Legends Of The Gods, by E. A. Wallis Budge
PREFACE
The welcome which has been accorded to the volumes of this Series, and
the fact that some of them have passed into second and third editions,
suggest that these little books have been found useful by beginners in
Egyptology and others. Hitherto the object of them has been to supply
information about the Religion, Magic, Language, and History of the
ancient Egyptians, and to provide editions of the original texts from
which such information was derived. There are, however, many branches
of Egyptology which need treatment in a similar manner in this Series,
and it has been suggested in many quarters that the time has now
arrived when the publication of a series of groups of texts
illustrating Egyptian Literature in general might well be begun.
Seeing that nothing is known about the authors of Egyptian works, not
even their names, it is impossible to write a History of Egyptian
Literature in the ordinary sense of the word. The only thing to be
done is to print the actual works in the best and most complete form
possible, with translations, and then to put them in the hands of the
reader and leave them to his judgment.
With this object in view, it has been decided to publish in the Series
several volumes which shall be devoted to the reproduction in
hieroglyphic type of the best and most typical examples of the various
kinds of Egyptian Literature, with English translations, on a much
larger scale than was possible in my "First Steps in Egyptian" or in my
"Egyptian Reading Book." These volumes are intended to serve a double
purpose, i.e., to supply the beginner in Egyptian with new material and
a series of reading books, and to provide the general reader with
translations of Egyptian works in a handy form.
The Egyptian texts, whether the originals be written in hieroglyphic or
hieratic characters, are here printed in hieroglyphic type, and are
arranged with English translations, page for page. They are printed as
they are written in the original documents, i.e., the words are not
divided. The beginner will find the practice of dividing the words for
himself most useful in acquiring facility of reading and understanding
the language. The translations are as literal as can reasonably be
expected, and, as a whole, I believe that they mean what the original
writers intended to say. In the case of passages where the text is
corrupt, and readings are mixed, or where very rare words occur, or
where words are omitted, the renderings given claim to be nothing more
than suggestions as to their meanings. It must be remembered that the
exact meanings of many Egyptian words have still to be ascertained, and
that the ancient Egyptian scribes were as much puzzled as we are by
some of the texts which they copied, and that owing to carelessness,
ignorance, or weariness, or all three, they made blunders which the
modern student is unable to correct. In the Introduction will be found
brief descriptions of the contents of the Egyptian texts, in which
their general bearing and importance are indicated, and references
given to authoritative editions of texts and translations.
E. A. WALLIS BUDGE.
BRITISH MUSEUM,
November 17,1911.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER
I. THE LEGEND OF THE CREATION
II. THE LEGEND OF THE DESTRUCTION OF MANKIND
III. THE LEGEND OF RA AND THE SNAKE-BITE
IV. THE LEGEND OF HORUS OF EDFU AND THE WINGED DISK
V. THE LEGEND OF THE ORIGIN OF HORUS
VI. A LEGEND OF KHENSU NEFER-HETEP AND THE PRINCESS OF BEKHTEN
VII. THE LEGEND OF KHNEMU AND A SEVEN YEARS' FAMINE
VIII. THE LEGEND OF THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF HORUS
IX. THE LEGEND OF ISIS AND OSIRIS ACCORDING TO CLASSICAL WRITERS
LIST OF PLATES AND ILLUSTRATIONS ON OR FOLLOWING PAGE:
The History of Creation
I. Horus holding the Hippopotamus-fiend with chain and spear
II. Horus spearing the Hippopotamus-fiend
III. Horus spearing the Hippopotamus-fiend
IV. Horus and Isis capturing the Hippopotamus fiend
V. Horus on the back of the Hippopotamus-fiend
VI. The slaughter of the Hippopotamus-fiend
VII. Horus of Behutet and Ra-Harmakhis in a shrine
VIII. Horus of Behutet and Ra-Harmakhis in a shrine
IX. Ashthertet in her chariot
X. Horus holding captive foes and spearing Typhonic animals
XI. Horus spearing human foes
XII. Horus spearing the crocodile
XIII. Horus in the form of a lion
XIV. The Procreation of Horus, son of Isis.
XV. The Resurrection of Osiris.
XVI. The Bekhten Stele
XVII. The Metternich Stele--Obverse
XVIII. The Metternich Stele--Reverse
INTRODUCTION
I.
THE LEGEND OF THE GOD NEB-ER-TCHER, AND THE HISTORY OF CREATION.
The text of the remarkable Legend of the Creation which forms the first
section of this volume is preserved in a well-written papyrus in the
British Museum, where it bears the number 10,188. This papyrus was
acquired by the late Mr. A. H. Rhind in 1861 or 1862, when he was
excavating some tombs on the west bank of the Nile at Thebes. He did
not himself find it in a tomb, but he received it from the British
Consul at Luxor, Mustafa Agha, during an interchange of gifts when Mr.
Rhind was leaving the country. Mustafa Agha obtained the papyrus from
the famous hiding-place of the Royal Mummies at Der-al-Bahari, with the
situation of which he was well acquainted for many years before it
became known to the Egyptian Service of Antiquities. When Mr. Rhind
came to England, the results of his excavations were examined by Dr.
Birch, who, recognising the great value of the papyrus, arranged to
publish it in a companion volume to Facsimiles of Two Papyri, but the
death of Mr. Rhind in 1865 caused the project to fall through. Mr.
Rhind's collection passed into the hands of Mr. David Bremner, and the
papyrus, together with many other antiquities, was purchased by the
Trustees of the British Museum. In 1880 Dr. Birch suggested the
publication of the papyrus to Dr. Pleyte, the Director of the Egyptian
Museum at Leyden. This savant transcribed and translated some passages
from the Festival Songs of Isis and Nephthys, which is the first text
in it, and these he published in Recueil de Travaux, Paris, tom. iii.,
pp. 57-64. In 1886 by Dr. Birch's kindness I was allowed to work at
the papyrus, and I published transcripts of some important passages and
the account of the Creation in the Proceedings of the Society of
Biblical Archaeology, 1886-7, pp. 11-26. The Legend of the Creation
was considered by Dr. H. Brugsch to be of considerable value for the
study of the Egyptian Religion, and encouraged by him[FN#1] I made a
full transcript of the papyrus, which was published in Archaeologia,
(vol. lii., London, 1891), with transliterations and translations. In
1910 I edited for the Trustees of the British Museum the complete
hieratic text with a revised translation.[FN#2]
[FN#1] Ein in moglichst wortgetreuer Uebersetzung vorglegter Papyrus-
text soll den Schlussstein meines Werkes bilden. Er wird den Beweis
fur die Richtigkeit meiner eigenen Untersuchungen vollenden, indem er
das wichtigste Zeugniss altagyptischen Ursprungs den zahlreichen, von
mir angezogenen Stellen aus den Inschriften hinzufugt. Trotz mancher
Schwierigkeit im Einzelnen ist der Gesammtinhalt des Textes, den zuerst
ein englischer Gelehrter der Wissenschaft zuganglich gemacht hat, such
nicht im geringsten misszuverstehen (Brugsch, Religion, p. 740). He
gives a German translation of the Creation Legend on pp. 740, 741, and
a transliteration on p. 756.
[FN#2] Egyptian Hieratic Papyri in the British Museum, London, 1910,
folio.
The papyrus is about 16 ft. 8 in. in length, and is 9 1/4 in. in width.
It contains 21 columns of hieratic text which are written in short
lines and are poetical in character, and 12 columns or pages of text
written in long lines; the total number of lines is between 930 and
940. The text is written in a small, very black, but neat hand, and
may be assigned to a time between the XXVIth Dynasty and the Ptolemaic
Period. The titles, catch-words, rubrics, names of Apep and his
fiends, and a few other words, are written in red ink. There are two
colophons; in the one we have a date, namely, the "first day of the
fourth month of the twelfth year of Pharaoh Alexander, the son of
Alexander," i.e., B.C. 311, and in the other the name of the priest who
either had the papyrus written, or appropriated it, namely, Nes-Menu,
or Nes-Amsu.
The Legend of the Creation is found in the third work which is given in
the papyrus, and which is called the "Book of overthrowing Apep, the
Enemy of Ra, the Enemy of Un-Nefer" (i.e., Osiris). This work
contained a series of spells which were recited during the performance
of certain prescribed ceremonies, with the object of preventing storms,
and dispersing rain-clouds, and removing any obstacle, animate or
inanimate, which could prevent the rising of the sun in the morning, or
obscure his light during the day. The Leader-in Chief of the hosts of
darkness was a fiend called Apep who appeared in the sky in the form of
a monster serpent, and, marshalling all the fiends of the Tuat,
attempted to keep the Sun-god imprisoned in the kingdom of darkness.
Right in the midst of the spells which were directed against Apep we
find inserted the legend of the Creation, which occurs in no other
known Egyptian document (Col. XXVI., l. 21, to Col. XXVII., l. 6).
Curiously enough a longer version of the legend is given a little
farther on (Col. XXVIII., l. 20, to Col. XXIX., l. 6). Whether the
scribe had two copies to work from, and simply inserted both, or
whether he copied the short version and added to it as he went along,
cannot be said. The legend is entitled: Book of knowing the evolutions
of Ra [and of] overthrowing Apep.
This curious "Book" describes the origin not only of heaven, and earth,
and all therein, but also of God Himself. In it the name of Apep is
not even mentioned, and it is impossible to explain its appearance in
the Apep Ritual unless we assume that the whole "Book" was regarded as
a spell of the most potent character, the mere recital of which was
fraught with deadly effect for Apep and his friends.
The story of the Creation is supposed to be told by the god Neb-er-
tcher. This name means the "Lord to the uttermost limit," and the
character of the god suggests that the word "limit" refers to time and
space, and that he was, in fact, the Everlasting God of the Universe.
This god's name occurs in Coptic texts, and then he appears as one who
possesses all the attributes which are associated by modern nations
with God Almighty. Where and how Neb-er-tcher existed is not said, but
it seems as if he was believed to have been an almighty and invisible
power which filled all space. It seems also that a desire arose in him
to create the world, and in order to do this he took upon himself the
form of the god Khepera, who from first to last was regarded as the
Creator, par excellence, among all the gods known to the Egyptians.
When this transformation of Neb-er-tcher into Khepera took place the
heavens and the earth had not been created, but there seems to have
existed a vast mass of water, or world-ocean, called Nu, and it must
have been in this that the transformation took place. In this
celestial ocean were the germs of all the living things which
afterwards took form in heaven and on earth, but they existed in a
state of inertness and helplessness. Out of this ocean Khepera raised
himself, and so passed from a state of passiveness and inertness into
one of activity. When Khepera raised himself out of the ocean Nu, he
found himself in vast empty space, wherein was nothing on which he
could stand. The second version of the legend says that Khepera gave
being to himself by uttering his own name, and the first version states
that he made use of words in providing himself with a place on which to
stand. In other words, when Khepera was still a portion of the being
of Neb-er-tcher, he spake the word "Khepera," and Khepera came into
being. Similarly, when he needed a place whereon to stand, he uttered
the name of the thing, or place, on which he wanted to stand, and that
thing, or place, came into being. This spell he seems to have
addressed to his heart, or as we should say, will, so that Khepera
willed this standing-place to appear, and it did so forthwith. The
first version only mentions a heart, but the second also speaks of a
heart-soul as assisting Khepera in his first creative acts; and we may
assume that he thought out in his heart what manner of thing be wished
to create, and then by uttering its name caused his thought to take
concrete form. This process of thinking out the existence of things is
expressed in Egyptian by words which mean "laying the foundation in the
heart."
In arranging his thoughts and their visible forms Khepera was assisted
by the goddess Maat, who is usually regarded as the goddess of law,
order, and truth, and in late times was held to be the female
counterpart of Thoth, "the heart of the god Ra." In this legend,
however, she seems to play the part of Wisdom, as described in the Book
of Proverbs,[FN#3] for it was by Maat that he "laid the foundation."
[FN#3] "The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his
works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or
ever the earth was. When there were no depths I was brought forth . .
. . . . . Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I
brought forth: while as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields,
nor the highest part of the dust of the world. When he prepared the
heavens I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth:
when he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the
fountains of the deep: when he gave to the sea his decree, . . . . . .
when he appointed the foundations of the earth: then I was by him, as
one brought up with him. . . . . . ." Proverbs, viii. 22 ff.}
Having described the coming into being of Khepera and the place on
which he stood, the legend goes on to tell of the means by which the
first Egyptian triad, or trinity, came into existence. Khepera had, in
some form, union with his own shadow, and so begot offspring, who
proceeded from his body under the forms of the gods Shu and Tefnut.
According to a tradition preserved in the Pyramid Texts[FN#4] this
event took place at On (Heliopolis), and the old form of the legend
ascribes the production of Shu and Tefnut to an act of masturbation.
Originally these gods were the personifications of air and dryness, and
liquids respectively; thus with their creation the materials for the
construction of the atmosphere and sky came into being. Shu and Tefnut
were united, and their offspring were Keb, the Earth-god, and Nut, the
Sky-goddess. We have now five gods in existence; Khepera, the creative
principle, Shu, the atmosphere, Tefnut, the waters above the heavens,
Nut, the Sky-goddess, and Keb, the Earth-god. Presumably about this
time the sun first rose out of the watery abyss of Nu, and shone upon
the world and produced day. In early times the sun, or his light, was
regarded as a form of Shu. The gods Keb and Nut were united in an
embrace, and the effect of the coming of light was to separate them. As
long as the sun shone, i.e., as long as it was day, Nut, the Sky-
goddess, remained in her place above the earth, being supported by Shu;
but as soon as the sun set she left the sky and gradually descended
until she rested on the body of the Earth-god, Keb.
[FN#4] Pepi I., l. 466.
The embraces of Keb caused Nut to bring forth five gods at a birth,
namely, Osiris, Horus, Set, Isis, and Nephthys. Osiris and Isis
married before their birth, and Isis brought forth a son called Horus;
Set and Nephthys also married before their birth, and Nephthys brought
forth a son named Anpu (Anubis), though he is not mentioned in the
legend. Of these gods Osiris is singled out for special mention in the
legend, in which Khepera, speaking as Neb-er-tcher, says that his name
is Ausares, who is the essence of the primeval matter of which he
himself is formed. Thus Osiris was of the same substance as the Great
God who created the world according to the Egyptians, and was a
reincarnation of his great-grandfather. This portion of the legend
helps to explain the views held about Osiris as the great ancestral
spirit, who when on earth was a benefactor of mankind, and who when in
heaven was the saviour of souls.
The legend speaks of the sun as the Eye of Khepera, or Neb-er-tcher,
and refers to some calamity which befell it and extinguished its light.
This calamity may have been simply the coming of night, or eclipses, or
storms; but in any case the god made a second Eye, i.e., the Moon, to
which he gave some of the splendour of the other Eye, i.e., the Sun,
and he gave it a place in his Face, and henceforth it ruled throughout
the earth, and had special powers in respect of the production of
trees, plants, vegetables, herbs, etc. Thus from the earliest times
the moon was associated with the fertility of the earth, especially in
connection with the production of abundant crops and successful
harvests.
According to the legend, men and women sprang not from the earth, but
directly from the body of the god Khepera, or Neb-er-tcher, who placed
his members together and then wept tears upon them, and men and women,
came into being from the tears which had fallen from his eyes. No
special mention is made of the creation of beasts in the legend, but
the god says that he created creeping things of all kinds, and among
these are probably included the larger quadrupeds. The men and women,
and all the other living creatures which were made at that time,
reproduced their species, each in his own way, and so the earth became
filled with their descendants which we see at the present time.
Such is the Legend of Creation as it is found in the Papyrus of Nes-
Menu. The text of both versions is full of difficult passages, and
some readings are corrupt; unfortunately variant versions by which they
might be corrected are lacking. The general meaning of the legend in
both versions is quite clear, and it throws considerable light on the
Egyptian religion. The Egyptians believed in the existence of God, the
Creator and Maintainer of all things, but they thought that the
concerns of this world were committed by Him to the superintendence of
a series of subordinate spirits or beings called "gods," over whom they
believed magical spells and ceremonies to have the greatest influence.
The Deity was a Being so remote, and of such an exalted nature, that it
was idle to expect Him to interfere in the affairs of mortals, or to
change any decree or command which He had once uttered. The spirits or
"gods," on the other hand, possessing natures not far removed from
those of men, were thought to be amenable to supplications and
flattery, and to wheedling and cajolery, especially when accompanied by
gifts. It is of great interest to find a legend in which the power of
God as the Creator of the world and the sun and moon is so clearly set
forth, embedded in a book of magical spells devoted to the destruction
of the mythological monster who existed solely to prevent the sun from
rising and shining.
II.
THE LEGEND OF THE DESTRUCTION OF MANKIND.
The text containing the Legend of the Destruction of Mankind is written
in hieroglyphs, and is found on the four walls of a small chamber which
is entered from the "hall of columns" in the tomb of Seti I., which is
situated on the west bank of the Nile at Thebes. On the wall facing
the door of this chamber is painted in red the figure of the large "Cow
of Heaven." The lower part of her belly is decorated with a series of
thirteen stars, and immediately beneath it are the two Boats of Ra,
called Semketet and Mantchet, or Sektet and Matet. Each of her four
legs is held in position by two gods, and the god Shu, with
outstretched uplifted arms, supports her body. The Cow was published
by Champollion,[FN#5] without the text. This most important
mythological text was first published and translated by Professor E.
Naville in 1874.[FN#6] It was republished by Bergmann[FN#7] and
Brugsch,[FN#8] who gave a transcription of the text, with a German
translation. Other German versions by Lauth,[FN#9] Brugsch,[FN#10] and
Wiedemann[FN#11] have appeared, and a part of the text was translated
into French by Lefebure.[FN#12] The latest edition of the text was
published by Lefebure,[FN#13] and text of a second copy, very much
mutilated, was published by Professor Naville, with a French
translation in 1885.[FN#14] The text printed in this volume is that of
M. Lefebure.
[FN#5] Monuments, tom. iii., p. 245.
[FN#6] Trans. Soc. Bibl. Arch., vol. iv., p. 1 ff.
[FN#7] Hieroglyphische Inschriften, Bl. 85 fl.
[FN#8] Die neue Weltordnung nach Vernichtung des sundigen
Menschengeschlechtes, Berlin, 1881.
[FN#9] Aus Aegyptens Vorzeit, p. 71.
[FN#10] Religion der alten Aegypter, p. 436.
[FN#11] Die Religion, p. 32.
[FN#12] A. Z., 1883, p. 32.
[FN#13] Tombeau de Seti I., Part IV., plates 15-18.
[FN#14] Trans. Soc. Bibl. Arch., vol. viii., p. 412 ft.
The legend takes us back to the time when the gods of Egypt went about
in the country, and mingled with men and were thoroughly acquainted
with their desires and needs. The king who reigned over Egypt was Ra,
the Sun-god, who was not, however, the first of the Dynasty of Gods who
ruled the land. His predecessor on the throne was Hephaistos, who,
according to Manetho, reigned 9000 years, whilst Ra reigned only 992
years; Panodorus makes his reign to have lasted less than 100 years.
Be this as it may, it seems that the "self-created and self-begotten"
god Ra had been ruling over mankind for a very long time, for his
subjects were murmuring against him, and they were complaining that he
was old, that his bones were like silver, his body like gold, and his
hair like lapis-lazuli. When Ra heard these murmurings he ordered his
bodyguard to summon all the gods who had been with him in the primeval
World-ocean, and to bid them privately to assemble in the Great House,
which can be no other than the famous temple of Heliopolis. This
statement is interesting, for it proves that the legend is of
Heliopolitan origin, like the cult of Ra itself, and that it does not
belong, at least in so far as it applies to Ra, to the Predynastic
Period.
When Ra entered the Great Temple, the gods made obeisance to him, and
took up their positions on each side of him, and informed him that they
awaited his words. Addressing Nu, the personification of the World-
ocean, Ra bade them to take notice of the fact that the men and women
whom his Eye had created were murmuring against him. He then asked
them to consider the matter and to devise a plan of action for him, for
he was unwilling to slay the rebels without hearing what his gods had
to say. In reply the gods advised Ra to send forth his Eye to destroy
the blasphemers, for there was no eye on earth that could resist it,
especially when it took the form of the goddess Hathor. Ra accepted
their advice and sent forth his Eye in the form of Hathor to destroy
them, and, though the rebels had fled to the mountains in fear, the Eye
pursued them and overtook them and destroyed them. Hathor rejoiced in
her work of destruction, and on her return was praised by Ra, for what
she had done. The slaughter of men began at Suten-henen
(Herakleopolis), and during the night Hathor waded about in the blood
of men. Ra asserted his intention of being master of the rebels, and
this is probably referred to in the Book of the Dead, Chapter XVII., in
which it is said that Ra rose as king for the first time in Suten-
henen. Osiris also was crowned at Suten-henen, and in this city lived
the great Bennu bird, or Phoenix, and the "Crusher of Bones" mentioned
in the Negative Confession.
The legend now goes on to describe an act of Ra, the significance of
which it is difficult to explain. The god ordered messengers to be
brought to him, and when they arrived, he commanded them to run like
the wind to Abu, or the city of Elephantine, and to bring him large
quantities of the fruit called tataat. What kind of fruit this was is
not clear, but Brugsch thought they were "mandrakes," the so-called
"love-apples," and this translation of tataat may be used
provisionally. The mandrakes were given to Sekti, a goddess of
Heliopolis, to crush and grind up, and when this was done they were
mixed with human blood, and put in a large brewing of beer which the
women slaves had made from wheat. In all they made 7,000 vessels of
beer. When Ra saw the beer he approved of it, and ordered it to be
carried up the river to where the goddess Hathor was still, it seems,
engaged in slaughtering men. During the night he caused this beer to
be poured out into the meadows of the Four Heavens, and when Hathor
came she saw the beer with human blood and mandrakes in it, and drank
of it and became drunk, and paid no further attention to men and women.
In welcoming the goddess, Ra, called her "Amit," i.e., "beautiful one,"
and from this time onward "beautiful women were found in the city of
Amit," which was situated in the Western Delta, near Lake
Mareotis.[FN#15] Ra also ordered that in future at every one of his
festivals vessels of "sleep-producing beer" should be made, and that
their number should be the same as the number of the handmaidens of Ra.
Those who took part in these festivals of Hathor and Ra drank beer in
very large quantities, and under the influence of the "beautiful
women," i.e., the priestesses, who were supposed to resemble Hathor in
their physical attractions, the festal celebrations degenerated into
drunken and licentious orgies.
[FN#15] It was also called the "City of Apis," (Brugsch, Dict. Geog.,
p. 491), and is the Apis city of classical writers. It is, perhaps,
represented by the modern Kom al-Hisn.
Soon after this Ra complained that he was smitten with pain, and that
he was weary of the, children of men. He thought them a worthless
remnant, and wished that more of them had been slain. The gods about
him begged him to endure, and reminded him that his power was in
proportion to his will. Ra was, however, unconsoled, and he complained
that his limbs were weak for the first time in his life. Thereupon the
god Nu told Shu to help Ra, and he ordered Nut to take the great god Ra
on her back. Nut changed herself into a cow, and with the help of Shu
Ra got on her back. As soon as men saw that Ra was on the back of the
Cow of Heaven, and was about to leave them, they became filled with
fear and repentance, and cried out to Ra to remain with them and to
slay all those who had blasphemed against him. But the Cow moved on
her way, and carried Ra to Het-Ahet, a town of the nome of Mareotis,
where in later days the right leg of Osiris was said to be preserved.
Meanwhile darkness covered the land. When day broke the men who had
repented of their blasphemies appeared with their bows, and slew the
enemies of Ra. At this result Ra was pleased, and he forgave those who
had repented because of their righteous slaughter of his enemies. From
this time onwards human sacrifices were offered up at the festivals of
Ra celebrated in this place, and at Heliopolis and in other parts of
Egypt.
After these things Ra declared to Nut that he intended to leave this
world, and to ascend into heaven, and that all those who would see his
face must follow him thither. Then he went up into heaven and prepared
a place to which all might come. Then he said, "Hetep sekhet aa,"
i.e., "Let a great field be produced," and straightway "Sekhet-hetep,"
or the "Field of peace," came into being. He next said, "Let there be
reeds (aaru) in it," and straightway "Sekhet Aaru," or the "Field of
Reeds," came into being. Sekhet-hetep was the Elysian Fields of the
Egyptians, and the Field of Reeds was a well-known section of it.
Another command of the god Ra resulted in the creation of the stars,
which the legend compares to flowers. Then the goddess Nut trembled in
all her body, and Ra, fearing that she might fall, caused to come into
being the Four Pillars on which the heavens are supported. Turning to
Shu, Ra entreated him to protect these supports, and to place himself
under Nut, and to hold her up in position with his hands. Thus Shu
became the new Sun-god in the place of Ra, and the heavens in which Ra
lived were supported and placed beyond the risk of falling, and mankind
would live and rejoice in the light of the new sun.
At this place in the legend a text is inserted called the "Chapter of
the Cow." It describes how the Cow of Heaven and the two Boats of the
Sun shall be painted, and gives the positions of the gods who stand by
the legs of the Cow, and a number of short magical names, or formulae,
which are inexplicable. The general meaning of the picture of the Cow
is quite clear. The Cow represents the sky in which the Boats of Ra,
sail, and her four legs are the four cardinal points which cannot be
changed. The region above her back is the heaven in which Ra reigns
over the beings who pass thereto from this earth when they die, and
here was situated the home of the gods and the celestial spirits who
govern this world.
When Ra had made a heaven for himself, and had arranged for a
continuance of life on the earth, and the welfare of human beings, he
remembered that at one time when reigning on earth he had been bitten
by a serpent, and had nearly lost his life through the bite. Fearing
that the same calamity might befall his successor, he determined to
take steps to destroy the power of all noxious reptiles that dwelt on
the earth. With this object in view he told Thoth to summon Keb, the
Earth-god, to his presence, and this god having arrived, Ra told him
that war must be made against the serpents that dwelt in his dominions.
He further commanded him to go to the god Nu, and to tell him to set a
watch over all the reptiles that were in the earth and in water, and to
draw up a writing for every place in which serpents are known to be,
containing strict orders that they are to bite, no one. Though these
serpents knew that Ra was retiring from the earth, they were never to
forget that his rays would fall upon them. In his place their father
Keb was to keep watch over them, and he was their father for ever.
As a further protection against them Ra promised to impart to magicians
and snake-charmers the particular word of power, hekau, with which he
guarded himself against the attacks of serpents, and also to transmit
it to his son Osiris. Thus those who are ready to listen to the
formulae of the snake-charmers shall always be immune from the bites of
serpents, and their children also. From this we may gather that the
profession of the snake-charmer is very ancient, and that this class of
magicians were supposed to owe the foundation of their craft to a
decree of Ra himself.
Ra next sent for the god Thoth, and when he came into the presence of
Ra, he invited him to go with him to a distance, to a place called
"Tuat," i.e., hell, or the Other World, in which region he had
determined to make his light to shine. When they arrived there he told
Thoth, the Scribe of Truth, to write down on his tablets the names of
all who were therein, and to punish those among them who had sinned
against him, and he deputed to Thoth the power to deal absolutely as he
pleased with all the beings in the Tuat. Ra loathed the wicked, and
wished them to be kept at a distance from him. Thoth was to be his
vicar, to fill his place, and "Place of Ra," was to be his name. He
gave him power to send out a messenger (hab), so the Ibis (habi) came
into being. All that Thoth would do would be good (khen), therefore
the Tekni bird of Thoth came into being. He gave Thoth power to
embrace (anh) the heavens, therefore the Moon-god (Aah) came into
being. He gave Thoth power to turn back (anan) the Northern peoples,
therefore the dog-headed ape of Thoth came into being. Finally Ra told
Thoth that he would take his place in the sight of all those who were
wont to worship Ra, and that all should praise him as God. Thus the
abdication of Ra was complete.
In the fragmentary texts which follow we are told how a man may benefit
by the recital of this legend. He must proclaim that the soul which
animated Ra was the soul of the Aged One, and that of Shu, Khnemu (?),
Heh, &c., and then he must proclaim that he is Ra himself, and his word
of power Heka. If he recites the Chapter correctly he shall have life
in the Other World, and he will be held in greater fear there than
here. A rubric adds that he must be dressed in new linen garments, and
be well washed with Nile water; he must wear white sandals, and his
body must be anointed with holy oil. He must burn incense in a censer,
and a figure of Maat (Truth) must be painted on his tongue with green
paint. These regulations applied to the laity as well as to the
clergy.
III.
THE LEGEND OF RA AND ISIS.
The original text of this very interesting legend is written in the
hieratic character on a papyrus preserved at Turin, and was published
by Pleyte and Rossi in their Corpus of Turin Papyri.[FN#16] French and
German translations of it were published by Lefebure,[FN#17] and
Wiedemann[FN#18] respectively, and summaries of its contents were given
by Erman[FN#19] and Maspero.[FN#20] A transcript of the hieratic text
into hieroglyphics, with transliteration and translation, was published
by me in 1895.[FN#21]
[FN#16] Papyrus de Turin, pll. 31, 77, 131-138.
[FN#17] A. Z., 1883, p. 27 ff.
[FN#18] Die Religion, p. 29.
[FN#19] Aegypten, p. 359 ff.
[FN#20] Les Origines, V. 162-4.
[FN#21] First Steps in Egyptian, p. 241 ff.
It has already been seen that the god Ra, when retiring from the
government of this world, took steps through Thoth to supply mankind
with words of power and spells with which to protect themselves against
the bites of serpents and other noxious reptiles. The legend of the
Destruction of Mankind affords no explanation of this remarkable fact,
but when we read the following legend of Ra and Isis we understand why
Ra, though king of the gods, was afraid of the reptiles which lived in
the kingdom of Keb. The legend, or "Chapter of the Divine God," begins
by enumerating the mighty attributes of Ra as the creator of the
universe, and describes the god of "many names" as unknowable, even by
the gods. At this time Isis lived in the form of a woman who possessed
the knowledge of spells and incantations, that is to say, she was
regarded much in the same way as modern African peoples regard their
"medicine-women," or "witch-women." She had used her spells on men,
and was tired of exercising her powers on them, and she craved the
opportunity of making herself mistress of gods and spirits as well as
of men. She meditated how she could make herself mistress both of
heaven and earth, and finally she decided that she could only obtain
the power she wanted if she possessed the knowledge of the secret name
of Ra, in which his very existence was bound up. Ra guarded this name
most jealously, for he knew that if he revealed it to any being he
would henceforth be at that being's mercy. Isis saw that it was
impossible to make Ra declare his name to her by ordinary methods, and
she therefore thought out the following plan. It was well known in
Egypt and the Sudan at a very early period that if a magician obtained
some portion of a person's body, e.g., a hair, a paring of a nail, a
fragment of skin, or a portion of some efflux from the body, spells
could be used upon them which would have the effect of causing grievous
harm to that person. Isis noted that Ra had become old and feeble, and
that as he went about he dribbled at the mouth, and that his saliva
fell upon the ground. Watching her opportunity she caught some of the
saliva of the and mixing it with dust, she moulded it into the form of
a large serpent, with poison-fangs, and having uttered her spells over
it, she left the serpent lying on the path, by which Ra travelled day
by day as he went about inspecting Egypt, so that it might strike at
him as he passed along. We may note in passing that the Banyoro in the
Sudan employ serpents in killing buffaloes at the present day. They
catch a puff-adder in a noose, and then nail it alive by the tip of its
tail to the round in the middle of a buffalo track, so that when an
animal passes the reptile may strike at it. Presently a buffalo comes
along, does what it is expected to do, and then the puff-adder strikes
at it, injects its poison, and the animal dies soon after. As many as
ten buffaloes have been killed in a day by one puff-adder. The body of
the first buffalo is not eaten, for it is regarded as poisoned meat,
but all the others are used as food.[FN#22]
[FN#22] Johnston, Uganda, vol. ii., p. 584. The authority for this
statement is Mr. George Wilson, formerly Collector in Unyoro.
Soon after Isis had placed the serpent on the Path, Ra passed by, and
the reptile bit him, thus injecting poison into his body. Its effect
was terrible, and Ra cried out in agony. His jaws chattered, his lips
trembled, and he became speechless for a time; never before had be
suffered such pain. The gods hearing his cry rushed to him, and when
he could speak he told them that he had been bitten by a deadly
serpent. In spite of all the words of power which were known to him,
and his secret name which had been hidden in his body at his birth, a
serpent had bitten him, and he was being consumed with a fiery pain.
He then commanded that all the gods who had any knowledge of magical
spells should come to him, and when they came, Isis, the great lady of
spells, the destroyer of diseases, and the revivifier of the dead, came
with them. Turning to Ra she said, "What hath happened, O divine
Father?" and in answer the god told her that a serpent had bitten him,
that he was hotter than fire and colder than water, that his limbs
quaked, and that he was losing the power of sight. Then Isis said to
him with guile, "Divine Father, tell me thy name, for he who uttereth
his own name shall live." Thereupon Ra proceeded to enumerate the
various things that he had done, and to describe his creative acts, and
ended his speech to Isis by saying, that he was Khepera in the morning,
Ra at noon, and Temu in the evening. Apparently he thought that the
naming of these three great names would satisfy Isis, and that she
would immediately pronounce a word of power and stop the pain in his
body, which, during his speech, had become more acute. Isis, however,
was not deceived, and she knew well that Ra had not declared to her his
hidden name; this she told him, and she begged him once again to tell
her his name. For a time the god refused to utter the name, but as the
pain in his body became more violent, and the poison passed through his
veins like fire, he said, "Isis shall search in me, and my name shall
pass from my body into hers." At that moment Ra removed himself from
the sight of the gods in his Boat, and the Throne in the Boat of
Millions of Years had no occupant. The great name of Ra was, it seems,
hidden in his heart, and Isis, having some doubt as to whether Ra would
keep his word or not, agreed with Horus that Ra must be made to take an
oath to part with his two Eyes, that is, the Sun and the Moon. At
length Ra allowed his heart to be taken from his body, and his great
and secret name, whereby he lived, passed into the possession of Isis.
Ra thus became to all intents and purposes a dead god. Then Isis,
strong in the power of her spells, said: "Flow, poison, come out of Ra.
Eye of Horus, come out of Ra, and shine outside his mouth. It is I,
Isis, who work, and I have made the poison to fall on the ground.
Verily the name of the great god is taken from him, Ra shall live and
the poison shall die; if the poison live Ra shall die."
This was the infallible spell which was to be used in cases of
poisoning, for it rendered the bite or sting of every venomous reptile
harmless. It drove the poison out of Ra, and since it was composed by
Isis after she obtained the knowledge of his secret name it was
irresistible. If the words were written on papyrus or linen over a
figure of Temu or Heru-hekenu, or Isis, or Horus, they became a mighty
charm. If the papyrus or linen were steeped in water and the water
drunk, the words were equally efficacious as a charm against snake-
bites. To this day water in which the written words of a text from the
Kur'an have been dissolved, or water drunk from a bowl on the inside of
which religious texts have been written, is still regarded as a never-
failing charm in Egypt and the Sudan. Thus we see that the modern
custom of drinking magical water was derived from the ancient
Egyptians, who believed that it conveyed into their bodies the actual power of their gods. |
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