Tales of Ancient Egypt Read online

  Se-Osiris and the Sealed Letter, The Book of Thoth, The Adventures of Sinuhe and The Taking of Joppa are all from late manuscripts written after about 715 BC when ‘Demotic’ writing superseded the old hieroglyphs – but of course they are probably much older than the date at which the surviving copies were written and perhaps go back to the Nineteenth or Twentieth Dynasties, the period following the golden age of Rameses the Great.

  The last three stories are preserved only in Greek versions. The Story of the Greek Princess was first told in Greek by Stesichorus (c. 600 BC) of whose works only fragments remain; it is given several chapters by Herodotus, and was used as the basis for a play by Euripides: but the basic story was obviously Egyptian, for the Greeks could not understand at all about the Princess’s Ka or ‘Double’, which appears nowhere else in Greek myth or legend. This Egyptian origin was clearly recognized by Rider Haggard and Andrew Lang who made use of some of the story in their fine romance of the days of Merneptah, son of Rameses the Great, The World’s Desire: and Haggard made better use still of the Ka in his Morning Star which is one of the best re-creations of Ancient Egypt ever written.

  The Treasure Thief was told to Herodotus during his visit to Egypt, and he included it in his History. As for The Girl with the Rose-red Slippers, the earliest version of the Cinderella story, Herodotus certainly knew of Rhodopis, who was almost his contemporary, though he confused her with an earlier adventuress-queen; but the full tale was given by another Greek, Aelian, in his Varia Historia in the third century AD.

  And so these tales of Ancient Egypt represent a written literature of over two thousand years, stretching back to more than four thousand years ago, and perhaps as much as five thousand if we assume that the tales of the gods were handed down by word of mouth from the days of the first Pharaohs until Zoser and his successors began to carve them in hieroglyphs on the walls of tomb-chambers and temples. The best of the relatively few that remain out of that distant age have been collected here and retold: the oldest stories in the world, yet most of them stories that never grow old in themselves, though their dress may have the charm of age and distance: stories that catch for us an echo out of that incredibly distant past, that bring us bright, tantalizing glimpses from the lost world of Ancient Egypt:

  The murmur of the fallen creeds

  Like winds among the wind-shaken reeds

  Along the banks of holy Nile.

  Tales of the Gods

  Ra and his Children

  Before the land of Egypt rose out of the waters at the beginning of the world, Ra the Shining One came into being. He was all-powerful, and the secret of his power lay in his Name which was hidden from all the world. Having this power, he had only to name a thing, and that thing too came into being.

  ‘I am Khepera at the dawn, and Ra at noon, and Turn in the evening,’ he said – and as he said it, behold, he was the sun rising in the east, passing across the sky and setting in the west. And this was the first day of the world.

  When he named Shu, the wind blew. The rain fell when he named Tefnut the spitter. After this he spoke the name of Geb, and the earth rose above the waters of the sea. He cried, ‘Nut!’ – and that goddess was the arch of the sky stretching over the earth with her feet on one horizon and her hands on the other. Then he named Hapi, and the sacred River Nile flowed through Egypt to make it fruitful.

  Then Ra went on to name all the things on earth, which grew into being at his words. Last of all he spoke the words for ‘Man’ and ‘Woman’, and soon there were people dwelling throughout the land of Egypt.

  After this Ra himself took on the shape of a man and became the first Pharaoh of Egypt. For thousands of years he reigned over the land, and there was peace and plenty. The Nile rose each year and flooded the fields; then it sank back into its channel, leaving the rich coating of mud which made sure of fine crops as the cool spring turned into the baking summer. There were no lean years when the Nile did not rise high enough; nor were there any years when the floods rose too high or lasted too long. It was the golden age of the world, and ever afterwards the Egyptians spoke of the good things ‘which happened in the time of Ra’.

  At last, however, even Ra grew old: for it was decreed that no man should live for ever, and he had made himself a man to rule over Egypt. And when he was old and his bones were like silver, his flesh like gold and his hair like lapis lazuli, he could no longer rule well over the people of Egypt, nor fight against Apophis, the Dragon of Evil who had grown out of the evil vapours in the darkness of the night and sought ever to devour all that was good and bright and kissed by the sun.

  Presently the evil of Apophis entered into the souls of the people of Egypt and many of them rebelled against Ra and did evil in his sight, worshipping the Dragon of Darkness instead of the Eye of Day.

  Ra perceived these things and the plots which the evil among men were preparing against his divine majesty. Then he spoke to his attendants, saying, ‘Gather together the high gods who are my court. Summon Shu and Tefnut, bid Geb and Nut hasten to the council hall – send even for Nun, the spirit of the waters out of which I arose at the beginning of the world. Gather them secretly: let not the evil among men know that I am aware of their doings.’

  Then the gods came into the presence of Ra, bowing in turn before him and kissing the ground at his feet in token of loyalty.

  When all were gathered Nun spoke for them, saying, ‘Life, health, strength be to you, Ra, Pharaoh of Egypt, maker of all things! Speak to us so that we may hear your divine will.’

  Then Ra answered, ‘Nun, eldest of all things, and all ye gods whom I have called into being – look upon mankind, whom also I made at a glance of my all-seeing Eye, naming them in the beginning that they might appear upon the earth and multiply to be my servants in life and in death. See, they have plotted against me, they have done evil things – the wicked among them gather even now in Upper Egypt to work further ill in my sight. Tell me, shall I slay them all with a burning glance of my Eye?’

  Nun answered, speaking for all the gods: ‘Ra, greater than I out of whom you came in the beginning; you who are mightier than all the gods you have created – if you send forth the burning glance of your Eye to slay mankind, it will turn all the land of Egypt into a desert. Therefore make a power that will smite men and women only; send out that which will burn the evil but not harm the good.’

  Then answered Ra, ‘I will not send forth the burning glance of my Eye. Instead I will send Sekhmet against mankind!’

  As he spoke the name, Sekhmet leapt into being, in form as a mighty lioness of gigantic size. Away she sped into Upper Egypt, and slaughtered and devoured mankind until the Nile ran red with blood and the earth beside it became a great red marsh.

  Before long the most wicked among men had been slain by Sekhmet, and the rest prayed to Ra for mercy. And Ra wished to spare them, for he had no desire to slay all of mankind and leave himself the ruler of a desolate earth with no human beings to serve him.

  But, having tasted blood, Sekhmet would not cease from her hunting. Day by day she stalked through the land of Egypt slaying all whom she met; and night by night she hid herself among the rocks on the edge of the desert, waiting for the sun to rise so that she might hunt once more.

  Then said Ra, ‘Sekhmet cannot be stayed except by a trick. If I can deceive her and save mankind from her sharp teeth and from her claws, I will give her greater power yet over them so that her heart shall rejoice and she shall not feel that honour has been taken from her.’

  So Ra summoned before him swift and speedy messengers and commanded them, saying, ‘Run like the shadow of a body – swifter and more silently than the body itself – to the island of Elephantinē that lies in the Nile below the First Cataract. Bring me the red ochre that is found there alone – bring it with speed.’

  Away sped the messengers through the darkness and returned to Heliopolis, the city of Ra, bearing loads of the red o
chre of Elephantinē. There, by Ra’s command, all the priestesses of the Temple of the Sun, and all the maid-servants of the royal court were set to crushing barley and making beer. Seven thousand jars did they make and, by the command of Ra, they mingled the red ochre of Elephantinē with it so that it gleamed in the moonlight red as blood.

  ‘Now,’ said Ra, ‘carry this upstream to protect mankind. Carry it to where Sekhmet means to slaughter men when day returns, and pour it out upon the earth as a trap for her.’

  Day dawned and Sekhmet came out into the sunlight from her lair among the rocks and looked about her, seeking whom she might devour. She saw no living thing. But, in the place where yesterday she had slain many men, she saw that the fields were covered to the depth of three hands’ breadths with what seemed to be blood.

  Sekhmet saw and laughed with a laugh like the roar of a hungry lioness. Thinking that it was the blood she had shed upon the previous day, she stooped and drank greedily. Again and again she drank, until the strength of the beer mounted to her brain and she could neither hunt nor kill.

  As the day drew to its close she came reeling down to Heliopolis where Ra awaited her – and when the sun touched the horizon she had not slain a single man or woman since the evening before.

  ‘You come in peace, sweet one,’ said Ra, ‘peace be with you and a new name. No longer are you Sekhmet the Slayer: you are Hathor the Lady of Love. Yet your power over mankind shall be greater even than it was – for the passion of love shall be stronger than the passion of hate, and all shall know love, and all shall be your victims. Moreover, in memory of this day, the priestesses of love shall drink the beer of Heliopolis made red with the ochre of Elephantinē on the first day of each year at a great festival in honour of Hathor.’

  So mankind was saved by Ra, and given both a new delight and a new pain.

  Isis and Osiris

  While Ra yet reigned upon earth as the first Pharaoh of Egypt, Thoth, the god of wisdom and magic whom he had created at the beginning of the world, uttered a prophecy.

  ‘If Nut, the Lady of the Heavens, bears a son, he will one day rule in Egypt.’

  ‘Nut shall never bear a son, nor any children at all!’ said Ra angrily. ‘No child of Nut shall take my throne from me! Lo, now I lay this curse upon her: she shall give birth to no child on any day in any year – no, nor in the night time either. I have spoken, and what I have decreed cannot be altered.’

  Nut was heart-broken at this. Yet Thoth had said that her son should rule in Egypt, and he was the wisest of all the gods. So she went to Thoth, who loved her, and begged for his aid.

  ‘Grant me your love, and I will show you how your wish may be fulfilled – and yet Ra’s curse remain unbroken,’ said Thoth.

  Nut consented readily to this, and Thoth soon devised a clever scheme. He visited Khonsu the Moon-god and challenged him to a game of draughts. Khonsu was a great gambler, and very soon the stakes were high indeed – but highest of all on the Moon’s side, for he was wagering his own light. And he had no chance of beating clever Thoth, who went on playing – and winning – until he had won enough of the Moon’s light from Khonsu to make five extra days. These days he fitted in between the end of the old year and the beginning of the new. Before this there had only been three hundred and sixty days in each year: that number remained the same, but the five days between each year set the calendar right. Moreover, since that great game of draughts the Moon has not had enough light to shine at the full throughout each month, but dwindles down into darkness and then comes slowly to his full glory again.

  Here, now, were five days that were not any days in any year – and on these days Nut’s five children were born: Osiris upon the first day, Harmachis upon the second day, Set upon the third, Isis on the fourth and Nephthys on the fifth.

  When Osiris was born there were many signs and wonders. A great voice from heaven was heard crying, ‘The Lord of All comes forth into the light!’ A woman drawing water at the well was suddenly seized with the spirit of prophecy and cried aloud, ‘Osiris the King is born.’ And in Thebes a certain man called Pamyles heard a voice coming from the temple of Ra which bade him proclaim the birth of Egypt’s greatest king, Osiris the saviour of mankind.

  By the advice of Thoth, Nut entrusted the baby Osiris to Pamyles to bring up: but Thoth himself instructed both Osiris and Isis in all the wisdom of the gods and in the hidden lore of which he was the master.

  Isis learnt so quickly, and also persuaded Khonsu to teach her all the mysteries of the Moon, that she became the greatest magician that Egypt has ever known.

  When they were grown up, Isis and Osiris married, and Nephthys married Set; and following their example, the human Pharaohs of Egypt ever afterwards married their own sisters. Though most of them had many other wives as well, the sister-bride was always the Queen.

  Isis was not yet Queen, however, nor Osiris King. For Ra still ruled on earth as the Pharaoh of Egypt, though in his human form he grew older and older, his head shook with the palsy of extreme old age, and he dribbled at the mouth.

  Wise Isis pondered in her heart how she might end the reign of Ra upon earth so that Osiris could become King. The wisdom which Thoth had taught her told her that only by learning Ra’s hidden Name could she gain power over him; the witchcraft of the Moon which Khonsu had shown her suggested a dark scheme to her heart.

  All living things were made by Ra, and without him no new creature could be created. Yet Isis made the first cobra – the ‘uraeus’ which became the sacred serpent of Egypt. As Ra passed on his way each morning to visit the Upper and the Lower Lands of Egypt, he dribbled at the mouth and his spittle fell in the dust by the roadside. Isis gathered the moist clay so made and fashioned it into the likeness of a hooded snake; she set in it the fiery poison of midnight magic, and she hid it in the grass beside the way which Ra was accustomed to take.

  Next day as he stepped out to view his kingdom the glorious light of Ra’s Eye fell upon the cobra that Isis had fashioned, and gave it life. The cobra reared its head out of the grass, bit Ra in the heel, and slipped away out of sight.

  For a little while Ra was speechless with surprise. Then, as pain shot through him like fire, he uttered a great cry which rang through all the land of Egypt.

  At once all the gods and goddesses came hastening to him, Isis among them, and bowed down before him and asked, ‘What is it that troubles you, Maker of Gods and Men?’

  ‘Something has wounded me!’ cried Ra. ‘Yet my heart does not know it, my eyes have not seen it, my hand did not make it, I do not recognize it among the things I have made – I who made all things. Therefore let the children of the gods be brought before me, those who know magic spells, those whose wisdom reaches to heaven, for it may be that one of them can help me.’

  So, one by one, the gods and their children came before Ra. But none of them could help him, and ever the pain of the cobra’s bite grew fiercer and fiercer.

  At last it was the turn of Isis. She knelt humbly before Ra and said, ‘What is it, divine father, that has stabbed you? Is it some snake from amongst those you made that has lifted up its head against you? If so, I shall cast it down with powerful magic: I shall make it hide its head from the sight of your divine eyes.’

  Then said Ra: ‘As I went on my way, as I walked between the Two Lands of Egypt to look upon all I have created, I was bitten by a snake that I did not see – by a serpent that I did not make – with a poison that I do not know. It is not fire, neither is it water: yet one moment I am colder than water, and the next moment I am hotter than fire. Now my body is sweating, and now it is shivering. My eyes are clouded and I cannot see; my head burns as with the fierce beams of midsummer.’

  Isis bowed her head before Ra and spoke softly: ‘Divine father, I can cure this grievous poison. Tell me your Secret Name – for you can only be cured if that Name is mingled with my spells.’

  Then Ra spoke in turn the many name
s by which he was worshipped – the names that told of all that he had made – the heavens and the earth, the sea and the mysteries of the two horizons, darkness and light, the great river Nile, all living creatures and all else besides.

  ‘Yes,’ he ended, ‘I am Khepera in the dawning, I am Ra at noon, I am Turn when the shadows of evening fall over the earth.’

  But the poison was not checked in its course as Isis spoke one name after another, and she said again, ‘Divine father, your Secret Name is not among those you have told me. Tell me that Name and the poison will come forth – he whose Name of Power is spoken in my charm shall live.’

  The poison burned fiercer yet: it was more powerful than the hottest flame of fire, and Ra cried out, ‘Swear first that none ever shall know my Secret Name save only Horus, the son you will bear to Osiris – Horus who shall rule Egypt when Osiris has passed westward to the Land of the Dead.’

  Isis swore the oath, and the Secret Name passed from Ra’s heart into hers: his Ka or double whispering it to her Ka. The Name she learnt was not ‘Amen’, nor has it ever been known: but the name ‘Amen’ seems to have been, as it were, the body of that Name of which the hidden part was the Ka – for it was as Amen-Ra that the greatest of the gods came to be worshipped for thousands of years afterwards in Ancient Egypt.

  Once she knew the Secret Name, Isis mingled the knowledge with her spell and chanted: ‘Flow forth, poison of the cobra! Flow forth from Amen-Ra! Come from the burning god at my spell – for he has shown me his Hidden Name:

  Ra is living and the poison is dead, through the spells of Isis the Mistress of the Gods – she who alone knows Amen-Ra by his own Name.’

  Then the pain of the serpent’s poison faded away and Ra felt it no more. But nevertheless he ceased to reign as a king upon earth and took his place in the heavens where, day by day, he crossed over from the east to the west in the likeness of the Sun itself, and night by night he passed under the earth through the twelve regions called the Duat which the spirits of the dead also must pass if they would win to Ra’s eternal kingdom.