Legends of the Gods Part 6

[FN#127] Herakleopolis, the {hbw XaNeS} of Isaiah.

[FN#128] A name of Herakleopolis.

[FN#129] Khemenu or Hermopolis, the city of Thoth.

[FN#130] These G.o.ds were: Nu and Nut; Hehu and Hehut; Kekui and Kekuit; Kerh and Kerhet.

[FN#131] The capital of Set, the eleventh nome of Upper Egypt; the chief local deity was Khnemu.

Thy seat (or, domain) reacheth far into Ta-tchesert,[FN#132] and thy name is firmly stablished in the mouth[s] of men. Thou art the two- fold substance of the Two Lands[FN#133] everywhere (?), and the divine food (tchef) of the Kau,[FN#134] the Governor of the Companies[FN#135] of the G.o.ds, and the beneficent (or, perfect) Spirit-soul[FN#136] among Spirit-souls. The G.o.d Nu draweth his waters from thee,[FN#137] and thou bringest forth the north wind at eventide, and wind from thy nostrils to the satisfaction of thy heart. Thy heart flourisheth, and thou bringest forth the splendour of tchef food.

[FN#132] A name of the Other World.

[FN#133] i.e., the two Egypts, Upper and Lower.

[FN#134] The Doubles of the beatified who are fed by Osiris in the Other World.

[FN#135] Three Companies are distinguished: the G.o.ds of Heaven, the G.o.ds of Earth, and the G.o.ds of the Other World.

[FN#136] The indestructible, immortal Spirit-soul as opposed to the Ba-soul or animal-soul.

[FN#137] Here and in other places I have changed the p.r.o.noun of the third person into that of the second to avoid the abrupt changes of the original.

The height of heaven and the stars [thereof] are obedient unto thee, and thou makest to be opened the great gates [of the sky]. Thou art the lord to whom praises are sung in the southern heaven, thou art he to whom thanks are given in the northern heaven. The stars which never diminish are under the place of thy face,[FN#138] and thy seats are the stars which never rest.[FN#139] Offerings appear before thee by the command of Keb. The Companies of the G.o.ds ascribe praise unto thee, the Star-G.o.ds of the Tuat smell the earth before thee,[FN#140] the domains [make] bowings [before thee], and the ends of the earth make supplication to thee [when] they see thee.

[FN#138] i.e., they are under thy inspection and care.

[FN#139] i.e., the stars which never set. The allusion is probably to certain circ.u.mpolar stars.

[FN#140] i.e., do homage.

Those who are among the holy ones are in terror of him, and the Two Lands, all of them, make acclamations to him when they meet His Majesty. Thou art a shining n.o.ble at the head of the n.o.bles, permanent in [thy] high rank, stablished in [thy] sovereignty, the beneficent Power of the Company of the G.o.ds. Well-pleasing [is thy] face, and thou art beloved by him that seeth thee. Thou settest the fear of thee in all lands, and because of their love for thee [men] hold thy name to be pre-eminent. Every man maketh offerings unto thee, and thou art the Lord who is commemorated in heaven and upon earth. Manifold are the cries of acclamation to thee in the Uak[FN#141] festival, and the Two Lands shout joyously to thee with one accord. Thou art the eldest, the first of thy brethren, the Prince of the Company of the G.o.ds, and the stablisher of Truth throughout the Two Lands. Thou settest [thy] son upon the great throne of his father Keb. Thou art the beloved one of thy mother Nut, whose valour is most mighty [when] thou overthrowest the Seba Fiend. Thou hast slaughtered thy enemy, and hast put the fear of thee into thy Adversary.

[FN#141] One of the chief festivals of Osiris, during which the G.o.d made a periplus.

Thou art the bringer in of the remotest boundaries, and art stable of heart, and thy two feet are lifted up (?); thou art the heir of Keb and of the sovereignty of the Two Lands, and he (i.e., Keb) hath seen thy splendid qualities, and hath commanded thee to guide the lands (i.e., the world) by thy hand so long as times [and seasons] endure.

Thou hast made this earth with thy hand, the waters thereof, the winds thereof, the trees and herbs thereof, the cattle thereof of every kind, the birds thereof of every kind, the fish thereof of every kind, the creeping things thereof, and the four-footed beasts thereof. The land of the desert[FN#142] belongeth by right to the son of Nut, and the Two Lands have contentment in making him to rise[FN#143] upon the throne of his father like Ra.

[FN#142] This may also represent the mountainous districts of Egypt, or even foreign countries in general.

[FN#143] To make him rise like the sun, or to enthrone him.

Thou rollest up into the horizon, thou settest the light above the darkness, thou illuminest [the Two Lands] with the light from thy two plumes, thou floodest the Two Lands like the Disk at the beginning of the dawn. Thy White Crown pierceth the height of heaven saluting the stars,[FN#144] thou art the guide of every G.o.d. Thou art perfect[FN#145] in command and word. Thou art the favoured one of the Great Company of the G.o.ds, and thou art the beloved one of the Little Company of the G.o.ds.

[FN#144] Or, "becoming a brother to the stars," or the Star-G.o.ds.

[FN#145] Or, beneficent.

Thy sister [Isis] acted as a protectress to thee. She drove [thy] enemies away, she averted seasons [of calamity from thee], she recited the word (or, formula) with the magical power of her mouth, [being] skilled of tongue and never halting for a word, being perfect in command and word. Isis the magician avenged her brother. She went about seeking for him untiringly.

She flew round and round over this earth uttering wailing cries of grief, and she did not alight on the ground until she had found him. She made light [to come forth] from her feathers, she made air to come into being by means of her two wings, and she cried out the death cries for her brother. She made to rise up the helpless members of him whose heart was at rest, she drew from him his essence, and she made therefrom an heir. She suckled the child in solitariness and none knew where his place was, and he grew in strength. His hand is mighty (or, victorious) within the house of Keb, and the Company of the G.o.ds rejoice greatly at the coming of Horus, the son of Osiris, whose heart is firmly stablished, the triumphant one, the son of Isis, the flesh and bone of Osiris. The Tchatcha[FN#146] of Truth, and the Company of the G.o.ds, and Neb-er-tcher[FN#147] himself, and the Lords of Truth, gather together to him, and a.s.semble therein.[FN#148] Verily those who defeat iniquity rejoice[FN#149] in the House of Keb to bestow the divine rank and dignity upon him to whom it belongeth, and the sovereignty upon him whose it is by right.

[FN#146] Literally, the "Heads," I.e., the divine sovereign Chiefs at the court of Osiris, who acted as administrators of the G.o.d, and even as task-masters.

[FN#147] "He who is the lord to the end (or, limit) of the world," a name of Osiris.

[FN#148] i.e., in the House of Keb.

[FN#149] Or perhaps "take their seats in the House of Keb."

A LEGEND OF PTAH NEFER-HETEP AND THE PRINCESS OF BEKHTEN.

The Horus: "Mighty Bull, the form(?) of risings[FN#150], stablished in sovereignty like Tem." The Golden Horus: "Mighty one of strength[FN#151], destroyer of the Nine Nations of the Bow."[FN#152] King of the South and North: "The Lord of the Two Lands, User-Maat-Ra- setep-en-Ra Son of Ra: Of his body, Ra-meses-meri-Amen, of Amen- Ra;[FN#153] the Lord of the thrones of the Two Lands, and of the Company of the G.o.ds, the Lords of Thebes, the beloved one. The beneficent G.o.d, the son of Amen, born of Mut, begotten of Heru-khuti, the glorious offspring of Neb-tchert,[FN#154] begetting [as] the Bull of his Mother, [FN#155] king of Egypt, Governor of the deserts, the Sovereign who hath taken possession of the Nine Nations of the Bow; [who] on coming forth from the womb ordained mighty things, who gave commands whilst he was in the egg, the Bull, stable of heart, who hath sent forth his seed; the king who is a bull, [and] a G.o.d who cometh forth on the day of battle like Menthu,[FN#156] the mighty one of strength like the son of Nut."[FN#157]

[FN#150] i.e., the image who rises like the sun day by day, or the image of [many] crowns.

[FN#151] Or, mighty one of the thigh, i.e., he of the mighty thigh.

[FN#152] The nations of Nubia who fought with bows and arrows.

[FN#153] In this version of the protocol of Rameses II. the second "strong name" of the king is omitted.

[FN#154] i.e., Neb-er-tcher.

[FN#155] Ka-mut-f, the {greek kamh^fic} of the Greeks.

[FN#156] The War-G.o.d of Thebes.

[FN#157] i.e., Osiris.

Behold, His Majesty was in the country of Neheru[FN#158] according to his custom every year, and the chiefs of every land, even as far as the swamps, came [to pay] homage, bearing offerings to the Souls of His Majesty; and they brought their gifts, gold, lapis-lazuli, turquoise, bars of wood of every kind of the Land of the G.o.d,[FN#159] on their backs, and each one surpa.s.sed his neighbour.

[FN#158] The "country of the rivers," the {hbw AaRam NaHaRaYim} of Gen. xxiv. 10, the #### of Syrian writers.

[FN#159] A name including Western Asia and a portion of the East Coast of Africa.

And the Prince of Bekhten [also] caused his gifts to be brought, and he set his eldest daughter at the head of them all, and he addressed words of praise to His Majesty, and prayed to him for his life. And the maiden was beautiful, and His Majesty considered her to be the most lovely [woman] in the world, and he wrote down as her t.i.tle, "Great Royal Wife, Ra-neferu"; and when His Majesty arrived in Egypt, he did for her whatsoever was done for the Royal Wife.

On the twenty-second day of the second month of the season of Shemu,[FN#160] in the fifteenth year [of his reign], behold, His Majesty was in Thebes, the Mighty [city], the Mistress of cities, performing the praises of Father Amen, the Lord of the thrones of the Two Lands, in his beautiful Festival of the Southern Apt,[FN#161] which was the seat of his heart (i.e., the chosen spot) from primaeval time, [when] one came to say to His Majesty, "An amba.s.sador of the Prince of Bekhten hath arrived bearing many gifts for the Royal Wife."

[FN#160] The summer. The Copts called the second month of this season Paoni.

[FN#161] The modern Temple of Luxor.

And having been brought into the presence of His Majesty with his gifts, he spake words of adoration to His Majesty, saying, "Praise be unto thee, O thou Sun (Ra) of the Nine Nations of the Bow, permit us to live before thee!" And when he had spoken, and had smelt the earth before His Majesty, he continued his speech before His Majesty, saying, "I have come unto thee, my King and Lord, on behalf of Bent-Resht, the younger sister of the Royal Wife Ra-neferu. [Some] disease hath penetrated into her members, and I beseech Thy Majesty to send a man of learning to see her."

And His Majesty said, "Bring to me the magicians (or, scribes) of the House of Life, and the n.o.bles of the palace." And having been brought into his presence straightway, His Majesty said unto them, "Behold, I have caused you to be summoned [hither] in order that ye may hear this matter. Now bring to me [one] of your company whose heart is wise[FN#162], and whose fingers are deft." And the royal scribe Tehuti-em-heb came into the presence of His Majesty, and His Majesty commanded him to depart to Bekhten with that amba.s.sador.

[FN#162] Or, a skilled craftsman.

And when the man of learning had arrived in Bekhten, he found Bent- Resht in the condition of a woman who is possessed by a spirit, and he found 12 this spirit to be an evil one, and to be hostile in his disposition towards him.