Then the Majesty of Ra cried aloud when he saw Horus like a devouring flame upon the battlefield, "See, how he casts his weapon against them, he kills them, he destroys them with his sword, he cuts them in pieces, he utterly defeats them! See and behold Horus of Edfu!" At the end of the fight Horus came back in triumph and he brought one hundred and forty-two prisoners to the Boat of Ra.
Now this is the first encounter in the North, but the last great battle was not yet.
For the enemies, who were upon the Northern Waters, turned their faces towards the canal to reach the sea, and they came to the Western Waters of Mert, where the Ally of Set had his dwelling. Behind them followed Horus, equipped with all his glittering weapons, and he went in the Boat of Ra, and Ra was in the Boat with eight of his train. They were upon the Northern Canal, and backwards and forwards they went, turning and re-turning, but nothing did they see or hear. Then they went northward for a night and a day and they came to the House of Rerhu.
There Ra spoke to Horus and said, "Behold, thy enemies are gathered together at the Western Waters of Mert, where dwell the Allies of Set." And Horus of Edfu prayed the Majesty of Ra to come in his Boat against the Allies of Set.
Again they travelled to the northwards, where the never-setting Stars wheel round a certain point in the sky, and on the banks of the Western Waters of Mert were the Allies of Set, ready for battle. Then Horus of Edfu delayed not a moment, but rushed upon the foe, and with him came his Followers, their weapons in their hands. Death and destruction they dealt to right and to left till the enemy fled before them. When the conflict was over, they counted the prisoners; three hundred and eighty-one were taken, and these Horus slew before the Boat of Ra, and their weapons he gave to his Followers.
Now this is the second encounter in the North, but the last great battle was not yet.
And now, at last, Set himself came forth from his hiding-place. Fierce and savage he is, cunning and cruel; in his nature like a beast of prey, without ruth or pity; and men make his image with the head of a wild beast, for human feeling is to him unknown. From his hiding-place he came forth and he roared terribly. The earth and the heavens trembled at the sound of his roaring and at the words which he uttered, for he boasted that he would himself fight against Horus and destroy him as he had destroyed Osiris.
The wind bore the words of his boasting to Ra, and Ra said to Thoth the twice great, Lord of Magic and Wisdom, "Cause that these high words of the Terrible One be cast down."
Then Horus of Edfu sprang forward and rushed at his enemy, and a great fight raged. Horus cast his weapon and killed many, and his Followers fought also and prevailed. Out of the dust and the noise of the combat came Horus, dragging a prisoner; and the captive's arms were bound behind him, and the staff of Horus was tied across his mouth so that he could make no sound, and the weapon of Horus was at his throat.
Horus dragged him before the Majesty of Ra. And Ra spoke and said to Horus, "Do with him as thou wilt." Then Horus fell upon his enemy, and struck the weapon into his head and into his back, and cut off his head, and dragged the body about by the feet, and at last he cut the body into pieces. Thus did he treat the body of his adversary as Set had treated the body of Osiris. This took place on the seventh day of the first month of the season when the earth appears after the inundation. And the lake is called the Lake of Fighting to this day.
Now this is the third encounter in the North, but the last great battle was not yet.
For it was the Ally of Set whom Horus had slain, and Set himself was still alive, and he raged against Horus as a panther of the South. And he stood up and roared in the face of heaven, and his voice was the voice of thunder, and as he roared he changed himself into a great snake, and entered into the earth. None saw him go and none saw him change, but he was fighting against the Gods, and by their power and knowledge are they aware of what comes to pass, though no man tells them. And Ra said to Horus, "Set has transformed himself into a hissing snake and has entered the earth. We must cause that he never comes forth; never, never no more!"
The associates of Set took courage, knowing that their leader was alive, and they assembled again, and their boats filled the canal. The Boat of Ra went against them, and above the Boat shone the glory of the great winged Disk. When Horus saw the enemy gathered together in one place, he drove at them and routed them and slew them without number.
Now this is the fourth encounter in the North, but the last great battle was not yet.
Then Horus of Edfu remained in the Boat of Ra upon the canal for six days and six nights, watching for the enemy, but he saw none, for they lay as corpses in the water.
And to this day men make ceremonies in remembrance of the Battles of Horus on the first day of the first month of the inundation, on the seventh day of the first month of the appearing of the earth after the inundation, and on the twenty-first and twenty-fourth days of the second month of the earth's appearing. These days are kept holy at Ast-abt, which is at the south side of Anrudef, where is one of the graves of Osiris. And Isis made magical spells round Anrudef that no enemy might come near it; and the priestess of Anrudef is called "The Lady of Spells" to this day in remembrance; and the waters are called "The Waters of Seeking," for there it was that Horus sought for his foe.
And Horus sent out his Followers, and they hunted down the enemy, and brought in prisoners; one hundred and six from the East and one hundred and six from the West. These they slew before Ra in the sanctuaries.
Then Ra gave to Horus and his fighters two cities which are called the Mesen-cities to this day, for the Followers of Horus are Mesenti, the Metal-workers. In the shrines of the Mesen-cities Horus is the God, and his secret ceremonies are held on four days in the year. Great and holy are these days in the Mesen-cities, for they are in remembrance of the Battles of Horus which he fought against Set, the murderer of Osiris.
Now these enemies, they gathered again in the East, and they travelled towards Tharu. Then was launched the Boat of Ra to follow after them, and Horus of Edfu transformed himself into the likeness of a lion with the face of a man; his arms were like flint, and on his head was the Atef-crown, which is the white diadem of the South Land with feathers and horns, and on either side a crowned serpent. And he hastened after his enemies, and defeated them, and brought of prisoners one hundred and forty-two.
Then said Ra to Horus of Edfu, "Let us journey northwards to the Great Green Waters, and smite the foe there as we have smitten him in Egypt."
Northwards they went, and the enemy fled before them, and they reached the Great Green Waters, where the waves broke on the shore with the noise of thunder. Then Thoth arose and he stood in the midst of the Boat, and he chanted strange words over the boats and barges of Horus and his Followers, and the sea fell calm as the sound of the words floated across its waves. And there was silence on the Great Green Waters, for the wind was lulled, and naught was in sight save the boats of Ra and of Horus.
Then said the Majesty of Ra, "Let us sail round the whole extent of the land, let us sail to the South Land." And they knew that Ra was aware of the enemy. They made haste and sailed to the South Land by night, to the country of Ta-kens, and they came to the town of Shaïs, but until they reached Shaïs they saw naught of any enemy. Now Shaïs is on the border of Nubia, and in Nubia were the guards of the enemy.
Then Horus of Edfu changed himself into a great winged Disk with gleaming pinions outspread, and on either side of him came the goddesses Nekhbet and Uazet, and their form was the form of great hooded snakes with crowns upon their heads; on the head of Nekhbet was the white crown of the South Land, on the head of Uazet was the red crown of the North Land.
And the Gods in the Boat of Ra cried aloud and said, "See, O Thou who art twice great, he has placed himself between the two goddesses. Behold how he overthrows his adversaries and destroys them."
Now this is the encounter in Nubia, but the last great battle was not yet.
Then came Ra in his Boat and he moored at Thest-Hor, and he gave commandment that in every temple throughout the Two Lands men should carve the Winged Disk, and on the right and left of the Disk should be Nekhbet and Uazet as great hooded snakes with crowns upon their heads. And the temple at the point of Thest-Hor is called "The House of Horus in the South" to this day in remembrance, and a great offering is made there to Ra and Horus. And Ra gave to Horus the province of the House of Fighting, and Ast-Abt, and the Mesen-cities of the East and the West, and Edfu of the North, and Tharu, and Gauti, and the Sea of Sailing, and Upper Shasu, and Edfu-of-the-House-of-Ra. And from the lake south of Edfu-of-the-House-of-Ra they bring water to the two Houses of the King on the day of the Sed-festival. And Isis carried Ar-stone of sand to Thest-Hor—Ar-stone of the Star was it; and in every place in the South Land to which Horus went, there is Ar-stone found to this day.
Now some say that the last great battle is still to come, and that in the end Horus will kill Set, and that Osiris and all the Gods will reign on earth when their enemy is utterly destroyed. But others say that the battle is already ended and that Horus slew the great and wicked Foe who had wrought misery and calamity to all.
And this is what they say: After months and years Horus the Child grew to manhood. Then came Set with his allies, and he challenged Horus in the presence of Ra. And Horus came forth, his Followers with him in their boats, with their armour, and their glittering weapons with handles of worked wood, and their cords, and their spears.
And Isis made golden ornaments for the prow of the boat of Horus, and she laid them in their places with magic words and spells, saying, "Gold is at the prow of thy boat, O Lord of Mesen, Horus, Chieftain of the boat, the great boat of Horus, the boat of rejoicing. May the valour of Ra, the strength of Shu, power and fear be around thee. Thou art victorious, O son of Osiris, son of Isis, for thou fightest for the throne of thy father."
Then Set took upon himself the form of a red hippopotamus, great and mighty, and he came from the South Land with his Allies, travelling to the North Land to meet Horus of Edfu. And at Elephantine, Set stood up and spoke a great curse against Horus of Edfu and against Isis, and said, "Let there come a great wind, even a furious north-wind and a raging tempest"; and the sound of his voice was like thunder in the East of the sky. His words were cried from the southern heaven and rolled back to the northern heaven, a word and a cry from Set, the enemy of Osiris and the Gods.
At once a storm broke over the boats of Horus and his Followers, the wind roared, and the water was lashed into great waves, and the boats were tossed like straws. But Horus held on his way; and through the darkness of the storm and the foam of the waves gleamed the golden prow like the rays of the sun.
And Horus took upon himself the form of a young man; his height was eight cubits; in his hand he held a harpoon, the blade was four cubits, the shaft twenty cubits, and a chain of sixty cubits was welded to it. Over his head he brandished the weapon as though it were a reed, and he launched it at the great red hippopotamus which stood in the deep waters, ready to destroy Horus and his Followers when the storm should wreck their boats.
And at the first cast the weapon struck deep into the head of the great red hippopotamus and entered the brain. Thus died Set, that great and wicked One, the enemy of Osiris and the Gods.
And to this day the priests of Horus of Edfu, and the King's daughters, and the women of Busiris and the women of Pé chant a hymn and strike the drum for Horus in triumph.
And this is their song: "Rejoice, O women of Busiris! Rejoice, O women of Pé! Horus has overthrown his enemies!
"Exult, dwellers in Edfu! Horus, the great God, Lord of heaven, has smitten the enemy of his father!
"Eat ye the flesh of the vanquished, drink ye his blood, burn ye his bones in the flame of the fire. Let him be cut in pieces, and let his bones be given to the cats, the fragments of him to the reptiles.
"O Horus, the Striker, the great One of Valour, the Slayer, the Chief of the Gods, the Harpooner, the Hero, the only begotten, Captor of captives, Horus of Edfu, Horus the Avenger!
"He has destroyed the wicked One, he has made a whirlpool with the blood of his enemy, his shaft has made a prey. Behold ye, see ye Horus at the prow of his boat. Like Ra, he shines on the horizon. He is decked in green linen, in binding linen, in fine linen and byssus. The double diadem is upon thy head, the two serpents upon thy brow, O Horus the Avenger!
"Thy harpoon is of metal, the shaft is of the sycomore of the desert, the net is woven by Hathor of the Roses. Thou hast aimed to the right, thou hast cast to the left. We give praise to thee to the height of heaven, for thou hast chained the wickedness of thine enemy. We give praise to thee, we worship thy majesty, O Horus of Edfu, Horus the Avenger!"
Now the Majesty of Ra reigned over the Two Lands. He was the second king of Egypt, and in his reign peace was on earth, and harvests were so plentiful that to this day men speak of the good things which "happened in the time of Ra." By his own power he created himself, and he created heaven and earth, gods and men, and he ruled over them all.
For hundreds and hundreds of years he ruled until he waxed old, and men no longer feared him, but laughed and said, "Look at Ra! He is old, his bones are like silver, his flesh like gold, and his hair like true lapis lazuli."
Then Ra was wroth when he heard their jests and their laughter, and he called to those who were in his train, "Summon hither my daughter, the apple of my eye, and summon also the gods Shu and Tefnut, Geb and Nut, and the great god Nun, whose dwelling is in the waters of the sky. Do my bidding secretly lest men should hear you and see you, for then would they be afraid and hide themselves."
In secret went the messengers, very softly they came to summon the gods and goddesses. Secretly and softly came the gods and goddesses to the Mansion of Ra in the Hidden Place. Naught did men see or hear; and they laughed again at Ra, not knowing the punishment that should fall upon them.
On each side of the throne came the gods and goddesses, and they bowed before the Majesty of Ra with their foreheads to the ground, saying, "Speak that we may hear."
Then said Ra to Nun, the great god whose dwelling is in the waters of the sky, "O eldest of the gods and all ye ancestor-gods! Behold the men whom I have created, how they speak against me. Tell me what ye would that I should do to them, for verily I will not slay them till I have heard your words."
And Nun, the great god whose dwelling is in the waters of the sky, made answer, "My son Ra, greatest of gods, mightiest of kings, thy throne is set fast, and thy fear will be upon all the world when thou sendest out thy daughter, the apple of thine eye, against those who attack thee."
The Majesty of Ra spoke again, "Lo, they will flee to the deserts and the mountains and hide themselves, if fear falls upon their hearts on account of their jests and laughter; and in the deserts and mountains none can find them."
Then said the gods and goddesses, bowing before him with their foreheads on the ground, "Send forth thy daughter, the apple of thine eye, against them."
And at once there came the daughter of Ra. Sekhmet is she called, and Hathor, fiercest of the goddesses; like a lion she rushes on her prey, slaughter is her delight, and her pleasure is in blood.
At her father's bidding she entered the Two Lands to slay those who had rebelled against the Majesty of Ra, and had turned their rebellion to jest and laughter. In the land of Ta-mery she killed them, and on the mountains which lie to the east and west of the great river. To and fro she hastened, slaying all who crossed her path, and before her fled the rebels against Ra.
And Ra looked forth upon the earth and cried to his daughter, the apple of his eye, "Come in peace, O Hathor! Hast thou done that which I gave thee to do?"
And Hathor laughed as she answered, and her laugh was the terrible voice of the lioness as she tears her prey. "By thy life, O Ra," she cried, "I work my will upon men, and my heart rejoices."
For many nights the river ran red, and the goddess waded in the blood of men, and her feet were red as she strode through the land of Egypt as far as Henen-seten.
Then Ra looked forth upon the earth again, and his heart was filled with pity for men, though they had rebelled against him. But none could stop the ruthless goddess, not even the Majesty of Ra himself; of herself must she cease to slay, for neither gods nor men could compel her. By subtlety alone could this be accomplished.
Ra gave command, saying, "Call hither to me messengers who are swift as the blast of the storm wind." And when they were brought, he said, "Run to Elephantine, hasten, go quickly, and bring back to me the fruit that causes sleep. Be swift, be swift, for all this must be accomplished ere the day dawn."
The messengers hastened, and their speed was the speed of a blast of the storm-wind. They came to Elephantine, where the great river rages among the rocks that bar its passage; they took the fruit that causes sleep, and with the fleetness of the wind they brought it to Ra. Crimson and scarlet was the fruit, and its juice was the colour of man's blood; and the messengers carried to it Heliopolis, the city of Ra.
Then the women of Heliopolis crushed barley and made beer, and with the beer they mixed the juice of the fruit that causes sleep, and the beer became the colour of blood. Seven thousand measures of beer did they make, and in haste they brewed it, for the night was drawing to a close and the day was about to break. In haste came the Majesty of Ra, and all the gods and goddesses, who were with him, to Heliopolis to inspect the beer. Ra saw that it was like human blood, and he said, "Very good is this beer. By this I can protect mankind."
At the dawning of the day, he gave command, "Carry this beer to the place where men and women have been slain, and pour it out upon the fields before the beauty of the night has passed." So they poured it out upon the fields. Four palms deep it lay upon the ground, and its colour was the colour of blood.
In the morning came the fierce Sekhmet, ready to slay, and as she passed by she looked to this side and that, watching for her prey. But no living thing did she see, only the fields that lay four palms deep in the beer that was the colour of blood. Then she laughed with the laugh like the roar of a lioness, for she thought it was the blood she had shed. And she stooped and drank. Again and again she drank, and she laughed the more, for the juice of the fruit that causes sleep mounted to her brain, and no longer could she see to slay by reason of the juice of that fruit.
Then the Majesty of Ra said to her, "Come in peace, O sweet one." And to this day the maidens of Amu are called "Sweet Ones" in remembrance.
And the Majesty of Ra spoke again to the goddess, saying, "For thee shall be prepared drinks from the fruits that cause sleep; every year shall these be made at the great Festival of the New Year, and the number of them shall be according to the number of the priestesses who serve me."
And to this day, on the festival of Hathor, drinks are made of the fruits that cause sleep, according to the number of the priestesses of Ra, in remembrance of the protection of mankind from the fury of the goddess.
Now the Majesty of Ra was the creator of heaven and earth, of gods, men, and cattle, of fire, and the breath of life; and he ruled over gods and men. And Isis saw his might, the might that reached over heaven and earth, before which all gods and men bowed; and she longed in her heart for that power, that thereby she should be greater than the gods and have dominion over men.
There was but one way to obtain that power. By the knowledge of his own name did Ra rule, and none but himself knew that secret name. Whosoever could learn the secret, to that one—god or man—would belong the dominion over all the world, and even Ra himself must be in subjection. Jealously did Ra guard his secret, and kept it ever in his breast, lest it should be taken from him, and his power diminished.
Every morning Ra came forth in his glory at the head of his train from the horizon of the East, journeying across the sky, and in the evening they came to the horizon of the West, and the Majesty of Ra sank in his glory to lighten the thick darkness of the Duat. Many, many times had Ra made the journey, so many times that now he had waxed old. Very aged was Ra, and the saliva ran down from his mouth and fell upon the earth.
Then Isis took earth and mixed it with the saliva, and she kneaded the clay and moulded it, and formed it into the shape of a snake, the shape of the great hooded snake that is the emblem of all goddesses, the royal serpent which is upon the brow of the Kings of Egypt. No charms or magic spells did she use, for in the snake was the divine substance of Ra himself. She took the snake and laid it hidden in the path of Ra, the path on which he travelled in journeying from the eastern to the western horizon of heaven.
In the morning came Ra and his train in their glory journeying to the western horizon of heaven, where they enter the Duat and lighten the thick darkness. And the serpent shot out its pointed head which was shaped like a dart, and its fangs sank into the flesh of Ra, and the fire of its poison entered into the God, for the divine substance was in the serpent.
Ra cried aloud, and his cry rang through the heavens from the eastern to the western horizon; across the earth it rang, and gods and men alike heard the cry of Ra. And the gods who follow in his train said to him, "What aileth thee? What aileth thee?"
But Ra answered never a word, he trembled in all his limbs, and his teeth chattered, and naught did he say, for the poison spread over his body as Hapi spreads over the land, when the waters rise above their banks at the time of the overflowing of the river.
When he had become calm, he called to those who followed him and said, "Come to me, ye whom I created. I am hurt by a grievous thing. I feel it, though I see it not, neither is it the creation of my hands, and I know not who has made it. Never, never have I felt pain like this, never, never has there been an injury worse than this. Who can hurt me? For none know my secret name, that name which was spoken by my father and by my mother, and hidden in me that none might work witchcraft upon me. I came forth to look upon the world which I had made, I passed across the Two Lands when something—I know not what—struck me. Is it fire? Is it water? I burn, I shiver, I tremble in all my limbs. Call to me the children of the gods, they who have skill in healing, they who have knowledge of magic, they whose power reaches to heaven."
Then came all the gods with weeping and mourning and lamentations; their power was of no avail against the serpent, for in it the divine substance was incorporated. With them came Isis the Healer, the Mistress of Magic, in whose mouth is the Breath of Life, whose words destroy disease and awake the dead.
She spoke to the Majesty of Ra and said, "What is this, O divine Father? what is this? Has a snake brought pain to thee? Has the creation of thy hand lifted up its head against thee? Lo, it shall be overthrown by the might of my magic, I will drive it out by means of thy glory."
Then the Majesty of Ra answered, "I passed along the appointed path, I crossed over the Two Lands, when a serpent that I saw not struck me with its fangs. Was it fire? Was it water? I am colder than water, I am hotter than fire, I tremble in all my limbs, and the sweat runs down my face as down the faces of men in the fierce heat of summer."
And Isis spoke again, and her voice was low and soothing, "Tell me thy Name, O divine Father, thy true Name, thy secret Name, for he only can live who is called by his name."
Then the Majesty of Ra answered, "I am the Maker of heaven and earth, I am the Establisher of the mountains, I am the Creator of the waters, I am the Maker of the secrets of the two Horizons, I am Light and I am Darkness, I am the Maker of Hours, the Creator of Days, I am the Opener of Festivals, I am the Maker of running streams, I am the Creator of living flame. I am Khepera in the morning, Ra at noontide, and Atmu in the evening."
But Isis held her peace; never a word did she speak, for she knew that Ra had told her the names that all men know; his true Name, his secret Name, was still hidden in his breast. And the power of the poison increased, and ran through his veins like burning flame.
After a silence she spoke again, "Thy Name, thy true Name, thy secret Name, was not among those. Tell me thy Name that the poison may be driven out, for only he whose name I know can be healed by the might of my magic." And the power of the poison increased, and the pain was as the pain of living fire.
Then the Majesty of Ra cried out and said, "Let Isis come with me, and let my Name pass from my breast to her breast."
And he hid himself from the gods that followed in his train. Empty was the Boat of the Sun, empty was the great throne of the God, for Ra had hidden himself from his Followers and from the creations of his hands.
When the Name came forth from the heart of Ra to pass to the heart of Isis, the goddess spoke to Ra and said, "Bind thyself with an oath, O Ra, that thou wilt give thy two eyes unto Horus." Now the two Eyes of Ra are the sun and the moon, and men call them the Eyes of Horus to this day.
Thus was the Name of Ra taken from him and given to Isis, and she, the great Enchantress, cried aloud the Word of Power, and the poison obeyed, and Ra was healed by the might of his Name.
And Isis, the great One, Mistress of the Gods, Mistress of magic, she is the skilful Healer, in her mouth is the Breath of Life, by her words she destroys pain, and by her power she awakes the dead.
When the world came into being, there were two rivers, the river of Egypt and the river of the sky. Great is the Nile, the river of Egypt, rising in his two caverns in the South beyond the cataract, flooding the land of Egypt and bringing joy and good harvests to Ta-mery. Great and mighty is the river of the sky, flowing across the heavens and through the Duat, the world of night and of thick darkness, and on that river floats the Boat of Ra. Boat of Millions of Years is its name, but men call it the Manzet Boat in the dawn, when Ra rises in splendour on the eastern horizon of heaven; the Mesektet Boat is it called in the evening, when Ra enters in glory within the portals of the Duat, where the mountain of Manu lifts its peaks to the western sky. On the western horizon is the mountain of Manu. and on the eastern horizon the mountain of Bakhu; vast and huge are they, raising their crests above the earth, and the sky rests upon their summits. And on the topmost peak of the mountain of Bakhu dwells a serpent; thirty cubits in length is he, and his scales are of flint and of glittering metal. He guards the mountain and the Great Green Waters, and none can pass by him save Ra in his Boat.
In the evening Ra descends in majesty to the Western horizon of heaven, to the portals of the Duat at the Gap of Abydos. Splendid is the Mesektet Boat, glorious its trappings, and its colours are of amethyst and emerald, jasper and turquoise, lazuli and the lustre of gold. At the Gap of Abydos waits a company of gods to prepare the Boat for the journey through the Duat, the land of night and of thick darkness. Stripped is the Boat of its splendour, bare and without glory is it when it passes through the portals of the Duat, and in it is the body of Ra, lifeless and dead.
Then the gods take the great towing-ropes: slowly the Boat moves along the river. The portals of the Duat are flung wide, and the twelve goddesses of the night take their place upon the Boat to guide it through the gloom and perils of the Duat; pilots of the river are they, and without them not Ra himself could pass through unscathed.
"Watercourse of Ra," is the name of the first country of the Duat. Sombre is this land, yet not wholly dark; for on either side the river are six serpents, coiled and with heads erect, and the breath of their mouths is a flame of fire. In the cabin of the Boat is Ra, dead and lifeless; in the prow are Up-uaut, the Opener of the Ways, and Sa, and the goddess of the hour. Round about the cabin are a company of gods; these are they who guard Ra from all perils and dangers, and from the attack of the abominable Apep.
Slowly goes the Boat of Ra, passing through the Duat, to regions of thick darkness, of horror and dismay, where the dead have their habitations, and Apep lies in wait for the coming of Ra. Thus passes the first hour of the night, and the second hour is at hand.
At the entrance of every country of the Duat is a gate; tall are the walls, and narrow is the passage; upon the walls are spearheads, sharp and pointed, that no man may climb over. The door of the gate is of wood, turning on a pivot, and a monstrous snake guards the door. None may pass by him save those only to whom his name is known. At the turn of the passage are two great hooded snakes, the one above, the other below. The breath of their mouths is fire and poison mingled; through the narrow portal on every side they send forth streams of flame and venom. At either end of the passage stands a warder, keeping watch.
Then the goddess of the first hour makes way for the goddess of the second hour, and she calls aloud the name of the Guardian of the gate. Flung wide are the portals, the fire and poison cease, and the Boat of Ra passes through.
"Ur-nes" do we name this second country of the Duat, but the Hanebu and those who inhabit the isles of the Great Green Waters call it Ouranos. The river is wide and bears on its dark waters four shallops; no oars have they, neither masts nor rudders, but float upon the stream and are carried by the current. Mysterious and strange are they, and the shadowy shapes which fill them have forms like the forms of men. In this country Ra is Lord and King, and those who live here are in peace, for none can pass the great hooded snakes who guard the gates, whose breath is mingled flame and venom. Happy are those who inhabit this land, for here dwell the spirits of the corn, Besa and Nepra and Tepu-yn. These are they who make the wheat and barley to flourish and cause the fruits of the earth to increase.
Slowly goes the Boat of Ra, passing through the Duat, through regions of thick darkness, of horror and dismay, where the dead have their habitation, and Apep lies in wait for the coming of Ra. Thus passes the second hour of the night, and the third hour is at hand. Then the goddess of the second hour makes way for the goddess of the third hour, and she calls aloud the name of the Guardian of the gate. Flung wide are the portals, and the Boat of Ra passes through.
"Watercourse of the only God" is the name of the third country of the Duat, and here in the beautiful Amentet is the Kingdom of Osiris. On either side the river are the great shapes of the gods surrounding the form of Osiris himself. Enthroned is he, appearing in splendour as king, with the White Crown of the South Land and the Red Crown of the North Land upon his head.
Great is Osiris, god of the dead, for all who die come before him for judgment, and their hearts are weighed in the balance against the feather of Truth. His throne is set upon a running stream, clear and deep, and from the waters rises a single lotus-blossom, the colour of the sky at morning. Upon the blossom stand the four Children of Horus, they who assist Osiris at the Judgment, who protect the bodies of the dead. To them belong the South and the North, the West and the East, and the four great goddesses are their protectors. They stand upon the lotus-blossom and their faces are towards Osiris; the first has the face of a man, the second the face of an ape, the third the face of a jackal, and the fourth the face of a bird of prey. This is the hour which evil-doers fear; by their own actions are they judged, and naught can avail them. Heavy is the heart of the evil-doer and drags down the scale; lower and lower it sinks till it reaches the jaws of Amemt, the Devourer of Hearts. Then is the evil-doer driven forth into the thick darkness of the Duat, to dwell with the abominable Apep and to fall at last into the Pits of Fire.
But some there are who have wrought righteousness upon earth; who have hurt no man by fraud or violence; who have succoured the widow, the orphan, and the shipwrecked mariner; who have given food to the hungry and clothes to the naked; who have not stirred up strife, nor caused the shedding of tears. When these come to the Judgment of Osiris, and their hearts are put in the balance, then is the feather of Truth the heavier. The scale with the feather sinks down, and the scale with the heart rises up. Then does Thoth, the twice-great, take the heart and place it again in the breast of the man, and Horus takes him by the hand and leads him to the foot of the throne of Osiris that he may dwell in the kingdom of Osiris for ever and for evermore. And now only can he see the most pure and truly holy Osiris, for "the souls of men are not able to participate of the divine nature whilst they are encompassed about with bodies and passions.... When they are freed from these impediments and remove into those purer and unseen regions ... 'tis then that this God becomes their Leader and King; upon him they wholly depend, still beholding without satiety, and still ardently longing after that beauty, which 'tis not possible for man to express or think."*
* Plutarch,De Iside et Oasride(Squire's translation).
Slowly goes the Boat of Ra, passing through the Duat, to regions of thick darkness, of horror and dismay, where the abominable Apep lies in wait for the coming of Ra, and where the Pits of Fire are prepared for the wicked. Thus passes the third hour of the night, and the fourth hour is at hand. Then the goddess of the third hour makes way for the goddess of the fourth hour, and she calls aloud the name of the Guardian of the gate. Flung wide are the portals, and the Boat of Ra passes through.
"Living one of forms" is the name of the fourth country of the Duat, and Sokar has dominion in this land. Dreary is the waste of sand, limitless the desert, gloomy and sombre the landscape. No blade of grass is seen, no tree, no herbage; naught grows, naught lives, save monstrous many-headed serpents, gliding along the ground or creeping upon legs. Terrible are they of aspect as they writhe and turn and hiss and roar; they raise their hideous crests on high and hold their dusky wings outspread. But their anger is not towards Ra, and he passes safely through their midst.
Engulfed is the great river and lost beneath the shifting sands, and where it ran is now a deep ravine. The walls of rock rise high and steep, and ever the way winds and turns between the rocks. Men call this place Re-stau, the Mouth of the Tomb. Even in this gloomy desert Osiris has dominion; Lord of Re-stau is he called, therefore none need fear when traversing the narrow path. And now the Boat of Ra can no longer float upon the water, but is changed into a great and mighty serpent with glittering scales. At the prow is a serpent's head with eyes watchful and fierce, at the stern is a serpent's head with poison-fangs prepared. Over the sand it glides as a boat glides over the water.
Slowly goes the Boat of Ra, passing through the Duat, through regions of thick darkness, of horror and dismay, to the place where Apep lies in wait for the coming of Ra. Thus passes the fourth hour of the night, and the fifth hour is at hand. Then the goddess of the fourth hour makes way for the goddess of the fifth hour, and she calls aloud the name of the Guardian of the gate. Flung wide are the portals, and the Boat of Ra passes through.
"Hidden" is the name of the fifth country of the Duat, and in this dark and gloomy region dwells Sokar, its Lord and King, god of those who are buried. Beside a turn of the winding way is his dwelling deep below the ground; above it rises a high mountain of sand. Guarding it on either side are two sphinxes; lions are they in their bodies, with the faces of men; and their claws are outstretched like the talons of a beast of prey. In the midst lies a serpent with three heads, and between his wings stands Sokar in the form of a man with the head of a hawk. Savage and fierce as a hawk is Sokar, and terrible is the punishment he metes out to those who rebel against him. Hard by his dwelling is a lake where the water boils and bubbles with heat as water boils in a pot. Into the boiling lake are cast the rebels, and they cry to Ra for help, but Ra lies cold and lifeless, waiting for the coming of Khepera, and their cries are unheeded while the Boat passes on its way.
On the farther wall of the ravine is a high and vaulted building, the home of Night and Darkness. Two birds cling on either side, and round about it glides a two-headed serpent. He lifts his savage heads, and his poison is ever ready to strike the rash intruder who should dare to try to pass. Faithful is his watch, for in the home of Night and Darkness lives Khepera, the great Soul of the universe, he whose emblem is the beetle, the god of resurrection. In the form of a scarab he watches the coming of Ra, and he flies upon the Boat and awaits there the time when he shall bring Life back to the god. And now through the thick darkness along the narrow passage falls a gleam of light; the Morning Star stands by the gate to lead the Boat onwards; for in the darkest of the night is a promise of the coming day.
Slowly goes the Boat of Ra, passing through the Duat, through regions of thick darkness, of terror and dismay, to the place where the abominable Apep lies in wait for the coming of Ra. Thus passes the fifth hour of the night, and the sixth hour is at hand. Then the goddess of the fifth hour makes way for the goddess of the sixth hour, and she calls aloud the name of the Guardian of the gate. Flung wide are the portals, and the Boat of Ra passes through.
"Abyss of waters" is the name of the sixth country of the Duat, and Osiris has dominion over it, Osiris, the great god, Lord of the city of Daddu, the living King, Creator of men, of cattle, and of the green things which grow upon the earth, Osiris, to whom all men bow in praise and adoration.
The river rises out of the sand again, and the Boat floats upon its waters, and those who are in it rejoice, for the hours of the night are passing away. On the banks of the river are the great shapes of the gods, mysterious and wonderful; nine sceptres of sovereignty stand there also, and a monstrous lion looms through the darkness, faintly seen in the light which comes from the Boat of Ra. Three shrines stand beside the river, and a serpent whose breath is flame guards each one. Mystic and strange are the forms within the shrines, and to man it is not given to know the meaning of them; in one is a human head, in another the wing of a bird, in the third the hind part of a lion. Here also lives the great coiled serpent with five heads, and within his coils lies Khepera, god of resurrection. On his head he places the scarab, beneath his feet is the sign of flesh; thus does he send Life into the dead, and thus will he re-vivify Ra. For this is the farthest point of the Duat, and beyond the gate lies the way to the sunrise.
Slowly goes the Boat of Ra, passing through the Duat, through regions of thick darkness, of horror and dismay, where the abominable Apep lies in wait for the coming of Ra. Thus passes the sixth hour of the night, and the seventh hour is at hand. Then the goddess of the sixth hour makes way for the goddess of the seventh hour, and she calls aloud the name of the Guardian of the gate. Flung wide are the portals, and the Boat of Ra passes through.
"Secret cavern" is the name of the seventh country of the Duat. Full of danger and peril is it, for the abominable Apep dwells in this land. As a great and monstrous serpent does he appear and with wide-open mouth he swallows the waters of the river, that the Boat may be wrecked and that Ra may perish. Then would the earth belong to the powers of darkness, and evil and wickedness would overcome the gods.
But in the prow of the Boat stands Isis, the great enchantress, whose magic none can withstand; Isis, the greatest of the goddesses, she who can raise the dead, and to whom all mankind pay love and reverence. With arms outstretched, she recites the Words of Power; calling aloud across the dark river. Over the body of Ra, the serpent Mehen casts his protecting coils, for now is the time of danger.
On a sandbank in the midst of the river lies the abominable Apep. Four hundred and fifty cubits long is the sandbank; the coils of Apep cover it so that naught can be seen but the river around him. Loud does he hiss and roar, and the Duat is filled with the thunder of his voice, yet Isis flinches not, nor does she cease her incantations and the magical movements of her hands. Her spells prevail and the abominable Apep lies helpless on the sand. Then Selk and Her-desuf leap from the Boat of Ra and bind him with cords, and with sharp knives they pierce his flesh, hoping to destroy him. But Apep is immortal, and every night will he await and attack the Boat of Ra. Yet Selk and Her-desuf hold him fast while the Boat continues on its way, past the great sandbanks, where he writhes and twists and struggles to get free, but the cords are strong and the knives are sharp and his efforts are in vain.
Onward goes the Boat to the burial-places of the gods. These stand beside the river; high mounds of sand are they, over each mound is a building, and at each end the head of a man watches the passing of Ra.
Softly goes the Boat of Ra, passing through the Duat, moving through the darkness to the sunrise and the day. Thus passes the seventh hour of the night, and the eighth hour is at hand. Then the goddess of the seventh hour makes way for the goddess of the eighth hour, and she calls aloud the name of the Guardian of the gate. Flung wide are the portals, and the Boat of Ra passes through.
"Sarcophagus of the gods" is the name of the eighth country of the Duat, for here dwell the dead gods. Dead and buried are they, embalmed and bandaged as men embalm and bandage the dead upon earth. They cry aloud salutations to Ra as he passes, calling to him across the vast expanse, but so far away are they that the sound of their voices is as the roaring of savage bulls, as the cry of birds of prey, as the wail of mourners, as the murmur of bees. Before the Boat go nine Followers of the Gods; strange are their forms, mysterious and wonderful, like naught that is upon the earth. In front of them march the four souls of Tatanen in the likeness of rams, great and fierce, with horns wide-spreading and sharp-pointed. The first is crowned with high upstanding plumes, the second with the Red crown of the North Land, the third with the White crown of the South Land, the fourth with the glittering disk of the sun. Ancient is Tatanen, dweller in Memphis, where the abode of Ptah is on the south of the wall.
Softly goes the Boat of Ra, passing through the Duat, moving through the darkness to the sunrise and the day. Thus passes the eighth hour of the night, and the ninth hour is at hand. Then the goddess of the eighth hour makes way for the goddess of the ninth hour, and she calls aloud the name of the Guardian of the gate. Flung wide are the portals, and the Boat of Ra passes through.
"Procession of images" is the name of the ninth country of the Duat. Full and strong runs the river, and the Boat is borne forward upon the rushing stream. Twelve star-gods guard the Boat, with paddles in their hands, ready to help the Boat in case of need. Thick darkness broods not upon this land, for twelve great hooded snakes lie coiled upon the bank, and the breath of their mouths is a flame of fire, gleaming upon the dark water and upon those who dwell in the Duat. Three shallops float upon the sombre river; strange is the shape of these shallops, not like the boats of men; and the shadowy forms within them are in the likeness of a cow, of a ram, and of the soul of a man. From them the dwellers in this land receive the offerings which are made to them upon the earth. Then the star-gods break into singing; and the twelve goddesses and the weaving gods and the dwellers in this land chant the glory and honour of Ra, praising the Lord of the Boat, the Maker of earth and of heaven. With joy and singing they follow the appointed path.
Onward goes the Boat of Ra, passing through the Duat, travelling to the sunrise and the light of open day. Thus passes the ninth hour of the night, and the tenth hour is at hand. Then the goddess of the ninth hour makes way for the goddess of the tenth hour, and she calls aloud the name of the Guardian of the gate. Flung wide are the portals, and the Boat of Ra passes through.
"Abyss of waters, lofty of banks" is the name of the tenth country of the Duat, and the ruler is Ra. The dwellers in this land come to meet their king as he passes by upon the swelling river. Deep and full and strong runs the stream, and the Boat is borne forward upon the rushing current. Divine warriors armed with glittering weapons of war are a guard for their king; light is on their faces like the light of the sun. By the side of the river are four goddesses; upon the darkness they cast beams of light, making bright the way of Ra upon the gloomy river. Before the Boat of Ra moves the Star of Morning in the form of a double-headed serpent walking upon legs, and upon his heads are the crowns of the South Land and the North Land; between his coils is the great hawk of the sky; Leader of Heaven is his name, for the stars of heaven follow him, but men call him Hesper and Lucifer also. In a shallop on the stream is a snake, Life of the Earth is he called, and he watches in the Duat against the enemies of Ra.
The greatest of all the countries of the Duat is this, for in this realm of wonder and mystery Khepera joins himself to Ra, and Ra himself is created anew. Yet the dead body of Ra remains in the Boat; but his soul is united to the soul of Khepera.
Onward goes the Boat of Ra, passing through the Duat, travelling to the sunrise and the light of open day. Thus passes the tenth hour of the night and the eleventh hour is at hand. Then the goddess of the tenth hour makes way for the goddess of the eleventh hour, and she calls aloud the name of the Guardian of the gate. Flung wide are the portals, and the Boat of Ra passes through.
"Mouth of the cavern" is the name of the eleventh country of the Duat, and Ra is its ruler. Low has the river fallen and sluggishly it runs, and the Boat is drawn onwards by the gods; not with cords do they tow it, but with the body of the great serpent Mehen, the protector of Ra. On the prow of the Boat is a fiery star, but its light is not redder than the strange and lurid glow which fills this land; terrible and red is it and the sight of it is full of horror. This is the region feared by evil-doers, for their punishment awaits them here. Far and near are pits of fire; goddesses, whose breath is flame, guard the pits, holding in their hands gleaming swords of fire. With their knives do they torment the wicked and cast them into the pits of flame till they perish utterly. Horus stands by and beholds their torments, for these are the enemies of Osiris and of Ra, doers of evil upon the earth and blasphemers of the gods. No help can come to them, no escape is possible; doomed are they by their own actions to the sword and fire. And the smoke and flame of their torment rise up in the Duat.
On the far side of the river are the stars; Shedu is there in the fashion of a snake; scarlet and crimson is he, and the stars which form his body are ten in number. There also a shape is seen, mysterious and wonderful; like a winged snake with legs does he appear, and between the wings is the shadowy likeness of a man. Men call him Atmu, dweller in Heliopolis; ancient is Atmu, more ancient than Ra himself; and he sends the sweet breezes of the North Wind upon the land of Egypt. On either side of him the Eyes of Horus show dimly in the faint and lurid light. And now springs up the breeze of morning; gentle is it and slight, but with it comes the promise of the day.
Onward goes the Boat of Ra, passing through the Duat, travelling to the sunrise and the light of open day. Thus passes the eleventh hour, and the twelfth hour and the dawn are at hand. Then the goddess of the eleventh hour makes way for the goddess of the twelfth hour, and she calls aloud the name of the Guardian of the gate. Flung wide are the portals, and the Boat of Ra passes through.
"Darkness has fallen, and births shine forth" is the name of the twelfth country of the Duat. On the prow of the Boat is the great scarab of Khepera, ready to make the transformations of Ra ere he reaches the end of the Duat. Not like other lands is this twelfth region of the Duat, for it is enclosed in the body of a vast and monstrous serpent. "Life of the Gods" is his name, and through this great and huge frame travels the Boat of Millions of Years. Twelve of the worshippers of Ra seize the towing-ropes and drag the Boat onward, and here in the body of the serpent is Ra transformed into Khepera and is alive again, for now the journey through the Duat is near the end. Standing by the mouth of the serpent are twelve goddesses; to these the Worshippers of Ra yield the towing-ropes, and they draw the Boat to the eastern horizon of heaven. And now the dead corpse of Ra is cast out of the Boat, as the husk is cast away when the grain is winnowed out, for the soul and the life of Ra are in the scarab of Khepera, and the transformations of Ra are completed. With shouting and singing, with joy and with gladness, the Boat of Ra passes out of the Duat.
Glorious is the Manzet Boat, speeding to the sunrise! Wide, swing wide the portals, and usher in the day. Between the sycomores of turquoise comes the Boat of Ra, and the mountain of Bakhu is flushed with light. The serpent, guardian of the Great Green Waters, beholds Ra in glory in the eastern horizon of heaven, and the rays glitter on his scales.
Glorious is the Manzet Boat, borne upon the river, flashing in the splendour and the light of open day. In the foam at the prow of the Boat sports the Abtu-fish, darting through the gleaming spray, and the Ant-fish is seen in the whirlpool of turquoise. From the earth rises up the sound of rejoicing, for all created things praise Ra at his rising.
Hail to thee, Ra, at thy rising; the night and the darkness are past. At the dawn of the day thou shinest, the heavens are filled with thy light. King of the Gods art thou, all glory and triumph are thine. The Gods come as dogs to thy feet, rejoicing to greet thee at dawn. Hail to thee Ra, at thy rising; at thy coming all men are glad. In joy dost thou come in the morning, with glory thou rulest the world. The stars of the heavens adore thee, the Gods of the earth exalt thee, Lord of the Heavens art thou. Hail to thee, Ra, at thy rising! None can express thy glory, Lord of all Wisdom and Truth. The souls of the East attend thee, the souls of the West are thy servants, the North and the South adore thee. Worshipped art thou, our Ruler, by those whom thou hast created, Thou risest in heaven's horizon, thou causest mankind to rejoice. Hail to thee, Ra, at thy rising; at thy rising in beauty, O Ra.
I. THE PRINCESS AND THE DEMON
Published: Prisse d'Avennes,Monuments Egyptiens, pl. xxiv.
Translated: Wiedemann,Religion of the Ancient Egyptians, p. 275.
This tale is sculptured on a sandstone tablet found by Champollion in the temple of Khonsu at Thebes, and now in the Bibliotheque Nationale at Paris.
There are twenty-eight horizontal lines of inscription, and above them is a scene of two boats of Khonsu borne on the shoulders of priests, with the king offering incense before them.
When first translated, the tale was supposed to be a record of fact, but now it is generally considered a folk-tale, redounding to the credit and glory of Khonsu, and therefore made use of by the priests of that god. The king mentioned in it cannot be identified with any of the historical monarchs of Egypt, although his personal name, Rameses, is sufficiently common among the rulers of the xxth dynasty.
II. THE KING'S DREAM
Published: Lepsius,Denkmäler, iii, 68.
Translated: Breasted,Ancient Records, ii, 810-815.
The inscription is sculptured on a round-topped stela of red granite, fourteen feet high, set up in the little temple which lies between the paws of the Great Sphinx.
The temple was excavated by Captain Caviglia in 1817. It forms the end of a processional way which leads downwards by paved causeways and flights of steps from the edge of the desert into the sanctuary (see Vyse,Pyramids of Oizeh, iii, 107). The tiny shrine is only ten feet long by five wide, and at its farthest end, with its back to the breast of the Sphinx, stands this stela.
The inscription, which is in horizontal lines, is surmounted by a scene, duplicated to right and left, of the king making a libation of water and burning incense before the figure of a Sphinx couchant upon a pylon or altar. The lower half of the stela is so mutilated that the inscription is either destroyed or illegible.
The inscription purports to be of the time of Thothmes IV, a king of the xviiith dynasty, about 1400 B.C.; erected by that monarch as a votive offering. But from the evidence of the language in which the inscription is couched it is obviously much later; Erman dates it to a period between the xxiiird and xxvith dynasties. It may, however, be a restoration of an earlier record, though of the early inscription nothing remains.
III. THE COMING OF THE GREAT QUEEN
Published: Naville,Deir el Bahari, ii, pls. xlvi-li (with translation).
Translated: Breasted,Ancient Records, ii, 187-220.
The inscription, with the scenes illustrating it, are sculptured on the walls of the temple of Deir el Bahari, on the north side of the retaining wall of the upper platform.
The great building, known in modern times as the temple of Deir el Bahari, was erected by Queen Hatshepsut of the xviiith dynasty, about 1500 B.C., for the double purpose of her own funerary cult, and of the worship of the goddess Hathor. The chief events of the Queen's reign are sculptured on the walls; the record of her divine descent naturally holds a prominent place. The inscriptions in the temple were wrecked and restored anciently, therefore much of the record is lost. Fortunately, however, Amenhotep III, a king of the same dynasty rather more than a century later than Hatshepsut, adorned his temple of Luxor with similar scenes and inscriptions, relating to his own divine descent, changing of course the names of the mother and child and making a few immaterial alterations in the inscriptions. By means of this later example the whole of the earlier record is made clear.
The white colonnades of Hatshepsut's temple, set against a background of dark cliffs, form one of the most striking scenes in the valley of the Nile. The temple was used at one time as a Coptic village; hence its modern name of Deir el Bahari, the Northern Convent.
It has recently been excavated and restored by Dr. Navillo for the Egypt Exploration Fund.
IV. THE BOOK OF THOTH
Published: Spiegelberg,Demotische Papyrus(Cairo Catalogue).
Translated: Petrie,Egyptian Tales, ii, 89.
This story is written in demotic on a papyrus found at Thebes in the grave of a Coptic monk. It was among other papyri, written in hieratic and in Coptic, in a wooden chest, and is now in the Cairo Museum. Demotic is the script in which the latest form of the Egyptian language was written; the earliest example remaining is of the reign of Shabaka of the xxvth dynasty, about 715 B.C.; it continued in use till Roman times, when it was superseded by the Greek alphabet.
The papyrus is of the Ptolemaic period, but the exact date is uncertain, as the colophon at the end is partly illegible. The year 15 only is visible, which, however, is not sufficient guide to the reign of the king under whom it was written.
The legend given in this book is part only of a much longer tale; it is in fact a story within a story, told by thekaof Ahura to the high priest of Memphis, when he ventured into the tomb of Nefer-ka-ptah in search of the Book of Thoth.
The Book of Thoth is said to contain only two pages; it must therefore have been a roll of papyrus written on both sides.
V. OSIRIS
Original: Plutarch,De Iside et Osiride.
Translated: Mead,Thrice-greatest Hermes, i, 278.
The treatise on Isis and Osiris was written by Plutarch, himself an initiate into the Osiris-mysteries, to a fellow-initiate, a woman named Klea. It was written at Delphi in the second century A.D.
It is the only connected account remaining of the death of Osiris and the wanderings of Isis. Though of so late a date, it is found to be correct on the whole when checked by the inscriptions and sculpture of Pharaonic times.
The so-called Ritual of Denderah is our principal authority for the worship of Osiris in the chief temples of Egypt on the festivals of the month of Khoiakh. The Ritual is sculptured on the walls of the temple of Denderah, and gives in great detail the rites in use, and even the size and material of the symbolical images. The inscription dates to the Ptolemaic period, but the Ritual is considerably earlier.
"Mystery-plays" of the death of Osiris and of the repulse of Set by Horus appear to have been enacted on certain great occasions at the chief centres of worship. The principal part was that of Horus, which was acted by the Pharaoh himself in the capital, and by the chief local notabilities in provincial centres.
VI. THE SCORPIONS OF ISIS
Published: Golenischeff,Metternichstele(with German translation).
Translated: Budge,Legends of the Gods, p. 157.
This inscription is sculptured on a round-topped stela of serpentine (?), fixed in a square pedestal. It was found at Alexandria at the beginning of the nineteenth century, and was presented to Prince Metternich by Mohamed Ali in 1828.
The front, back, and sides of both stela and pedestal are sculptured with horizontal and vertical lines of inscription and with mythological figures. The stela belongs to a class of amuletic objects, usually called Cippi of Horus, which are inscribed with magical spells against all animals "biting with their mouths or stinging with their tails." This stela is the largest Cippus of Horus known. On the front is sculptured in high relief the figure of Horus represented as a naked child, standing on two crocodiles, and holding a lion, a gazelle, scorpions, and snakes in his hands. He stands within a shrine, which is surmounted by the head of Bes. Isis and Thoth, the goddesses of the South and North, and other mythological figures and emblems are within and without the shrine. Above this scene are horizontal registers filled with figures, possibly representing scenes from legends which are now lost.
The text which preserves the story of the scorpions of Isis is inscribed on the back of the tablet, ll. 48-70. The date of the stela is about 370 B.C., in the reign of Neotanebo I. of the xxxth dynasty.
VII. THE BLACK PIG
Published: Naville,Das Aegyptische Todtenbuch, pl. cxxiv.
Translated: Budge,Book of the Dead, ch. cxii.
The so-called Book of the Dead is a compilation of texts which are found, written on papyri or on coffins, in the tombs. No copy containing all the chapters is known; the order has therefore been arranged from a comparison of many examples.
The ancient name of these texts is "Chapters of Coming forth to the Day"; the modern name is "Book of the Dead," as it is evidently a manual for the use of the dead. It consists of a series of prayers, hymns, magical formulae, and allusions to mythological stories, a knowledge of which was considered necessary in order to escape the perils and dangers of the life hereafter. It is obviously very ancient, for even in the earliest known examples, the Pyramid Texts of the vith dynasty, the text is often very corrupt. The Pyramid Texts show traces of very primitive usages and cults, many of which are lost in the later forms of the Book of the Dead.
The story related under the name of the Black Pig refers to an incident in the war between Horus and Set, and is not known elsewhere. Probably many such legends were current in ancient Egypt, but few have been preserved to us intact. Horus was the great hero-god, and, like the heroes of other countries, he absorbed all the legends of local champions. Some of his exploits and adventures seem to have been so well known that a mere allusion was sufficient to recall them to the mind of the reader. Sometimes a short and, to us confused account is given, as in chapter cxiii of the Book of the Dead, where the restoration to Horus of his hands and arms, which have been lost in a swamp, is related in a manner which conveys very little to the modern reader.
A great number of legends have been preserved in magical papyri, but even among these the quantity of tantalising allusions is larger than the number of complete legends. Thus, in the Demotic Papyrus of London and Leyden, a charm against fever begins "Horus was going up a hill at midday in the verdure season, mounted on a white horse." He finds the gods eating, and they invite him to join them, but he refuses as he has fever. This is all that is said, but it is evidently an allusion to a well-known story.
VIII. THE BATTLES OF HORUS
Published: Naville,Mythe d'Horus(with French translation).
Translated: Wiedemann,Religion of the Ancient Egyptians, p. 69.
The account of the war between Horus and Set is sculptured on the inner part of the west side of the girdle-wall of the temple of Edfu. The whole temple is dedicated to Horus; though undoubtedly an early foundation, the present structure dates only to the Ptolemaic period. It was begun by Ptolemy III Euergetes I, and took 180 years to build and decorate. The girdle-wall, on which these scenes and inscriptions were sculptured, was built and decorated about 100 B.C., either by Soter II or Alexander I.
The temple was excavated by Mariette, and is the most perfect in condition of all the temples in Egypt, for with the exception of the wanton mutilation of the faces, probably by Christian fanatics, both building and sculpture are untouched save by time.
The inscription appears to give in legendary form a fairly accurate account of tribal battles of a very early period. Though the actual inscription is of a late date, many primitive ideas are preserved, especially in the hymns of the women to Horus. "Eat ye the flesh of the vanquished, drink ye his blood," is not a sentiment of the civilisation of Ptolemaic times. Human sacrifice, however, appears to have been practised in Egypt at all periods. Harvest victims were burnt at Eleithyapolis (El Kab). Amasis II of the xxvith dynasty put an end to human sacrifice at Heliopolis; Diodorus says that red-haired men were offered up at the sepulchre of Osiris; as the king was the incarnate Osiris, this would mean that human sacrifices were made at the royal graves, probably during the funeral ceremonies. The Book of the Dead also continually alludes to human sacrifice. At Edfu an altar was found sculptured with representations of offerings in which human beings are the victims. Small figures, carved in the round, are known, which are in the form of bound captives; and show probably the method of binding the victim; the legs are bent at the knees, and the feet bound to the thighs; the arms are bent at the elbows and securely lashed to the body. This is not the ordinary way of binding a prisoner, but is a special method reserved probably for a human victim. The figures represent sometimes men, sometimes women.
Judging by the representations and scenes on the girdle-wall, a "mystery-play" was acted in the temple of Edfu, the Pharaoh playing the principal part, that of Horus. In early times it seems more than probable that Set, or the Ally of Set, was played by a human being, who was actually killed during the performance. When the custom of human sacrifice begins to die out, the human victim is often replaced by an animal. This is the case at Edfu, where Set is called a hippopotamus and represented as a pig.
IX. THE BEER OF HELIOPOLIS
Published: Léfébure,Tombeau de Sety Ie, pt. iii, pls. 15-18 (Annales du Musée Ouimet, ix).
Translated: Wiedemann,Religion of the Ancient Egyptians, p. 62. (For a description of the tomb of Sety I see theNotes on Legend xi).
This story is sculptured on the walls of a side-chamber off one of the inner halls of the tomb of Sety I (room xii of the guide-books). On one of the walls is a representation of a cow standing under the star-sprinkled vault of heaven. This is Nut, the sky-goddess; she is raised on the uplifted hands of the god Shu, and each leg is supported by two gods; planets, and Boats of the Sun travel across her body. The connection between this representation and the legend is quite uncertain.
The tale occurs only in this one place, but every excavator hopes that he may one day find a tomb with a complete copy of the story sculptured on the walls.
X. THE NAME OF RA
Published: Pleyte and Rossi,Papyrus de Turin, pls. 31, 77, 131-138.
Translated: Wiedemann,Religion of the Ancient Egyptians; p. 54.
This tale is found in a hieratic papyrus of the xxth dynasty (about 1200-1100 B.C.). It is written on both sides; the handwriting on one side differs from the handwriting on the other, showing that it is the work of two scribes. The writing is in black ink with occasional sentences in red. Hieratic is the running hand, derived from the hieroglyphs; the earliest example occurs in the first dynasty; it was superseded by demotic in the latest period of Egyptian history.
This papyrus is not quite complete, but the part containing the legend is fortunately uninjured. The text consists of magical formulae against the bites of serpents. In healing by magic, the magician recited an event in the career of some deity in which the god suffered from the same malady as the human patient then seeking relief. The words which cured the divine patient would also cure the human invalid. The same idea prevails in the legend of the Scorpions of Isis.
XI. THE REGIONS OF NIGHT AND THICK DARKNESS
Published: Léfébure,Tombeau de Seti I. (Annales du Musée Guimet, ix).
Translated: Jéquier,Livre de ce qu'il y a dans l'Hadès; Budge,Egyptian Heaven and Hell.
The description of the Journey of Ra through the Other World is sculptured on the walls of the tomb of Seti I at Thebes. This is the great tomb discovered by Belzoni in October 1817. The length is 330 feet, and it consists of long corridors, pillared halls, and side-chambers, hewn out of the solid rock. The Book of Am Duat is sculptured on the walls of corridor iii, halls v, vi, and x, and side-chambers xi and xiii. Eleven hours only are given; the twelfth hour, though frequently found on papyri, is rare in sculpture.
There are two versions of the Sun's journey through the Duat. One was called by the Egyptians themselves the Book of that which is in the Other World (Am Duat); the other has no Egyptian name, but is now called the Book of Gates, for in it the gates are more important than the countries which they divide. (For a comparison of the two books, see Budge,Egyptian Heaven and Hell.) The Book of Gates is rarer than the Book of Am Duat, and is found sculptured on sarcophagi; the finest example being the alabaster sarcophagus of Seti I, now in the Soane Museum in London.
The Book of Am Duat is found both in papyri and on tomb walls, the earliest example of the latter being the tomb of Amenhotep II of the xviiith dynasty. It is a compilation by the theologians of that period; an attempt to combine into one homogeneous whole several distinct ideas of the next world and the life hereafter. The fourth and fifth countries of the Duat are obviously one complete kingdom, ruled by the god Sokar, the Memphite god of the dead. As Memphis was a very important religious centre, its god of the dead and his kingdom had to be included in the Duat of Ra, in spite of the fact that it was a waterless desert, and that it ended with the Morning Star. It was a region totally different from any other kingdom of the hereafter; no river ran through it; it was inhabited by neither gods nor spirits, but by enormous and horrible reptiles. The ingenuity of the compilers of this Book in turning the Boat of Ra into a serpent, which could dispense with the river and glide over the sand, is certainly remarkable.