen goes on to ask Matar where the Nile is born? what god or goddess\npresides over it? and what is his [or her] form?  He says he would like\nto go to the temple of Thoth to enquire of that god, to go to the\nCollege of the Magicians, and search through the sacred books in order\nto find out these things.\n\n\n\n[FN#47]  i.e., there have been insufficient Nile-floods.\n\n\n\nWhen Matar had read the despatch, he set out to go to the king, and\nexplained to him the things which he wished to know.  He told him that,\nthe Nile rose near the city of Elephantine, that it flowed out of two\ncaverns, which were the breasts of the Nile-god, that it rose to a\nheight of twenty-eight cubits at Elephantine, and to the height of\nseven cubits at Sma-Behutet, or, Diospolis Parva in the Delta.  He who\ncontrolled the Nile was Khnemu, and when this god drew the bolt of the\ndoors which shut in the stream, and smote the earth with his sandals,\nthe river rushed forth.  Matar also described to the king the form of\nKhnemu, which was that of Shu, and the work which he did, and the\nwooden house in which he lived, and its exact position, which was near\nthe famous granite quarries.  The gods who dwelt with Khnemu were the\ngoddess Sept (Sothis, or the Dog-star), the goddess Anqet, Hap (or\nHep), the Nile-god, Shu, Keb, Nut, Osiris, Isis, Nephthys, and Horus.\nThus we see that the priests of Khnemu made him to be the head of a\nCompany of Gods.  Finally Matar gave the king a list of all the stones,\nprecious and otherwise, which were found in and about Elephantine.\n\nWhen the king, who had, it seems, come to Elephantine, heard these\nthings he rejoiced greatly, and he went into the temple of Khnemu.\nThe priests drew back the curtains and sprinkled him with holy water,\nand then he passed into the shrine and offered up a great sacrifice of\nbread-cakes, beer, geese, oxen, and all kinds of good things, to the\ngods and goddesses who dwelt at Elephantine, in the place called \"Couch\nof the heart in life and power.\"  Suddenly he found himself standing\nface to face with the god Khnemu, whom he placated with a peace-\noffering and with prayer.  Then the god opened his eyes, and bent his\nbody towards the king, and spake to him mighty words, saying, \"I am\nKhnemu, who made thee.  My hands knitted together thy body and made it\nsound, and I gave thee thy heart.\"  Khnemu then went on to complain\nthat, although the ground under the king's feet was filled with stones\nand metal, men were too inert to work them and to employ them in\nrepairing or rebuilding of the shrines of the gods, or in doing what\nthey ought to do for him, their Lord and Creator.  These words were, of\ncourse, meant as a rebuke for the king, who evidently, though it is not\nso stated in the text, was intended by Khnemu to undertake the\nrebuilding of his shrine without delay.  The god then went on to\nproclaim his majesty and power, and declared himself to be Nu, the\nCelestial Ocean, and the Nile-god, \"who came into being at the\nbeginning, and riseth at his will to give health to him that laboureth\nfor Khnemu.\"  He described himself as the Father of the gods, the\nGovernor of the earth and of men, and then he promised the king to make\nthe Nile rise yearly, regularly, and unceasingly, to give abundant\nharvests, to give all people their heart's desire, to make misery to\npass away, to fill the granaries, and to make the whole land of Egypt\nyellow with waving fields of full ripe grain.  When the king, who had\nbeen in a dream, heard the god mention crops, he woke up, and his\ncourage returned to him, and having cast away despair from his heart he\nissued a decree by which he made ample provision for the maintenance of\nthe worship of the god in a fitting state.  In this decree, the first\ncopy of which was cut upon wood, the king endowed Khnemu with 20\nschoinoi of land on each side of the river, with gardens, etc.  It was\nfurther enacted that every man who drew water from the Nile for his\nland should contribute a portion of his crops to the god.  Fishermen,\nfowlers, and hunters were to pay an octroi duty of one-tenth of the\nvalue of their catches when they brought them into the city, and a\ntithe of the cattle was to be set apart for the daily sacrifice.  The\nmasters of caravans coming from the Sudan were to pay a tithe also, but\nthey were not liable to any further tax in the country northwards.\nEvery metal-worker, ore-crusher, miner, mason, and handicraftsman of\nevery kind, was to pay to the temple of the god one-tenth of the value\nof the material produced or worked by his labour.  The decree provided\nalso for the appointment of an inspector whose duty it would be to\nweigh the gold, silver and copper which came into the town of\nElephantine, and to assess the value both of these metals and of the\nprecious stones, etc., which were to be devoted to the service of\nKhnemu.  All materials employed in making the images of the gods, and\nall handicraftsmen employed in the work were exempted from tithing.  In\nshort, the worship of the god and his company was to be maintained\naccording to ancient use and wont, and the people were to supply the\ntemple with everything necessary in a generous spirit and with a\nliberal hand.  He who failed in any way to comply with the enactments\nwas to be beaten with the rope, and the name of Tcheser was to be\nperpetuated in the temple.\n\n\n\n\n\nVIII.\n\n\n\nTHE LEGEND OF THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF HORUS, AND OTHER MAGICAL\nTEXTS.\n\n\n\nThe magical and religious texts of the Egyptians of all periods contain\nspells intended to be used against serpents, scorpions, and noxious\nreptiles of all kinds, and their number, and the importance which was\nattached to them, suggest that Egypt must always have produced these\npests in abundance, and that the Egyptians were always horribly afraid\nof them.  The text of Unas, which was written towards the close of the\nVth Dynasty, contains many such spells, and in the Theban and Saite\nBooks of the Dead several Chapters consist of nothing but spells and\nincantations, many of which are based on archaic texts, against\ncrocodiles, serpents, and other deadly reptiles, and insects of all\nkinds.  All such creatures were regarded as incarnations of evil\nspirits, which attack the dead as well as the living, and therefore it\nwas necessary for the well-being of the former that copies of spells\nagainst them should be written upon the walls of tombs, coffins,\nfunerary amulets, etc.  The gods were just as open to the attacks of\nvenomous reptiles as man, and Ra, himself, the king of the gods, nearly\ndied from the poison of a snake-bite.  Now the gods were, as a rule,\nable to defend themselves against the attacks of Set and his fiends,\nand the poisonous snakes and insects which were their emissaries, by\nvirtue of the fluid of life, which was the peculiar attribute of\ndivinity, and the efforts of Egyptians were directed to the acquisition\nof a portion of this magical power, which would protect their souls and\nbodies and their houses and cattle, and other property, each day and\neach night throughout the year.  When a man cared for the protection of\nhimself only he wore an amulet of some kind, in which the fluid of life\nwas localized. When he wished to protect his house against invasion by\nvenomous reptiles he placed statues containing the fluid of life in\nniches in the walls of various chambers, or in some place outside but\nnear the house, or buried them in the earth with their faces turned in\nthe direction from which he expected the attack to come.\n\n\n\nPLATE XVII.\nThe Metternich Stele--Obverse.\n\n\n\nPLATE XVIII.\nThe Metternich Stele--Reverse.\n\n\n\nTowards the close of the XXVIth Dynasty, when superstition in its most\nexaggerated form was general in Egypt, it became the custom to make\nhouse talismans in the form of small stone stelae, with rounded tops,\nwhich rested on bases having convex fronts.  On the front of such a\ntalisman was sculptured in relief a figure of Horus the Child\n(Harpokrates), standing on two crocodiles, holding in his hands figures\nof serpents, scorpions, a lion, and a horned animal, each of these\nbeing a symbol of an emissary or ally of Set, the god of Evil.  Above\nhis head was the head of Bes, and on each side of him were: solar\nsymbols, i.e., the lily of Nefer-Tem, figures of Ra and Harmakhis, the\nEyes of Ra (the Sun and Moon), etc.  The reverse of the stele and the\nwhole of the base were covered with magical texts and spells, and when\na talisman of this kind was placed in a house, it was supposed to be\ndirectly under the protection of Horus and his companion gods, who had\nvanquished all the hosts of darkness and all the powers of physical and\nmoral evil.  Many examples of this talisman are to be seen in the great\nMuseums of Europe, and there are several fine specimens in the Third\nEgyptian Room in the British Museum.  They are usually called \"Cippi of\nHorus.\"  The largest and most important of all these \"cippi\" is that\nwhich is commonly known as the \"Metternich Stele,\" because it was given\nto Prince Metternich by Muhammad `Ali Pasha; it was dug up in 1828\nduring the building of a cistern in a Franciscan Monastery in\nAlexandria, and was first published, with a translation of a large part\nof the text, by Professor Golenischeff.[FN#48]   The importance of the\nstele is enhanced by the fact that it mentions the name of the king in\nwhose reign it was made, viz., Nectanebus I., who reigned from B.C. 378\nto B.C. 360.\n\n\n\n[FN#48]  See Metternichstele, Leipzig, 1877.  The Stele was made for\nAnkh-Psemthek, son of the lady Tent-Het-nub, prophet of Nebun, overseer\nof Temt and scribe of Het (see line 87).\n\n\n\nThe obverse, reverse, and two sides of the Metternich Stele have cut\nupon them nearly three hundred figures of gods and celestial beings.\nThese include figures of the great gods of heaven, earth, and the Other\nWorld, figures of the gods of the planets and the Dekans, figures of\nthe gods of the days of the week, of the weeks, and months, and seasons\nof the year, and of the year.  Besides these there are a number of\nfigures of local forms of the gods which it is difficult to identify.\nOn the rounded portion of the obverse the place of honour is held by\nthe solar disk, in which is seen a figure of Khnemu with four ram's\nheads, which rests between a pair of arms, and is supported on a lake\nof celestial water; on each side of it are four of the spirits of the\ndawn, and on the right stands the symbol of the rising sun, Nefer-Temu,\nand on the left stands Thoth.  Below this are five rows of small\nfigures of gods.  Below these is Harpokrates in relief, in the attitude\nalready described.  He stands on two crocodiles under a kind of canopy,\nthe sides of which are supported by Thoth and Isis, and holds Typhonic\nanimals and reptiles.  Above the canopy are the two Eyes of Ra, each\nhaving a pair of human arms and hands.  On the right of Harpokrates are\nSeker and Horus, and on his left the symbol of Nefer-Temu.  On the left\nand right are the goddesses Nekhebet and Uatchet, who guard the South\nof Egypt and the North respectively.  On the reverse and sides are\nnumerous small figures of gods.  This stele represented the power to\nprotect man possessed by all the divine beings in the universe, and,\nhowever it was placed, it formed an impassable barrier to every spirit\nof evil and to every venomous reptile.  The spells, which are cut in\nhieroglyphics on all the parts of the stele not occupied by figures of\ngods, were of the most potent character, for they contained the actual\nwords by which the gods vanquished the powers of darkness and evil.\nThese spells form the texts which are printed on p. 142 ff., and may be\nthus summarized:--\n\nThe first spell is an incantation directed against reptiles and noxious\ncreatures in general.  The chief of these was Apep, the great enemy of\nRa, who took the form of a huge serpent that \"resembled the\nintestines,\" and the spell doomed him to decapitation, and burning and\nbacking in pieces.  These things would be effected by Serqet, the\nScorpion-goddess.  The second part of the spell was directed against\nthe poison of Apep, and was to be recited over anyone who was bitten by\na snake.  When uttered by Horus it made Apep to vomit, and when used by\na magician properly qualified would make the bitten person to vomit,\nand so free his body from the poison.\n\nThe next spell is directed to be said to the Cat, i.e., a symbol of the\ndaughter of Ra, or Isis, who had the head of Ra, the eyes of the\nuraeus, the nose of Thoth, the ears of Neb-er-tcher, the mouth of Tem,\nthe neck of Neheb-ka, the breast of Thoth, the heart of Ra, the hands\nof the gods, the belly of Osiris, the thighs of Menthu, the legs of\nKhensu, the feet of Amen-Horus, the haunches of Horus, the soles of the\nfeet of Ra, and the bowels of Meh-urit.  Every member of the Cat\ncontained a god or goddess, and she was able to destroy the poison of\nany serpent, or scorpion, or reptile, which might be injected into her\nbody.  The spell opens with an address to Ra, who is entreated to come\nto his daughter, who has been stung by a scorpion on a lonely road, and\nto cause the poison to leave her body.  Thus it seems as if Isis, the\ngreat magician, was at some time stung by a scorpion.\n\nThe next section is very difficult to understand.  Ra-Harmakhis is\ncalled upon to come to his daughter, and Shu to his wife, and Isis to\nher sister, who has been poisoned.  Then the Aged One, i.e., Ra, is\nasked to let Thoth turn back Neha-her, or Set.  \"Osiris is in the\nwater, but Horus is with him, and the Great Beetle overshadows him,\"\nand every evil spirit which dwells in the water is adjured to allow\nHorus to proceed to Osiris.  Ra, Sekhet, Thoth, and Heka, this last-\nnamed being the spell personified, are the four great gods who protect\nOsiris, and who will blind and choke his enemies, and cut out their\ntongues.  The cry of the Cat is again referred to, and Ra is asked if\nhe does not remember the cry which came from the bank of Netit.  The\nallusion here is to the cries which Isis uttered when she arrived at\nNetit near Abydos, and found lying there the dead body of her husband.\n\nAt this point on the Stele the spells are interrupted by a long\nnarrative put into the mouth of Isis, which supplies us with some\naccount of the troubles that she suffered, and describes the death of\nHorus through the sting of a scorpion.  Isis, it seems, was shut up in\nsome dwelling by Set after he murdered Osiris, probably with the\nintention of forcing her to marry him, and so assist him to legalize\nhis seizure of the kingdom.  Isis, as we have already seen, had been\nmade pregnant by her husband after his death, and Thoth now appeared to\nher, and advised her to hide herself with her unborn child, and to\nbring him forth in secret, and he promised her that her son should\nsucceed in due course to his father's throne.  With the help of Thoth\nshe escaped from her captivity, and went forth accompanied by the Seven\nScorpion-goddesses, who brought her to the town of Per-Sui, on the edge\nof the Reed Swamps.  She applied to a woman for a night's shelter, but\nthe woman shut her door in her face.  To punish her one of the\nScorpion-goddesses forced her way into the woman's house, and stung her\nchild to death.  The grief of the woman was so bitter and sympathy-\ncompelling that Isis laid her hands on the child, and, having uttered\none of her most potent spells over him, the poison of the scorpion ran\nout of his body, and the child came to life again.  The words of the\nspell are cut on the Stele, and they were treasured by the Egyptians as\nan infallible remedy for scorpion stings.  When the woman saw that her\nson had been brought back to life by Isis, she was filled with joy and\ngratitude, and, as a mark of her repentance, she brought large\nquantities of things from her house as gifts for Isis, and they were so\nmany that they filled the house of the kind, but poor, woman who had\ngiven Isis shelter.\n\nNow soon after Isis had restored to life the son of the woman who had\nshown churlishness to her, a terrible calamity fell upon her, for her\nbeloved son Horus was stung by a scorpion and died.  The news of this\nevent was conveyed to her by the gods, who cried out to her to come to\nsee her son Horus, whom the terrible scorpion Uhat had killed.  Isis,\nstabbed with pain at the news, as if a knife had been driven into her\nbody, ran out distraught with grief.  It seems that she had gone to\nperform a religious ceremony in honour of Osiris in a temple near\nHetep-hemt, leaving her child carefully concealed in Sekhet-An.  During\nher absence the scorpion Uhat, which had been sent by Set, forced its\nway into the biding-place of Horus, and there stung him to death.  When\nIsis came and found the dead body, she burst forth in lamentations, the\nsound of which brought all the people from the neighbouring districts\nto her side.  As she related to them the history of her sufferings they\nendeavoured to console her, and when they found this to be impossible\nthey lifted up their voices and wept with her.  Then Isis placed her\nnose in the mouth of Horus so that she might discover if he still\nbreathed, but there was no breath in his throat; and when she examined\nthe wound in his body made by the fiend Aun-Ab she saw in it traces of\npoison.  No doubt about his death then remained in her mind, and\nclasping him in her arms she lifted him up, and in her transports of\ngrief leaped about like fish when they are laid on red-hot coals.  Then\nshe uttered a series of heartbreaking laments, each of which begins\nwith the words \"Horus is bitten.\"  The heir of heaven, the son of Un-\nNefer, the child of the gods, he who was wholly fair, is bitten!  He\nfor whose wants I provided, he who was to avenge his father, is bitten!\nHe for whom I cared and suffered when he was being fashioned in my\nwomb, is bitten!  He whom I tended so that I might gaze upon him, is\nbitten!  He whose life I prayed for is bitten!  Calamity hath overtaken\nthe child, and he hath perished.\n\n\nWhilst Isis was saying these and many similar words, her sister\nNephthys, who had been weeping bitterly for her nephew Horus as she\nwandered about among the swamps, came, in company with the Scorpion-\ngoddess Serqet, and advised Isis to pray to heaven for help.  Pray that\nthe sailors in the Boat of Ra may cease from rowing, for the Boat\ncannot travel onwards whilst Horus lies dead.  Then Isis cried out to\nheaven, and her voice reached the Boat of Millions of Years, and the\nDisk ceased to move onward, and came to a standstill.  From the Boat\nThoth descended, being equipped with words of power and spells of all\nkinds, and bearing with him the \"great command of maa-kheru,\" i.e., the\nWORD, whose commands were performed, instantly and completely, by every\ngod, spirit, fiend, human being and by every thing, animate and\ninanimate, in heaven, earth, and the Other World.  Then he came to Isis\nand told her that no harm could possibly have happened to Horus, for he\nwas under the protection of the Boat of Ra; but his words failed to\ncomfort Isis, and though she acknowledged the greatness of his designs,\nshe complained that they savoured of delay.  \"What is the good,\" she\nasks, \"of all thy spells, and incantations, and magical formulae, and\nthe great command of maa-kheru, if Horus is to perish by the poison of\na scorpion, and to lie here in the arms of Death?  Evil, evil is his\ndestiny, for it hath entailed the deepest misery for him and death.\"\n\nIn answer to these words Thoth, turning to Isis and Nephthys, bade them\nto fear not, and to have no anxiety about Horus, \"For,\" said he, \"I\nhave come from heaven to heal the child for his mother.\"  He then\npointed out that Horus was under protection as the Dweller in his Disk\n(Aten), the Great Dwarf, the Mighty Ram, the Great Hawk, the Holy\nBeetle, the Hidden Body, the Divine Bennu, etc., and proceeded to utter\nthe great spell which restored Horus to life.  By his words of power\nThoth transferred the fluid of life of Ra, and as soon as this came\nupon the child's body the poison of the scorpion flowed out of him, and\nhe once more breathed and lived.  When this was done Thoth returned to\nthe Boat of Ra, the gods who formed its crew resumed their rowing, and\nthe Disk passed on its way to make its daily journey across the sky.\nThe gods in heaven, who were amazed and uttered cries of terror when\nthey heard of the death of Horus, were made happy once more, and sang\nsongs of joy over his recovery.  The happiness of Isis in her child's\nrestoration to life was very great, for she could again hope that he\nwould avenge his father's murder, and occupy his throne.  The final\nwords of Thoth comforted her greatly, for he told her that he would\ntake charge of the case of Horus in the Judgment Hall of Anu, wherein\nOsiris had been judged, and that as his advocate he would make any\naccusations which might be brought against Horus to recoil on him that\nbrought them.  Furthermore, he would give Horus power to repulse any\nattacks which might be made upon him by beings in the heights above, or\nfiends in the depths below, and would ensure his succession to the\nThrone of the Two Lands, i.e., Egypt.  Thoth also promised Isis that Ra\nhimself should act as the advocate of Horus, even as he had done for\nhis father Osiris.  He was also careful to allude to the share which\nIsis had taken in the restoration of Horus to life, saying, \"It is the\nwords of power of his mother which have lifted up his face, and they\nshall enable him to journey wheresoever he pleaseth, and to put fear\ninto the powers above.  I myself hasten [to obey them].\"  Thus\neverything turned on the power of the spells of Isis, who made the sun\nto stand still, and caused the dead to be raised.\n\nSuch are the contents of the texts on the famous Metternich Stele.\nThere appears to be some confusion in their arrangement, and some of\nthem clearly are misplaced, and, in places, the text is manifestly\ncorrupt.  It is impossible to explain several passages, for we do not\nunderstand all the details of the system of magic which they represent.\nStill, the general meaning of the texts on the Stele is quite clear,\nand they record a legend of Isis and Horus which is not found so fully\ndescribed on any other monument.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nIX.\n\n\n\nTHE HISTORY OF ISIS AND OSIRIS.\n\n\n\nThe history of Isis and Osiris given on pp. 248 is taken from the\nfamous treatise of Plutarch entitled De Iside et Osiride, and forms a\nfitting conclusion to this volume of Legends of the Gods.  It contains\nall the essential facts given in Plutarch's work, and the only things\nomitted are his derivations and mythological speculations, which are\nreally unimportant for the Egyptologist.  Egyptian literature is full\nof allusions to events which took place in the life of Osiris, and to\nhis persecution, murder, and resurrection, and numerous texts of all\nperiods describe the love and devotion of his sister and wife Isis, and\nthe filial piety of Horus.  Nowhere, however, have we in Egyptian a\nconnected account of the causes which led to the murder by Set of\nOsiris, or of the subsequent events which resulted in his becoming the\nking of heaven and judge of the dead.  However carefully we piece\ntogether the fragments of information which we can extract from native\nEgyptian literature, there still remains a series of gaps which can\nonly be filled by guesswork.  Plutarch, as a learned man and a student\nof comparative religion and mythology was most anxious to understand\nthe history of Isis and Osiris, which Greek and Roman scholars talked\nabout freely, and which none of them comprehended, and he made\nenquiries of priests and others, and examined critically such\ninformation as he could obtain, believing and hoping that he would\npenetrate the mystery in which these gods were wrapped.  As a result of\nhis labours he collected a number of facts about the form of the Legend\nof Isis and Osiris as it was known to the learned men of his day, but\nthere is no evidence that he had the slightest knowledge of the details\nof the original African Legend of these gods as it was known to the\nEgyptians, say, under the VIth Dynasty.  Moreover, he never realized\nthat the characteristics and attributes of both Isis and Osiris changed\nseveral times during the long history of Egypt, and that a thousand\nyears before he lived the Egyptians themselves had forgotten what the\noriginal form of the legend was.  They preserved a number of\nceremonies, and performed very carefully all the details of an ancient\nritual at the annual commemoration festival of Osiris which was held in\nNovember and December, but the evidence of the texts makes it quite\nclear that the meaning and symbolism of nearly all the details were\nunknown alike to priests and people.\n\nAn important modification of the cult of Isis and Osiris took place in\nthe third century before Christ, when the Ptolemies began to\nconsolidate their rule in Egypt.  A form of religion which would be\nacceptable both to Egyptians and Greeks had to be provided, and this\nwas produced by modifying the characteristics of Osiris and calling him\nSarapis, and identifying him with the Greek Pluto.  To Isis were added\nmany of the attributes of the great Greek goddesses, and into her\nworship were introduced \"mysteries\" derived from non-Egyptian cults,\nwhich made it acceptable to the people everywhere.  Had a high priest\nof Osiris who lived at Abydos under the XVIIIth Dynasty witnessed the\ncelebration of the great festival of Isis and Osiris in any large town\nin the first century before Christ, it is tolerably certain that he\nwould have regarded it as a lengthy act of worship of strange gods, in\nwhich there appeared, here and there, ceremonies and phrases which\nreminded him of the ancient Abydos ritual.  When the form of the cult\nof Isis and Osiris introduced by the Ptolemies into Egypt extended to\nthe great cities of Greece and Italy, still further modifications took\nplace in it, and the characters of Isis and Osiris were still further\nchanged.  By degrees Osiris came to be regarded as the god of death\npure and simple, or as the personification of Death, and he ceased to\nbe regarded as the great protecting ancestral spirit, and the all-\npowerful protecting Father of his people.  As the importance of Osiris\ndeclined that of Isis grew, and men came to regard her as the great\nMother-goddess of the world.  The priests described from tradition the\ngreat facts of her life according to the Egyptian legends, how she had\nbeen a loving and devoted wife, how she had gone forth after her\nhusband's murder by Set to seek for his body, how she had found it and\nbrought it home, how she revivified it by her spells and had union with\nOsiris and conceived by him, and how in due course she brought forth\nher son, in pain and sorrow and loneliness in the Swamps of the Delta,\nand how she reared him and watched over him until he was old enough to\nfight and vanquish his father's murderer, and how at length she seated\nhim in triumph on his father's throne.  These things endeared Isis to\nthe people everywhere, and as she herself had not suffered death like\nOsiris, she came to be regarded as the eternal mother of life and of\nall living things.  She was the creatress of crops, she produced fruit,\nvegetables, plants of all kinds and trees, she made cattle prolific,\nshe brought men and women together and gave them offspring, she was the\nauthoress of all love, virtue, goodness and happiness.  She made the\nlight to shine, she was the spirit of the Dog-star which heralded the\nNile-flood, she was the source of the power in the beneficent light of\nthe moon; and finally she took the dead to her bosom and gave them\npeace, and introduced them to a life of immortality and happiness\nsimilar to that which she had bestowed upon Osiris.\n\nThe message of the cult of Isis as preached by her priests was one of\nhope and happiness, and coming to the Greeks and Romans, as it did, at\na time when men were weary of their national cults, and when the\nspeculations of the philosophers carried no weight with the general\npublic, the people everywhere welcomed it with the greatest enthusiasm.\nFrom Egypt it was carried to the Islands of Greece and to the mainland,\nto Italy, Germany, France, Spain and Portugal, and then crossing the\nwestern end of the Mediterranean it entered North Africa, and with\nCarthage as a centre spread east and west along the coast.  Wherever\nthe cult of Isis came men accepted it as something which supplied what\nthey thought to be lacking in their native cults; rich and poor, gentle\nand simple, all welcomed it, and the philosopher as well as the\nignorant man rejoiced in the hope of a future life which it gave to\nthem.  Its Egyptian origin caused it to be regarded with the\nprofoundest interest, and its priests were most careful to make the\ntemples of Isis quite different from those of the national gods, and to\ndecorate them with obelisks, sphinxes, shrines, altars, etc., which\nwere either imported from temples in Egypt, or were copied from\nEgyptian originals.  In the temples of Isis services were held at\ndaybreak and in the early afternoon daily, and everywhere these were\nattended by crowds of people.  The holy water used in the libations and\nfor sprinkling the people was Nile water, specially imported from\nEgypt, and to the votaries of the goddess it symbolized the seed of the\ngod Osiris, which germinated and brought forth fruit through the spells\nof the goddess Isis.  The festivals and processions of Isis were\neverywhere most popular, and were enjoyed by learned and unlearned\nalike.  In fact, the Isis-play which was acted annually in November,\nand the festival of the blessing of the ship, which took place in the\nspring, were the most important festivals of the year.  Curiously\nenough, all the oldest gods and goddesses of Egypt passed into absolute\noblivion, with the exception of Osiris (Sarapis), Isis, Anubis the\nphysician, and Harpokrates, the child of Osiris and Isis, and these,\nfrom being the ancestral spirits of a comparatively obscure African\ntribe in early dynastic times, became for several hundreds of years the\nprincipal objects of worship of some of the most cultured and\nintellectual nations.  The treatise of Plutarch De Iside helps to\nexplain how this came about, and for those who study the Egyptian\nLegend of Isis and Osiris the work has considerable importance.\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE HISTORY OF CREATION--A.\n\n\n\n\nTHE BOOK OF KNOWING THE EVOLUTIONS[FN#49] OF RA, AND OF OVERTHROWING\nAPEP.\n\n\n\n[FN#49]  Kheperu.  The verb Kheper means \"to make, to form, to produce,\nto become, and to roll;\" kheperu here means \"the things which come into\nbeing through the rollings of the ball of the god Kheper (the roller),\"\ni.e., the Sun.\n\n\n\n[These are] the words which the god Neb-er-tcher spake after he had\ncome into being:--\"I am he who came into being in the form of the god\nKhepera, and I am the creator of that which came into being, that is to\nsay, I am the creator of everything which came into being: now the\nthings which I created, and which came forth out of my month after that\nI had come into being myself were exceedingly many.  The sky (or\nheaven) had not come into being, the earth did not exist, and the\nchildren of the earth[FN#50], and the creeping, things, had not been\nmade at that time.  I myself raised them up from out of Nu[FN#51], from\na state of helpless inertness.  I found no place whereon I could stand.\nI worked a charm[FN#52] upon my own heart (or, will), I laid the\nfoundation [of things] by Maat,[FN#53] and I made everything which had\nform.  I was [then] one by myself, for I had not emitted from myself\nthe god Shu, and I had not spit out from myself the goddess Tefnut; and\nthere existed no other who could work with me.  I laid the foundations\n[of things] in my own heart, and there came into being multitudes of\ncreated things, which came into being from the created things which\nwere born from the created things which arose from what they brought\nforth.  I had union with my closed hand, and I embraced my shadow as a\nwife, and I poured seed into my own mouth, and I sent forth from myself\nissue in the form of the gods Shu and Tefnut. Saith my father Nu:--My\nEye was covered up behind them (i.e., Shu. and Tefnut), but after two\nhen periods had passed from the time when they departed from me, from\nbeing one god I became three gods, and I came into being in the earth.\nThen Shu and Tefnut rejoiced from out of the inert watery mass wherein\nthey I were, and they brought to me my Eye (i.e., the Sun). Now after\nthese things I gathered together my members, and I wept over them, and\nmen and women sprang into being from the tears which came forth from my\nEye.  And when my Eye came to me, and found that I had made another\n[Eye] in place where it was (i.e., the Moon), it was wroth with (or,\nraged at) me, whereupon I endowed it (i.e., the second Eye) with [some\nof] the splendour which I had made for the first [Eye], and I made it\nto occupy its place in my Face, and henceforth it ruled throughout all\nthis earth.\"\n\n\n\n[FN#50]  i.e., serpents and snakes, or perhaps plants.\n\n[FN#51]  The primeval watery mass which was the source and origin of\nall beings and things.\n\n[FN#52]  i.e., he uttered a magical formula.\n\n[FN#53]  i.e., by exact and definite rules.\n\n\n\n\"When there fell on them their moment[FN#54] through plant-like clouds,\nI restored what had been taken away from them, and I appeared from out\nof the plant-like clouds.  I created creeping things of every kind, and\neverything which came into being from them.  Shu and Tefnut brought\nforth [Seb and] Nut; and Seb and Nut brought forth Osiris, and Heru-\nkhent-an-maati,[FN#55] and Set, and Isis, and Nephthys[FN#56] at one\nbirth, one after the other, and they produced their multitudinous\noffspring in this earth.\"\n\n\n\n[FN#54]  i.e., the period of calamity wherein their light was veiled\nthrough plant-like clouds.\n\n[FN#55]  i.e., the Blind Horus.\n\n[FN#56]  i.e., these five gods were all born at one time.\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE HISTORY OF CREATION--B.\n\n\n\nTHE BOOK OF KNOWING THE EVOLUTIONS OF RA, AND OF OVERTHROWING APEP.\n\n\n\n[These are] the words of the god Neb-er-tcher, who said: \"I am the\ncreator of what hath come into being, and I myself came into being\nunder the form of the god Khepera, and I came into being in primeval\ntime.  I came into being in the form of Khepera, and I am the creator\nof what did come into being, that is to say, I formed myself out of the\nprimeval matter, and I made and formed myself out of the substance\nwhich existed in primeval time.  My name is AUSARES (i.e., Osiris), who\nis the primeval matter of primeval matter.  I have done my will in\neverything in this earth.  I have spread myself abroad therein, and I\nhave made strong my hand.  I was ONE by myself, for they (i.e., the\ngods) had not been brought forth, and I had emitted from myself neither\nShu nor Tefnut.  I brought my own name[FN#57] into my mouth as a word\nof power, and I forthwith came into being under the form of things\nwhich are and under the form of Khepera.  I came into being from out of\nprimeval matter, and from the beginning I appeared under the form of\nthe multitudinous things which exist; nothing whatsoever existed at\nthat time in this earth, and it was I who made whatsoever was made.  I\nwas ONE: by myself, and there was no other being who worked with me in\nthat place.  I made all the things under the forms of which I appeared\nthen by means of the Soul-God which I raised into firmness at that time\nfrom out of Nu, from a state of inactivity.  I found no place\nwhatsoever there whereon I could stand, I worked by the power of a\nspell by means of my heart, I laid a foundation [for things] before me,\nand whatsoever was made, I made.  I was ONE by myself, and I laid the\nfoundation of things [by means of] my heart, and I made the other\nthings which came into being, and the things of Khepera which were made\nwere manifold, and their offspring came into existence from the things\nto which they gave birth.  I it was who emitted Shu, and I it was who\nemitted Tefnut, and from being the ONE, god (or, the only god) I became\nthree gods; the two other gods who came into being on this earth sprang\nfrom me, and Shu and Tefnut rejoiced (or, were raised up) from out of\nNu in which they were. Now behold, they brought my Eye to me after two\nhen periods since the time when they went forth from me. I gathered\ntogether my members which had appeared in my own body, and afterwards\nI had union with my hand, and my heart (or, will) came unto me from out\nof my hand, and the seed fell into my mouth, and I emitted from myself\nthe gods Shu and Tefnut, and so from being the ONE god (or, the only,\ngod) I became three gods; thus the two other gods who came into being\non this earth sprang from me, and Shu and Tefnut rejoiced (or, were\nraised up) from out of Nu in which they were.  My father Nu saith:--\nThey covered up (or, concealed) my Eye with the plant-like clouds which\nwere behind them (i.e., Shu and Tefnut) for very many hen periods.\nPlants and creeping things [sprang up] from the god REM, through the\ntears which I let fall.  I cried out to my Eye, and men and women came\ninto existence.  Then I bestowed upon my Eye the uraeus of fire, and it\nwas wroth with me when another Eye (i.e., the Moon) came and grew up in\nits place; its vigorous power fell on the plants, on the plants which I\nhad placed there, and it set order among them, and it took up its place\nin my face, and it doth rule the whole earth.  Then Shu and Tefnut\nbrought forth Osiris, and Heru-khenti-an-maa, and Set, and Isis, and\nNephthys and behold, they have produced offspring, and have created\nmultitudinous children in this earth, by means of the beings which came\ninto existence from the creatures which they produced.  They invoke my\nname, and they overthrow their enemies, and they make words of power\nfor the overthrowing of Apep, over whose hands and arms AKER keepeth\nward.  His hands and arms shall not exist, his feet and leas shall not\nexist, and he is chained in one place whilst Ra inflicts upon him the\nblows which are decreed for him.  He is thrown upon his accursed back,\nhis face is slit open by reason of the evil which he hath done, and he\nshall remain upon his accursed back.\"\n\n\n\n[FN#57]  i.e., I uttered my own name from my own mouth as a word of\npower.\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE LEGEND OF THE DESTRUCTION OF MANKIND.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\n\n\n[Here is the story of Ra,] the god who was self-begotten and self-\ncreated, after he had assumed the sovereignty over men and women, and\ngods, and things, the ONE god.  Now men and women were speaking words\nof complaint, saying:--\"Behold, his Majesty (Life, Strength, and Health\nto him!) hath grown old, and his bones have become like silver, and\nhis members have turned into gold and his hair is like unto real lapis-\nlazuli.\"  His Majesty heard the words of complaint which men and women\nwere uttering, and his Majesty (Life, Strength, and Health to him!)\nsaid unto those who were in his train:--\"Cry out, and bring to me my\nEye, and Shu, and Tefnut, and Seb, and Nut, and the father-gods, and\nthe mother-gods who were with me, even when I was in Nu side by side\nwith my god Nu.  Let there be brought along with my Eye his ministers,\nand let them be led to me hither secretly, so that men and women may\nnot perceive them [coming] hither, and may not therefore take to flight\nwith their hearts.  Come thou[FN#58] with them to the Great House, and\nlet them declare their plans (or, arrangements) fully, for I will go\nfrom Nu into the place wherein I brought about my own existence, and\nlet those gods be brought unto me there.\"  Now the gods were drawn up\non each side of Ra, and they bowed down before his Majesty until their\nheads touched the ground, and the maker of men and women, the king of\nthose who have knowledge, spake his words in the presence of the Father\nof the first-born gods. And the gods spake in the presence of his\nMajesty, saying:--\"Speak unto us, for we are listening to them\" (i.e.,\nthy words).  Then Ra spake unto Nu, saying:--\"O thou first-born god\nfrom whom I came into being, O ye gods of ancient time, my ancestors,\ntake ye heed to what men and women [are doing]; for behold, those who\nwere created by my Eye are uttering words of complaint against me.\nTell me what ye would do in the matter, and consider this thing for me,\nand seek out [a plan] for me, for I will not slay them until I have\nheard what ye shall say to me concerning it.\"\n\n\n\n[FN#58]  The god here addressed appears to have been Nu.\n\n\n\nThen the Majesty of Nu, to son Ra, spake, saying:--\"Thou art the god\nwho art greater than he who made thee, thou art the sovereign of those\nwho were created with thee, thy throne is set, and the fear of thee is\ngreat; let thine Eye go against those who have uttered blasphemies\nagainst thee.\"  And the Majesty of Ra, said:--\"Behold, they have\nbetaken themselves to flight into the mountain lands, for their hearts\nare afraid because of the words which they have uttered.\"  Then the\ngods spake in the presence of his Majesty, saying:--\"Let thine Eye go\nforth and let it destroy for thee those who revile thee with words of\nevil, for there is no eye whatsoever that can go before it and resist\nthee and it when it journeyeth in the form of Hathor.\"  Thereupon this\ngoddess went forth and slew the men and the women who were on the\nmountain (or, desert land).  And the Majesty of this god said, \"Come,\ncome in peace, O Hathor, for the work is accomplished.\"  Then this\ngoddess said, \"Thou hast made me to live, for when I gained the mastery\nover men and women it was sweet to my heart;\" and the Majesty of Ra\nsaid, \"I myself will be master over them as [their] king, and I will\ndestroy them.\"  And it came to pass that Sekhet of the offerings waded\nabout in the night season in their blood, beginning at Suten-\nhenen.[FN#59]  Then the Majesty of Ra, spake [saying], \"Cry out, and\nlet there come to me swift and speedy messengers who shall be able to\nrun like the wind . . . .;\" and straightway messengers of this kind\nwere brought unto him.  And the Majesty of this god spake [saying],\n\"Let these messengers go to Abu,[FN#60] and bring unto me mandrakes in\ngreat numbers;\" and [when] these mandrakes were brought unto him the\nMajesty of this god gave them to Sekhet, the goddess who dwelleth in\nAnnu (Heliopolis) to crush.  And behold, when the maidservants were\nbruising the grain for [making] beer, these mandrakes were placed in\nthe vessels which were to hold the beer, and some of the blood of the\nmen and women [who had been slain].  Now they made seven thousand\nvessels of beer.  Now when the Majesty of Re, the King of the South and\nNorth, had come with the gods to look at the vessels of beer, and\nbehold, the daylight had appeared after the slaughter of men and women\nby the goddess in their season as she sailed up the river, the Majesty\nof Ra said, \"It is good, it is good, nevertheless I must protect men\nand women against her.\"  And Ra, said, \"Let them take up the vases and\ncarry them to the place where the men and women were slaughtered by\nher.\"  Then the Majesty of the King of the South and North in the\nthree-fold beauty of the night caused to be poured out these vases of\nbeer which make [men] to lie down (or, sleep), and the meadows of the\nFour Heavens[FN#61] were filled with beer (or, water) by reason of the\nSouls of the Majesty of this god.  And it came to pass that when this\ngoddess arrived at the dawn of day, she found these [Heavens] flooded\n[with beer], and she was pleased thereat; and she drank [of the beer\nand blood], and her heart rejoiced, and she became drunk, and she gave\nno further attention to men and women.  Then said the Majesty of Ra to\nthis goddess, \"Come in peace, come in peace, O Amit,\"[FN#62] and\nthereupon beautiful women came into being in the city of Amit (or,\nAmem).  And the Majesty of Ra spake [concerning] this goddess,\n[saying], \"Let there be made for her vessels of the beer which\nproduceth sleep at every holy time and season of the year, and they\nshall be in number according to the number of my hand-maidens;\" and\nfrom that early time until now men have been wont to make on the\noccasions of the festival of Hathor vessels of the beer which make them\nto sleep in number according to the number of the handmaidens of Ra.\nAnd the Majesty of Ra spake unto this goddess, [saying], \"I am smitten\nwith the pain of the fire of sickness; whence cometh to me [this]\npain?\"  And the Majesty of Ra said, \"I live, but my heart hath become\nexceedingly weary[FN#63] with existence with them (i.e., with men); I\nhave slain [some of] them, but there is a remnant of worthless ones,\nfor the destruction which I wrought among them was not as great as my\npower.\"  Then the gods who were in his following said unto him, \"Be not\novercome by thy inactivity, for thy might is in proportion to thy\nwill.\"  And the Majesty of this god said unto the Majesty of Nu, \"My\nmembers are weak for (or, as at) the first time; I will not permit this\nto come upon me a second time.\"  And the Majesty of the god Nu said, \"O\nson Shu, be thou the Eye 'for thy father . . . . . and avenue (?) him,\nand 'thou goddess Nut, place him . . . . . ...  And the goddess Nut\nsaid, \"How can this be then, O my father Nu? Hail,\" said Nut . . . . .\nto the god Nu, and the goddess straightway became [a cow], and she set\nthe Majesty of Ra upon [her] back . . . . .  And when these things had\nbeen done, men and women saw the god Ra, upon the back [of the cow].\nThen these men and women said, \"Remain with us, and we will overthrow\nthine enemies who speak words of blasphemy [against thee.], and\n[destroy them].\"  Then his Majesty [Ra] set out for the Great House,\nand [the gods who were in the train of Ra remained] with them (i.e.,\nthe men); during that time the earth was in darkness.  And when the\nearth became light [again] and the morning had dawned, the men came\nforth with their bows and their [weapons], and they set their arms in\nmotion to shoot the enemies [of Ra].  Then said the Majesty of this\ngod, \"Your \"transgressions of violence are placed behind you, for the\nslaughtering of the enemies is above the slaughter [of sacrifice];\"\nthus came into being the slaughter [of sacrifice].  And the Majesty of\nthis god said unto Nut, \"I have placed myself upon my back in order to\nstretch myself out.\"  What then is the meaning of this?  It meaneth\nthat he united (?) himself with Nut.  [Thus came into being] . . . . .\nThen said the Majesty of this god, \"I am departing from them (i.e.,\nfrom men), and he must come after me who would see me;\" thus came into\nbeing . . . . .  Then the Majesty of this god looked forth from its\ninterior, saying, \"Gather together [men for me], and make ready for me\nan abode for multitudes;\" thus came into being . . . . . . .  And his\nMajesty (life, health, and strength be to him!) said, \"Let a great\nfield (sekhet) be produced (hetep);\" thereupon Sekhet-hetep came into\nbeing.  [And the god said], \"I will gather herbs (aarat) therein;\"\nthereupon Sekhet-aaru came into being.  [And the god said], \"I will\nmake it to contain as dwellers things (khet) like stars of all sorts;\"\nthereupon the stars (akhekha) came into being.  Then the goddess Nut\ntrembled because of the height.\n\n\n\n[FN#59]  Or, Henen-su, {hbw XaNeS}, i.e., Herakleopolis, Magna.\n\n[FN#60]  i.e., Elephantine, or Syene, a place better known by the\nArabic name ASWAN.\n\n[FN#61]  i.e., the South, North, West, and East of the sky.\n\n[FN#62]  i.e., \"the fair and gracious goddess.\"\n\n[FN#63]  Literally, \"My heart hath stopped greatly.\"\n\n\n\nAnd the Majesty of Ra said, \"I decree that supports be to bear [the\ngoddess up];\" thereupon the props of heaven (heh) came into being.  And\nthe Majesty of Ra said, \"O my son Shu, I pray thee to set thyself under\n[my] daughter Nut, and guard thou for me the supports (heh) of the\nmillions (heh) which are there, and which live in darkness.  Take thou\nthe goddess upon thy head, and act thou as nurse for her;\" thereupon\ncame into being [the custom] of a son nursing a daughter, and [the\ncustom] of a father carrying a son upon his head.\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE LEGEND OF THE DESTRUCTION OF MANKIND\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\n\n\nII.  This Chapter shall be said over [a figure of] the cow.--The\nsupporters [called] Heh-enti shall be by her shoulder.  The supporters\n[called] Heh-enti shall be at her side, and one cubit and four spans of\nhers shall be in colours, and nine stars shall be on her belly, and Set\nshall be by her two thighs and shall keep watch before her two legs,\nand before her two legs shall be Shu, under her belly, and he shall be\nmade (i.e., painted) in green qenat colour. His two arms shall be under\nthe stars, and his name shall be made (i.e., written) in the middle of\nthem, namely, Shu himself. \"A boat with a rudder and a double shrine\nshall be therein, and Aten (i.e., the Disk) shall be above it, and Ra\nshall be in it, in front of Shu, near his hand, or, as another reading\nhath, behind him, near his hand.  And the udders of the Cow shall be\nmade to be between her legs, towards the left side.  And on the two\nflanks, towards the middle of the legs, shall be done in writing [the\nwords], \"The exterior heaven,\" and \"I am what is in me,\" and \"I will\nnot permit them to make her to turn.\"  That which is [written] under\nthe boat which is in front shall read, \"Thou shalt not be motionless,\nmy son;\" and the words which are written in an opposite direction shall\nread, \"Thy support is like life,\" and \"The word is as the word there,\"\nand \"Thy son is with me,\" and \"Life, strength, and health be to thy\nnostrils!\"  And that which is behind Shu, near his shoulder, shall\nread, \"They keep ward,\" and that which is behind him, written close to\nhis feet in an opposite direction, shall read, \"Maat,\" and \"They come\nin,\" and \"I protect daily.\"  And that which is under the shoulder of\nthe divine figure which is under the left leg, and is behind it shall\nread, \"He who sealeth all things.\"  That which is over his head, under\nthe thighs of the Cow, and that which is by her legs shall read,\n\"Guardian of his exit.\"  That which is behind the two figures which are\nby her two legs, that is to say, over their heads, shall read, \"The\nAged One who is adored as he goeth forth,\" and The Aged One to whom\npraise is given when he goeth in.\"  That which is over the head of the\ntwo figures, and is between the two thighs of the Cow, shall read,\n\"Listener,\" \"Hearer,\" \"Sceptre of the Upper Heaven,\" and \"Star\" (?).\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE LEGEND OF THE DESTRUCTION OF MANKIND\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\n\n\nIII.  Then the majesty of this god spake unto Thoth, [saying] \"Let a\ncall go forth for me to the Majesty of the god Seb, saying, 'Come, with\nthe utmost speed, at once.\"'  And when the Majesty of Seb had come, the\nMajesty of this god said unto him, \"Let war be made against thy worms\n(or, serpents) which are in thee; verily, they shall have fear of me as\nlong as I have being; but thou knowest their magical powers.  Do thou\ngo to the place where my father Nu is, and say thou unto him, 'Keep\nward over the worms (or, serpents) which are in the earth and water.'\nAnd moreover, thou shalt make a writing for each of the nests of thy\nserpents which are there, saying, 'Keep ye guard [lest ye] cause injury\nto anything.'  They shall know that I am removing myself [from them],\nbut indeed I shall shine upon them. Since, however, they indeed wish\nfor a father, thou shalt be a father unto them in this land for ever.\nMoreover, let good heed be taken to the men who have my words of power,\nand to those whose mouths have knowledge of such things; verily my own\nwords of power are there, verily it shall not happen that any shall\nparticipate with me in my protection, by reason of the majesty which\nhath come into being before me.  I will decree them to thy son Osiris,\nand their children shall be watched over, the hearts of their princes\nshall be obedient (or, ready) by reason of the magical powers of those\nwho act according to their desire in all the earth through their words\nof power which are in their bodies.\"\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE LEGEND OF THE DESTRUCTION OF MANKIND\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\n\n\nIV.  And the majesty of this god said, \"Call to me the god Thoth,\" and\none brought the god to him forthwith.  And the Majesty of this god said\nunto Thoth, \"Let us depart to a distance from heaven, from my place,\nbecause I would make light and the god of light (Khu) in the Tuat and\n[in] the Land of Caves.  Thou shalt write down [the things which are]\nin it, and thou shalt punish those who are in it, that is to say, the\nworkers who have worked iniquity (or, rebellion).  Through thee I will\nkeep away from the servants whom this heart [of mine] loatheth. Thou\nshalt be in my place (ast) ASTI, and thou shalt therefore be called, O\nThoth, the 'Asti of Ra.'  Moreover, I give thee power to send (hab)\nforth . . . . .; thereupon shall come into being the Ibis (habi) bird\nof Thoth.  I moreover give thee [power] to lift up thine hand before\nthe two Companies of the gods who are greater than thou, and what thou\ndoest shall be fairer than [the work of] the god Khen; therefore shall\nthe divine bird tekni of Thoth come into being.  Moreover, I give thee\n[Power] to embrace (anh) the two heavens with thy beauties, and with\nthy rays of light; therefore shall come into being the Moon-god (Aah)\nof Thoth.  Moreover, I give thee [power] to drive back (anan) the Ha-\nnebu;[FN#64] therefore shall come into being the dog-headed Ape (anan)\nof Thoth, and he shall act as governor for me.  Moreover, thou art now\nin my place in the sight of all those who see thee and who present\nofferings to thee, and every being shall ascribe praise unto thee, O\nthou who art God.\"\n\n\n\n[FN#64]  i.e., the \"North-lords,\" that is to say, the peoples who lived\nin the extreme north of the Delta, and on its sea-coasts, and perhaps\nin the Islands of the Mediterranean.\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE LEGEND OF THE DESTRUCTION OF MANKIND\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\n\n\nV.  Whosoever shall recite the words of this composition over himself\nshall anoint himself with olive oil and with thick unguent, and he\nshall have propitiatory offerings on both his hands of incense, and\nbehind his two ears shall be pure natron, and sweet-smelling salve\nshall be on his lips.  He shall be arrayed in a new double tunic, and\nhis body shall be purified with the water of the nile-flood, and he\nshall have upon his feet a pair of sandals made of white [leather], and\na figure of the goddess Maat shall be drawn upon his tongue with green-\ncoloured ochre.  Whensoever Thoth shall wish to recite this composition\non behalf of Ra, he must perform a sevenfold (?) purification for three\ndays, and priests and [ordinary] men shall do likewise.  Whosoever\nshall recite the above words shall perform the ceremonies which are to\nbe performed when this book is being read.  And he shall make his place\nof standing (?) in a circle (or, at an angle) . . . . . which is beyond\n[him], and his two eyes shall be fixed upon himself, all his members\nshall be [composed], and his steps shall not carry him away [from the\nplace].  Whosoever among men shall recite [these] words shall be like\nRa on the day of his birth; and his possessions shall not become fewer,\nand his house shall never fall into decay, but shall endure for a\nmillion eternities.\n\nThen the Aged One himself (i.e., Ra) embraced (?) the god Nu, and spake\nunto the gods who came forth in the east of the sky, \"Ascribe ye praise\nto the god, the Aged One, from whom I have come into being.  I am he\nwho made the heavens, and I (set in order [the earth, and created the\ngods, and] I was with them for an exceedingly long period; then was\nborn the year and . . . . . . but my soul is older than it (i.e.,\ntime).  It is the Soul of Shu, it is the Soul of Khnemu (?),[FN#65] it\nis the Soul of Heh, it is the Soul of Kek and Kerh (i.e., Night and\nDarkness), it is the Soul of Nu and of Ra, it is the Soul of Osiris,\nthe lord of Tettu, it is the Soul of the Sebak Crocodile-gods and of\nthe Crocodiles, it is the Soul of every god [who dwelleth] in the\ndivine Snakes, it is the Soul of Apep in Mount Bakhau (i.e., the Mount\nof Sunrise), and it is the Soul of Ra which pervadeth the whole world.\"\n\n\n\n[FN#65]  There are mistakes in the text here.\n\n\n\nWhosoever sayeth [these words] worketh his own protection by means of\nthe words of power, \"I am the god Hekau (i.e., the divine Word of\npower), and [I am] pure in my mouth, and [in] my belly; [I am] Ra from\nwhom the gods proceeded.  I am Ra, the Light-god (Khu).\"  When thou\nsayest [this], stop forth in the evening and in the morning on thine\nown behalf if thou wouldst make to fall the enemies of Ra.  I am his\nSoul, and I am Heka.\n\nHail, thou lord of eternity, thou creator of everlastingness, who\nbringest to nought the gods who came forth from Ra, thou lord of thy\ngod, thou prince who didst make what made thee, who art beloved by the\nfathers of the gods, on whose head are the pure words of power, who\ndidst create the woman (erpit) that standeth on the south side of thee,\nwho didst create the goddess who hath her face on her breast, and the\nserpent which standeth on his tail, with her eye on his belly, and with\nhis tail on the earth, to whom Thoth giveth praises, and upon whom the\nheavens rest, and to whom Shu stretcheth out his two hands, deliver\nthou me from those two great gods who sit in the east of the sky, who\nact as wardens of heaven and as wardens of earth, and who make firm the\nsecret places, and who are called \"Aaiu-su,\" and \"Per-f-er-maa-Nu.\"\nMoreover [there shall be) a purifying on the . . . . . day of the month\n. . . . . . .. even according to the performance of the ceremonies in\nthe oldest time.\n\nWhosoever shall recite this Chapter shall have life in Neter-kher\n(i.e., Underworld), and the fear of him shall be much greater than it\nwas formerly [upon earth] . . . . . . . and they shall say, \"Thy names\nare 'Eternity' and 'Everlastingness.'\"  They are called, they are\ncalled, \"Au-peh-nef-n-aa-em-ta-uat-apu,\" and \"Rekh-kua-[tut]-en-neter-\npui-. . . . . . en en-hra-f-Her-shefu.\"  I am he who hath strengthened\nthe boat with the company of the gods, and his Shenit, and his Gods, by\nmeans of words of power.\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE LEGEND OF RA AND ISIS.\n\n\n\nThe Chapter of the divine (or, mighty) god, who created himself, who\nmade the heavens and the earth, and the breath of life, and fire, and\nthe gods, and men, and beasts, and cattle, and reptiles, and the fowl\nof the air, and the fish, who is the king of men and gods, [who\nexisteth] in one Form, [to whom] periods of one hundred and twenty\nyears axe as single years, whose names by reason of their multitude are\nunknowable, for [even] the gods know them not.  Behold, the goddess\nIsis lived in the form, of a woman, who had the knowledge of words [of\npower].  Her heart turned away in disgust from the millions of men, and\nshe chose for herself the millions of the gods, but esteemed more\nhighly the millions of the spirits.  Was it not possible to become even\nas was Ra in heaven and upon earth, and to make [herself] mistress of\nthe earth, and a [mighty] goddess--thus she meditated in her heart--by\nthe knowledge of the Name of the holy god?  Behold, Ra entered [heaven]\neach day at the head of his mariners, establishing himself upon the\ndouble throne of the two horizons. Now the divine one had become old,\nhe dribbled at the mouth, and he let his emissions go forth from him\nupon the earth, and his spittle fell upon the ground.  This Isis\nkneaded in her hand,[FN#66] with [some] dust, and she fashioned it in\nthe form of a sacred serpent, and made it to have the form of a dart,\nso that none might be able to escape alive from it, and she left it\nlying upon the road whereon the great god travelled, according to his\ndesire, about the two lands.  Then the holy god rose up in the\ntabernacle of the gods in the great double house (life, strength,\nhealth!) among those who were in his train, and [as] he journeyed on\nhis way according to his daily wont, the holy serpent shot its fang\ninto him, and the living fire was departing from the god's own body,\nand the reptile destroyed the dweller among the cedars. And the mighty\ngod opened his mouth, and the cry of His Majesty (life, strength,\nhealth!) reached unto the heavens, and the company of the gods said,\n\"What is it?\" and his gods said, \"What is the matter?\"  And the god\nfound [no words] wherewith to answer concerning himself.  His jaws\nshook, his lips trembled, and the poison took possession of all his\nflesh just as Hapi (i.e., the Nile) taketh possession of the land\nthrough which he floweth.  Then the great god made firm his heart\n(i.e., took courage) and he cried out to those who were in his\nfollowing:--\"Come ye unto me, O ye who have come into being from my\nmembers,[FN#67] ye gods who have proceeded from me, for I would make\nyou to know what hath happened.  I have been smitten by some deadly\nthing, of which my heart hath no knowledge, and which I have neither\nseen with my eyes nor made with my hand; and I have no knowledge at all\nwho hath done this to me.  I have never before felt any pain like unto\nit, and no pain can be worse than this [is].  I am a Prince, the son of\na Prince, and the divine emanation which was produced from a god.  I am\na Great One, the son of a Great One, and my father hath determined for\nme my name.  I have multitudes of names, and I have multitudes of\nforms, and my being existeth in every god.  I have been invoked (or,\nproclaimed?) by Temu and Heru-Hekennu.  My father and my mother uttered\nmy name, and [they] hid it in my body at my birth so that none of those\nwho would use against me words of power might succeed in making their\nenchantments have dominion over me.[FN#68] I had come forth from my\ntabernacle to look upon that which I had made, and was making my way\nthrough the two lands which I had made, when a blow was aimed at me,\nbut I know not of what kind.  Behold, is it fire?  Behold, is it water?\nMy heart is full of burning fire, my limbs are shivering, and my\nmembers have darting pains in them.  Let there be brought unto me my\nchildren the gods, who possess words of magic, whose mouths are cunning\n[in uttering them], and whose powers reach up to heaven.\"  Then his\nchildren came unto him, and every god was there with his cry of\nlamentation; and Isis[FN#69] came with her words of magic, and the\nplace of her mouth [was filled with] the breath of life, for the words\nwhich she putteth together destroy diseases, and her words make to live\nthose whose throats are choked (i.e., the dead).  And she said, \"What\nis this, O divine father?  What is it?  Hath a serpent shot his venom\ninto thee?  Hath a thing which thou hast fashioned lifted up its head\nagainst thee?  Verily it shall be overthrown by beneficent words of\npower, and I will make it to retreat in the sight of thy rays.\"  The\nholy god opened his mouth, [saying], I was going along the road and\npassing through the two lands of my country, for my heart wished to\nlook upon what I had made, when I was bitten by a serpent which I did\nnot see; behold, is it fire?  Behold, is it water?  I am colder than\nwater, I am hotter than fire, all my members sweat, I myself quake,\nmine eye is unsteady.  I cannot look at the heavens, and water forceth\nitself on my face as in the time of the Inundation.\"[FN#70]  And Isis\nsaid unto Ra, \"O my divine father, tell me thy name, for he who is able\nto pronounce his name liveth.\"  [And Ra said], \"I am the maker of the\nheavens and the earth, I have knit together the mountains, and I have\ncreated everything which existeth upon them.  I am the maker of the\nWaters, and I have made Meht-ur to come into being; I have made the\nBull of his Mother, and I have made the joys of love to exist.  I am\nthe maker of heaven, and I have made to be hidden the two gods of the\nhorizon, and I have placed the souls of the gods within them.  I am the\nBeing who openeth his eyes and the light cometh; I am the Being who\nshutteth his eyes and there is darkness.  I am the Being who giveth the\ncommand, and the waters of Hapi (the Nile) burst forth, I am the Being\nwhose name the gods know not.  I am the maker of the hours and the\ncreator of the days.  I am the opener (i.e., inaugurator) of the\nfestivals, and the maker of the floods of water.  I am the creator of\nthe fire of life whereby the works of the houses are caused to come\ninto being. I am Khepera in the morning, and Ra (at the time of his\nculmination (i.e., noon), and Temu in the evening.\"[FN#71]\nNevertheless the poison was not driven from its course, and the great\ngod felt no better.  Then Isis said unto Ra, \"Among the things which\nthou hast said unto me thy name hath not been mentioned.  O declare\nthou it unto me, and the poison shall come forth; for the person who\nhath declared his name shall live.\"  Meanwhile the poison burned with\nblazing fire and the heat thereof was stronger than that of a blazing\nflame.  Then the Majesty of Ra, said, \"I will allow myself to be\nsearched through by Isis, and my name shall come forth from my body and\ngo into hers.\"  Then the divine one hid himself from the gods, and the\nthrone in the Boat of Millions of Years[FN#72] was empty.  And it came\nto pass that when it was the time for the heart to come forth [from the\ngod], she said unto her son Horus, \"The great god shall bind himself by\nan oath to give his two eyes.\"[FN#73]  Thus was the great god made to\nyield up his name, and Isis, the great lady of enchantments, said,\n\"Flow on, poison, and come forth from Ra; let the Eye of Horus come\nforth from the god and shine(?) outside his mouth.  I have worked, and\nI make the poison to fall on the ground, for the venom hath been\nmastered.  Verily the name hath been taken away from the great god.\nLet Ra live, and let the poison die; and if the poison live then Ra\nshall die.  And similarly, a certain man, the son of a certain man,\nshall live and the poison shall die.\"  These were the words which spake\nIsis, the great lady, the mistress of the gods, and she had knowledge\nof Ra in his own name.  The above words shall be said over an image of\nTemu and an image of Heru-Hekennu,[FN#74] and over an image of Isis and\nan image of Horus.\n\n\n\n[FN#66]  Here we have another instance of the important part which the\nspittle played in magical ceremonies that were intended to produce evil\neffects.  The act of spitting, however, was intended sometimes to carry\na curse with it, and sometimes a blessing, for a man spat in the face\nof his enemy in order to lay the curse of impurity upon him, and at the\npresent time, men spit upon money to keep the devils away from it.\n\n[FN#67]  The gods were, according to one belief, nothing more than the\nvarious names of Ra, who had taken the forms of the various members of\nhis body.\n\n[FN#68]  Thus the god's own name became his most important talisman.\n\n[FN#69]  The position of Isis as the \"great enchantress\" is well\ndefined, and several instances of her magical powers are recorded.  By\nthe utterance of her words of power she succeeded in raising her dead\nhusband Osiris to life, and she enabled him by their means to beget\nHorus of her.  Nothing could withstand them, because they were of\ndivine origin, and she had learned them from Thoth, the intelligence of\nthe greatest of the gods.\n\n[FN#70]  Or, \"the period of the summer.\"  The season Shemmu, began soon\nafter the beginning of April and lasted until nearly the end of July.\n\n[FN#71]  Khepera, Rd, and Temu were the three principal forms of the\nSun-god according to the theological system of the priests of\nHeliopolis.\n\n[FN#72]  The name by which the Boat of Ra is generally known in\nEgyptian texts.  It was this boat which was stopped in its course when\nThoth descended from the sky to impart to Isis the words of power that\nwere to raise her dead child Horus to life.\n\n[FN#73]  i.e., the fluid of life of the sun, and the fluid of life of\nthe moon. The sun and the moon were the visible, material symbols of\nthe Sun god.\n\n[FN#74]  The attributes of this god are not well defined.  He was a god\nof the Eastern Delta, and was associated with the cities where Temu was\nworshipped.\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE LEGEND OF HORUS OF BEHUTET AND THE WINGED DISK.\n\n\n\nXII.  In the three hundred and sixty-third year of Ra-Heru-Khuti, who\nliveth for ever and forever, His Majesty was in Ta-Kens,[FN#75] and his\nsoldiers were with him; [the enemy] did not conspire (auu) against\ntheir lord, and the land [is called] Uauatet unto this day.  And Ra set\nout on an expedition in his boat, and his followers were with him, and\nhe arrived at Uthes-Heru,[FN#76] [which lay to] the west of this nome,\nand to the east of the canal Pakhennu, which is called [ . . . . . . .\nto this day].  And Heru-Behutet was in the boat of Ra, and he said\nunto his father Ra-Heru-Khuti (i.e., Ra-Harmachis), \"I see that the\nenemies are conspiring against their lord; let thy fiery serpent gain\nthe mastery . . . . . over them.\"\n\n\n\n[FN#75]  i.e., in Nubia, probably the portion of it which lies round\nabout the modern Kalabsha.  In ancient days Ta-kens appears to have\nincluded a portion of the Nile Valley to the north of Aswan.\n\n\n\nXIII.  Then the Majesty of Ra Harmachis said unto thy divine KA, \"O\nHeru-Behutet, O son of Ra, thou exalted one, who didst proceed from me,\noverthrow thou the enemies who are before thee straightway.\"  And Heru-\nBehutet flew up into the horizon in the form of the great Winged Disk,\nfor which reason he is called \"Great god, lord of heaven,\" unto this\nday.  And when he saw the enemies in the heights of heaven he set out\nto follow after them in the form of the great Winged Disk, and he\nattacked with such terrific force those who opposed him, that they\ncould neither see with their eyes nor hear with their ears, and each of\nthem slew his fellow.  In a moment of time there was not a single\ncreature left alive.  Then Heru Behutet, shining with very many\ncolours, came in the form of the great Winged Disk to the Boat of Ra-\nHarmachis, and Thoth said unto Ra, \"O Lord of the gods, Behutet hath\nreturned in the form of the great Winged Disk, shining [with many\ncolours] . . . . . . children;\" for this reason he is called Heru-\nBehutet unto this day.  And Thoth said, \"The city Teb shall be called\nthe city of Heru-Behutet,\" and thus is it called unto this day.  And Ra\nembraced the . . . . . of Ra, and said unto Heru-Behutet, \"Thou didst\nput grapes[FN#77] into the water which cometh forth from it,[FN#78] and\nthy heart rejoiced thereat;\" and for this reason the water (or, canal)\nof Heru-Behutet is called \"[Grape-Water]\" unto this day, and the . . .\n. . . . . . . . unto this day.  And Heru-Behutet said, \"Advance, O Ra,\nand look thou upon thine enemies who are lying under thee on this\nland;\" thereupon the Majesty of Ra set out on the way, and the goddess\nAsthertet ('Ashtoreth?) was with him, and he saw the enemies overthrown\non the ground, each one of them being fettered.  Then said Ra to Heru-\nBehutet, \"There is sweet life in this place,\" and for this reason the\nabode of the palace of Heru-Behutet is called \"Sweet Life\" unto this\nday.  And Ra, said unto Thoth, \"[Here was the slaughter] of mine\nenemies; \"and the place is called Teb[FN#79] unto this day.  And Thoth\nsaid unto Heru-Behutet, \"Thou art a great protector (makaa);\" and the\nBoat of Heru-Behutet is called Makaa[FN#80] unto this day.  Then said\nRa unto the gods who were in his following, \"Behold now, let us sail in\nour boat upon the water, for our hearts are glad because our enemies\nhave been overthrown on the earth;\" and the water where the great god\nsailed is called P-Khen-Ur[FN#81] unto this day.  And behold the\nenemies [of Ra] rushed into the water, and they took the forms of\n[crocodiles and] hippopotami, but nevertheless Ra-Heru-Khuti sailed\nover the waters in his boat, and when the crocodiles and the\nhippopotami had come nigh unto him, they opened wide their jaws in\norder to destroy Ra-Heru-Khuti.  And when Heru-Behutet arrived and his\nfollowers who were behind him in the forms of workers in metal, each\nhaving in his hands an iron spear and a chain, according to his name,\nthey smote the crocodiles and the hippopotami; and there were brought\nin there straightway six hundred and fifty-one crocodiles, which had\nbeen slain before the city of Edfu.  Then spake Ra-Harmachis unto Heru-\nBehutet, \"My Image shall be [here] in the land of the South, (which is\na house of victory (or, strength); \"and the House of Heru-Behutet is\ncalled Nekht-Het unto this day.\n\n\n\n[FN#76]  i.e., Apollinopolis, the modern Edfu.\n\n[FN#77]  i.e. drops of blood.\n\n[FN#78]  i.e., from the city.\n\n[FN#79]  i.e., Edfu.\n\n[FN#80]  i.e., Great Protector.\n\n[FN#81]  i.e., \"Great Canal.\"\n\n\n\nXIV.  Then the god Thoth spake, after he had looked upon the enemies\nlying upon the ground, saying, \"Let your hearts rejoice, O ye gods of\nheaven!  Let your hearts rejoice, O ye gods who are in the earth!\nHorus, the Youthful One, cometh in peace, and he hath made manifest on\nhis journey deeds of very great might, which he hath performed\naccording to 'the Book of Slaying the Hippopotamus.'\"  And from that day\nfigures of Heru-Behutet in metal have existed.\n\nThen Heru-Behutet took upon himself the form of the Winged Disk, and he\nplaced himself upon the front of the Boat of Ea.  And he placed by his\nside the goddess Nekhebet[FN#82] and the goddess Uatchet,[FN#83] in the\nform of two serpents, that they might make the enemies to quake in\n[all] their limbs when they were in the forms of crocodiles and\nhippopotami in every place wherein be came in the Land of the South and\nin the Land of the North.  Then those enemies rose up to make their\nescape from before him, and their face was towards the Land of the\nSouth.  And their hearts were stricken down through fear of him.  And\nHeru-Behutet was at the back (or, side) of them in the Boat of Ra, and\nthere were in his hands a metal lance and a metal chain; and the metal\nworkers who were with their lord were equipped for fighting with lances\nand chains.  And Heru-Behutet saw them[FN#84] to the south-east of the\ncity of Uast (Thebes) some distance away.  Then Ra said to Thoth,\n\"Those enemies shall be smitten with blows that kill;\" and Thoth said\nto Ra, \"[That place] is called the city Tchet-Met unto this day.\"  And\nHeru-Behutet made a great overthrow among them, and Ra said, \"Stand\nstill, O Heru-Behutet,\" and [that place] is called \"Het-Ra\" to this\nday, and the god who dwelleth therein is Heru-Behutet-Ra-Amsu (or,\nMin).  Then those enemies rose up to make their escape from before him,\nand the face of the god was towards the Land of the North, and their\nhearts were stricken through fear of him.  And Heru-Behutet was at the\nback (or, side) of them in the Boat of Ra, and those who were following\nhim had spears of metal and chains of metal in their hands; and the god\nhimself was equipped for battle with the weapons of the metal workers\nwhich they had with them.  And he passed a whole day before he saw them\nto the north-east of the nome of Tentyra (Dendera).  Then Ra said unto\nThoth, \"The enemies are resting . . . . . . . their lord.\"  And the\nMajesty of Ra-Harmachis said to Heru-Behutet, \"Thou art my exalted son\nwho didst proceed from Nut.  The courage of the (enemies hath failed in\na moment.\"  And Heru-Behutet made great slaughter among them.  And\nThoth said \"The Winged Disk shall be called. . . . . in the name of\nthis Aat;\" and is called Heru-Behutet . . . . . its mistress.  His name\nis to the South in the name of this god, and the acacia and the\nsycamore shall be the trees of the sanctuary.  Then the enemies turned\naside to flee from before him, and their faces were [towards the North,\nand they went] to the swamps of Uatch-ur (i.e., the Mediterranean), and\n[their courage failed through fear of him].  And Heru-Behutet was at\nthe back (or, side) of them in the Boat of Ra, and the metal spear was\nin his hands, and those who were in his following were equipped with\nthe weapons for battle of the metal workers.  And the god spent four\ndays and four nights in the water in pursuit of them, but he did not\nsee one of the enemies, who fled from before him in the water in the\nforms of crocodiles and hippopotami.  At length he found them and saw\nthem.  And Ra said unto Horus of Heben, \"O Winged Disk, thou great god\nand lord of heaven, seize thou them . . . . . .;\" and he hurled his\nlance after them, and he slew them, and worked a great overthrow of\nthem.  And he brought one hundred and forty-two enemies to the forepart\nof the Boat [of Ra], and with them was a male hippopotamus which had\nbeen among those enemies.  And he hacked them in pieces with his knife,\nand he gave their entrails to those who were in his following, and he\ngave their carcases to the gods and goddesses who were in the Boat of\nRa on the river-bank of the city of Heben.  Then Ra said unto Thoth,\n\"See what mighty things Heru-Behutet hath performed in his deeds\nagainst the enemies: verily he hath smitten them!  And of the male\nhippopotamus he hath opened the mouth, and he hath speared it, and he\nhath mounted upon its back.\"  Then said Thoth to Ra, \"Horus shall be\ncalled 'Winged Disk, Great God, Smiter of the enemies in the town of\nHeben' from this day forward, and he shall be called 'He who standeth\non the back' and 'prophet of this god,' from this day forward.\"  These\nare the things which happened in the lands of the city of Heben, in a\nregion which measured three hundred and forty-two measures on the\nsouth, and on the north, on the west, and on the east.\n\n\n\n[FN#82]  The goddess Nekhebet was incarnate in a special kind of\nserpent, and the centre of her worship was in the city of Nekheb, which\nthe Greeks called Eileithyiaspolis, and the Arabs Al-Kab.\n\n[FN#83]  The centre of the worship of Uatchet, or Uatchit, was at Per-\nUatchet, a city in the Delta.\n\n[FN#84]  i.e., the enemies.\n\n\n\nXV.  Then the enemies rose up before him by the Lake of the North, and\ntheir faces were set towards Uatch-ur[FN#85] which they desired to\nreach by sailing; but the god smote their hearts and they turned and\nfled in the water, and they directed their course to the water of the\nnome of Mertet-Ament, and they gathered themselves together in the\nwater of Mertet in order to join themselves with the enemies [who\nserve] Set and who are in this region.  And Heru-Behutet followed them,\nbeing equipped with all his weapons of war to fight against them.  And\nHeru-Behutet made a journey in the Boat of Ra, together with the great\ngod who was in his boat with those who were his followers, and he\npursued them on the Lake of the North twice, and passed one day and one\nnight sailing down the river in pursuit of them before he perceived and\novertook them, for he knew not the place where they were.  Then he\narrived at the city of Per-Rehu.  And the Majesty of Ra said unto Heru-\nBehutet, \"What hath happened to the enemies?  They have gathered\ntogether themselves in the water to the west (?) of the nome of Mertet\nin order to unite themselves with the enemies [who serve] Set, and who\nare in this region, at the place where are our staff and sceptre.\"  And\nThoth said unto Ra, \"Uast in the nome of Mertet is called Uaseb because\nof this unto this day, and the Lake which is in it is called Tempt.\"\nThen Heru-Behutet spake in the presence of his father Ra, saying, \"I\nbeseech thee to set thy boat against them, so that I may be able to\nperform against them that which Ra willeth;\" and this was done.  Then\nhe made an attack upon them on the Lake which was at the west of this\ndistrict, and he perceived them on the bank of the city . . . . . .\nwhich belongeth to the Lake of Mertet.  Then Heru-Behutet made an\nexpedition against them, and his followers were with him, and they were\nprovided with weapons of all kinds for battle, and he wrought a great\noverthrow among them, and he brought in three hundred and eighty-one\nenemies, and he slaughtered them in the forepart of the Boat of Ra, and\nhe gave one of them to each of those who were in his train.  Then Set\nrose up and came forth, and raged loudly with words of cursing and\nabuse because of the things which Heru-behutet had done in respect of\nthe slaughter of the enemies.  And Ra said unto Thoth, \"This fiend\nNehaha-hra uttereth words at the top of his voice because of the things\nwhich Heru-Behutet hath done unto him;\" and Thoth said unto Ra, \"Cries\nof this kind shall be called Nehaha-hra unto this day.\"  And Heru-\nBehutet did battle with the Enemy for a period of time, and he hurled\nhis iron lance at him, and he throw him down on the ground in this\nregion, which is called Pa-Rerehtu unto this day.  Then Heru-Behutet\ncame and brought the Enemy with him, and his spear was in his neck, and\nhis chain was round his hands and arms, and the weapon of Horus had\nfallen on his mouth and had closed it; and he went with him before his\nfather Ra, who said, \"O Horus, thou Winged Disk, twice great (Urui-\nTenten) is the deed of valour which thou hast done, and thou hast\ncleansed the district.\"  And Ra, said unto Thoth, \"The palace of Heru-\nBehutet shall be called, 'Lord of the district which is cleansed'\nbecause of this;\" and [thus is it called] unto this day.  And the name\nof the priest thereof is called Ur-Tenten unto this day.  And Ra said\nunto Thoth, \"Let the enemies and Set be given over to Isis and her son\nHorus, and let them work all their heart's desire upon them.\"  And she\nand her son Horus set themselves in position with their spears in him\nat the time when there was storm (or, disaster) in the district, and\nthe Lake of the god was called She-En-Aha from that day to this.  Then\nHorus the son of Isis cut off the head of the Enemy [Set], and the\nheads of his fiends in the presence of father Ra and of the great\ncompany of the gods, and he dragged him by his feet through his\ndistrict with his spear driven through his head and back.  And Ra said\nunto Thoth, \"Let the son of Osiris drag the being of disaster through\nhis territory;\" and Thoth said, \"It shall be called Ateh,\" and this\nhath been the name of the region from that day to this.  And Isis, the\ndivine lady, spake before Ra, saying, \"Let the exalted Winged Disk\nbecome the amulet of my son Horus, who hath cut off the head of the\nEnemy and the heads of his fiends.\"\n\n\n\n[FN#85]  i.e., the Mediterranean.\n\n\n\nXVI.  Thus Heru-Behutet and Horus, the son of Isis, slaughtered that\nevil Enemy, and his fiends, and the inert foes, and came forth with\nthem to the water on the west side of this district.  And Heru-Behutet\nwas in the form of a man of mighty strength, and he had the face of a\nhawk, and his head was crowned with the White Crown and the Red Crown,\nand with two plumes and two uraei, and he had the back of a hawk, and\nhis spear and his chain were in his hands.  And Horus, the son of Isis,\ntransformed himself into a similar shape, even as Heru-Behutet had done\nbefore him.  And they slew the enemies all together on the west of Per-\nRehu, on the edge of the stream, and this god hath sailed over the\nwater wherein the enemies had banded themselves to-ether against him\nfrom that day to this.  Now these things took place on the 7th day of\nthe first mouth of the season Pert.  And Thoth said, \"This region shall\nbe called AAT-SHATET,\" and this hath been the name of the region from\nthat day unto this; and the Lake which is close by it hath been called\nTemt from that day to this, and the 7th day of the first month of the\nseason Pert hath been called the Festival of Sailing from that day to\nthis.\n\n\nThen Set took upon himself the form of a hissing serpent, and he\nentered into the earth in this district without being seen.  And Ra\nsaid, \"Set hath taken upon himself the form of a hissing serpent.  Let\nHorus, the son of Isis, in the form of a hawk-headed staff, set himself\nover the place where he is, so that the serpent may never more appear.\"\nAnd Thoth said, \"Let this district be called Hemhemet[FN#86] by name;\"\nand thus hath it been called from that day to this.  And Horus, the son\nof Isis, in the form of a hawk-headed staff, took up his abode there\nwith his mother Isis; in this manner did these things happen.\n\n\n\n[FN#86]  This name means \"the place of the Roarer,\" Hemhemti, being a\nwell-known name of the Evil One.  Some texts seem to indicate that\npeals of thunder were caused by the fiend Set.\n\n\n\n\nThen the Boat of Ra arrived at the town of Het-Aha; its forepart was\nmade of palm wood, and the hind part was made of acacia wood; thus the\npalm tree and the acacia tree have been sacred trees from that day to\nthis.  Then Heru-Behutet embarked in the Boat of Ra, after he had made\nan end of fighting, and sailed; and Ra said unto Thoth, \"Let this Boat\nbe called . . . . . . .;\" and thus hath it been called from that day to\nthis, and these things have been done in commemoration in this place\nfrom that day to this.\n\n\nAnd Ra said unto Heru-Behutet, \"Behold the fighting of the Smait fiend\nand his two-fold strength, and the Smai fiend Set, are upon the water\nof the North, and they will sail down stream upon . . . . . .\" [And]\nHeru-Behutet said, \"Whatsoever thou commandest shall take place, O Ra,\nLord of the gods.  Grant thou, however, that this thy Boat may pursue\nthem into every place whithersoever they shall go, and I will do to\nthem whatsoever pleaseth Ra.\"  And everything was done according to\nwhat he had said.  Then this Boat of Ra was brought by the winged Sun-\ndisk upon the waters of the Lake of Meh,[FN#87] [and] Heru-Behutet took\nin his hands his weapons, his darts, and his harpoon, and all the\nchains [which he required] for the fight.\n\n\n\n[FN#87]  It is probable that the Lake of Meh, i.e., the Lake of the\nNorth, was situated in the north-east of the Delta, not far from Lake\nManzalah.\n\n\n\n\nAnd Heru-Behutet looked and saw one [only] of these Sebau[FN#88] fiends\nthere on the spot, and he was by himself.  And he threw one metal dart,\nand brought (or, dragged) them along straightway, and he slaughtered\nthem in the presence of Ra.  And he made an end [of them, and there\nwere no more of the fiends] of Set in this place at [that] moment.\n\n\n\n[FN#88]  \"Sebiu\" is a common name for the associates of Seti, and this\nfiend is himself called \"Seba,\" a word which means something like\n\"rebel.\"\n\n\n\n\nXVII.  And Thoth said, \"This place shall be called Ast-Ab-Heru\"[FN#89]\nbecause Heru-Behutet wrought his desire upon them (i.e., the enemy);\nand he passed six days and six nights coming into port on the waters\nthereof and did not see one of them.  And he saw them fall down in the\nwatery depths, and he made ready the place of Ast-ab-Heru there.  It\nwas situated on the bank of the water, and the face (i.e., direction)\nthereof was full-front towards the South.  And all the rites and\nceremonies of Heru-Behutet were performed on the first day of the first\nmonth[FN#90] of the season Akhet, and on the first day of the first\nmonth[FN#91] of the season Pert, and on the twenty-first and twenty-\nfourth days of the second month[FN#92] of the season Pert.  These are\nthe festivals in the town of Ast-ab, by the side of the South, in An-\nrut-f.[FN#93]  And he came into port and went against them, keeping\nwatch as for a king over the Great God in An-rut-f, in this place, in\norder to drive away the Enemy and his Smaiu fiends at his coming by\nnight from the region of Mertet, to the west of this place.\n\n\n\n[FN#89]  i.e., place of the desire of Horus.\n\n\n[FN#90]  The month Thoth.\n\n[FN#91]  The month Tybi.\n\n[FN#92]  The month Mekhir.\n\n[FN#93]  A mythological locality originally placed near Herakleopolis.\nThe name means \"the place where nothing grows.\"  Several forms of the\nname occur in the older literature, e.g. in the Theban Recension of the\nBook of the Dead.\n\n\n\nAnd Heru-Behutet was in the form of a man who possessed great strength,\nwith the face of a hawk; and he was crowned with the White\nCrown,[FN#94] and the Red Crown,[FN#95] and the two plumes, and the\nUrerit Crown, and there were two uraei upon his head.  His hand grasped\nfirmly his harpoon to slay the hippopotamus, which was [as hard] as the\nkhenem[FN#96] stone in its mountain bed.\n\n\n\n[FN#94]  The Crown of the South.\n\n[FN#95]  The Crown of the North.\n\n[FN#96]  A kind of jasper (?).\n\n\n\n\nAnd Ra said unto Thoth, \"Indeed [Heru-]Behutet is like a Master-fighter\nin the slaughter of his enemies . . . . . .\"\n\n\nAnd Thoth said unto Ra, \"He shall be called 'Neb-Ahau'\" (i.e., Master-\nfighter); and for this reason he hath been thus called by the priest of\nthis god unto this day.\n\n\nAnd Isis made incantations of every kind in order to drive away the\nfiend Ra from An-rut-f, and from the Great God in this place.  And\nThoth said [unto Ra], \"The priestess of this god shall be called by the\nname of 'Nebt-Heka' for this reason.\"\n\nAnd Thoth said unto Ra, \"Beautiful, beautiful is this place wherein\nthou hast taken up thy seat, keeping watch, as for a king, over the\nGreat God who is in An-rut-f[FN#97] in peace.\"\n\n\n\n[FN#97]  i.e., Osiris.\n\n\n\n\n\nAnd Thoth said, \"This Great House in this place shall therefore be\ncalled 'Ast-Nefert'[FN#98] from this day. It is situated to the\nsouth-west of the city of Nart, and [covereth] a space of four\nschoinoi.\"  And Ra Heru-Behutet said unto Thoth, \"Hast thou not\nsearched through this water for the enemy?\"  And Thoth said, \"The water\nof the God-house in this place shall be called by the name of 'Heh'\n(i.e., sought out).\"  And Ra said, \"Thy ship, O Heru-Behutet, is great\n(?) upon Ant-mer (?) . . . . . .  And Thoth said, \"The name of [thy\nship] shall be called 'Ur', and this stream shall be called 'Ant-mer\n(?).'\"  As concerning (or, now) the place Ab-Bat (?) is situated on the\nshore of the water.  \"Ast-nefert\" is the name of the Great house, \"Neb-\nAha\" [is the name of] the priest . . . . . . . . is the name of the\npriestess, \"Heh\" is the name of the lake . . . . . . . [is the name] of\nthe water, \"Am-her-net\" is the name of the holy (?) acacia tree, \"Neter\nhet\" is the name of the domain of the god, \"Uru\" is the name of the\nsacred boat, the gods therein are Heru-Behutet, the smiter of the\nlands, Horus, the son of Isis [and] Osiris . . . . . . . . his\nblacksmiths[FN#99] are to him, and those who are in his following are\nto him in his territory, with his metal lance, with his [mace], with\nhis dagger, and with all his chains (or, fetters) which are in the city\nof Heru-Behutet.\n\n\n\n[FN#98]  i.e., \"Beautiful Place.\"\n\n[FN#99]  Or perhaps fighting men who were armed with metal weapons.\n\n\n\n\n[And when he had reached the land of the North with his followers, he\nfound the enemy.]  Now as for the blacksmiths who were over the middle\nregions, they made a great slaughter of the enemy, and there were\nbrought back one hundred and six of them.  Now as for the blacksmiths\nof the West, they brought back one hundred and six of the enemy.  Now\nas for the blacksmiths of the East, among whom was Heru-Behutet, he\nslew them (i.e., the enemy) in the presence of Ra in the Middle\nDomains.[FN#100]\n\n\n\n[FN#100]  In the sculptures (Naville, Mythe, pl. 17) Heru-Behutet is\nseen standing in a boat spearing a crocodile, and immediately behind d\nhim in the boat is Ra-Harmachis in his shrine.  The Mesentiu of the\nWest are represented by an armed warrior in a boat, who is spearing a\ncrocodile, and leads the way for Heru-Behutet.  In a boat behind the\ngreat god is a representative of the Mesentiu of the East spearing a\ncrocodile.\n\n\n\n\nAnd Ra, said unto Thoth, \"My heart [is satisfied] with the works of\nthese blacksmiths of Heru-Behutet who are in his bodyguard.  They shall\ndwell in sanctuaries, and libations and purifications and offerings\nshall be made to their images, and [there shall be appointed for them]\npriests who shall minister by the month, and priests who shall minister\nby the hour, in all their God-houses whatsoever, as their reward\nbecause they have slain the enemies of the god.\"\n\n\nAnd Thoth said, \"The [Middle] Domains shall be called after the names\nof these blacksmiths from this day onwards, and the god who dwelleth\namong them, Heru-Behutet, shall be called the 'Lord of Mesent' from\nthis day onwards, and the domain shall be called 'Mesent of the West'\nfrom this day onwards.\"\n\n\nAs concerning Mesent of the West, the face (or, front) thereof shall be\ntowards [the East], towards the place where Ra riseth, and this Mesent\nshall be called \"Mesent of the East\" from this day onwards.  As\nconcerning the double town of Mesent, the work of these blacksmiths of\nthe East, the face (or, front) thereof shall be towards the South,\ntowards the city of Behutet, the hiding-place of Heru-Behutet.  And\nthere shall be performed therein all the rites and ceremonies of Heru-\nBehutet on the second day of the first month[FN#101] of the season of\nAkhet, and on the twenty-fourth day of the fourth month[FN#102] of the\nseason of Akhet, and on the seventh day of the first month[FN#103] of\nthe season Pert, and on the twenty-first day of the second\nmonth[FN#104] of the season Pert, from this day onwards.  Their stream\nshall be called \"Asti,\" the name of their Great House shall be called\n\"Abet,\" the [priest (?)] shall be called \"Qen-aha,\" and their domain\nshall be called \"Kau-Mesent\" from this day onwards.\n\n\n\n[FN#101]  The month Thoth.\n\n[FN#102]  The month Choiak.\n\n[FN#103]  The month Tybi.\n\n[FN#104]  The mouth Mechir.\n\n\n\n\nXVIII.  And Ra said unto Heru-Behutet, \"These enemies have sailed up\nthe river, to the country of Setet, to the end of the pillar-house of\nHat, and they have sailed up the river to the east, to the country or\nTchalt (or, Tchart),[FN#105] which is their region of swamps.\"  And\nHeru-Behutet said, \"Everything which thou hast commanded hath come to\npass, Ra, Lord of the Gods; thou art the lord of commands.\"  And they\nuntied the Boat of Ra, and they sailed up the river to the east.  Then\nhe looked upon those enemies whereof some of them had fallen into the\nsea (or, river), and the others had fallen headlong on the mountains.\n\n\n\n[FN#105]  Zoan-Tanis.\n\n\n\n\nAnd Heru-Behutet transformed himself into a lion which had the face of\na man, and which was crowned with the triple crown.[FN#106]  His paw\nwas like unto a flint knife, and he went round and round by the side of\nthem, and brought back one hundred and forty-two [of the enemy], and be\nrent them in pieces with his claws.  He tore out their tongues, and\ntheir blood flowed on the ridges of the land in this place; and he made\nthem the property of those who were in his following [whilst] he was\nupon the mountains.\n\n\n\n[FN#106]  In the sculpture (Naville, Mythe, pl. 18), we see a\nrepresentation of this lion, which is standing over the bodies of slain\nenemies upon a rectangular pedestal, or block.\n\n\n\n\nAnd Ra said unto Thoth, \"Behold, Heru-Behutet is like unto a lion in\nhis lair [when] he is on the back of the enemy who have given unto him\ntheir tongues.\"\n\n\nAnd Thoth said, \"This domain shall be called 'Khent-abt,' and it shall\n[also] be called 'Tchalt' (or, Tchart) from this day onwards.  And the\nbringing of the tongues from the remote places of Tchalt (or, Tchart)\n[shall be commemorated] from this day onwards.  And this god shall be\ncalled 'Heru-Behutet, Lord of Mesent,' from this day onwards.\"\n\n\n\nAnd Ra said unto Heru-Behutet, \"Let us sail to the south up the river,\nand let us smite the enemies [who are] in the forms of crocodiles and\nhippopotami in the face of Egypt.\"\n\n\n\nAnd Heru-Behutet said, \"Thy divine Ka, O Ra, Lord of the gods!  Let us\nsail up the river against the remainder--one third--of the enemies who\nare in the water (or, river).\"  Then Thoth recited the Chapters of\nprotecting the Boat [of Ra] and the boats of the blacksmiths, [which he\nused] for making tranquil the sea at the moment when a storm was raging\non it.\n\nAnd Ra said unto Thoth, \"Have we not journeyed throughout the whole\nland?  Shall we not journey cover the whole sea in like manner?\"  And\nThoth said, \"This water shall be called the 'Sea of journeying,' from\nthis day onward.\"\n\nAnd they sailed about over the water during the night, and they did not\nsee any of those enemies at all.\n\nThen they made a journey forth and arrived in the country of Ta-\nsti,[FN#107] at the town of Shas-hertet, and he perceived the most able\nof their enemies in the country of Uaua,[FN#108] and they were uttering\ntreason against Horus their Lord.\n\n\n\n[FN#107]  Northern Nubia; the name means \"Land of the Bow.\"\n\n[FN#108]  A portion of Northern Nubia.\n\n\n\nAnd Heru-Behut changed his form into that of the Winged Disk, [and took\nhis place] above the bow of the Boat of Ra. And he made the goddess\nNekhebit[FN#109] and the goddess Uatchit[FN#110] to be with him in the\nform of serpents, so that they might make the Sebau fiends to quake in\n[all] their limbs (or, bodies).  Their boldness (i.e., that of the\nfiends) subsided through the fear of him, they made no resistance\nwhatsoever, and they died straightway.\n\n\n\n[FN#109]  The goddess of the South.\n\n[FN#110]  The goddess of the North.\n\n\n\nThen the gods who were in the following of the Boat of Heru-khuti said,\n\"Great, great is that which he hath done among them by means of the two\nSerpent Goddesses,[FN#111] for he hath overthrown the enemy by means of\ntheir fear of him.\"\n\n\n\n[FN#111]  i.e., Nekhebit and Uatchit.\n\n\n\nAnd Ra Heru-khuti said, \"The great one of the two Serpent Goddesses of\nHeru-Behutet shall be called 'Ur-Uatchti'[FN#112] from this day\nonwards.\"\n\n\n\n[FN#112]  \"Great one of the Two Uraei-goddesses;\" these goddesses had\ntheir places above the brow of the god, or at the right and left of the\nsolar disk.\n\n\n\nXIX.  And Heru-khuti travelled on in his boat, and landed at the city\nof Thes-Heru (Apollinopolis Magna).  And Thoth said, \"The being of\nlight who hath come forth from the horizon hath smitten the enemy in\nthe form which he hath made, and he shall be called Being of light who\nhath come forth from the horizon from this day onwards.\"[FN#113]\n\n\n\n[FN#113]  In the sculpture (Naville, Mythe, pl. 19) we see the god, who\nis hawk-headed, and wears the crowns of the South and North, seated in\na shrine set upon a pedestal.  In the right hand he holds the sceptre\nand in the left the ankh.\n\n\n\nAnd Ra Heru-khuti (Ra Harmachis) said to Thoth, \"Thou shalt make this\nWinged Disk to be in every place wherein I seat myself (or, dwell), and\nin [all] the seats of the gods in the South, and in [all] the seats of\nthe gods in the Land of the North . . . . . . . in the Country of\nHorus, that it may drive away the evil ones from their domains.\"\n\nThen Thoth made the image of the Winged Disk to be in every sanctuary\nand in every temple, where they now are, wherein are all the gods and\nall the goddesses from this day onwards.  Now through the Winged Disk\nwhich is on the temple-buildings of all the gods and all the goddesses\nof the Land of the Lily,[FN#114] and the Land of the Papyrus,[FN#115]\n[these buildings] become shrines of Heru-Behutet.\n\n\n\n[FN#114]  i.e., the North, especially the Delta.\n\n[FN#115]  i.e., the South.\n\n\n\nAs concerning Heru-Behutet, the great god, the lord of heaven, the\npresident of the Ater of the South,[FN#116] he it is who is made to be\non the right hand.  This is Heru-Behutet on whom the goddess Nekhebit\nis placed in the form of a serpent (or, uraeus).  As concerning Heru-\nBehutet, the great god, the lord of heaven, the lord of Mesent, the\npresident of the Ater of the North,[FN#117] he it is who is made to be\non the left hand.  This Heru-Behutet on whom the goddess Uatchit is\nplaced is in the form of a serpent.\n\n\n\n[FN#116]  i.e., the southern half of heaven.\n\n[FN#117]  i.e., the northern half of heaven.\n\n\n\nAs concerning Heru-Behutet, the great god, the lord of heaven, the lord\nof Mesent, the president of the two Aterti of the South and North, Ra\nHeru-khuti set it (i.e., the Winged Disk) in his every place, to\noverthrow the enemies in every place wherein they are.  And he shall be\ncalled President of the two Aterti of the South and North because of\nthis from this day onwards.[FN#118]\n\n\n\n[FN#118]  In the sculpture which illustrates this portion of the text\nat Edfu, two Winged Disks are represented.  The first has #### on each\nside of it.  The disk has an uraeus on each side.  The second winged\nsymbol of the god consists of a beetle with outstretched wings, which\nholds between his forelegs the solar disk, and between his hind legs\nthe symbol of the orbit of the sun.\n\n\n\n\n\nA HYMN TO OSIRIS AND A LEGEND OF THE ORIGIN OF HORUS.\n\n\n\nHomage to thee, Osiris, Lord of eternity, King of the gods, whose names\nare manifold, whose transformations are sublime, whose form is hidden\nin the temples whose Ka is holy, the Governor of Tetut,[FN#119] the\nmighty one of possessions (?)in the shrine,[FN#120] the Lord of\npraises[FN#121] in the nome of Anetch,[FN#122] President of the tchefa\nfood in Anu,[FN#123] Lord who art commemorated in [the town of]\nMaati,[FN#124] the mysterious (or, hidden) Soul, the Lord of\nQerret,[FN#125] the sublime one in White Wall,[FN#126] the Soul of Ra\n[and] his very body, who hast thy dwelling in Henensu,[FN#127] the\nbeneficent one, who art praised in Nart,[FN#128] who makest to rise up\nthy Soul, Lord of the Great House in the city[FN#129] of the Eight\nGods,[FN#130] [who inspirest] great terror in Shas-hetep,[FN#131] Lord\nof eternity, Governor of Abtu (Abydos).\n\n\n\n[FN#119]  More fully Pa-Asar-neb-Tetut, the Busiris of the Greeks;\nBusiris = Pa-Asar, \"House of Osiris,\" par excellence.  The variant\nTataut also occurs.\n\n[FN#120]  An allusion, perhaps, to the town Sekhem, the capital of the\nsecond nome (Letopolites) of Lower Egypt.\n\n[FN#121]  i.e., lord whose praises are sung.\n\n[FN#122]  Letopolites.\n\n[FN#123]  Heliopolis.\n\n[FN#124]  i.e., a famous sanctuary in the Letopolite nome where Ptah\nwas worshipped.\n\n[FN#125]  The region of the First Cataract, where the Nile was believed\nto rise.\n\n[FN#126]  Memphis.\n\n[FN#127]  Herakleopolis, the {hbw XaNeS} of Isaiah.\n\n[FN#128]  A name of Herakleopolis.\n\n[FN#129]  Khemenu or Hermopolis, the city of Thoth.\n\n[FN#130]  These gods were: Nu and Nut; Hehu and Hehut; Kekui and\nKekuit; Kerh and Kerhet.\n\n[FN#131]  The capital of Set, the eleventh nome of Upper Egypt; the\nchief local deity was Khnemu.\n\n\n\nThy seat (or, domain) reacheth far into Ta-tchesert,[FN#132] and thy\nname is firmly stablished in the mouth[s] of men.  Thou art the two-\nfold substance of the Two Lands[FN#133] everywhere (?), and the divine\nfood (tchef) of the Kau,[FN#134] the Governor of the Companies[FN#135]\nof the Gods, and the beneficent (or, perfect) Spirit-soul[FN#136] among\nSpirit-souls.  The god Nu draweth his waters from thee,[FN#137] and\nthou bringest forth the north wind at eventide, and wind from thy\nnostrils to the satisfaction of thy heart.  Thy heart flourisheth, and\nthou bringest forth the splendour of tchef food.\n\n\n\n[FN#132]  A name of the Other World.\n\n[FN#133]  i.e., the two Egypts, Upper and Lower.\n\n[FN#134]  The Doubles of the beatified who are fed by Osiris in the\nOther World.\n\n[FN#135]  Three Companies are distinguished: the gods of Heaven, the\ngods of Earth, and the gods of the Other World.\n\n[FN#136]  The indestructible, immortal Spirit-soul as opposed to the\nBa-soul or animal-soul.\n\n\n[FN#137]  Here and in other places I have changed the pronoun of the\nthird person into that of the second to avoid the abrupt changes of the\noriginal.\n\n\n\nThe height of heaven and the stars [thereof] are obedient unto thee,\nand thou makest to be opened the great gates [of the sky].  Thou art\nthe lord to whom praises are sung in the southern heaven, thou art he\nto whom thanks are given in the northern heaven.  The stars which never\ndiminish are under the place of thy face,[FN#138] and thy seats are the\nstars which never rest.[FN#139]  Offerings appear before thee by the\ncommand of Keb.  The Companies of the Gods ascribe praise unto thee,\nthe Star-gods of the Tuat smell the earth before thee,[FN#140] the\ndomains [make] bowings [before thee], and the ends of the earth make\nsupplication to thee [when] they see thee.\n\n\n\n[FN#138]  i.e., they are under thy inspection and care.\n\n[FN#139]  i.e., the stars which never set.  The allusion is probably to\ncertain circumpolar stars.\n\n[FN#140]  i.e., do homage.\n\n\n\nThose who are among the holy ones are in terror of him, and the Two\nLands, all of them, make acclamations to him when they meet His\nMajesty.  Thou art a shining Noble at the head of the nobles, permanent\nin [thy] high rank, stablished in [thy] sovereignty, the beneficent\nPower of the Company of the Gods.  Well-pleasing [is thy] face, and\nthou art beloved by him that seeth thee.  Thou settest the fear of thee\nin all lands, and because of their love for thee [men] hold thy name to\nbe pre-eminent.  Every man maketh offerings unto thee, and thou art the\nLord who is commemorated in heaven and upon earth.  Manifold are the\ncries of acclamation to thee in the Uak[FN#141] festival, and the Two\nLands shout joyously to thee with one accord.  Thou art the eldest, the\nfirst of thy brethren, the Prince of the Company of the Gods, and the\nstablisher of Truth throughout the Two Lands.  Thou settest [thy] son\nupon the great throne of his father Keb.  Thou art the beloved one of\nthy mother Nut, whose valour is most mighty [when] thou overthrowest\nthe Seba Fiend.  Thou hast slaughtered thy enemy, and hast put the fear\nof thee into thy Adversary.\n\n\n\n[FN#141]  One of the chief festivals of Osiris, during which the god\nmade a periplus.\n\n\n\nThou art the bringer in of the remotest boundaries, and art stable of\nheart, and thy two feet are lifted up (?); thou art the heir of Keb and\nof the sovereignty of the Two Lands, and he (i.e., Keb) hath seen thy\nsplendid qualities, and hath commanded thee to guide the lands (i.e.,\nthe world) by thy hand so long as times [and seasons] endure.\n\nThou hast made this earth with thy hand, the waters thereof, the winds\nthereof, the trees and herbs thereof, the cattle thereof of every kind,\nthe birds thereof of every kind, the fish thereof of every kind, the\ncreeping things thereof, and the four-footed beasts thereof. The land\nof the desert[FN#142] belongeth by right to the son of Nut, and the Two\nLands have contentment in making him to rise[FN#143] upon the throne of\nhis father like Ra.\n\n\n\n[FN#142]  This may also represent the mountainous districts of Egypt,\nor even foreign countries in general.\n\n[FN#143]  To make him rise like the sun, or to enthrone him.\n\n\n\nThou rollest up into the horizon, thou settest the light above the\ndarkness, thou illuminest [the Two Lands] with the light from thy two\nplumes, thou floodest the Two Lands like the Disk at the beginning of\nthe dawn.  Thy White Crown pierceth the height of heaven saluting the\nstars,[FN#144] thou art the guide of every god.  Thou art\nperfect[FN#145] in command and word.  Thou art the favoured one of the\nGreat Company of the Gods, and thou art the beloved one of the Little\nCompany of the Gods.\n\n\n\n[FN#144]  Or, \"becoming a brother to the stars,\" or the Star-gods.\n\n[FN#145]  Or, beneficent.\n\n\n\nThy sister [Isis] acted as a protectress to thee. She drove [thy]\nenemies away, she averted seasons [of calamity from thee], she recited\nthe word (or, formula) with the magical power of her mouth, [being]\nskilled of tongue and never halting for a word, being perfect in\ncommand and word.  Isis the magician avenged her brother.  She went\nabout seeking for him untiringly.\n\nShe flew round and round over this earth uttering wailing cries of\ngrief, and she did not alight on the ground until she had found him.\nShe made light [to come forth] from her feathers, she made air to come\ninto being by means of her two wings, and she cried out the death cries\nfor her brother.  She made to rise up the helpless members of him whose\nheart was at rest, she drew from him his essence, and she made\ntherefrom an heir.  She suckled the child in solitariness and none knew\nwhere his place was, and he grew in strength.  His hand is mighty (or,\nvictorious) within the house of Keb, and the Company of the Gods\nrejoice greatly at the coming of Horus, the son of Osiris, whose heart\nis firmly stablished, the triumphant one, the son of Isis, the flesh\nand bone of Osiris.  The Tchatcha[FN#146] of Truth, and the Company of\nthe Gods, and Neb-er-tcher[FN#147] himself, and the Lords of Truth,\ngather together to him, and assemble therein.[FN#148]  Verily those who\ndefeat iniquity rejoice[FN#149] in the House of Keb to bestow the\ndivine rank and dignity upon him to whom it belongeth, and the\nsovereignty upon him whose it is by right.\n\n\n\n[FN#146]  Literally, the \"Heads,\" I.e., the divine sovereign Chiefs at\nthe court of Osiris, who acted as administrators of the god, and even\nas task-masters.\n\n[FN#147]  \"He who is the lord to the end (or, limit) of the world,\" a\nname of Osiris.\n\n[FN#148]  i.e., in the House of Keb.\n\n[FN#149]  Or perhaps \"take their seats in the House of Keb.\"\n\n\n\n\nA LEGEND OF PTAH NEFER-HETEP AND THE PRINCESS OF BEKHTEN.\n\n\n\nThe Horus: \"Mighty Bull, the form(?) of risings[FN#150], stablished in\nsovereignty like Tem.\" The Golden Horus: \"Mighty one of\nstrength[FN#151], destroyer of the Nine Nations of the Bow.\"[FN#152]\nKing of the South and North: \"The Lord of the Two Lands, User-Maat-Ra-\nsetep-en-Ra Son of Ra: Of his body, Ra-meses-meri-Amen, of Amen-\nRa;[FN#153] the Lord of the thrones of the Two Lands, and of the\nCompany of the Gods, the Lords of Thebes, the beloved one.  The\nbeneficent god, the son of Amen, born of Mut, begotten of Heru-khuti,\nthe glorious offspring of Neb-tchert,[FN#154] begetting [as] the Bull\nof his Mother, [FN#155] king of Egypt, Governor of the deserts, the\nSovereign who hath taken possession of the Nine Nations of the Bow;\n[who] on coming forth from the womb ordained mighty things, who gave\ncommands whilst he was in the egg, the Bull, stable of heart, who hath\nsent forth his seed; the king who is a bull, [and] a god who cometh\nforth on the day of battle like Menthu,[FN#156] the mighty one of\nstrength like the son of Nut.\"[FN#157]\n\n\n\n[FN#150]  i.e., the image who rises like the sun day by day, or the\nimage of [many] crowns.\n\n[FN#151]  Or, mighty one of the thigh, i.e., he of the mighty thigh.\n\n[FN#152]  The nations of Nubia who fought with bows and arrows.\n\n[FN#153]  In this version of the protocol of Rameses II. the second\n\"strong name\" of the king is omitted.\n\n[FN#154]  i.e., Neb-er-tcher.\n\n[FN#155]  Ka-mut-f, the {greek kamh^fic} of the Greeks.\n\n[FN#156]  The War-god of Thebes.\n\n[FN#157]  i.e., Osiris.\n\n\n\nBehold, His Majesty was in the country of Neheru[FN#158] according to\nhis custom every year, and the chiefs of every land, even as far as the\nswamps, came [to pay] homage, bearing offerings to the Souls of His\nMajesty; and they brought their gifts, gold, lapis-lazuli, turquoise,\nbars of wood of every kind of the Land of the God,[FN#159] on their\nbacks, and each one surpassed his neighbour.\n\n\n\n\n[FN#158]  The \"country of the rivers,\" the {hbw AaRam NaHaRaYim} of\nGen. xxiv. 10, the #### of Syrian writers.\n\n[FN#159]  A name including Western Asia and a portion of the East Coast\nof Africa.\n\n\n\nAnd the Prince of Bekhten [also] caused his gifts to be brought, and he\nset his eldest daughter at the head of them all, and he addressed words\nof praise to His Majesty, and prayed to him for his life.  And the\nmaiden was beautiful, and His Majesty considered her to be the most\nlovely [woman] in the world, and he wrote down as her title, \"Great\nRoyal Wife, Ra-neferu\"; and when His Majesty arrived in Egypt, he did\nfor her whatsoever was done for the Royal Wife.\n\nOn the twenty-second day of the second month of the season of\nShemu,[FN#160] in the fifteenth year [of his reign], behold, His\nMajesty was in Thebes, the Mighty [city], the Mistress of cities,\nperforming the praises of Father Amen, the Lord of the thrones of the\nTwo Lands, in his beautiful Festival of the Southern Apt,[FN#161] which\nwas the seat of his heart (i.e., the chosen spot) from primaeval time,\n[when] one came to say to His Majesty, \"An ambassador of the Prince of\nBekhten hath arrived bearing many gifts for the Royal Wife.\"\n\n\n\n[FN#160]  The summer.  The Copts called the second month of this season\nPaoni.\n\n\n[FN#161]  The modern Temple of Luxor.\n\n\n\nAnd having been brought into the presence of His Majesty with his\ngifts, he spake words of adoration to His Majesty, saying, \"Praise be\nunto thee, O thou Sun (Ra) of the Nine Nations of the Bow, permit us to\nlive before thee!\"  And when he had spoken, and had smelt the earth\nbefore His Majesty, he continued his speech before His Majesty, saying,\n\"I have come unto thee, my King and Lord, on behalf of Bent-Resht, the\nyounger sister of the Royal Wife Ra-neferu.  [Some] disease hath\npenetrated into her members, and I beseech Thy Majesty to send a man of\nlearning to see her.\"\n\n\nAnd His Majesty said, \"Bring to me the magicians (or, scribes) of the\nHouse of Life, and the nobles of the palace.\"  And having been brought\ninto his presence straightway, His Majesty said unto them, \"Behold, I\nhave caused you to be summoned [hither] in order that ye may hear this\nmatter.  Now bring to me [one] of your company whose heart is\nwise[FN#162], and whose fingers are deft.\"  And the royal scribe\nTehuti-em-heb came into the presence of His Majesty, and His Majesty\ncommanded him to depart to Bekhten with that ambassador.\n\n\n\n[FN#162]  Or, a skilled craftsman.\n\n\n\n\nAnd when the man of learning had arrived in Bekhten, he found Bent-\nResht in the condition of a woman who is possessed by a spirit, and he\nfound 12 this spirit to be an evil one, and to be hostile in his\ndisposition towards him.\n\nAnd the Prince of Bekhten sent a messenger a second time into the\npresence of His Majesty, saying, \"O King, my Lord, I pray His (i.e.,\nThy) Majesty to command that a god be brought hither to contend\nagainst the spirit.\"\n\n\nNow when the messenger came to His Majesty in the first month[FN#163]\nof the season of Shemu, in the twenty-sixth year [of his reign], on the\nday which coincided with that of the Festival of Amen, His Majesty was\nin the palace (or, temple?) of Thebes.  And His Majesty spake a second\ntime[FN#164] in the presence of Khensu in Thebes, [called] \"Nefer-\nHetep,\" saying, \"O my fair Lord, I present myself before thee a second\ntime on behalf of the daughter of the Prince of Bekhten.\"  Then Khensu,\nin Thebes, [called] \"Nefer-Hetep\", was carried to Khensu, [called] \"Pa-\nari-sekher,\" the great god who driveth away the spirits which attack.\nAnd His Majesty spake before Khensu in Thebes, [called] \"Nefer-Hetep,\"\nsaying, \"O my fair Lord, if thou wilt give (i.e., turn) thy face to\nKhensu, [called] 'Pa-ari-sekher,' the great god who driveth away the\nspirits which attack, permit thou that he may depart to Bekhten;\" [and\nthe god] inclined his head with a deep inclination twice.  And His\nMajesty said, \"Let, I pray, thy protective (or, magical) power [go]\nwith him, so that I may make His Majesty to go to Bekhten to deliver\nthe daughter of the Prince of Bekhten [from the spirit].\"\n\n\n\n[FN#163]  The month Pakhon of the Copts.\n\n[FN#164]  The text makes no mention of the first application to Khensu.\n\n\n\n\nAnd Khensu in Thebes, [called] \"Nefer-Hetep,\" inclined his head with a\ndeep inclination twice.  And he made [his] protective power to pass\ninto Khensu, [called] \"Pa-ari-sekher-em-Uast,\" in a fourfold measure.\nThen His Majesty commanded that Khensu, [called] \"Pa-ari-sekher-em-\nUast,\" should set out on his journey in a great boat, [accompanied by]\nfive smaller boats, and chariots, and a large number of horses [which\nmarched] on the right side and on the left.\n\n\nAnd when this god arrived in Bekhten at the end of a period of one year\nand five months, the Prince of Bekhten came forth with his soldiers and\nhis chief[s] before Khensu, [called] \"Pa-ari-sekher,\" and he cast\nhimself down upon his belly, saying, \"Thou hast come to us, and thou\nart welcomed by us, by the commands of the King of the South and North,\nUser-Maat-Ra-setep-en-Ra!\"\n\n\nAnd when this god had passed over to the place where Bent-Resht was, he\nworked upon the daughter of the Prince of Bekhten with his magical\npower, and she became better (i.e., was healed) straightway.  And this\nspirit which had been with her said, in the presence of Khensu,\n[called] \"Pa-ari-sekher-em-Uast,\" \"Come in peace (i.e., Welcome!), O\ngreat god, who dost drive away the spirits which attack!  Bekhten is\nthy city, the people thereof, both men and women, are thy (servants,\nand I myself am thy servant.  I will [now] depart unto the place whence\nI came, so that I may cause thy heart to be content about the matter\nconcerning which thou hast come.  I pray that Thy Majesty will command\nthat a happy day (i.e., a festival, or day of rejoicing) be made with\nme, and with the Prince of Bekhten.\"  And this god inclined his head\n[in approval] to his priest, saying, \"Let the Prince of Bekhten make a\ngreat offering in the (presence of this spirit.\"\n\nNow whilst Khensu, [called] \"Pa-ari-sekher-em-Uast,\" was arranging\nthese [things] with the spirit, the Prince of Bekhten and his soldiers\nwere standing there, and they feared with an exceedingly great fear.\nAnd the Prince of Bekhten made a great offering in the presence of\nKhensu, [called] \"Pa-ari-sekher-em-Uast,\" and the spirit of the Prince\nof Bekhten, and he made a happy day (i.e., festival) on their behalf,\nand [then] the spirit departed in peace unto the place which he loved,\nby the command of Khensu, [called] \"Pa-ari-sekher-em-Uast.\"  And the\nPrince of Bekhten, and every person who was in the country of Bekhten,\nrejoiced very greatly, and he took counsel with his heart, saying, \"It\nhath happened that this god hath been given as a gift to Bekhten, and I\nwill not permit him to depart to Egypt.\"\n\n\nAnd [when] this god had tarried for three years and nine months in\nBekhten, the Prince of Bekhten, who was lying down asleep on his bed,\nsaw this god come forth outside his shrine (now he was in the form of a\ngolden hawk), and he flew up into the heavens and departed to Egypt;\nand when the Prince woke up he was trembling.  And he said unto the\nprophet of Khensu, [called] \"Pa-ari-sekher-em-Uast,\" \"This god who\ntarried with us hath departed to Egypt; let his chariot also depart to\nEgypt.\"\n\n\nAnd the Prince of Bekhten permitted [the image of] the god to set out\nfor Egypt, and he gave him many great gifts of beautiful things of all\nkinds, and a large number of soldiers and horses [went with him].  And\nwhen they had arrived in peace in Thebes, Khensu, [called] \"Pa-ari-\nsekher-em-Uast,\" went into the Temple of Khensu in Thebes, [called]\n\"Nefer-Hetep,\" and he placed the offerings which the Prince of Bekhten\nhad given unto him, beautiful things of all kinds, before Khensu in\nThebes, [called] \"Nefer-Hetep,\" and he gave nothing thereof whatsoever\nto his [own] temple.\n\n\nThus Khensu, [called] \"Pa-ari-sekher-em-Uast,\" arrived in his temple in\npeace, on the nineteenth day of the second month[FN#165] of the season\nPert, in the thirty-third year of the [reign of the] King of the South\nand North, User-Maat-en-Ra-setep-en-Ra, the giver of life, like Ra, for\never.\n\n\n\n\n[FN#165]  The month Mekhir of the Copts; the season Pert is the\nEgyptian spring.\n\n\n\n\n\nA LEGEND OF THE GOD KHNEMU AND OF A SEVEN YEARS' FAMINE.\n\n\n\n\nIn the eighteenth year of the Horus, Neter-Khat, of the King of the\nSouth and North, Neter-Khat, of the Lord of the Shrines of Uatchit and\nNekhebit, Neter-Khat, of the Golden Horus Tcheser,[FN#166] when Matar\nwas Ha Prince, and Erpa, and Governor of the temple-cities in the Land\nof the South, and director of the Khenti[FN#167] folk in Abtu,[FN#168]\nthere was brought unto him the following royal despatch: \"This is to\ninform thee that misery hath laid hold upon me [as I sit] upon the\ngreat throne by reason of those who dwell in the Great House.[FN#169]\nMy heart is grievously afflicted by reason of the exceedingly great evil\n[which hath happened] because Hapi (i.e., the Nile) hath not come\nforth[FN#170] in my time to the [proper] height for seven years.  Grain\nis very scarce, vegetables are lacking altogether, every kind of thing\nwhich men eat for their food hath ceased, and every man [now] plundereth\n\"his neighbour.  Men wish to walk, but are unable to move, the child\nwaileth, the young man draggeth his limbs along, and the hearts of the\naged folk are crushed with despair; their legs give way under them, and\nthey sink down to the ground, and their hands are laid upon their bodies\n[in pain].  The shennu[FN#171] nobles are destitute of counsel, and\n[when] the storehouses which should contain supplies are opened, there\ncometh forth therefrom nothing but wind.  Everything is in a state of\nruin.  My mind hath remembered, going back to former time, when I had an\nadvocate, to the time of the gods, and of the Ibis-god, and of the chief\nKher-heb priest I-em-hetep,[FN#172] the son of Ptah of his Southern\nWall.\"\n\n\n\n[FN#166]  Tcheser was a king of the IIIrd Dynasty, and is famous as the\nbuilder of the Step Pyramid at Sakkarah.  His tomb was discovered by\nMr. J. Garstang at Bet Khallaf in Upper Egypt in 1901.\n\n\n[FN#167]  i.e., the people who were in front of, that is, to the South\nof Egypt, or the population of the country which lies between Dakkah\nand Aswan.\n\n\n[FN#168]  The ancient Egyptian name for Elephantine Island, which\nappears to have gained this name because it resembled an elephant in\nshape.\n\n\n[FN#169]  i.e., the palace.\n\n\n[FN#170]  i.e., risen.\n\n[FN#171]  i.e., the high court officials and administrators.\n\n[FN#172]  The famous priest and magician, who was subsequently deified\nand became one of the chief gods of Memphis.\n\n\n\n\"Where is the place of birth of Hapi (the Nile)? What god, or what\ngoddess, presideth (?) over it?  What manner of form hath he?  It is he\nwho stablisheth revenue for me, and a full store of grain.  I would go\nto the Chief of Het-Sekhet[FN#173] whose beneficence strengtheneth all\nmen in their works.  I would enter into the House of Life,[FN#174] I\nwould unfold the written rolls [therein], and I would lay my hand upon\nthem.\"\n\n\n\n[FN#173]  Hermopolis.\n\n\n[FN#174]  Per-ankh, or Pa-ankh, was a name given to one of the temple-\ncolleges of priests and scribes.\n\n\n\n\nThen [Matar] set out on his journey, and he returned to me straightway.\nHe gave me instruction concerning the increase of Hapi,[FN#175] and\ntold me all things which men had written concerning it, and he revealed\nto me the secret doors (?) whereto my ancestors had betaken themselves\nquickly, the like of which has never been, to [any] king since the time\nof Ra, (?).  And he said unto me: \"There is a city in the middle of the\nstream wherefrom Hapi maketh his appearance; \"'Abu'[FN#176] was its\nname in the beginning; it is the City of the Beginning, and it is the\nNome of the City of the Beginning.  [It reacheth] to Uaua,[FN#177]\nwhich is the beginning of the land.  There is too a flight of\nsteps,[FN#178] which reareth itself to a great height, and is the\nsupport of Ra, when he maketh his calculation to prolong life to\neveryone; 'Netchemtchem Ankh'[FN#179] is the name of its abode.  'The\ntwo Qerti'[FN#180] is the name of the water, and they are the two\nbreasts from which every good thing cometh forth (?).\n\n\n\n\n\n\n[FN#175]  i.e., the Inundation, or Nile Flood.\n\n[FN#176]  The Elephant City, i.e., Elephantine.\n\n[FN#177]  A portion of Northern Nubia.\n\n[FN#178]  This is probably an allusion to the famous Nilometer on the\nIsland of Philae.\n\n[FN#179]  i.e., \"Sweet, sweet life.\"\n\n[FN#180]  The Qerti were the two openings through which the Nile\nentered this world from the great celestial ocean.\n\n\n\n\"Here is the bed of Hapi (the Nile), wherein he reneweth his youth [in\nhis season], wherein he causeth the flooding of the land.  He cometh\nand hath union as he journeyeth, as a man hath union with a woman.  And\nagain he playeth the part of a husband and satisfieth his desire.  He\nriseth to the height of twenty-eight cubits [at Abu], and he droppeth\nat Sma-Behutet[FN#181] to seven cubits.  The union(?) there is that of\nthe god Khnemu in [Abu. He smiteth the ground] with his sandals, and\n[its] fulness becometh abundant; he openeth the bolt of the door with\nhis hand, and he throweth open the double door of the opening through\nwhich the water cometh.\"\n\n\n\n[FN#181]  Diospolis of Lower Egypt, or \"Thebes of the North.\"\n\n\n\n\"Moreover, he dwelleth there in the form of the god Shu,[FN#182] as one\nwho is lord over his own territory, and his homestead, the name of\nwhich is 'Aa' (i.e., the 'Island').  There he keepeth an account of the\nproducts of the Land of the South and of the Land of the North, \"in\norder to give unto every god his proper share, and he leadeth to each\n[the metals], and the [precious stones, and the four-footed beasts],\nand the feathered fowl, and the fish, and every thing whereon they\nlive.  And the cord [for the measuring of the land] and the tablet\nwhereon the register is kept are there.\n\n\n\n[FN#182]  The god who separated the Sky-goddess Nut from the embrace of\nher husband, the Earth-god Keb, and who holds her above him each day.\n\n\n\n\n\"And there is an edifice of wood there, with the portals thereof formed\nof reeds, wherein he dwelleth as one who is over his own territory, and\nhe maketh the foliage of the trees (?) to serve as a roof.\n\n\n\"His God-house hath an opening towards the south-east, and Ra (or, the\nSun) standeth immediately opposite thereto every day.  The stream which\nfloweth along the south side thereof hath danger [for him that\nattacketh it], and it hath as a defence a wall which entereth into the\nregion of the men of Kens[FN#183] on the South.  Huge mountains [filled\nwith] masses of stone are round about its domain on the east side, and\nshut it in.  Thither come the quarrymen with things (tools?) of every\nkind, [when] they \"seek to build a House for any god in the Land of the\nSouth, or in the Land of the North, or [shrines] as abodes for sacred\nanimals, or royal pyramids, and statues of all kinds.  They stand up in\nfront of the House of the God and in the sanctuary chamber, and their\nsweet smelling offerings are presented before the face of the god\nKhnemu during his circuit, even as [when they bring] \"garden herbs and\nflowers of every kind.  The fore parts thereof are in Abu\n(Elephantine), and the hind parts are in the city of Sunt (?).[FN#184]\nOne portion thereof is on the east side[FN#185] of the river, and\nanother portion is on the west side[FN#186] of the river, and another\nportion is in the middle[FN#187] of the river.  The stream decketh the\nregion with its waters during a certain season of the year, and it is a\nplace of delight for every man.  And works are carried on among these\nquarries [which are] on the edges [of the river?], \"for the stream\nimmediately faceth this city of Abu itself, and there existeth the\ngranite, the substance whereof is hard (?); 'Stone of Abu' it is\ncalled.\n\n\n\n[FN#183]  Kens extended south from Philae as far as Korosko.\n\n[FN#184]  Perhaps Sunut, = the Syene of the Greeks, and the {hbw\nSuWeNeH} of the Hebrews.\n\n[FN#185]  i.e., Syene.\n\n[FN#186]  i.e., Contra Syene.\n\n[FN#187]  i.e., the Island of Elephantine.\n\n\n\n\n\"[Here is] a list of the names of the gods who dwell in the Divine\nHouse of Khnemu.  The goddess of the star Sept (Sothis), the goddess\nAnqet, Hap (the Nile-god), Shu, Keb, Nut, Osiris, Horus, Isis, and\nNephthys.\n\n\n\"[Here are] \"the names of the stones which lie in the heart of the\nmountains, some on the east side, some on the west side, and some in\n[the midst of] the stream of Abu.  They exist in the heart of Abu, they\nexist in the country on the east bank, and in the country on the west\nbank, and in the midst of the stream, namely, \"Bekhen-stone, Meri (or\nMeli)-stone, Atbekhab (?)-stone, Rakes-stone, and white Utshi-stone;\nthese are found on the east bank.  Per-tchani-stone is found on the\nwest bank, and the Teshi-stone in the river.\n\n\n\"[Here are] the names of the hard (or, hidden) precious stones, which\nare found in the upper side, among them being the . . . . . stone, the\nname[FN#188] of which hath spread abroad through [a space of] four atru\nmeasures: Gold, Silver, Copper, Iron, Lapis-lazuli, Emerald, Thehen\n(Crystal?), Khenem (Ruby), Kai, Mennu, Betka (?), Temi, Na (?).  The\nfollowing come forth from the fore part[FN#189] of the land: Mehi-\nstone, [He]maki-stone, Abheti-stone, iron ore, alabaster for statues,\nmother-of-emerald, antimony, seeds (or, gum) of the sehi plant, seeds\n(or, gum) of the amem plant, and seeds (or, gum) of the incense plant;\nthese are found in the fore parts of its double city.\"  These were the\nthings which I learned therefrom (i.e., from Matar).\n\n\n\n[FN#188]  i.e., the stone was very famous.\n\n[FN#189]  The \"fore part,\" or \"front,\" of the land means the country\nlying to the south of Nubia, and probably some part of the modern\nEgyptian Sudan.\n\n\n\n\nNow my heart was very happy when I heard these things, and I entered\ninto [the temple of Khnemu].  The overseers unrolled the documents\nwhich were fastened up, the water of purification was sprinkled [upon\nme], a progress was made [through] the secret places, and a great\noffering [consisting] of bread-cakes, beer, geese, oxen (or, bulls),\nand beautiful things of all kinds were offered to the gods and\ngoddesses who dwell in Abu, whose names are proclaimed at the place\n[which is called], \"Couch of the heart in life and power.\"\n\n\nAnd I found the God standing in front of me, and I made him to be at\npeace with me by means of the thank-offering which I offered unto him,\nand I made prayer and supplication before him.  Then he opened his\neyes, and his heart was inclined [to hear] me, and his words were\nstrong [when he said], \"I am Khnemu,[FN#190] who fashioned thee.  My\ntwo hands were about thee and knitted together thy body, and \"made\nhealthy thy members; and it is I who gave thee thy heart.  Yet the\nminerals (or, precious stones) [lie] under each other, [and they have\ndone so] from olden time, and no man hath worked them in order to build\nthe houses of the god, or to restore those which have fallen into ruin,\nor to hew out shrines for the gods of the South and of the North, or to\ndo what he ought to do for his lord, notwithstanding that I am the Lord\nand the Creator.\n\n\n\n[FN#190]  He was the \"builder of men, maker of the gods, the Father who\nwas from the beginning, the maker of things which are, the creator of\nthings which shall be, the source of things which exist, Father of\nfathers, Mother of mothers, Father of the fathers of the gods and\ngoddesses, lord of created things, maker of heaven, earth, Tuat, water\nand mountains\" (Lanzone, Dizionario, p. 957).\n\n\n\n\n\"I am [he] who created himself, Nu, the Great [God], who came into being\nat the beginning, [and] Hapi, who riseth according to his will, in\norder to give health to him that laboureth for me.  I am the Director\nand Guide of all men at their seasons, the Most Great, the Father of the\nGods, Shu, the Great One, the Chief of the Earth.  The two halves of the\nsky (i.e., the East and the West) are as a habitation below me.  A lake\nof water hath been poured out for me, [namely,] Hap (i.e., the Nile),\nwhich embraceth the field-land, and his embrace provideth the [means of]\nlife for \"21 every nose (i.e., every one), according to the extent of\nhis embrace of the field-land.  With old age [cometh] the condition of\nweakness.  I will make Hap (i.e., the Nile) rise for thee, and [in] no\nyear shall [he] fail, and he shall spread himself out in rest upon every\nland. Green plants and herbs and trees shall bow beneath [the weight of]\ntheir produce.  The goddess Renenet[FN#191] shall be at the head of\neverything, and every product shall increase by hundreds of thousands,\naccording to the cubit of the year.  The people shall be filled, verily\nto their hearts' desire, \"and everyone.  Misery shall pass away, and the\nemptiness of their store-houses of grain shall come to an end.  The land\nof Ta-Mert (i.e., Egypt) shall come to be a region of cultivated land,\nthe districts [thereof] shall be yellow with grain crops, and the grain\n[thereof] shall be goodly.  And fertility shall come according to the\ndesire [of the people], more than there hath ever been before.\"\n\n\n\n[FN#191]  The goddess of the harvest.\n\n\n\n\n\nThen I woke up at [the mention of] crops, my heart (or, courage) came\n[back], and was equal to my [former] despair, and I made the following\ndecree in the temple of my father Khnemu:--\n\n\nThe king giveth an offering to Khnemu[FN#192] the Lord of the city of\nQebhet,[FN#193] the Governor of Ta-Sti,[FN#194] in return for those\nthings which thou hast done for me. There shall be given unto thee on\nthy right hand [the river bank] of Manu,[FN#195] and on thy left hand\nthe river bank of Abu, together with the land about the city, for a\nspace of twenty measures,[FN#196] on the east side and on the west\nside, with the gardens, and the river front \"everywhere throughout the\nregion included in these measures.  From every husbandman who tilleth\nthe ground, and maketh to live again the slain, and placeth water upon\nthe river banks and all the islands which are in front of the region of\nthese measures, shall be demanded a further contribution from the\ngrowing crops and from every storehouse, as \"thy share.\n\n\n\n[FN#192]  Or perhaps, Khnemu-Ra.\n\n\n[FN#193]  Qebhet is the name given to the whole region of the First\nCataract.\n\n\n[FN#194]  The \"Land of the Bow,\" i.e., the Northern Sudan.\n\n\n[FN#195]  The Land of the setting sun, the West.\n\n[FN#196]  Schoinos.\n\n\n\n\n\"Whatsoever is caught in the nets by every fisherman and by every\nfowler, and whatsoever is taken by the catchers of fish, and by the\nsnarers of birds, and by every hunter of wild animals, and by every man\nwho snareth lions in the mountains, when these things enter [the city]\none tenth of them shall be demanded.\n\n\n\"And of all the calves which are cast throughout the regions which are\nincluded in these measures, one tenth of their number \"shall be set\napart as animals which are sealed for all the burnt offerings which are\noffered up daily.\n\n\"And, moreover, the gift of one tenth shall be levied upon the gold,\nivory, ebony, spices, carnelians (?), sa wood, seshes spice, dum palm\nfruit (?), nef wood, and upon woods and products of every kind\nwhatsoever, which the Khentiu, [FN#197] and the Khentiu of Hen-\nResu,[FN#198] and the Egyptians, and every person whatsoever [shall\nbring in].\n\n\n\n\n[FN#197]  The inhabitants of the Northern Sudan, probably as far to the\nsouth as Napata.\n\n[FN#198]  The people of the Island of Mero\u00eb, and probably those living\non the Blue and White Niles.\n\n\n\n\n\"And [every] hand shall pass them by, and no officer of the revenue\nwhatsoever shall utter a word beyond these places to demand (or, levy\non) things from them, or to take things over and above [those which are\nintended for] thy capital city.\n\n\n\"And I will give unto thee the land belonging to the city, which\nbeareth stones, and good land for cultivation. Nothing thereof shall be\n[diminished] or withheld, \"of all these things in order to deceive the\nscribes, and the revenue officers, and the inspectors of the king, on\nwhom it shall be incumbent to certify everything.\n\n\n\"And further, I will cause the masons, and the hewers of ore (?), and\nthe workers in metal, and the smelters (?) of gold, and the sculptors\nin stone, \"and the ore-crushers, and the furnace-men (?), and\nhandicraftsmen of every kind whatsoever, who work in hewing, and\ncutting, and polishing these stones, and in gold, and silver, and\ncopper, and lead, and every worker in wood who shall cut down any tree,\nor carry on a trade of any kind, or work which is connected with the\nwood trade, to \"pay tithe upon all the natural products (?), and also\nupon the hard stones which are brought from their beds above, and\nquarried stones of all kinds.\n\n\n\"And there shall be an inspector over the weighing of the gold, and\nsilver, and copper, and real (i.e., precious) stones, and the [other]\nthings, which the metal-workers require for the House of Gold, \"and the\nsculptors of the images of the gods need in the making and repairing of\nthem, and [these things] shall be exempted from tithing, and the\nworkmen also.  And everything shall be delivered (or, given) in front\nof the storehouse to their children, a second time, for the protection\nof everything.  And whatsoever is before thy God-house shall be in\nabundance, just as it hath ever been from the earliest time.\n\n\n\"And a copy of this decree shall be inscribed upon a stele, [which\nshall be set up] in the holy place, according to the writing of the\n[original] document which is cut upon wood, and [figures of] this god\nand the overseers of the temple shall be [cut] thereon.  Whosoever\nshall spit upon that which is on it shall be admonished by the rope.\nAnd the overseers of the priests, and every overseer of the people of\nthe House of the God, shall ensure the perpetuation of my name in the\nHouse of the god Khnemu-Ra, the lord of Abu (Elephantine), for ever.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE LEGEND OF THE DEATH OF HORUS THROUGH THE STING OF A SCORPION AND OF\nHIS RESURRECTION THROUGH THOTH, AND OTHER MAGICAL TEXTS.\n\n\n\n\nI.--INCANTATIONS AGAINST REPTILES AND NOXIOUS CREATURES IN GENERAL.\n\n\n\n\n\nGet thee back, Apep, thou enemy of Ra, thou winding serpent in the form\nof an intestine, without arms [and] without legs.  Thy body cannot\nstand upright so that thou mayest have therein being, long is\nthy[FN#199] tail in front of thy den, thou enemy; retreat before Ra.\nThy head shall be cut off, and the slaughter of thee shall be carried\nout.  Thou shalt not lift up thy face, for his (i.e., Ra's) flame is in\nthy accursed soul.  The odour which is in his chamber of slaughter is\nin thy members, and thy form shall be overthrown by the slaughtering\nknife of the great god.  The spell of the Scorpion-goddess Serq driveth\nback thy might.  Stand still, stand still, and retreat through her\nspell.\n\n\n\n[FN#199]  Literally, \"his.\"\n\n\n\n\n\nBe vomited, O poison, I adjure thee to come forth on the earth.  Horus\nuttereth a spell over thee, Horus hacketh thee in pieces, he spitteth\nupon thee; thou shalt not rise up towards heaven, but shalt totter\ndownwards, O feeble one, without strength, cowardly, unable to fight,\nblind, without eyes, and with thine head turned upside down.  Lift not\nup thy face.  Get thee back quickly, and find not the way.  Lie down in\ndespair, rejoice not, retreat speedily, and show not thy face because\nof the speech of Horus, who is perfect in words of power.  The poison\nrejoiced, [but] the heart[s] of many were very sad thereat.  Horus hath\nsmitten it with his magical spells, and he who was in sorrow is [now]\nin joy.  Stand still then, O thou who art in sorrow, [for] Horus hath\nbeen endowed with life.  He coineth charged, appearing himself to\noverthrow the Sebiu fiends which bite.  All men when they see Ra praise\nthe son of Osiris.  Get thee back, Worm, and draw out thy poison which\nis in all the members of him that is under the knife.  Verily the might\nof the word of power of Horus is against thee. Vomit thou, O Enemy, get\nthee back, O poison.\n\n\n\n\n\n9. THE CHAPTER OF CASTING A SPELL ON THE CAT.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nRecite [the following formula]:--\n\n\"Hail, Ra, come to thy daughter!  A scorpion hath stung her on a\nlonely road.  Her cry hath penetrated the heights of heaven, and is\nheard along the paths.  The poison hath entered into her body, and\ncirculateth through her flesh.  She hath set her mouth against\nit;[FN#200] verily the poison is in her members.\n\n\n\n[FN#200]  i.e., she hath directed her words against it.\n\n\n\n\n\"Come then with thy strength, with thy fierce attack, and with thy red\npowers, and force it to be hidden before thee.  Behold, the poison hath\nentered into all the members of this Cat which is under my fingers.  Be\nnot afraid, be not afraid, my daughter, my splendour, [for] I have set\nmyself near (or, behind) thee.  I have overthrown the poison which is\nin all the limbs of this Cat.  O thou Cat, thy head is the head of Ra,\nthe Lord of the Two Lands, the smiter of the rebellious peoples.\nThy[FN#201] fear is in all lands, O Lord of the living, Lord of\neternity.  O thou Cat, thy two eyes are the Eye of the Lord of the Khut\nuraeus, who illumineth the Two Lands with his Eye, and illumineth the\nface on the path of darkness.  O thou Cat, thy nose is the nose of\nThoth, the Twice Great, Lord of Khemenu (Hermopolis), the Chief of the\nTwo Lands of Ra, who putteth breath into the nostrils of every person.\nO thou Cat, thine ears are the ears of Nebertcher, who hearkeneth unto\nthe voice of all persons when they appeal to him, and weigheth words\n(i.e., judgeth) in all the earth.  O thou Cat, thy mouth is the mouth\nof Tem, the Lord of life, the uniter (?) of creation, who hath caused\nthe union (?) of creation; he shall deliver thee from every poison.  O\nthou Cat, thy neck (nehebt) is the neck of Neheb-ka, President of the\nGreat House, vivifier of men and women by means of the mouth of his two\narms.  O thou Cat, thy breast is the breast of Thoth, the Lord of\nTruth, who hath given to thee breath to refresh (?) thy throat, and\nhath given breath to that which is therein.  O thou Cat, thy heart is\nthe heart of the god Ptah, who healeth thy heart of the evil poison\nwhich is in all thy limbs.  O thou Cat, thy hands 25 are the hands of\nthe Great Company of the gods and the Little Company of the gods, and\nthey shall deliver thy hand from the poison from the mouth of every\nserpent.  O thou Cat, thy belly is the belly of Osiris, Lord of\nBusiris, the poison shall not work any of its wishes in thy belly.  O\nthou Cat, thy thighs are the thighs of the god Menthu, who shall make\nthy thighs to stand up, and shall bring the poison to the ground.  O\nthou Cat, thy leg-bones are the leg-bones of Khensu,[FN#202] who\ntravelleth over all the Two Lands by day and by night, and shall lead\nthe poison to the ground.  O thou Cat, thy legs (or, feet) are the legs\nof Amen the Great, Horus, Lord of Thebes, who shall stablish thy feet\non the earth, and shall overthrow the poison.  O thou Cat, thy haunches\nare the haunches of Horus, the avenger (or, advocate) of his father\nOsiris, and they shall place Set in the evil which he hath wrought.  O\nthou Cat, thy soles are the soles of Ra, who shall make the poison to\nreturn to the earth.  O thou Cat, thy bowels are the bowels of the Cow-\ngoddess Meh-urt, who shall overthrow and cut in pieces the poison which\nis in thy belly and in all the members in thee, and in [all] the\nmembers of the gods in heaven, and in [all] the members of the gods on\nearth, and shall overthrow every poison in thee.  There is no member in\nthee without the goddess who shall overthrow and cut in pieces the\npoison of every male serpent, and every female serpent, and every\nscorpion, and every reptile, which may be in any member of this Cat\nwhich is under the knife.  Verily Isis weaveth and Nephthys spinneth\nagainst the poison.  This woven garment strengtheneth this [being,\ni.e., Horus], who is perfect in words of power, through the speech of\nRa Heru-khuti, the great god, President of the South and North: 'O evil\npoison which is in any member of this Cat which is under the knife,\ncome, issue forth upon the earth.'\"\n\n\n\n[FN#201]  Literally \"his.\"\n\n\n[FN#202]  He was the messenger of the gods, and travelled across the\nsky under the form of the Moon; he sometimes appears as a form of\nThoth.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nANOTHER CHAPTER.\n\n\n\n\nSay the [following] words:--\n\n\"O Ra-[Khuti], come to thy daughter.  O Shu, come to thy wife.  O Isis,\ncome to thy sister, and deliver her from the evil poison which is in\nall her members.  Hail, O ye gods, come ye and overthrow ye the evil\npoison which is in all the members of the Cat which is under the knife.\n\n\n\"Hail, O aged one, who renewest thy youth in thy season, thou old man\nwho makest thyself to be a boy, grant thou that Thoth may come to me at\n[the sound of] my voice, and behold, let him turn back from me Netater.\nOsiris is on the water, the Eye of Horus is with him.  A great\nBeetle spreadeth himself over him, great by reason of his grasp,\nproduced by the gods from a child.  He who is over the water appeareth\nin a healthy form.  If he who is over the water shall be approached\n(or, attacked), the Eye of Horus, which weepeth, shall be approached.\n\n\n\"Get ye back, O ye who dwell in the water, crocodiles, fish, that\nEnemy, male dead person and female dead person, male fiend and female\nfiend, of every kind whatsoever, lift not up your faces, O ye who dwell\nin the waters, ye crocodiles and fish.  When Osiris journeyeth over\nyou, permit ye him to go to Busiris.  Let your nostrils [be closed],\nyour throats stopped up.\n\n\n\"Get ye back, Seba fiends!  Lift ye not up your faces against him that\nis on the water . . . . . Osiris-Ra, riseth up in his Boat to look at\nthe gods of Kher-ahat, and the Lords of the Tuat stand up to slay thee\nwhen [thou] comest, O Neha-her, against Osiris.  [When] he is on the\nwater the Eye of Horus is over him to turn your faces upside down and\nto set you on your backs.\n\n\n\"Hail, ye who dwell in the water, crocodiles and fish, Ra shutteth up\nyour mouths, Sekhet stoppeth up your throats, Thoth cutteth out your\ntongues, and {cont} Heka blindeth your eyes.  These are the four great\ngods who protect Osiris by their magical power, and they effect the\nprotection of him that is on the water, of men and women of every kind,\nand of beasts and animals of every kind which are on the water by day.\nProtected are those who dwell in the waters, protected is the sky\nwherein is Ra, protected is the great god who is in the sarcophagus,\nprotected is he who is on the water.\n\n\"A voice [which] crieth loudly is in the House of Net (Neith), a loud\nvoice is in the Great House, a great outcry from the mouth of the Cat.\nThe gods and the goddesses say, 'What is it?  What is it?'  [It]\nconcerneth the Abtu Fish which is born.  Make to retreat from me thy\nfootsteps, O Sebau fiend.  I am Khnemu, the Lord of Her-urt.  Guard\nthyself again from the attack which is repeated, besides this which\nthou hast done in the presence of the Great Company of the gods.  Get\nthee back, retreat thou from me.  I am the god.  Oh, Oh, O [Ra], hast\nthou not heard the voice which cried out loudly until the evening on\nthe bank of Netit, the voice of all the gods and goddesses which cried\nout loudly, the outcry concerning the wickedness which thou hast done,\nO wicked Sebau fiend?  Verily the lord Ra thundered and growled\nthereat, and he ordered thy slaughter to be carried out.  Get thee\nback, Seba fiend!  Hail!  Hail!\"\n\n\n\n\n\nII.--THE NARRATIVE OF ISIS.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nI am Isis, [and] I have come forth from the dwelling (or, prison)\nwherein my brother Set placed me.  Behold the god Thoth, the great god,\nthe Chief of Maat[FN#203] [both] in heaven and on the earth, said unto\nme, \"Come now, O Isis, thou goddess, moreover it is a good thing to\nhearken,[FN#204] [for there is] life to one who shall be guided [by the\nadvice] of another.  Hide thou thyself with [thy] son the child, and\nthere shall come unto him these things.  His members shall\ngrow,[FN#205] and two-fold strength of every kind shall spring up [in\nhim].  [And he] shall be made to take his seat upon the throne of his\nfather, [whom] he shall avenge,[FN#206] [and he shall take possession\nof] the exalted position of Heq[FN#207] of the Two Lands.\"[FN#208]\n\n\n\n[FN#203]  i.e., Law, or Truth.\n\n[FN#204]  Or, obey.\n\n[FN#205]  i.e., flourish.\n\n\n[FN#206]  He avenged his father Osiris by vanquishing Set.\n\n\n[FN#207]  i.e., tribal chief.\n\n\n[FN#208]  i.e., Upper and Lower Egypt.\n\n\n\n\nI came forth [from the dwelling] at the time of evening, and there came\nforth the Seven Scorpions which were to accompany me and to strike(?)\nfor me with [their] stings.  Two scorpions, Tefen and Befen, were\nbehind me, two scorpions, Mestet and Mestetef, were by my side, and\nthree scorpions, Petet, Thetet, and Maatet (or, Martet), were for\npreparing the road for me.  I charged them very strictly (or, in a loud\nvoice), and my words penetrated into their ears: \"Have no knowledge of\n[any], make no cry to the Tesheru beings, and pay no attention to the\n'son of a man' (i.e., anyone) who belongeth to a man of no account,\"\n[and I said,] \"Let your faces be turned towards the ground [that ye may\nshow me] the way.\"  So the guardian of the company brought me to the\nboundaries of the city of Pa-Sui,[FN#209] the city of the goddesses of\nthe Divine Sandals, [which was situated] in front of the Papyrus\nSwamps.[FN#210]\n\n\n\n[FN#209]  \"The House of the Crocodile,\" perhaps the same town as Pa-\nSebekt, a district in the VIIth nome of Lower Egypt (Metelites).\n\n[FN#210]  Perhaps a district in the Metelite nome.\n\n\n\nWhen I had arrived at the place where the people lived[FN#211] I came\nto the houses wherein dwelt the wives [and] husbands.  And a certain\nwoman of quality spied me as I was journeying along the road, and she\nshut her doors on me.  Now she was sick at heart by reason of those\n[scorpions] which were with me.  Then [the Seven Scorpions] took\ncounsel concerning her, and they all at one time shot out their venom\non the tail of the scorpion Tefen; as for me, the woman Taha[FN#212]\nopened her door, and I entered into the house of the miserable lady.\n\n\n\n[FN#211]  In Egyptian Teb, which may be the Tebut in the Metelite nome.\n\n\n[FN#212]  Taha may be the name of a woman, or goddess, or the word may\nmean a \"dweller in the swamps,\" as Golenischeff thinks.\n\n\n\n\nThen the scorpion Tefen entered in under the leaves of the door and\nsmote (i.e., stung) the son of Usert, and a fire broke out in the house\nof Usert, and there was no water there to extinguish it; [but] the sky\nrained upon the house of Usert, though it was not the season for\nrain.[FN#213]\n\n\n\n[FN#213]  i.e., it was not the season of the inundation.\n\n\n\n\nBehold, the heart of her who had not opened her door to me was\ngrievously sad, for she knew not whether he (i.e., her son) would live\n[or not], and although she went round about through her town uttering\ncries [for help], there was none who came at [the sound of] her voice.\nNow mine own heart was grievously sad for the sake of the child, and [I\nwished] to make to live [again] him that was free from fault.\n[Thereupon] I cried out to the noble lady, \"Come to me.  Come to me.\nVerily my mouth (?) possesseth life.  I am a daughter [well] known in\nher town, [and I] can destroy the demon of death by the spell (or,\nutterance) which my father taught me to know. I am his daughter, the\nbeloved [offspring] of his body.\"\n\n\nThen Isis placed her two hands on the child in order to make to live him\nwhose throat was stopped, [and she said], \"O poison of the scorpion\nTefent, come forth and appear on the ground! Thou shalt neither enter\nnor penetrate [further into the body of the child].  O poison of the\nscorpion Befent, come forth and appear on the ground!  I am Isis, the\ngoddess, the lady (or, mistress) of words of power, and I am the maker\nof words of power (i.e., spells), and I know how to utter words with\nmagical effect.[FN#214]  Hearken ye unto me, O every reptile which\npossesseth the power to bite (i.e., to sting), and fall headlong to the\nground! O poison of the scorpion Mestet, make no advance [into his\nbody].  O poison of the scorpion Mestetef, rise not up [in his body].  O\npoison of the scorpions Petet and Thetet, penetrate not [into his body].\n[O poison of] the scorpion Maatet (or, Martet), fall down on the\nground.\"\n\n\n\n[FN#214]  By uttering spells Isis restored life to her husband Osiris\nfor a season, and so became with child by him.  She made a magical\nfigure of a reptile, and having endowed it with life, it stung Ra as he\npassed through the sky, and the great god almost died.  In Greek times\nit was believed that she discovered a medicine which would raise the\ndead, and she was reputed to be a great expert in the art of healing\nmen's sicknesses.  As a goddess she appeared to the sick, and cured\nthem.\n\n\n\n\n[Here follows the] \"Chapter of the stinging [of scorpions].\"\n\nAnd Isis, the goddess, the great mistress of spells (or, words of\npower), she who is at the head of the gods, unto whom the god Keb gave\nhis own magical spells for the driving away of poison at noon-day (?),\nand for making poison to go back, and retreat, and withdraw, and go\nbackward, spake, saying, \"Ascend not into heaven, through the command\nof the beloved one of Ra, the egg of the Smen goose which cometh forth\nfrom the sycamore.  Verily my words are made to command the uttermost\nlimit of the night.  I speak unto you, [O scorpions] I am alone and in\nsorrow because our names will suffer disgrace throughout the nomes.  Do\nnot make love, do not cry out to the Tesheru fiends, and cast no\nglances upon the noble ladies in their houses.  Turn your faces towards\nthe earth and [find out] the road, so that we may arrive at the hidden\nplaces in the town of Khebt.[FN#215]  Oh the child shall live and the\npoison die!  Ra liveth and the poison dieth!  Verily Horus shall be in\ngood case (or, healthy) for his mother Isis.  Verily he who is stricken\nshall be in good case likewise.\"\n\n\n\n[FN#215]  The island of Chemmis of classical writers.\n\n\n\n\nAnd the fire [which was in the house of Usert] was extinguished, and\nheaven was satisfied with the utterance of Isis, the goddess.\n\n\nThen the lady Usert came, and she brought unto me her possessions, and\nshe filled the house of the woman Tah (?), for the Ka of Tah\n(?) because [she] had opened to me her door.  Now the lady Usert\nsuffered pain and anguish the whole night, and her mouth tasted (i.e.,\nfelt) the sting [which] her son [had suffered].  And she brought her\npossessions as the penalty for not having opened the door to me.  Oh\nthe child shall live and the poison die!  Verily Horus shall be in good\ncase for his mother Isis.  Verily everyone who is stricken shall be in\ngood case likewise.\n\n\nLo, a bread-cake [made] of barley meal shall drive out (or, destroy)\nthe poison, and natron shall make it to withdraw, and the fire [made]\nof hetchet-plant shall drive out (or, destroy) fever-heat from the\nlimbs.\n\n\n\"O Isis, O Isis, come thou to thy Horus, O thou woman of the wise\nmouth!  Come to thy son\"--thus cried the gods who dwelt in her quarter\nof the town--\"for he is as one whom a scorpion hath stung, and like\none whom the scorpion Uhat, which the animal Antesh drove away, hath\nwounded.\"\n\n\n[Then] Isis ran out like one who had a knife [stuck] in her body, and\nshe opened her arms wide, [saying] \"Behold me, behold me, my son Horus,\nhave no fear, have no fear, O son my glory!  No evil thing of any kind\nwhatsoever shall happen unto thee, [for] there is in thee the essence\n(or, fluid) which made the things which exist.  Thou art the son from\nthe country of Mesqet,[FN#216] [thou hast] come forth from the\ncelestial waters Nu, and thou shalt not die by the heat of the poison.\nThou wast the Great Bennu,[FN#217] who art born (or, produced) or; the\ntop of the balsam-trees[FN#218] which are in the House of the Aged One\nin Anu (Heliopolis).  Thou art the brother of the Abtu Fish,[FN#219]\nwho orderest what is to be, and art the nursling of the Cat[FN#220] who\ndwelleth in the House of Neith.  The goddess Reret,[FN#221] the goddess\nHat, and the god Bes protect thy members.  Thy head shall not fall to\nthe Tchat fiend that attacketh thee.  Thy members shall not receive the\nfire of that which is thy poison.  Thou shalt not go backwards on the\nland, and thou shalt not be brought low on the water.  No reptile which\nbiteth (or, stingeth) shall gain the mastery over thee, and no lion\nshall subdue thee or have dominion over thee.  Thou art the son of the\nsublime god 82 who proceeded from Keb.  Thou art Horus, and the poison\nshall not gain the mastery over thy members.  Thou art the son of the\nsublime god who proceeded from Keb, and thus likewise shall it be with\nthose who are under the knife.  And the four august goddesses shall\nprotect thy members.\"\n\n\n\n[FN#216]  Mesqet was originally the name of the bull's skin in which\nthe deceased was wrapped in order to secure for him the now life; later\nthe name was applied to the Other World generally.  {See Book of the\nDead, Chap. xvii. 121.}\n\n[FN#217]  The Bennu who kept the book of destiny. See Book of the Dead,\nChap. xvii. 25.\n\n[FN#218]  These are the balsam-trees for which Heliopolis has been\nalways famous.  They are described by Wansleben, L'Histoire de\nl'Eglise, pp. 88-93, and by 'Abd al-Latif (ed. de Sacy), p. 88.\n\n[FN#219]  The Abtu and Ant Fishes swam before the Boat of Ra and guided\nit.\n\n[FN#220]  This is the Cat who lived by the Persea tree in Heliopolis.\nSee Book of the Dead, Chap. xvii. 18.\n\n[FN#221]  A hippopotamus goddess.\n\n\n\n[Here the narrative is interrupted by the following texts:]\n\n[I am] he who rolleth up into the sky, and who goeth down (i.e.,\nsetteth) in the Tuat, whose form is in the House of height, through\nwhom when he openeth his Eye the light cometh into being, and when he\ncloseth his Eye it becometh night.  [I am] the Water-god Het when he\ngiveth commands, whose name is unknown to the gods.  I illumine the Two\nLands, night betaketh itself to flight, and I shine by day and by\nnight.[FN#222]  I am the Bull of Bakha[FN#223], and the Lion of\nManu[FN#224].  I am he who traverseth the heavens by day and by night\nwithout being repulsed.  I have come 85 by reason of the voice (or,\ncry) of the son of Isis.  Verily the blind serpent Na hath bitten the\nBull.  O thou poison which floweth through every member of him that is\nunder the knife, come forth, I charge thee, upon the ground.  Behold,\nhe that is under the knife shall not be bitten.  Thou art Menu, the\nLord of Coptos, the child of the White Shat[FN#225] which is in Anu\n(Heliopolis), which was bitten [by a reptile].  O Menu, Lord of Coptos,\ngive thou air unto him that is under the knife; and air shall be given\nto thee.  Hail, divine father and minister of the god Nebun, [called]\nMer-Tem, son of the divine father and minister of the god Nebun, scribe\nof the Water-god Het, [called] Ankh-Semptek (sic), son of the lady of\nthe house Tent-Het-nub!  He restored this inscription after he had\nfound it in a ruined state in the Temple of Osiris-Mnevis, because he\nwished to make to live her name . . . . . . . . . . and to give air\nunto him that is under [the knife], and to give life unto the ancestors\nof all the gods.  And his Lord Osiris-Mnevis shall make long his life\nwith happiness of heart, [and shall give him] a beautiful burial after\n[attaining to] an old age, because of what he hath done for the Temple\nof Osiris-Mnevis.\n\n\n\n[FN#222]  i.e., always.\n\n[FN#223]  The land of the sunrise, the East.\n\n\n[FN#224]  The land of the sunset, the West.\n\n\n[FN#225] Perhaps an animal of the Lynx class.\n\n\n\n\n89. Horus was bitten (i.e., stung) in Sekhet-An, to the north of Hetep-\nhemt, whilst his mother Isis was in the celestial houses making a\nlibation for her brother Osiris.  And Horus sent forth his cry into the\nhorizon, and it was heard by those who were in . . . . . .  Thereupon\nthe keepers of the doors who were in the [temple of] the holy Acacia\nTree started up at the voice of Horus.  And one sent forth a cry of\nlamentation, and Heaven gave the order that Horus was to be healed.\nAnd [the gods] took counsel [together] concerning the life [of Horus,\nsaying,] \"O goddess Pai(?), O god Asten, who dwellest in Aat-Khus(?)\n. . . . .[FN#226] thy . . . . . . enter in . . . . . lord of sleep . .\n. . . . the child Horus.  Oh, Oh, bring thou the things which are thine\nto cut off the poison which is in every member of Horus, the son of\nIsis, and which is in every member of him that is under the knife\nlikewise.\"\n\n\n\n[FN#226]  The text appears to be corrupt in this passage.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n101. A HYMN OF PRAISE TO HORUS TO GLORIFY HIM, WHICH IS TO BE SAID 102\nOVER THE WATERS AND OVER THE LAND.\n\n\n\nThoth speaketh and this god reciteth [the following]:--\n\n\n\"Homage to thee, god, son of a god.  Homage to thee, heir, son of an\nheir.  Homage to thee, bull, son of a bull, who wast brought forth by a\nholy goddess.  Homage to thee, Horus, who comest forth from Osiris, and\nwast brought forth by the goddess Isis.  I recite thy words of power, I\nspeak with thy magical utterance.  I pronounce a spell in thine own\nwords, which thy heart hath created, and all the spells and\nincantations which have come forth from thy mouth, which thy father Keb\ncommanded thee [to recite], and thy mother Nut gave to thee, and the\nmajesty of the Governor of Sekhem taught thee to make use of for thy\nprotection, in order to double (or, repeat) thy protective formulae, to\nshut the mouth of every reptile which is in heaven, and on the earth,\nand in the waters, to make men and women to live, to make the gods to\nbe at peace [with thee], and to make Ra to employ his magical spells\nthrough thy chants of praise.  Come to me this day, quickly, quickly,\nas thou workest the paddle of the Boat of the god.  Drive thou away\nfrom me every lion on the plain, and every crocodile in the waters, and\nall mouths which bite (or, sting) in their holes.  Make thou them\nbefore me like the stone of the mountain, like a broken pot lying about\nin a quarter of the town.  Dig thou out from me the poison which riseth\nand is in every member of him that is under the knife.  Keep thou watch\nover him . . . . . . by means of thy words.  Verily let thy name be\ninvoked this day.  Let thy power (qefau) come into being in him.  Exalt\nthou thy magical powers.  Make me to live and him whose throat is\nclosed up.  Then shall mankind give thee praise, and the righteous (?)\nshall give thanks unto thy forms.  And all the gods likewise shall\ninvoke thee, and in truth thy name shall be invoked this day.  I am\nHorus [of] Shet[enu] (?).\n\n\n\"O thou who art in the cavern,[FN#227] O thou who art in the cavern. O\nthou who art at the mouth of the cavern.  O thou who art on the way, O\nthou who art on the way.  O thou who art at the mouth of the way.  He\nis Urmer (Mnevis) who approacheth every man and every beast.  He is\nlike the god Sep who is in Anu (Heliopolis).  He is the Scorpion-[god]\nwho is in the Great House (Het-ur).  Bite him not, for he is Ra.  Sting\nhim not, for he is Thoth.  Shoot ye not your poison over him, for he is\nNefer-Tem.  O every male serpent, O every female serpent, O every\nantesh (scorpion?) which bite with your mouths, and sting with your\ntails, bite ye him not with your mouths, and sting ye him not with your\ntails.  Get ye afar off from him, make ye not your fire to be against\nhim, for he is the son of Osiris.  Vomit ye. [Say] four times:--\n\n\"I am Thoth, I have come from heaven to make protection of Horus, and\nto drive away the poison of the scorpion which is in every member of\nHorus.  Thy head is to thee, Horus; it shall be stable under the Urert\nCrown.  Thine eye is to thee, Horus, [for] thou art Horus, the son of\nKeb, the Lord of the Two Eyes, in the midst of the Company [of the\ngods].  Thy nose is to thee, Horus, [for] thou art Horus the Elder, the\nson of Ra, and thou shalt not inhale the fiery wind.  Thine arm is to\nthee, Horus, great is thy strength to slaughter the enemies of thy\nfather.  Thy two thighs[FN#228] are to thee, Horus.  Receive thou the\nrank and dignity of thy father Osiris.  Ptah hath balanced for thee thy\nmouth on the day of thy birth.  Thy heart (or, breast) is to thee,\nHorus, and the Disk maketh thy protection.  Thine eye is to thee,\nHorus; thy right eye is like Shu, and thy left eye like Tefnut, who are\nthe children of Ra.  Thy belly is to thee, Horus, and the Children are\nthe gods who are therein, and they shall not receive the essence (or,\nfluid) of the scorpion.  Thy strength is to thee, Horus, and the\nstrength of Set shall not exist against thee.  Thy phallus is to thee,\nHorus, and thou art Kamutef, the protector of his father, who maketh an\nanswer for his children in the course of every day.  Thy thighs are to\nthee, Horus, and thy strength shall slaughter the enemies of thy\nfather.  Thy calves are to thee, Horus; the god Khnemu hath builded\n[them], and the goddess Isis hath covered them with flesh.  The soles\nof thy feet are to thee, Horus, and the nations who fight with the bow\n(Peti) fall under thy feet.  Thou rulest the South, North, West, and\nEast, and thou seest like Ra. [Say] four times.  And likewise him that\nis under the knife.\"\n\n\n\n[FN#227]  Or, den or hole.\n\n[FN#228]  We ought, perhaps, to translate this as \"forearms.\"\n\n\n\nBeautiful god, Senetchem-ab-Ra-setep-[en]-Amen, son of Ra, Nekht-Heru-\nHebit, thou art protected, and the gods and goddesses are protected,\nand conversely.  Beautiful god, Senetchem-ab-Ra-setep-[en]-Ra, son of\nRa, Nekht-Heru-Hebit, thou art protected, and Heru-Shet[enu], the great\ngod, is protected, and conversely.\n\n\n\n\n\nANOTHER CHAPTER LIKE UNTO IT.  \"Fear not, fear not, O Bast, the strong\nof heart, at the head of the holy field, the mighty one among all the\ngods, nothing shall gain the mastery over thee.  Come thou outside,\nfollowing my speech (or, mouth), O evil poison which is in all the\nmembers of the lion (or, cat) which is under the knife.\"\n\n\n[The narrative of the stinging of Horus by a scorpion is continued\nthus]:\n\n\n\"I am Isis, who conceived a child by her husband, and she became heavy\nwith Horus, the divine [child].  I gave birth to Horus, the son of\nOsiris, in a nest of papyrus plants.[FN#229]  I rejoiced exceedingly\nover this, because I saw [in him one] who would make answer for his\nfather.  I hid him, and I concealed him through fear of that [fiend\n(?)].[FN#230]  I went away to the city of Am, [where] the people gave\nthanks [for me] through [their] fear of my making trouble [for them].\nI passed the day in seeking to provide food for the child, [and] on\nreturning to take Horus into my arms I found him, Horus, the beautiful\none of gold, the boy, the child, without [life].  He had bedewed the\nground with the water of his eye, and with foam from his lips.  His\nbody was motionless, his heart was powerless to move, and the sinews\n(or, muscles) of his members were [helpless].  I sent forth a cry,\n[saying]:\n\n\n\n[FN#229]  Or, Ateh, the papyrus swamp.\n\n\n[FN#230]  i.e., Set.\n\n\n\n\n\"'I, even I, lack a son to make answer [for me].[FN#231]  [My] two\nbreasts are full to overflowing, [but] my body is empty.  [My] mouth\nwished for that which concerned him.[FN#232]  A cistern of water and a\nstream of the inundation was I. The child was the desire of my heart,\nand I longed to protect him (?). I carried him in my womb, I gave birth\nto him, I endured the agony of the birth pangs, I was all alone, and\nthe great ones were afraid of disaster and to come out at the sound of\nmy voice.  My father is in the Tuat,[FN#233] my mother is in\nAqert,[FN#234] and my elder brother is in the sarcophagus.  Think of\nthe enemy and of how prolonged was the wrath of his heart against me,\n[when] I, the great lady, was in his house.'\n\n\n\n[FN#231]  i.e., to be my advocate.\n\n\n[FN#232]  Literally \"his thing.\"\n\n\n[FN#233]  Tuat is a very ancient name of the Other World, which was\nsituated either parallel with Egypt or across the celestial ocean which\nsurrounded the world.\n\n\n[FN#234]  The \"perfect place,\" i.e., the Other World.\n\n\n\n\n\n\"I cried then, [saying,] 'Who among the people will indeed let their\nhearts come round to me?'  I cried then to those who dwelt in the\npapyrus swamps (or, Ateh), and they inclined to me straightway.  And\nthe people came forth to me from their houses, and they thronged about\nme at [the sound of] my voice, and they loudly bewailed with me the\ngreatness of my affliction.  There was no man there who set restraint\n(?) on his mouth, every person among them lamented with great\nlamentation.  There was none there who knew how to make [my child] to\nlive.\n\n\n\"And there came forth unto me a woman who was [well] known in her city,\na lady who was mistress of her [own] estate.[FN#235]  She came forth to\nme.  Her mouth possessed life, and her heart was filled with the matter\nwhich was therein, [and she said,] 'Fear not, fear not, O son Horus!\nBe not cast down, be not cast down, O mother of the god.  The child of\nthe Olive-tree is by the mountain of his brother, the bush is hidden,\nand no enemy shall enter therein.  The word of power of Tem, the Father\nof the gods, who is in heaven, maketh to live.  Set shall not enter\ninto this region, he shall not go round about it.  The marsh of Horus\nof the Olive-tree is by the mountain of his brother; those who are in\nhis following shall not at any time . . . . . . it.  This shall happen\nto him: Horus shall live for his mother, and shall salute (?) [her]\nwith his mouth. A scorpion hath smitten (i.e., stung) him, and the\nreptile Aun-ab hath wounded him.'\"\n\n\n\n[FN#235]  Or perhaps, \"a lady who was at the head of her district.\"\n\n\n\n\nThen Isis placed her nose in his mouth[FN#236] so that she might know\nwhether he who was in his coffin breathed, and she examined the\nwound[FN#237] of the heir of the god, and she found that there was\npoison in it.  She threw her arms round him, and then quickly she\nleaped about with him like fish when they are laid upon the hot coals,\n[saying]:\n\n\n\n\n[FN#236]  i.e., the mouth of Horus.\n\n\n[FN#237]  Literally, \"pain\" or \"disease.\"\n\n\n\n\n\"Horus is bitten, O Ra.  Thy son is bitten, [O Osiris].  Horus is\nbitten, the flesh and blood of the Heir, the Lord of the diadems (?) of\nthe kingdoms of Shu.  Horus is bitten, the Boy of the marsh city of\nAteh, the Child in the House of the Prince.  The beautiful Child of\ngold is bitten, the Babe hath suffered pain and is not.[FN#238]  Horus\nis bitten, he the son of Un-Nefer, who was born of Auh-mu (?).  Horus\nis bitten, he in whom there was nothing abominable, the son, the youth\namong the gods.  Horus is bitten, he for whose wants I prepared in\nabundance, for I saw that he would make answer[FN#239] for his father.\nHorus is bitten, he for whom [I] had care [when he was] in the hidden\nwoman [and for whom I was afraid when he was] in the womb of his\nmother.  Horus is bitten, he whom I guarded to look upon.  I have\nwished for the life of his heart.  Calamity hath befallen the child on\nthe water, and the child hath perished.\"\n\n\n\n[FN#238]  He is nothing, i.e., he is dead.\n\n[FN#239]  i.e., become an advocate for.\n\n\n\n\nThen came Nephthys shedding tears and uttering cries of lamentation, and\ngoing round about through the papyrus swamps.  And Serq [came also and\nthey said]: \"Behold, behold, what hath happened to Horus, son of Isis,\nand who [hath done it]? Pray then to heaven, and let the mariners of Ra\ncease their labours for a space, for the Boat of Ra cannot travel\nonwards [whilst] son Horus [lieth dead] on his place.\"\n\nAnd Isis sent forth her voice into heaven, and made supplication to the\nBoat of Millions of Years, and the Disk stopped[FN#240] in its\njourneying, and moved not from the place whereon it rested.  Then came\nforth Thoth, who is equipped with his spells (or, words of power), and\npossesseth the great word of command of maa-kheru,[FN#241] [and said:]\n\"What [aileth thee], what [aileth thee], O Isis, thou goddess who hast\nmagical spells, whose mouth hath understanding?  Assuredly no evil\nthing hath befallen [thy] son Horus, [for] the Boat of Ra hath him\nunder its protection.  I have come this day in the Divine Boat of the\nDisk from the place where it was yesterday,--now darkness came and the\nlight was destroyed--in order to heal Horus for his mother Isis and\nevery person who is under the knife likewise.\"\n\n\n\n[FN#240]  Literally, \"alighted.\"\n\n\n[FN#241]  When a god or a man was declared to be maa-kheru, \"true of\nvoice,\" or \"true of word,\" his power became illimitable.  It gave him\nrule and authority, and every command uttered by him was immediately\nfollowed by the effect required.\n\n\n\nAnd Isis, the goddess, said: \"O Thoth, great things [are in] thy heart,\n[but] delay belongeth to thy plan.  Hast thou come equipped with thy\nspells and incantations, and having the great formula of maa-kheru, and\none [spell] after the other, the numbers whereof are not known?  Verily\nHorus is in the cradle(?) of the poison.  Evil, evil is his case,\ndeath, [and] misery to the fullest [extent].  The cry of his mouth is\ntowards his mother(?).  I cannot [bear] to see these things in his\ntrain.  My heart [hath not] rested because of them since the\nbeginning(?) [when] I made haste to make answer [for] Horus-Ra (?),\nplacing [myself] on the earth, [and] since the day [when] I was taken\npossession of by him. I desired Neheb-ka . . . . . . .\"\n\n[And Thoth said:] \"Fear not, fear not, O goddess Isis, fear not, fear\nnot, O Nephthys, and let not anxiety [be to you].  I have come from\nheaven having life to heal(?) the child for his mother, Horus is . . .\nLet thy heart be firm;[FN#242] he shall not sink under the flame.\nHorus is protected as the Dweller in his Disk,[FN#243] who lighteth up\nthe Two Lands by the splendour of his two Eyes;[FN#244] and he who is\nunder the knife is likewise protected.  Horus is protected as the\nFirst-born son in heaven,[FN#245] who is ordained to be the guide of\nthe things which exist and of the things which are not yet created; and\nhe who under the knife is protected likewise.  Horus is protected as\nthat great Dwarf (nemu)[FN#246] who goeth round about the Two Lands in\nthe darkness; and he who is under the knife is protected likewise.\nHorus is protected as the Lord (?) in the night, who revolveth at the\nhead of the Land of the Sunset (Manu); and he who is under the knife is\nprotected likewise.  Horus is protected as the Mighty Ram[FN#247] who\nis hidden, and who goeth round about in front of his Eyes; and he who\nis under the knife is protected likewise.  Horus is protected as the\nGreat Hawk[FN#248] which flieth through heaven, earth, and the Other\nWorld (Tuat); and he who is under the knife is protected likewise.\nHorus is protected as the Holy Beetle, the mighty (?) wings of which\nare at the head of the sky;[FN#249] and he who is under the knife is\nprotected likewise.  Horus is protected as the Hidden Body,[FN#250] and\nas he whose mummy is in his sarcophagus; and he who is under the knife\nis protected likewise.  Horus is protected [as the Dweller] in the\nOther World [and in the] Two Lands, who goeth round about 'Those who\nare over Hidden Things'; and he who is under the knife is protected\nlikewise.  Horus is protected as the Divine Bennu[FN#251] who alighteth\nin front of his two Eyes; and he who is under the knife is protected\nlikewise.  Horus is protected 230 in his own body, and the spells which\nhis mother Isis hath woven protect him.  Horus is protected by the\nnames of his father [Osiris] in his forms in the nomes;[FN#252] and he\nwho is under the knife is protected likewise.  Horus is protected by\nthe weeping of his mother, and by the cries of grief of his brethren;\nand he who is under the knife is protected likewise.  Horus is\nprotected by his own name and heart, and the gods go round about him to\nmake his funeral bed; and he who is under the knife is protected\nlikewise.\"\n\n\n\n[FN#242]  i.e., \"Be of good courage.\"\n\n[FN#243]  The Sun-god.\n\n[FN#244]  The Sun and Moon.\n\n[FN#245]  Osiris (?).\n\n[FN#246]  Bes (?).\n\n[FN#247]  Probably the Ram, Lord of Tattu, or the Ram of Mendes.\n\n[FN#248]  Heru-Behutet.\n\n[FN#249]  The beetle of Khepera, a form of the Sun-god when he is about\nto rise on this earth.\n\n[FN#250]  The Hidden Body is Osiris, who lay in his sarcophagus, with\nIsis and Nephthys weeping over it.\n\n[FN#251]  The Bennu was the soul of Ra and the incarnation of Osiris.\n\n[FN#252]  See the names of Osiris and his sanctuaries in Chapter CXLII.\nof the Book of the Dead.\n\n\n\n[And Thoth said:]\n\n\"Wake up, Horus!  Thy protection is established.  Make thou happy the\nheart of thy mother Isis.  The words of Horus shall bind up hearts, he\nshall cause to be at peace him who is in affliction.  Let your hearts\nbe happy, O ye who dwell in the heavens (Nut).  Horus, he who hath\navenged (or, protected) his father shall cause the poison to retreat.\nVerily that which is in the mouth of Ra shall go round about (i.e.,\ncirculate), and the tongue of the Great God shall repulse\n[opposition].  The Boat [of Ra] standeth still, and travelleth not\nonwards.  The Disk is in the [same] place where it was yesterday to\nheal Horus for his mother Isis, and to heal him that is under the knife\nof his mother[FN#253] likewise.  Come to the earth, draw nigh, O Boat\nof Ra, make the boat to travel, O mariners of heaven, transport\nprovisions (?) of . . . . . . Sekhem[FN#254] to heal Horus for his\nmother Isis, and to heal him that is under the knife of his mother\nlikewise.  Hasten away, O pain which is in the region round about, and\nlet it (i.e., the Boat) descend upon the place where it was yesterday\nto heal Horus for his mother Isis, and to heal him that is under the\nknife of his mother likewise.  Get thee round and round, O bald (?)\nfiend, without horns at the seasons (?), not seeing the forms through\nthe shadow of the two Eyes, to heal Horus for his mother Isis, and to\nheal him that is under the knife likewise.  Be filled, O two halves of\nheaven, be empty, O papyrus roll, return, O life, into the living to\nheal Horus for his it mother Isis, and to heal him that is under the\nknife likewise.  Come thou to earth, O poison.  Let hearts be glad, and\nlet radiance (or, light) go round about.\n\n\n\n[FN#253]  We should probably strike out the words \"of his mother.\"\n\n[FN#254]  The city in the Delta called by the Greeks Letopolis.\n\n\n\n\"I am Thoth,[FN#255] the firstborn son, the son of Ra, and Tem and the\nCompany of the gods have commanded me to heal Horus for his mother\nIsis, and to heal him that is under the knife likewise.  O Horus, O\nHorus, thy Ka protecteth thee, and thy Image worketh protection for\nthee.  The poison is as the daughter of its [own] flame; [it is]\ndestroyed [because] it smote the strong son.  Your temples are in good\ncondition for you, [for] Horus liveth for his mother, and he who is\nunder the knife likewise.\"\n\n\n\n[FN#255]  Thoth stood by during the fight between Horus and Set, and\nhealed the wounds which they inflicted on each other.\n\n\n\nAnd the goddess Isis said:\n\n\n\"Set thou his face towards those who dwell in the North Land (Ateh),\nthe nurses who dwell in the city Pe-Tept (Buto), for they have offered\nvery large offerings in order to cause the child to be made strong for\nhis mother, and to make strong him that is under the knife likewise.\nDo not allow them to recognize the divine Ka in the Swamp Land, in the\ncity (?) of Nemhettu (?) [and] in her city.\"\n\n\nThen spake Thoth unto the great gods who dwell in the Swamp-Land\n[saying]: \"O ye nurses who dwell in the city of Pe, who smite [fiends]\nwith your hands, and overthrow [them] with your arms on behalf of that\nGreat One who appeareth in front of you [in] the Sektet Boat,[FN#256]\nlet the Matet[FN#257] (Mantchet) Boat travel on.  Horus is to you, he\nis counted up for life, and he is declared for the life of his father\n[Osiris].  I have given gladness unto those who are in the Sektet Boat,\nand the mariners [of Ra] make it to journey on.  Horus liveth for his\nmother Isis and he who is under the knife liveth for his mother\nlikewise.  As for the poison, the strength thereof has been made\npowerless.  Verily I am a favoured one, and I will join myself to his\nhour[FN#258] to hurl back the report of evil to him that sent it forth.\nThe heart of Ra-Heru-Khuti rejoiceth.  Thy son Horus is counted up for\nlife [which is] on this child to make him to smite, and to retreat (?)\nfrom those who are above, and to turn back the paths of the Sebiu\nfiends from him, so that he may take possession of the throne of the\nTwo Lands.  Ra is in heaven to make answer on 251 behalf of him and his\nfather.  The words of power of his mother have lifted up his face, and\nthey protect him and enable him to go round about wheresoever he\npleaseth, and to set the terror of him in celestial beings.  I have\nmade haste . . . . . .\"\n\n\n[FN#256]  The boat in which Ra travelled from noon to sunset, or\nperhaps until midnight.\n\n\n[FN#257]  The boat in which Ra travelled from dawn, or perhaps from\nmidnight, to noon.\n\n[FN#258]  i.e., I will be with him at the moment of his need.\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE HISTORY OF ISIS AND OSIRIS,\n\n\nWITH EXPLANATIONS OF THE SAME, COLLECTED BY PLUTARCH, AND SUPPLEMENTED\nBY HIS OWN VIEWS.\n\n\n\n\nI.  Though it be the wise man's duty, O Clea,[FN#259] to apply to the\ngods for every good thing which he hopes to enjoy, yet ought he more\nespecially to pray to them for their assistance in his search after\nthat knowledge which more immediately regards themselves, as far as\nsuch knowledge may be attained, inasmuch as there is nothing which they\ncan bestow more truly beneficial to mankind, or more worthy themselves,\nthan truth.  For whatever other good things are indulged to the wants\nof men, they have all, properly speaking, no relation to, and are of a\nnature quite different from, that of their divine donors.  For 'tis not\nthe abundance of their gold and silver, nor the command of the thunder,\nbut wisdom and knowledge which constitute the power and happiness of\nthose heavenly beings.  It is therefore well observed by Homer (Iliad,\nxiii. 354), and indeed with more propriety than be usually talks of the\ngods, when, speaking of Zeus and Poseidon, he tells us that both were\ndescended from the same parents, and born in the same region, but that\nZeus was the elder and knew most; plainly intimating thereby that the\nempire of the former was more august and honourable than that of his\nbrother, as by means of his age he was his superior, and more advanced\nin wisdom and science.  Nay, 'tis my opinion, I own, that even the\nblessedness of that eternity which is the portion of the Deity himself\nconsists in that universal knowledge of all nature which accompanies\nit; for setting this aside, eternity might be more properly styled an\nendless duration than an enjoyment of existence.\n\n\n\n[FN#259]  She is said to have been a priestess of Isis and of Apollo\nDelphicus.\n\n\n\nII.  To desire, therefore, and covet after truth, those truths more\nespecially which concern the divine nature, is to aspire to be\npartakers of that nature itself, and to profess that all our studies\nand inquiries are devoted to the acquisition of holiness.  This\noccupation is surely more truly religious than any external\npurifications or mere service of the temple can be.  But more\nespecially must such a disposition of mind be highly acceptable to that\ngoddess to whose service you are dedicated, for her especial\ncharacteristics are wisdom and foresight, and her very name seems to\nexpress the peculiar relation which she bears to knowledge.  For\n\"Isis\"[FN#260] is a Greek word, and means \"knowledge,\" and\n\"Typhon,\"[FN#261] the name of her professed adversary, is also a Greek\nword, and means \"pride and insolence.\"  This latter name is well\nadapted to one who, full of ignorance and error, tears in pieces and\nconceals that holy doctrine which the goddess collects, compiles, and\ndelivers to those who aspire after the most perfect participation in\nthe divine nature.  This doctrine inculcates a steady perseverance in\none uniform and temperate course of life, and an abstinence from\nparticular kinds of foods, as well as from all indulgence of the carnal\nappetite, and it restrains the intemperate and voluptuous part within\ndue bounds, and at the same time habituates her votaries to undergo\nthose austere and rigid ceremonies which their religion obliges them to\nobserve.  The end and aim of all these toils and labours is the\nattainment of the knowledge of the First and Chief Being, who alone is\nthe object of the understanding of the mind; and this knowledge the\ngoddess invites us to seek after, as being near and dwelling\ncontinually with her.  And this also is what the very name of her\ntemple promiseth to us, that is to say, the knowledge and understanding\nof the eternal and self-existent Being (tou ontas)-now, it is called\n\"Iseion,\" which suggests that if we approach the temple of the goddess\nrightly, and with purity, we shall obtain the knowledge of that eternal\nand self-existent Being (to on).\n\n\n\n[FN#260]  The Egyptian form of the name is As-T, ####, ####, or ####.\nPlutarch wishes to derive the name from some form of {greek oida}.\n\n[FN#261]  In Egyptian, Tebh.\n\n\n\nIII.  The goddess Isis is said by some authors to be the\ndaughter[FN#262] of Hermes, [FN#263] and by others of Prometheus, both\nof them famous for their philosophic turn of mind.  The latter is\nsupposed to have first taught mankind wisdom and foresight, as the\nformer is reputed to have invented letters and music.\n\n\n\n[FN#262]  According to the Egyptian Heliopolitan doctrine, Isis was the\ndaughter of Keb, the Earth-god, and Nut, the Sky-goddess; she was the\nwife of Osiris, mother of Horus, and sister of Set and Nephthys.\n\n[FN#263]  The Egyptian. Tehuti, or Thoth, who invented letters,\nmathematics, &c.  He was the \"heart of Ra,\" the scribe of the gods, and\nhe uttered the words which created the world; he composed the \"words of\npower,\" or magical formulae which were beneficial for the dead, and the\nreligious works which were used by souls in their journey from this\nworld to the next.\n\n\n\n\nThey likewise call the former of the two Muses at Hermopolis[FN#264]\nIsis as well as Dikaiosune,[FN#265] she being none other, it is said,\nthan Wisdom pointing out the knowledge of divine truths to her\nvotaries, the true Hierophori and Hierostoli.  Now, by the former of\nthese are meant such who carry about them looked up in their souls, as\nin a chest, the sacred doctrine concerning the gods, purified from all\nsuch superfluities as superstition may have added thereto.  And the\nholy apparel with which the Hierostoli adorn the statues of these\ndeities, which is partly of a dark and gloomy and partly of a more\nbright and shining colour, seems aptly enough to represent the notions\nwhich this doctrine teaches us to entertain of the divine nature\nitself, partly clear and partly obscure.  And inasmuch as the devotees\nof Isis after their decease are wrapped up in these sacred vestments,\nis not this intended to signify that this holy doctrine still abides\nwith them, and that this alone accompanies them in another life?  For\nas 'tis not the length of the beard or the coarseness of the habit\nwhich makes a philosopher, so neither will these frequent shavings, or\nthe mere wearing of a linen vestment, constitute a votary of Isis.  He\nalone is a true servant or follower of this goddess who, after he has\nheard, and has been made acquainted in a proper manner with the history\nof the actions of these gods, searches into the hidden truths which lie\nconcealed under them, and examines the whole by the dictates of reason\nand philosophy.\n\n\n\n\n\n[FN#264]  The Hermopolis here referred to is the city of Khemenu in\nUpper Egypt, wherein was the great sanctuary of Thoth.\n\n[FN#265]  i.e., Righteousness, or Justice.  The goddess referred to is\nprobably Maat.\n\n\n\nIV.  Nor, indeed, ought such an examination to be looked on as\nunnecessary whilst there are so many ignorant of the true reason even\nof the most ordinary rites observed by the Egyptian priests, such as\ntheir shavings[FN#266] and wearing linen garments.  Some, indeed, there\nare who never trouble themselves to think at all about these matters,\nwhilst others rest satisfied with the most superficial accounts of\nthem: \"They pay a peculiar veneration to the sheep,[FN#267] therefore\nthey think it their duty not only to abstain from eating its flesh, but\nlikewise from wearing its wool.  They are continually mourning for\ntheir gods, therefore they shave themselves.  The light azure blossom\nof the flax resembles the clear and bloomy colour of the ethereal sky,\ntherefore they wear linen\"; whereas the true reason of the institution\nand observation of these rites is but one, and that common to all of\nthem, namely, the extraordinary notions which they entertain of\ncleanliness, persuaded as they are, according to the saying of Plato,\n\"none but the pure ought to approach the pure.\"  Now, no superfluity of\nour food, and no excrementitious substance, is looked upon by them as\npure and clean; such, however, are all kinds of wool and down, our hair\nand our nails.  It would be the highest absurdity, therefore, for those\nwho, whilst; they are in a course of purification, are at so much pains\nto take off the hair from every part of their own bodies, at the same\ntime to clothe themselves with that of other animals.  So when we are\ntold by Hesiod \"not to pare our nails whilst we are present at the\nfestivals of the gods,\"[FN#268] we ought to understand that he intended\nhereby to inculcate that purity wherewith we ought to come prepared\nbefore we enter upon any religious duty, that we have not to make\nourselves clean whilst we ought to be occupied in attending to the\nsolemnity itself.  Now, with regard to flax, this springs out of the\nimmortal earth itself; and not only produces a fruit fit for food, but\nmoreover furnishes a light and neat sort of clothing, extremely\nagreeable to the wearer, adapted to all the seasons of the year, and\nnot in the least subject, as is said, to produce or nourish vermin; but\nmore of this in another place.\n\n\n\n\n\n[FN#266]  A rubric in the papyrus of Nes-Menu in the British Museum\norders the priestesses of Isis and Nephthys to have \"the hair of their\nbodies shaved off\" (No. 10,188, col. 1), but they are also ordered to\nwear fillets of rams' wool on their heads.\n\n[FN#267]  Probably the ram of Amen. Animal sacrifices were invariably\nbulls and cows.\n\n\n[FN#268]  This saying is by Pythagoras--{greek Para dusian\nmh`onuxizou}.  The saying of Hesiod (Works and Days, 740) is rendered\nby Goodwin:--\n\n\n\"Not at a feast of Gods from five-branched tree,\nWith sharp-edged steel to part the green from dry.\"\n\n\n\nV.  Now, the priests are so scrupulous in endeavouring to avoid\neverything which may tend to the increase of the above-mentioned\nexcrementitious substances, that, on this account, they abstain not\nonly from most sorts of pulse, and from the flesh of sheep and swine,\nbut likewise, in their more solemn purifications, they even exclude\nsalt from their meals.  This they do for many reasons, but chiefly\nbecause it whets their appetites, and incites them to eat more than\nthey otherwise would.  Now, as to salt being accounted impure because,\nas Aristagoras tells us, many little insects are caught in it whilst it\nis hardening, and are thereby killed therein-this view is wholly\ntrifling and absurd.  From these same motives also they give the Apis\nBull his water from a well specially set apart for the purpose,[FN#269]\nand they prevent him altogether from drinking of the Nile, not indeed\nthat they regard the river as impure, and polluted because of the\ncrocodiles which are in it, as some pretend, for there is nothing which\nthe Egyptians hold in greater veneration than the Nile, but because its\nwaters are observed to be particularly nourishing[FN#270] and\nfattening.  And they strive to prevent fatness in Apis as well as in\nthemselves, for they are anxious that their bodies should sit as light\nand easy about their souls as possible, and that their mortal part\nshould not oppress and weigh down the divine and immortal.\n\n\n\n\n\n[FN#269]  It is quite possible that Apis drank from a special well, but\nthe water in it certainly came from the Nile by infiltration.  In all\nthe old wells at Memphis the water sinks as the Nile sinks, and rises\nas it rises.\n\n[FN#270]  On account of the large amount of animal matter contained in\nit.\n\n\n\nVI. The priests of the Sun at Heliopolis[FN#271] never carry wine into\ntheir temples, for they regard it as indecent for those who are devoted\nto the service of any god to indulge in the drinking of wine whilst\nthey are under the immediate inspection of their Lord and King.[FN#272]\nThe priests of the other deities are not so scrupulous in this respect,\nfor they use it, though sparingly.  During their more solemn\npurifications they abstain from wine wholly, and they give themselves\nup entirely to study and meditation, and to the hearing and teaching of\nthose divine truths which treat of the divine nature.  Even the kings,\nwho are likewise priests, only partake of wine in the measure which is\nprescribed for them in the sacred books, as we are told by Hecataeus.\nThis custom was only introduced during the reign of Psammetichus, and\nbefore that time they drank no wine at all.  If they used it at any\ntime in pouring out libations to the gods, it was not because they\nlooked upon it as being acceptable to them for its own sake, but they\npoured it out over their altars as the blood of their enemies who had\nin times past fought against them.  For they believe the vine to have\nfirst sprung out of the earth after it was fattened by the bodies of\nthose who fell in the wars against the gods.  And this, they say, is\nthe reason why drinking its juice in great quantities makes men mad and\nbeside themselves, filling them, as it were, with the blood of their\nown ancestors.  These things are thus related by Eudoxus in the second\nbook of his Travels, as he had them from the priests themselves.\n\n\n\n\n[FN#271]  Called ANU in the Egyptian texts; it was the centre of the\ngreat solar cult of Egypt.  It is the \"On\" of the Bible.\n\n[FN#272]  The Sun-god was called Ra.\n\n\n\nVII.  As to sea-fish, the Egyptians in general do not abstain from all\nkinds of them, but some from one sort and some from another.  Thus, for\nexample, the inhabitants of Oxyrhynchus[FN#273] will not touch any that\nhave been taken with an angle; for as they pay especial reverence to\nthe Oxyrhynchus Fish,[FN#274] from whence they derive their name, they\nare afraid lest perhaps the hook may be defiled by having been at some\ntime or other employed in catching their favourite fish.  The people of\nSyene[FN#275] in like manner abstain from the Phagrus Fish[FN#276]; for\nas this fish is observed by them to make his first appearance upon\ntheir coasts just as the Nile begins to overflow, they pay special\nregard to these voluntary messengers as it were of that most joyful\nnews.  The priests, indeed, entirely abstain from all sorts in\ngeneral.[FN#277]  Therefore, upon the ninth day of the first month,\nwhen all the rest of the Egyptians are obliged by their religion to eat\na fried fish before the door of their houses, they only burn them, not\ntasting them at all.  For this custom they give two reasons: the first\nand most curious, as falling in with the sacred philosophy of Osiris\nand Typhon, will be more properly explained in another place.  The\nsecond, that which is most obvious and manifest, is that fish is\nneither a dainty nor even a necessary kind of food, a fact which seems\nto be abundantly confirmed by the writings of Homer, who never makes\neither the delicate Pheacians or the Ithacans (though both peoples were\nislanders) to feed upon fish, nor even the companions of Ulysses during\ntheir long and most tedious voyage, till they were reduced thereto by\nextreme necessity.  In short, they consider the sea to have been forced\nout of the earth by the power of fire, and therefore to lie out of\nnature's confines; and they regard it not as a part of the world, or\none of the elements, but as a preternatural and corrupt and morbid\nexcrement.\n\n\n\n[FN#273]  The Per-Matchet.\n\n[FN#274]  Probably the pike, or \"fighting fish.\"\n\n[FN#275]  In Egyptian, SUNU, the Seweneh of the Bible, and the modern\nAswan.\n\n\n[FN#276]  A kind of bream, the an of the Egyptian texts.\n\n[FN#277]  Compare Chap. CXXXVIIA of the Book of the Dead.  \"And behold,\nthese things shall be performed by a man who is clean, and is\nceremonially pure, one who hath eaten neither meat nor fish, and who\nhath not had intercourse with women\" (ll. 52, 53).\n\n\n\nVIII.  This much may be depended upon: the, religious rites and\nceremonies of the Egyptians were never instituted upon irrational\ngrounds, never built upon mere fable and superstition, but founded with\na view to promote the morality and happiness of those who were to\nobserve them, or at least to preserve the memory of some valuable piece\nof history, or to represent to us some of the phenomena of nature.  As\nconcerning the abhorrence which is expressed for onions, it is wholly\nimprobable that this detestation is owing to the loss of Diktys, who,\nwhilst he was under the guardianship of Isis, is supposed to have\nfallen into the river and to have been drowned as he was reaching after\na bunch of them.  No, the true reason of their abstinence from onions\nis because they are observed to flourish most and to be in the greatest\nvigour at the wane of the moon, and also because they are entirely\nuseless to them either in their feasts[FN#278] or in their times of\nabstinence and purification, for in the former case they make tears\ncome from those who use them, and in the latter they create thirst.\nFor much the same reason they likewise look upon the pig as an impure\nanimal, and to be avoided, observing it to be most apt to engender upon\nthe decrease of the moon, and they think that those who drink its milk\nare more subject to leprosy and such-like cutaneous diseases than\nothers.  The custom of abstaining from the flesh of the pig[FN#279] is\nnot always observed, for those who sacrifice a sow to Typhon once a\nyear, at the full moon, afterwards eat its flesh. The reason they give\nfor this practice is this: Typhon being in pursuit of this animal at\nthat season of the moon, accidentally found the wooden chest wherein\nwas deposited the body of Osiris, which he immediately pulled to\npieces. This story, however, is not generally admitted, there being\nsome who look upon it, as they do many other relations of the same\nkind, as founded upon some mistake or misrepresentation. All agree,\nhowever, in saying that so great was the abhorrence which the ancient\nEgyptians expressed for whatever tended to promote luxury, expense, and\nvoluptuousness, that in order to expose it as much as possible they\nerected a column in one of the temples of Thebes, full of curses\nagainst their king Meinis, who first drew them off from their former\nfrugal and parsimonious course of life.  The immediate cause for the\nerection of the pillar is thus given: Technatis,[FN#280] the father of\nBocchoris, leading an army against the Arabians, and his baggage and\nprovisions not coming up to him as soon as he expected, was therefore\nobliged to eat some of the very poor food which was obtainable, and\nhaving eaten, he lay down on the bare ground and slept very soundly.\nThis gave him a great affection for a mean and frugal diet, and induced\nhim to curse the memory of Meinis, and with the permission of the\npriests he made these curses public by cutting them upon a\npillar.[FN#281]\n\n\n\n[FN#278]  Bunches of onions were offered to the dead at all periods of\nEgyptian history, and they were regarded as typical of the \"white\nteeth\" of Horus.  The onion was largely used in medicine.\n\n[FN#279]  The pig was associated with Set, or Typhon, and the black\nvariety was specially abominated because it was a black pig which\nstruck Horus in the eye, and damaged it severely.  See Book of the\nDead, Chap. CXII.\n\n[FN#280]  In Egyptian, TAFNEKHT, the first king of the XXIVth Dynasty.\n\n[FN#281]  An unlikely story, for Tafnekht had no authority at Thebes.\n\n\n\nIX.  Now, the kings of Egypt were always chosen either out of the\nsoldiery or priesthood, the former order being honoured and respected\nfor its valour, and the latter for its wisdom.  If the choice fell upon\na soldier, he was immediately initiated into the order of priests, and\nby them instructed in their abstruse and hidden philosophy, a\nphilosophy for the most part involved in fable and allegory, and\nexhibiting only dark hints and obscure resemblances of the truth.  This\nthe priesthood hints to us in many instances, particularly by the\nsphinxes, which they seem to have placed designedly before their\ntemples as types of the enigmatical nature of their theology.  To this\npurpose, likewise, is that inscription which they have engraved upon\nthe base of the statue of Athene[FN#282] at Sais, whom they identify\nwith Isis: \"I am everything that has been, that is, and that shall be:\nand my veil no man hath raised.\"  In like manner the word \"Amoun,\" or\nas it is expressed in the Greek language, \"Ammon,\" which is generally\nlooked upon as the proper name of the Egyptian Zeus, is interpreted by\nManetho[FN#283] the Sebennite[FN#284] to signify \"concealment\" or\n\"something which is hidden.\"[FN#285]  Hecataeus of Abdera indeed tells\nus that the Egyptians make use of this term when they call out to one\nanother.  If this be so, then their invoking Amoun is the same thing as\ncalling upon the supreme being, whom they believe to be \"hidden\" and\n\"concealed\" in the universal nature, to appear and manifest itself to\nthem.  So cautious and reserved was the Egyptian wisdom in those things\nwhich appertained to religion.\n\n\n\n[FN#282]  The Egyptian goddess Net, in Greek {greek Nhid}, the great\ngoddess of Sais, in the Western Delta.  She was self-existent, and\nproduced her son, the Sun-god, without union with a god.  In an address\nto her, quoted by Mallet (Culte de Neit, p. 140), are found the words,\n\"thy garment hath not been unloosed,\" thus Plutarch's quotation is\ncorrect.\n\n[FN#283]  He compiled a History of Egypt for Ptolemy II., and\nflourished about B.C. 270; only the King-List from this work is\npreserved.\n\n[FN#284]  He was a native of the town of Sebennytus.\n\n[FN#285]  Amen means \"hidden,\" and AMEN is the \"hidden god.\"\n\n\n\nX.  And this is still farther evinced from those voyages which have\nbeen made into Egypt by the wisest men among the Greeks, namely, by\nSolo, Thales Plato, Eudoxus, Pythagoras, and, as some say, even by\nLycurgus himself, on purpose to converse with the priests.  And we are\nalso told that Eudoxus was a disciple of Chnouphis the Memphite, Solo\nof Sonchis the Saite, and Pythagoras of Oinuphis the Heliopolite.  But\nnone of these philosophers seems either to have been more admired and\nin greater favour with the priests, or to have paid a more especial\nregard to their method of philosophising, than this last named, who has\nparticularly imitated their mysterious and symbolical manner in his own\nwritings, and like them conveyed his doctrines to the world in a kind\nof riddle.  For many of the precepts of Pythagoras come nothing short\nof the hieroglyphical representations themselves, such as, \"eat not in\na chariot,\" \"sit not on a measure (choenix),\" \"plant not a palm-tree,\"\nand \"stir not the fire with a sword in the house.\"  And I myself am of\nthe opinion that, when the Pythagoreans appropriated the names of\nseveral of the gods to particular numbers, as that of Apollo to the\nunit, of Artemis to the duad, of Athene to the seven, and of Poseidon\nto the first cube, in this they allude to something which the founder\nof their sect saw in the Egyptian temples, or to some ceremonies\nperformed in them, or to some symbols there exhibited.  Thus, their\ngreat king and lord Osiris is represented by the hieroglyphics for an\neye and a sceptre,[FN#286] the name itself signifying \"many-eyed,\" as\nwe are told by some[FN#287] who would derive it from the words\nos,[FN#288] \"many,\" and iri,[FN#289] an \"eye,\" which have this meaning\nin the Egyptian language.  Similarly, because the heavens are eternal\nand are never consumed or wax old, they represent them by a heart with\na censer placed under it.  Much in the same way are those statues of\nthe Judges at Thebes without hands, and their chief, or president, is\nrepresented with his eyes turned downwards, which signifies that\njustice ought not to be obtainable by bribes, nor guided by favour or\naffection.  Of a like nature is the Beetle which we see engraven upon\nthe seals of the soldiers, for there is no such thing as a female\nbeetle of this species; for they are all males, and they propagate\ntheir kind by casting their seed into round balls of dirt, which afford\nnot only a proper place wherein the young may be hatched, but also\nnourishment for them as soon as they are born.\n\n\n\n\n[FN#286]  The oldest form of the name is As-Ar, ####; the first sign,\n####, is a throne, and the second, ####, is an eye, but the exact\nmeaning represented by the two signs is not known.  In late times a\nsceptre, #### took the place of the throne, but only because of its\nphonetic value as or us.  Thus we have the forms #### and ####.\n\n[FN#287]  This is a mistake.\n\n\n[FN#288]  In Egyptian, #### ash, \"many.\"\n\n[FN#289]  In Egyptian, #### art, Coptic ####, \"eye.\"\n\n\n\n\nXI.  When you hear, therefore, the mythological tales which the\nEgyptians tell of their gods, their wanderings, their mutilations, and\nmany other disasters which befell them, remember what has just been\nsaid, and be assured that nothing of what is thus told you is really\ntrue, or ever happened in fact.  For can it be imagined that it is the\ndog[FN#290] itself which is reverenced by them under the name of\nHermes[FN#291]?  It is the qualities of this animal, his constant\nvigilance, and his acumen in distinguishing his friends from his foes,\nwhich have rendered him, as Plato says, a meet emblem of that god who\nis the chief patron of intelligence.  Nor can we imagine that they\nthink that the sun, like a newly born babe, springs up every day out of\na lily.  It is quite true that they represent the rising sun in this\nmanner,[FN#292] but the reason is because they wish to indicate thereby\nthat it is moisture to which we owe the first kindling of this\nluminary.  In like manner, the cruel and bloody king of Persia, Ochus,\nwho not only put to death great numbers of the people, but even slew\nthe Apis Bull himself, and afterwards served him up in a banquet to his\nfriends, is represented by them by a sword, and by this name he is\nstill to be found in the catalogue of their kings.  This name,\ntherefore, does not represent his person, but indicates his base and\ncruel qualities, which were best suggested by the picture of an\ninstrument of destruction.  If, therefore, O Clea, you will hear and\nentertain the story of these gods from those who know how to explain it\nconsistently with religion and philosophy, if you will steadily persist\nin the observance of all these holy rites which the laws require of\nyou, and are moreover fully persuaded that to form true notions of the\ndivine nature is more acceptable to them than any sacrifice or mere\nexternal act of worship can be, you will by this means be entirely\nexempt from any danger of falling into superstition, an evil no less to\nbe avoided than atheism itself.\n\n\n\n[FN#290]  The animal here referred to must be the dog-headed ape, ####,\nwhich we see in pictures of the Judgment assisting Thoth to weigh the\nheart of the dead.  This dog-headed ape is a wonderfully intelligent\ncreature, and its weird cleverness is astonishing.\n\n[FN#291]  The Egyptian Tehuti, or Thoth.\n\n[FN#292]  ####.\n\n\n\nXII.  Now, the story of Isis and Osiris, its most insignificant and\nsuperfluous parts being omitted, runs thus:--\n\nThe goddess Rhea,[FN#293] they say, having accompanied with\nKronos[FN#294] by stealth, was discovered by Helios[FN#295] who\nstraightway cursed her, and declared that she should not be delivered\nin any month or year.  Hermes, however, 'being also in love with the\nsame goddess, in return for the favours which he had received from her,\nwent and played at dice with Selene,[FN#296] and won from her the\nseventieth part of each day.  These parts he joined together and made\nfrom them five complete days, and he added them to the three hundred\nand sixty days of which the year formerly consisted.  These five days\nare to this day called the \"Epagomenae,\"[FN#297] that is, the\nsuperadded, and they are observed by them as the birthdays of their\ngods.[FN#298]  On the first of these, they say, Osiris was born, and as\nhe came into the world a voice was heard saying, \"The Lord of\nAll[FN#299] is born.\"  Some relate the matter in a different way, and\nsay that a certain person named Pamyles, as he was fetching water from\nthe temple of Dios at Thebes, heard a voice commanding him to proclaim\naloud that the good and great king Osiris was then born, and that for\nthis reason Kronos committed the education of the child to him, and\nthat in memory of this event the Pamylia were afterwards instituted,\nwhich closely resemble the Phallephoria or Priapeia of the Greeks.\nUpon the second of these days was born Aroueris,[FN#300] whom some call\nApollo, and others the Elder Horus.  Upon the third day Typhon was\nborn, who came into the world neither at the proper time nor by the\nright way, but he forced a passage through a wound which he made in his\nmother's side.  Upon the fourth day Isis was born, in the marshes of\nEgypt,[FN#301] and upon the fifth day Nephthys, whom some call Teleute,\nor Aphrodite, or Nike, was born.  As regards the fathers of these\nchildren, the first two are said to have been begotten by Helios, Isis\nby Hermes, and Typhon and Nephthys by Kronos.  Therefore, since the\nthird of the superadded days was the birthday of Typhon, the kings\nconsidered it to be unlucky,[FN#302] and in consequence they neither\ntransacted any business in it, nor even suffered themselves to take any\nrefreshment until the evening.  They further add that Typhon married\nNephthys,[FN#303] and that Isis and Osiris, having a mutual affection,\nenjoyed each other in their mother's womb before they were born, and\nthat from this commerce sprang Aroueris, whom the Egyptians likewise\ncall Horus the Elder, and the Greeks Apollo.\n\n\n\n[FN#293]  i.e., Nut, the Sky-goddess.\n\n[FN#294]  i.e., Keb, the Earth-god.\n\n[FN#295]  i.e., Ra.\n\n[FN#296]  i.e., Aah.\n\n[FN#297]  In Egyptian, \"the five days over the year,\"\n\n[FN#298]  In Egyptian thus:--\nI. Birthday of Osiris,\nII. Birthday of Horus,\nIII. Birthday of Set,\nIV. Birthday of Isis,\nV. Birthday of Nephthys\n\n[FN#299]  One of the chief titles of Osiris was Neb er tcher, i.e.,\n\"lord to the uttermost limit of everything.\"\n\n[FN#300]  i.e., Heru-ur, \"Horus the Elder.\"\n\n[FN#301]  It was Horus, son of Isis, who was born in the marshes of\nEgypt.\n\n[FN#302]  This day is described as unlucky in the hieroglyphic texts.\n\n[FN#303]  Set and Nephthys are regarded as husband and wife in the\ntexts; their offspring was Anubis, Anpu.\n\n\n\nXIII.  Osiris having become king of Egypt, applied himself to\ncivilizing his countrymen by turning them from their former indigent\nand barbarous course of life.  He taught them how to cultivate and\nimprove the fruits of the earth, and he gave them a body of laws\nwhereby to regulate their conduct, and instructed them in the reverence\nand worship which they were to pay to the gods.  With the same good\ndisposition he afterwards travelled over the rest of the world,\ninducing the people everywhere to submit to his discipline, not indeed\ncompelling them by force of arms, but persuading them to yield to the\nstrength of his reasons, which were conveyed to them in the most\nagreeable manner, in hymns and songs, accompanied with instruments of\nmusic.  From this last circumstance the Greeks identified him with\ntheir Dionysos, or Bacchus.  During the absence of Osiris from his\nkingdom, Typhon had no opportunity of making any innovations in the\nstate, Isis being extremely vigilant in the government, and always upon\nher guard.  After his return, however, having first persuaded seventy-\ntwo other people to join with him in the conspiracy, together with a\ncertain queen of Ethiopia called Aso, who chanced to be in Egypt at\nthat time, he formed a crafty plot against him.  For having privily\ntaken the measure of the body of Osiris, he caused a chest to be made\nof exactly the same size, and it was very beautiful and highly\ndecorated.  This chest he brought into a certain banqueting room, where\nit was greatly admired by all who were present, and Typhon, as if in\njest, promised to give it to that man whose body when tried would be\nfound to fit it.  Thereupon the whole company, one after the other,\nwent into it, but it did not fit any of them; last of all Osiris\nhimself lay down in it.  Thereupon all the conspirators ran to the\nchest, and clapped the cover upon it, and then they fastened it down\nwith nails on the outside, and poured melted lead over it.  They next\ntook the chest to the river, which carried it to the sea through the\nTanaitic mouth of the Nile; and for this reason this mouth of the Nile\nis still held in the utmost abomination by the Egyptians, and is never\nmentioned by them except with marks of detestation.  These things, some\nsay, took place on the seventeenth day of the month of Hathor, when the\nsun was in Scorpio, in the twenty-eighth year of the reign of Osiris,\nthough others tell us that this was the year of his life and not of his\nreign.\n\n\n\nXIV.  The first who had knowledge of the accident which had befallen\ntheir king were the Pans and Satyrs, who inhabited the country round\nabout Chemmis,[FN#304] and they having informed the people about it,\ngave the first occasion to the name of Panic Terrors, which has ever\nsince been made use of to signify any sudden fright or amazement of a\nmultitude.  As soon as the report reached Isis, she immediately cut off\none of the locks of her hair, and put on mourning apparel in that very\nplace where she happened to be; for this reason the place has ever\nsince been called \"Koptos,\" or the \"city of mourning,\" though some are\nof opinion that this word rather signifies \"deprivation.\"  After this\nshe wandered round about through the country, being full of disquietude\nand perplexity, searching for the chest, and she inquired of every\nperson she met, including some children whom she saw, whether they knew\nwhat was become of it.  Now, it so happened that these children had\nseen what Typhon's accomplices had done with the body, and they\naccordingly told her by what mouth of the Nile it had been conveyed to\nthe sea.  For this reason the Egyptians look upon children as endued\nwith a kind of faculty of divining, and in consequence of this notion\nare very curious in observing the accidental prattle which they have\nwith one another whilst they are at play, especially if it be in a\nsacred place, forming omens and presages from it.  Isis meanwhile\nhaving been informed that Osiris, deceived by her sister Nephthys, who\nwas in love with him, had unwittingly enjoyed her instead of herself,\nas she concluded from the melilot-garland which he had left with her,\nmade it her business likewise to search out the child, the fruit of\nthis unlawful commerce (for her sister, dreading the anger of her\nhusband Typhon, had exposed it as soon as it was born).  Accordingly,\nafter much pains and difficulty, by means of some dogs that conducted\nher to the place where it was, she found it and bred it up; and in\nprocess of time it became her constant guard and attendant, and\nobtained the name of Anubis, and it is thought that it watches and\nguards the gods as dogs do men.\n\n\n\n[FN#304]  In Egyptian, Khebt, in the VIIIth nome of Lower Egypt.\n\n\n\nXV.  At length Isis received more particular news that the chest had\nbeen carried by the waves of the sea to the coast of Byblos, and there\ngently lodged in the branches of a bush of tamarisk, which in a short\ntime had grown up into a large and beautiful tree, and had grown round\nthe chest and enclosed it on every side so completely that it was not\nto be seen.  Moreover, the king of the country, amazed at its unusual\nsize, had cut the tree down, and made that part of the trunk wherein\nthe chest was concealed into a pillar to support the roof of his house.\nThese things, they say, having been made known to Isis in an\nextraordinary manner by the report of demons, she immediately went to\nByblos, where, setting herself down by the side of a fountain, she\nrefused to speak to anybody except the queen's women who chanced to be\nthere.  These, however, she saluted and caressed in the kindest manner\npossible, plaiting their hair for them, and transmitting into them part\nof that wonderful odour which issued from her own body.  This raised a\ngreat desire in the queen their mistress to see the stranger who had\nthis admirable faculty of transfusing so fragrant a smell from herself\ninto the hair and skin of other people.  She therefore sent for her to\ncourt, and, after a further acquaintance with her, made her nurse to\none of her sons.  Now, the name of the king who reigned at this time at\nByblos was Melkander (Melkarth?), and that of his wife was Astarte, or,\naccording to others, Sa\u00f4sis, though some call her Nemanoun, which\nanswers to the Greek name Athenais.\n\n\n\nXVI.  Isis nursed the child by giving it her finger to suck instead of\nthe breast.  She likewise put him each night into the fire in order to\nconsume his mortal part, whilst, having transformed herself into a\nswallow, she circled round the pillar and bemoaned her sad fate.  This\nshe continued to do for some time, till the queen, who stood watching\nher, observing the child to be all of a flame, cried out, and thereby\ndeprived him of some of that immortality which would otherwise have\nbeen conferred upon him.  The goddess then made herself known, and\nasked that the pillar which supported the roof might be given to her.\nHaving taken the pillar down, she cut it open easily, and having taken\nout what she wanted, she wrapped up the remainder of the trunk in fine\nlinen, and having poured perfumed oil over it, she delivered it again\ninto the hands of the king and queen.  Now, this piece of wood is to\nthis day preserved in the temple, and worshipped by the people of\nByblos.  When this was done, Isis threw herself upon the chest, and\nmade at the same time such loud and terrible cries of lamentation over\nit, that the younger of the king's sons who heard her was frightened\nout of his life.  But the elder of them she took with her, and set sail\nwith the chest for Egypt.  Now, it being morning the river Phaedrus\nsent forth a keen and chill air, and becoming angry she dried up its\ncurrent.\n\n\n\nXVII.  At the first place where she stopped, and when she believed that\nshe was alone, she opened the chest, and laying her face upon that of\nher dead husband, she embraced him and wept bitterly.  Then, seeing\nthat the little boy had silently stolen up behind her, and had found\nout the reason of her grief, she turned upon him suddenly, and, in her\nanger, gave him so fierce and terrible a look that he died of fright\nimmediately.  Others say that his death did not happen in this manner,\nbut, as already hinted, that he fell into the sea.  Afterwards he\nreceived the greatest honour on account of the goddess, for this\nManeros, whom the Egyptians so frequently call upon at their banquets,\nis none other than he.  This story is contradicted by those who tell us\nthat the true name of this child was Palaestinus, or Pelusius, and that\nthe city of this name was built by the goddess in memory of him.  And\nthey further add that this Maneros is thus honoured by the Egyptians at\ntheir feasts because he was the first who invented music.  Others again\nstate that Maneros is not the name of any particular person, but a were\ncustomary form of complimentary greeting which the Egyptians use\ntowards each other at their more solemn feasts and banquets, meaning no\nmore by it than to wish \"that what they were then about might prove\nfortunate and happy to them.\"  This is the true import of the word.  In\nlike manner they say that the human skeleton which is carried about in\na box on festal occasions, and shown to the guests, is not designed, as\nsome imagine, to represent the particular misfortunes of Osiris, but\nrather to remind them of their mortality, and thereby to excite them\nfreely to make use of and to enjoy the good things which are set before\nthem, seeing that they must quickly become such as they there saw.\nThis is the true reason for introducing the skeleton at their banquets.\nBut to proceed with the narrative.\n\n\n\nXVIII.   When Isis had come to her son Horus, who was being reared at\nButo,[FN#305] she deposited the chest in a remote and unfrequented\nplace.  One night, however, when Typhon was hunting by the light of the\nmoon, he came upon it by chance, and recognizing the body which was\nenclosed in it, he tore it into several pieces, fourteen[FN#306] in\nall, and scattered them in different places up and down the country.\nWhen Isis knew what had been done, she set out in search of the\nscattered portions of her husband's body; and in order to pass more\neasily through the lower, marshy parts of the country, she made use of\na boat made of the papyrus plant.  For this reason, they say, either\nfearing the anger of the goddess, or else venerating the papyrus, the\ncrocodile never injures anyone who travels in this sort of\nvessel.[FN#307]  And this, they say, hath given rise to the report that\nthere are very many different sepulchres of Osiris in Egypt, for\nwherever Isis found one of the scattered portions of her husband's\nbody, there she buried it.  Others, however, contradict this story, and\ntell us that the variety of sepulchres of Osiris was due rather to the\npolicy of the queen, who, instead of the real body, as she pretended,\npresented to these cities only an image of her husband.  This she did\nin order to increase the honours which would by these means be paid to\nhis memory, and also to defeat Typhon, who, if he were victorious in\nhis fight against Horus in which he was about to engage, would search\nfor the body of Osiris, and being distracted by the number of\nsepulchres would despair of ever being able to find the true one.  We\nare told, moreover, that notwithstanding all her efforts, Isis was\nnever able to discover the phallus of Osiris, which, having been thrown\ninto the Nile immediately upon its separation from the rest of the\nbody,[FN#308] had been devoured by the Lepidotus, the Phagrus, and the\nOxyrhynchus, fish which above all others, for this reason, the\nEgyptians have in more especial avoidance.  In order, however, to make\nsome amends for the loss, Isis consecrated the phallus made in\nimitation of it, and instituted a solemn festival to its memory, which\nis even to this day observed by the Egyptians.\n\n\n\n[FN#305]  In Egyptian, the double city Pe-Tep.  See the texts from the\nMetternich Stele printed in this volume.\n\n[FN#306]  The fourteen members are: head, feet, bones, arms, heart,\ninterior, tongue, eyes, fists, fingers, back, ears, loins, and body.\nSome of the lists in Egyptian add the face of a ram and the hair.  The\ncities in which Isis buried the portions of his body are: Koptos,\nPhilae in Elephantine, Herakleopolis Magna, Kusae, Heliopolis,\nDiospolis of Lower Egypt, Letopolis, Sais, Hermopolis of Lower Egypt,\nAthribis, Aq (Schedia), Ab in the Libyan nome, Netert, Apis.\n\n[FN#307]  Moses was laid in an ark of bulrushes, i.e., papyrus, and was\nfound uninjured.\n\n[FN#308]  We meet with a similar statement in the Tale of the Two\nBrothers, where we are told that the younger brother, having declared\nhis innocence to the elder brother, out off his phallus and threw it\ninto the river, where it was devoured by the naru fish.\n\n\n\nXIX.  After these things Osiris returned from the other world, and\nappeared to his son Horus, and encouraged him to fight, and at the same\ntime instructed him in the exercise of arms.  He then asked him what he\nthought was the most glorious action a man could perform, to which\nHorus replied, \"To revenge the injuries offered to his father[FN#309]\nand mother.\"  Osiris then asked him what animal he thought most\nserviceable to a soldier, and Horus replied, \"A horse.\"  On this Osiris\nwondered, and he questioned him further, asking him why he preferred a\nhorse to a lion, and Horus replied, \"Though the lion is the more\nserviceable creature to one who stands in need of help, yet is the\nhorse more useful in overtaking and cutting off a flying\nenemy.\"[FN#310]  These replies caused Osiris to rejoice greatly, for\nthey showed him that his son was sufficiently prepared for his enemy.\nWe are, moreover, told that amongst the great numbers who were\ncontinually deserting from Typhon's party was his concubine\nThoueris,[FN#311] and that a serpent which pursued her as she was\ncoming over to Horus was slain by his soldiers.  The memory of this\naction is, they say, still preserved in that cord which is thrown into\nthe midst of their assemblies, and then chopped in pieces.  Afterwards\na battle took place between Horus and Typhon, which lasted many days,\nbut Horus was at length victorious, and Typhon was taken prisoner.  He\nwas delivered over into the custody of Isis, who, instead of putting\nhim to death, loosed his fetters and set him free.  This action of his\nmother incensed Horus to such a degree that he seized her, and pulled\nthe royal crown off her head; but Hermes came forward, and set upon her\nhead the head of an ox instead of a helmet.[FN#312]  After this Typhon\naccused Horus of illegitimacy, but, by the assistance of Hermes, his\nlegitimacy was fully established by a decree of the gods\nthemselves.[FN#313]  After this two other battles were fought between\nHorus and Typhon, and in both Typhon was defeated.  Moreover, Isis is\nsaid to have had union with Osiris after his death,[FN#314] and she\nbrought forth Harpokrates,[FN#315] who came into the world before his\ntime, and was lame in his lower limbs.\n\n\n\n[FN#309]  The texts give as a very common title of Horus, \"Horus, the\navenger of his father.\"\n\n[FN#310]  There is no evidence that the Egyptians employed the horse in\nwar before the XVIIIth Dynasty, a fact which proves that the dialogue\nhere given is an invention of a much later date than the original\nlegend of Osiris.\n\n[FN#311]  In Egyptian, TA-URT, the hippopotamus goddess.\n\n[FN#312]  According to the legend given in the Fourth Sallier Papyrus,\nthe fight between Horus and Set began on the 26th day of the month of\nThoth, and lasted three days and three nights.  It was fought in or\nnear the hall of the lords of Kher-aha, i.e., near Heliopolis, and in\nthe presence of Isis, who seems to have tried to spare both her brother\nSet and her son Horus.  For some reason Horus became enraged with his\nmother, and attacking her like a \"leopard of the south,\" he cut off the\nhead of Isis.  Thereupon Thoth came forward, and using words of power,\ncreated a substitute in the form of a cow's head, and placed it on her\nbody (Sallier, iv., p. 2; see Select Papyri, pl. cxlv.).\n\n[FN#313]  Horus inherited the throne by his father's will, a fact which\nis so often emphasized in the texts that it seems there may be some\nground for Plutarch's view.\n\n[FN#314]  This view is confirmed by the words in the hymn to Osiris,\n\"she moved the inactivity of the Still-Heart (Osiris), she drew from\nhim his essence, she made an heir.\"\n\n[FN#315]  In Egyptian, HERU-PA-KHART, \"Horus the Child.\"\n\n\n\nXX.  Such then are the principal circumstances of this famous story,\nthe more harsh and shocking parts of it, such as the cutting up of\nHorus and the beheading of Isis, being omitted.  Now, if such could be\nsupposed to be the real sentiments of the Egyptians concerning those\ndivine Beings whose most distinguishing characteristics are happiness\nand immortality, or could it be imagined that they actually believed\nwhat they thus tell us ever to have actually taken place, I should not\nneed to warn you, O Clea, you who are already sufficiently averse to\nsuch impious and absurd notions of the God, I should not, I say, have\nneed to caution you, to testify your abhorrence of them, and, as\nAeschylus expresses it, \"to spit and wash your mouth\" after the recital\nof them.  In the present case, however, it is not so.  And I doubt not\nthat you yourself are conscious of the difference between this history\nand those light and idle fictions which the poets and other writers of\nfables, like spiders, weave and spin out of their own imaginations,\nwithout having any substantial ground or firm foundation to work upon.\nThere must have been some real distress, some actual calamity, at the\nbottom as the ground-work of the narration; for, as mathematicians\nassure us, the rainbow is nothing else but a variegated image of the\nsun, thrown upon the sight by the reflection of his beams from the\nclouds; and thus ought we to look upon the present story as the\nrepresentation, or rather reflection, of something real as its true\ncause.  And this notion is still farther suggested to us as well by\nthat solemn air of grief and sadness which appears in their sacrifices,\nas by the very form and arrangement of their temples, which extend into\nlong avenues and open aisles in some portions,[FN#316] and in others\nretreating into dark and gloomy chapels which resembled the underground\nvaults which are allotted to the dead.  That the history has a\nsubstantial foundation is proved by the opinion which obtains generally\nconcerning the sepulchres of Osiris.  There are many places wherein his\nbody is said to have been deposited, and among these are Abydos and\nMemphis, both of which are said to contain his body.  It is for this\nreason, they say, that the richer and more prosperous citizens wish to\nbe buried in the former of these cities, being ambitious of lying, as\nit were, in the grave with Osiris.[FN#317]  The title of Memphis to be\nregarded as the grave of Osiris seems to rest upon the fact that the\nApis Bull, who is considered to be the image of the soul of Osiris, is\nkept in that city for the express purpose that it may be as near his\nbody as possible.[FN#318]  Others again tell us that the interpretation\nof the name Memphis[FN#319] is \"the haven of good men,\" and that the\ntrue sepulchre of Osiris lies in that little island which the Nile\nmakes at Philae.[FN#320]  This island is, they say, inaccessible, and\nneither bird can alight on it, nor fish swim near it, except at the\ntimes when the priests go over to it from the mainland to solemnize\ntheir customary rites to the dead, and to crown his tomb with flowers,\nwhich, they say, is overshadowed by the branches of a tamarisk-tree,\nthe size of which exceeds that of an olive-tree.\n\n\n\n[FN#316]  Plutarch refers to the long colonnaded courts which extend in\na straight line to the sanctuary, which often contains more than one\nshrine, and to the chambers wherein temple properties, vestments, &c.,\nwere kept.\n\n[FN#317]  In what city the cult of Osiris originated is not known, but\nit is quite certain that before the end of the VIth Dynasty Abydos\nbecame the centre of his worship, and that he dispossessed the local\ngod An-Her in the affections of the people.  Tradition affirmed that\nthe head of Osiris was preserved at Abydos in a box, and a picture of\nit, #### became the symbol of the city.  At Abydos a sort of miracle\nplay, in which all the sufferings and resurrection of Osiris were\ncommemorated, was performed annually, and the raising up of a model of\nhis body, and the placing of his head upon it, were the culminating\nceremonies.  At Abydos was the famous shaft into which offerings were\ncast for transmission to the dead in the Other World, and through the\nGap in the hills close by souls were believed to set out on their\njourney thither.  One tradition places the Elysian Fields in the\nneighbourhood of Abydos.  A fine stone bier, a restoration probably of\nthe XXVIth Dynasty, which represented the original bier of Osiris, was\ndiscovered there by M. Amelineau.  It is now in the Egyptian Museum at\nCairo.\n\n[FN#318]  Apis is called the \"life of Osiris,\" ####, and on the death\nof the Bull, its soul went to heaven and joined itself to that of\nOsiris, and it formed with him the dual-god Asar-Hep, i.e., Osiris-\nApis, or Sarapis.  The famous Serapeum at Memphis was called ####.\n\n[FN#319]  In Egyptian, Men-Nefer, i.e., \"fair haven.\"\n\n[FN#320]  Osiris and Isis were worshipped at Philae until the reign of\nJustinian, when his general, Narses, closed the temple and carried off\nthe statues of the gods to Constantinople, where they were probably\nmelted down.\n\n\n\nXXI.  Eudoxus indeed asserts that, although there are many pretended\nsepulchres of Osiris in Egypt, the, place where his body actually lies\nis Busiris,[FN#321] where likewise he was born.[FN#322]  As to\nTaphosiris, there is no need to mention it particularly, for its very\nname indicates its claim to be the tomb of Osiris.  There are likewise\nother circumstances in the Egyptian ritual which hint to us the reality\nupon which this history is grounded, such as their cleaving the trunk\nof a tree, their wrapping it up in linen which they tear in pieces for\nthat purpose, and the libations of oil which they afterwards pour upon\nit; but these I do not insist on, because they are intermixed with such\nof their mysteries as may not be revealed.\n\n\n\n[FN#321] In Egyptian, Pa-Asar-neb-Tetu, \"the house of Osiris, the lord\nof Tetu.\"  In the temple of Neb-Sekert, the backbone of the god was\npreserved, according to one text, but another says it was his jaws(?)\nand interior.\n\n[FN#322]  This view represents a late tradition, or at all events one\nwhich sprang up after the decay of Abydos.\n\n\n\n[FIRST EXPLANATION OF THE STORY.]\n\n\n\nXXII.  Now as to those who, from many things of this kind, some of\nwhich are proclaimed openly, and others are darkly hinted at in their\nreligious institutions, would conclude that the whole story is no other\nthan a mere commemoration of the various actions of their kings and\nother great men, who, by reason of their excellent virtue and the\nmightiness of their power, added to their other titles the honour of\ndivinity, though they afterwards fell into many and grievous\ncalamities, those, I say, who would in this manner account for the\nvarious scenes above-mentioned, must be owned indeed to make use of a\nvery plausible method of eluding such difficulties as may arise about\nthis subject, and ingeniously enough to transfer the most shocking\nparts of it from the divine to the human nature.  Moreover, it must be\nadmitted that such a solution is not entirely destitute of any\nappearance of historical evidence for its support.  For when the\nEgyptians themselves tell us that Hermes had one hand shorter than\nanother, that Typhon was of red complexion, Horus fair, and Osiris\nblack, does not this show that they were of the human species, and\nsubject to the same accidents as all other men?[FN#323]  Nay, they go\nfarther, and even declare the particular work in which each was engaged\nwhilst alive.  Thus they say that Osiris was a general, that Canopus,\nfrom whom the star took its name, was a pilot, and that the ship which\nthe Greeks call Argo, being made in imitation of the ship of Osiris,\nwas, in honour of him, turned into a constellation and placed near\nOrion and the Dog-star, the former being sacred to Horus and the latter\nto Isis.\n\n\n\n[FN#323]  Red is the colour attributed to all fiends in the Egyptian\ntexts.  One of the forms of Horus is described as being \"blue-eyed,\"\nand the colour of the face of Osiris is often green, and sometimes\nblack.\n\n\n\nXXIII.  But I am much afraid that to give in to this explanation of the\nstory will be to move things which ought not to be moved; and not only,\nas Simonides says, \"to declare war against all antiquity,\" but likewise\nagainst whole families and nations who are fully possessed with the\nbelief in the divinity of these beings.  And it would be no less than\ndispossessing those great names of their heaven, and bringing them down\nto the earth.  It would be to shake and loosen a worship and faith\nwhich have been firmly settled in nearly all mankind from their\ninfancy.  It would be to open a wide door for atheism to enter in at,\nand to encourage the attempts of those who would humanize the divine\nnature.  More particularly it would give a clear sanction and authority\nto the impostures of Euhemerus the Messenian, who from mere\nimagination, and without the least appearance of truth to support it,\nhas invented a new mythology of his own, asserting that \"all those in\ngeneral who are called and declared to be gods are none other than so\nmany ancient generals and sea-captains and kings.\"  Now, he says that\nhe found this statement written in the Panchaean dialect in letters of\ngold, though in what part of the globe his Panchaeans dwell, any more\nthan the Tryphillians, whom he mentions at the same time with them, he\ndoes not inform us.  Nor can I learn that any other person, whether\nGreek or Barbarian, except himself, has ever yet been so fortunate as\nto meet with these imaginary countries.\n\n\n\n\n[In Sec. XXIV.  Plutarch goes on to say that the Assyrians commemorate\nSemiramis, the Egyptians Sesostris, the Phrygians Manis or Masdis, the\nPersians Cyrus, and the Macedonians Alexander, yet these heroes are not\nregarded as gods by their peoples.  The kings who have accepted the\ntitle of gods have afterwards had to suffer the reproach of vanity and\npresumption, and impiety and injustice.]\n\n\n\n[SECOND EXPLANATION OF THE STORY.]\n\n\n\nXXV.  There is another and a better method which some employ in\nexplaining this story.  They assert that what is related of Typhon,\nOsiris, and Isis is not to be regarded as the afflictions of gods, or\nof mere mortals, but rather as the adventures of certain great Daemons.\nThese beings, they say, are supposed by some of the wisest of the Greek\nphilosophers, that is to say, Plato, Pythagoras, Xenocrates, and\nChrysippus, in accordance with what they had learned from ancient\ntheologians, to be stronger and more powerful than men, and of a nature\nsuperior to them.  They are, at the same time, inferior to the pure and\nunmixed nature of the gods, as partaking of the sensations of the body,\nas well as of the perceptions of the soul, and consequently liable to\npain as well as pleasure, and to such other appetites and affections,\nas flow from their various combinations.  Such affections, however,\nhave a greater power and influence over some of them than over others,\njust as there are different degrees of virtue and vice found in these\nDaemons as well as in mankind.  In like manner, the wars of the Giants\nand the Titans which are so much spoken of by the Greeks, the\ndetestable actions of Kronos, the combats between Apollo and the\nPython, the flights of Dionysos, and the wanderings of Demeter, are\nexactly of the same nature as the adventures of Osiris and Typhon.\nTherefore, they all are to be accounted for in the same manner, and\nevery treatise of mythology will readily furnish us with an abundance\nof other similar instances.  The same thing may also be affirmed of\nthose other things which are so carefully concealed under the cover of\nmysteries and imitations.\n\n\n\n[In Sec. XXVI.  Plutarch points out that Homer calls great and good men\n\"god-like\" and \"God's compeers,\" but the word Daemon is applied to the\ngood and bad indifferently (see Odyssey, vi. 12; Iliad, xiii. 810, v.\n438, iv. 31, &c.).  Plato assigns to the Olympian Gods good things and\nthe odd numbers, and the opposite to the Daemons.  Xenocrates believed\nin the existence of a series of strong and powerful beings which take\npleasure in scourgings and fastings, &c.  Hesiod speaks of \"holy\ndaemons\" (Works and Days, 126) and \"guardians of mankind,\" and\n\"bestowers of wealth,\" and these are regarded by Plato as a \"middle\norder of beings between the gods and men, interpreters of the wills of\nthe gods to men, and ministering to their wants, carrying the prayers\nand supplications of mortals to heaven, and bringing down thence in\nreturn oracles and all other blessings of life.\"  Empedocles thought\nthat the Daemons underwent punishment, and that when chastened and\npurified they were restored to their original state.]\n\n\n\n\n[Sec. XXVII.  To this class belonged Typhon, who was punished by Isis.  In\nmemory of all she had done and suffered, she established certain rites\nand mysteries which were to be types and images of her deeds, and\nintended these to incite people to piety, and, to afford them\nconsolation.  Isis and Osiris were translated from good Daemons into\ngods, and the honours due to them are rightly of a mixed kind, being\nthose due to gods and Daemons.  Osiris is none other than Pluto, and\nIsis is not different from Proserpine.]\n\n\n\n[Sec. XXX.  Typhon is held by the Egyptians in the greatest contempt, and\nthey do all they can to vilify him.  The colour red being associated\nwith him, they treat with contumely all those who have a ruddy\ncomplexion; the ass[FN#324] being usually of a reddish colour, the men\nof Koptos are in the habit of sacrificing asses by casting them down\nprecipices. The inhabitants of Busiris and Lycopolis never use\ntrumpets, because their sounds resemble the braying of an ass.  The\ncakes which are offered at the festivals during Paoni and Paopi are\nstamped with the figure of a fettered ass.  The Pythagoreans regarded\nTyphon as a daemon, and according to them he was produced in the even\nnumber fifty-six; and Eudoxus says that a figure of fifty-six angles\ntypifies the nature of Typhon.]\n\n\n\n[FN#324]  The ass is associated with Set, or Typhon, in the texts, but\non account of his virility he also typifies a form of the Sun-god.  In\na hymn the deceased prays, \"May I smite the Ass, may I crush the\nserpent-fiend Sebau,\" but the XLth Chapter of the Book of the Dead is\nentitled, \"Chapter of driving back the Eater of the Ass.\"  The vignette\nshows us the deceased in the act of spearing a monster serpent which\nhas fastened its jaws in the back of an ass.  In Chapter CXXV. there is\na dialogue between the Cat and the Ass.\n\n\n\n[Sec. XXXI.  The Egyptians only sacrifice red-coloured bulls, and a single\nblack or white hair in the animal's head disqualifies it for sacrifice.\nThey sacrifice creatures wherein the souls of the wicked have been\nconfined, and through this view arose the custom of cursing the animal\nto be sacrificed, and cutting off its bead and throwing it into the\nNile.  No bullock is sacrificed which has not on it the seal of the\npriests who were called \"Sealers.\"  The impression from this seal\nrepresents a man upon his knees, with his hands tied behind him, and a\nsword pointed at his throat.  The ass is identified with Typhon not\nonly because of his colour, but also because of his stupidity and the\nsensuality of his disposition.  The Persian king Ochus was nicknamed\nthe \"Ass,\" which made him to say, \"This ass shall dine upon your ox,\"\nand accordingly he slew Apis.  Typhon is said to have escaped from\nHorus by a flight of seven days on an ass.]\n\n\n\n[THIRD EXPLANATION OF THE STORY.]\n\n\n\nXXXII.  Such then are the arguments of those who endeavour to account\nfor the above-mentioned history of Isis and Osiris upon a supposition\nthat they were of the order of Daemons; but there are others who\npretend to explain it upon other principles, and in more philosophical\nmanner.  To begin, then, with those whose reasoning is the most simple\nand obvious.  As the Greeks allegorize their Kronos into Time, and\ntheir Hera into Air, and tell us that the birth of Hephaistos is no\nother but the change of air into fire, so these philosophers say that\nby Osiris the Egyptians mean the Nile, by Isis that part of the country\nwhich Osiris, or the Nile, overflows, and by Typhon the sea, which, by\nreceiving the Nile as it runs into it, does, as it were, tear it into\nmany pieces, and indeed entirely destroys it, excepting only so much of\nit as is admitted into the bosom of the earth in its passage over it,\nwhich is thereby rendered fertile.  The truth of this explanation is\nconfirmed, they say, by that sacred dirge which they make over Osiris\nwhen they bewail \"him who was born on the right side of the world and\nwho perished on the left.\"[FN#325]  For it must be observed that the\nEgyptians look upon the east as the front or face of the world,[FN#326]\nupon the north as its right side,[FN#327] and upon the south as its\nleft.[FN#328]  As, therefore, the Nile rises in the south, and running\ndirectly northwards is at last swallowed up by the sea, it may rightly\nenough be said to be born on the right and to perish on the left side.\nThis conclusion, they say, is still farther strengthened from that\nabhorrence which the priests express towards the sea, as well as salt,\nwhich they call \"Typhon's foam.\"  And amongst their prohibitions is one\nwhich forbids salt being laid on their tables.  And do they not also\ncarefully avoid speaking to pilots, because this class of men have much\nto do with the sea and get their living by it?  And this is not the\nleast of their reasons for the great dislike which they have for fish,\nand they even make the fish a symbol of \"hatred,\" as is proved by the\npictures which are to be seen on the porch of the temple of Neith at\nSais.  The first of these is a child, the second is an old man, the\nthird is a hawk, and then follow a fish and a hippopotamus.  The\nmeaning of all these is evidently, \"O you who are coming into the\nworld, and you who are going out of it (i.e., both young and old), God\nhateth impudence.\"  For by the child is indicated \"all those who are\ncoming into life\"; by the old man, \"those who are going out of it\"; by\nthe hawk, \"God\"; by the fish, \"hatred,\" on account of the sea, as has\nbeen before stated; and by the hippopotamus, \"impudence,\" this creature\nbeing said first to slay his sire, and afterwards to force his\ndam.[FN#329]  The Pythagoreans likewise may be thought perhaps by some\nto have looked upon the sea as impure, and quite different from all the\nrest of nature, and that thus much is intended by them when they call\nit the \"tears of Kronos.\"\n\n\n\n[FN#325]  Plutarch here refers to Osiris as the Moon, which rises in\nthe West.\n\n[FN#326]  According to the texts the front of the world was the south,\nkhent, #### and from this word is formed the verb #### #### \"to sail to\nthe south.\"\n\n[FN#327]  In the texts the west is the right side, unemi, #### in\nCoptic, ####.\n\n[FN#328]  In the texts the east is the left side, abti.\n\n[FN#329]  Each of these signs, ####, except the last, does mean what\nPlutarch says it means, but his method of reading them together is\nwrong, and it proves that he did not understand that hieroglyphics were\nused alphabetically as well as ideographically.\n\n\n\n[Secs. XXXIII., XXXIV.  Some of the more philosophical priests assert that\nOsiris does not symbolize the Nile only, nor Typhon the sea only, but\nthat Osiris represents the principle and power of moisture in general,\nand that Typhon represents everything which is scorching, burning, and\nfiery, and whatever destroys moisture.  Osiris they believe to have\nbeen of a black[FN#330] colour, because water gives a black tinge to\neverything with which it is mixed.  The Mnevis Bull[FN#331] kept at\nHeliopolis is, like Osiris, black in colour, \"and even Egypt[FN#332]\nitself, by reason of the extreme blackness of the soil, is called by\nthem 'Chemia,' the very name which is given to the black part or pupil\nof the eye.[FN#333]  It is, moreover, represented by them under the\nfigure of a human heart.\"  The Sun and Moon are not represented as\nbeing drawn about in chariots, but as sailing round the world in ships,\nwhich shows that they owe their motion, support, and nourishment to the\npower of humidity.[FN#334]  Homer and Thales both learned from Egypt\nthat \"water was the first principle of all things, and the cause of\ngeneration.\"[FN#335]]\n\n\n\n[FN#330]  Experiments recently conducted by Lord Rayleigh indicate that\nthe true colour of water is blue.\n\n[FN#331]  In Egyptian, Nem-ur, or Men-ur, and he was \"called the life\nof Ra.\"\n\n[FN#332]  The commonest name of Egypt is Kemt, \"black land,\" as opposed\nto the reddish-yellow sandy deserts on each side of the \"valley of\nblack mud.\"  The word for \"black\" is kam.\n\n[FN#333]  Plutarch seems to have erred here.  The early texts call the\npupil of the eye \"the child in the eye,\" as did the Semitic peoples\n(see my Liturgy of Funerary Offerings, p. 136).  The Copts spoke of the\n\"black of the eye,\" derived from the hieroglyphic \"darkness,\"\n\"blackness.\"\n\n[FN#334]  There is no support for this view in the texts.\n\n[FN#335]  It was a very common belief in Egypt that all things arose\nfrom the great celestial ocean called Nu, whence came the Nile.\n\n\n\n[Sec. XXXVI.  The Nile and all kinds of moisture are called the \"efflux of\nOsiris.\"  Therefore a water-pitcher[FN#336] is always carried first in\nhis processions, and the leaf of a fir-tree represents both Osiris and\nEgypt.[FN#337]  Osiris is the great principle of fecundity, which is\nproved by the Pamylia festivals, in which a statue of the god with a\ntriple phallus is carried about.[FN#338]  The three-fold phallus merely\nsignifies any great and indefinite number.]\n\n\n\n[FN#336]  Plutarch refers to the vessel of water, with which the priest\nsprinkles the ground to purify it.\n\n[FN#337]  He seems to refer here to the olive-tree: Beqet, \"olive\nland,\" was one of the names of Egypt.\n\n[FN#338]  Plutarch seems to be confounding Osiris with Menu, the god of\ngeneration, who is generally represented in an ithyphallic form.  The\nfestival of the phallus survived in Egypt until quite recently.\n\n\n\n[Sec. XXXVIII.  The Sun is consecrated to Osiris, and the lion is\nworshipped, and temples are ornamented with figures of this animal,\nbecause the Nile rises when the sun is in the constellation of the\nLion.  Horus, the offspring of Osiris, the Nile, and Isis, the Earth,\nwas born in the marshes of Buto, because the vapour of damp land\ndestroys drought.  Nephthys, or Teleute, represents the extreme limits\nof the country and the sea-shore, that is, barren land.  Osiris (i.e.,\nthe Nile) overflowed this barren land, and Anubis[FN#339] was the\nresult.[FN#340]]\n\n\n\n[FN#339]  The Egyptian Anpu.  The texts make one form of him to be the\nson of Set and Nephthys.\n\n[FN#340]  Plutarch's explanations in this chapter are unsupported by\nthe texts.\n\n\n\n[Sec. XXXIX.  In the first part of this chapter Plutarch continues his\nidentification of Typhon with drought, and his ally Aso, Queen of\nEthiopia, he considers to be the Etesian or north winds, which blow for\na long period when the Nile is falling. He goes on to say:--]\n\nAs to what they relate of the shutting up of Osiris in a box, this\nappears to mean the withdrawal of the Nile to its own bed.  This is the\nmore probable as this misfortune is said to have happened to Osiris in\nthe month of Hathor, precisely at that season of the year when, upon\nthe cessation of the Etesian or north winds the Nile returns to its own\nbed, and leaves the country everywhere bare and naked.  At this time\nalso the length of the nights increases, darkness prevails, whilst\nlight is diminished and overcome.  At this time the priests celebrate\ndoleful rites, and they exhibit as a suitable representation of the\ngrief of Isis a gilded ox covered with a fine black linen cloth.  Now,\nthe ox is regarded as the living image of Osiris.  This ceremony is\nperformed on the seventeenth and three following days,[FN#341] and they\nmourn: 1.  The falling of the Nile; 2.  The cessation of the north\nwinds; 3.  The decrease in the length of the days; 4.  The desolate\ncondition of the land.  On the nineteenth of the month Pachons they\nmarch in procession to the sea, whither the priests and other officials\ncarry the sacred chest, wherein is enclosed a small boat of gold; into\nthis they first pour some water, and then all present cry out with a\nloud voice, \"Osiris is found.\"  This done, they throw some earth,\nscent, and spices into the water, and mix it well together, and work it\nup into the image of a crescent, which they afterwards dress in\nclothes.  This shows that they regard the gods as the essence and power\nof water and earth.\n\n\n\n[FN#341]  The 17th day is very unlucky; the 18th is very lucky; the\n19th and 20th are very unlucky.  On the 17th day Isis and Nephthys made\ngreat lamentation for their brother Un-nefer at Sais; on the 19th no\nman should leave the house; and the man born on the 20th would die of\nthe plague.\n\n\n\n[Sec. XL.  Though Typhon was conquered by Horus, Isis would not allow him\nto be destroyed. Typhon was once master of all Egypt, i.e., Egypt was\nonce covered by the sea, which is proved by the sea-shells which are\ndug out of the mines, and are found on the tops of the hills.  The Nile\nyear by year creates new land, and thus drives away the sea further and\nfurther, i.e., Osiris triumphs over Typhon.]\n\n\n\n[FOURTH EXPLANATION OF THE STORY.]\n\n\n\n[Sec. XLI.  Osiris is the Moon, and Typhon is the Sun; Typhon is therefore\ncalled Seth,[FN#342] a word meaning \"violence,\" \"force,\" &c.  Herakles\naccompanies the Sun, and Hermes the Moon.  In Sec. XLII. Plutarch connects\nthe death-day of Osiris, the seventeenth of Hathor, with the\nseventeenth day of the Moon's revolution, when she begins to wane.  The\nage of Osiris, twenty-eight years, suggests the comparison with the\ntwenty-eight days of the Moon's revolution.  The tree-trunk which is\nmade into the shape of a crescent at the funeral of Osiris refers to\nthe crescent moon when she wanes.  The fourteen pieces into which\nOsiris was broken refer to the fourteen days in which the moon wanes.]\n\n\n\n[FN#342]  In Egyptian, ####, or #### which Plutarch seems to connect\nwith set, ####.\n\n\n\n[Sec. XLIII.  The height of the Nile in flood at Elephantine is twenty-\neight cubits, at Mendes and Xois low Nile is seven cubits, and at\nMemphis middle Nile is fourteen cubits; these figures are to be\ncompared with the twenty-eight days of the Moon's revolution, the\nseven-day phase of the Moon, and the fourteen days' Moon, or full moon.\nApis was begotten by a ray of light from the Moon, and on the\nfourteenth day of the month Phamenoth[FN#343] Osiris entered the Moon.\nOsiris is the power of the Moon, Isis the productive faculty in it.]\n\n\n\n[FN#343]  Marked in the papyrus Sallier IV. as a particularly unlucky\nday.\n\n\n\n[FIFTH EXPLANATION OF THE STORY.]\n\n\n\n[Sec. XLIV.  The philosophers say that the story is nothing but an\nenigmatical description of the phenomena of Eclipses.  In Sec. XLV.\nPlutarch discusses the five explanations which he has described, and\nbegins to state his own views about them.  It must be concluded, he\nsays, that none of these explanations taken by itself contains the true\nexplanation of the foregoing history, though all of them together do.\nTyphon means every phase of Nature which is hurtful and destructive,\nnot only drought, darkness, the sea, &c.  It is impossible that any one\ncause, be it bad or even good, should be the common principle of all\nthings.  There must be two opposite and quite different and distinct\nPrinciples.  In Sec. XLVI., Plutarch compares this view with the Magian\nbelief in Ormazd and Ahriman, the former springing from light (Sec.\nXLVII.), and the latter from darkness.  Ormazd made six good gods, and\nAhriman six of a quite contrary nature.  Ormazd increased his own bulk\nthree times, and adorned the heaven with stars, making the Sun to be\nthe guard of the other stars.  He then created twenty-four other gods,\nand placed them in an egg, and Ahriman also created twenty-four gods;\nthe latter bored a hole in the shell of the egg and effected an\nentrance into it, and thus good and evil became mixed together.  In Sec.\nXLVIII. Plutarch quotes Empedocles, Anaxagoras, Aristotle, and Plato in\nsupport of his hypothesis of the Two Principles, and refers to Plato's\nThird Principle.  Sec. XLIX.  Osiris represents the good qualities of the\nuniversal Soul, and Typhon the bad; Bebo[FN#344] is a malignant being\nlike Typhon, with whom Manetho identifies him.  Sec. L.  The ass,\ncrocodile, and hippopotamus are all associated with Typhon; in the form\nof a crocodile Typhon escaped from Horus.[FN#345]\n\n\n\n[FN#344]  In Egyptian, Bebi, or Baba, or Babai, he was the first-born\nSon of Osiris.\n\n[FN#345]  See the Legend of Heru-Behutet, {pr. 67}.\n\n\n\nThe cakes offered on the seventh day of the month Tybi have a\nhippopotamus stamped on them.  Sec. LI.  Osiris symbolizes wisdom and\npower, and Typhon all that is malignant and bad.]\n\nThe remaining sections contain a long series of fanciful statements by\nPlutarch concerning the religion and manners and customs of the\nEgyptians, of which the Egyptian texts now available give no proofs.","title":"Legends of the Gods: The Egyptian Texts, edited with Translations","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":60453}