The Project Gutenberg EBook of Egyptian Tales, Second Series, XVIIIth To
XIXth Dynasty, by W. M. Flinders Petrie
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Title: Egyptian Tales, Second Series, XVIIIth To XIXth Dynasty
Translated From The Papyri, Second Edition
Author: W. M. Flinders Petrie
Editor: W. M. Flinders Petrie
Illustrator: Tristram Ellis
Release Date: February, 2005 [EBook #7413]
Last Updated: August 27, 2012
Language: English
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*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EGYPTIAN TALES, SECOND ***
Produced by Eric Eldred and David Widger
THE QUEEN'S TRIAL (p. 65)
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PREFACE
AS the scope of the first series of these Tales
seems to have been somewhat overlooked, a few words of introduction may
not be out of place before this second volume.
It seems that any simple form of fiction is
supposed to be a "fairy tale:" which implies that it has to do with an
impossible world of imaginary beings. Now the Egyptian Tales are exactly
the opposite of this, they relate the doings and the thoughts of men and
women who are human—sometimes "very human," as Mr. Balfour said.
Whatever there is of supernatural elements is a very part of the beliefs
and motives of the
VI
people whose lives are here pictured. But most of
what is here might happen in some corner of our own country to-day, where
ancient beliefs may have a home. So far, then, from being fairy tales
there is not a single being that could be termed a fairy in the whole of
them.
Another notion that seems to be about is that the
only possible object of reading any form of fiction is for pure amusement,
to fill an idle hour and be forgotten and if these tales are not as
amusing as some jester of to-day, then the idler says, Away with them as a
failure! For such a person, who only looks to have the tedium of a vacuous
mind relieved, these tales are not in the least intended. But the real and
genuine charm of all fiction is that of enabling the reader to place
himself in the mental position of, another, to see with the eyes, to feel
with the thoughts, to reason with the mind, of a wholly different being.
All the greatest work has this charm. It may be to place the reader
PREFACE vii
in new mental positions, or in a different level
of the society that he already knows, either higher or lower; or it may be
to make alive to him a society of a different land or age. Whether he read
"Treasure Island" or "Plain Tales from the Hills," "The Scarlet Letter,"
"Old Mortality," or "Hypatia," it is the transplanting of the reader into
a new life, the doubling of his mental experience, that is the very power
of fiction. The same interest attaches to these tales. In place of
regarding Egyptians only as the builders of pyramids and the makers of
mummies, we here see the men and women as they lived, their passions,
their foibles, their beliefs, and their follies. The old refugee Sanehat
craving to be buried with his ancestors in the blessed land, the
enterprise and success of the Doomed Prince, the sweetness of Bata, the
misfortunes of Ahura, these all live before us, and we can for a brief
half hour share the feelings and see with the eyes of those who ruled the
world when it was young. This is the real
via
PREFACE
value of these tales, and the power which still
belongs to the oldest literature in the world.
Erratum in First Edition, 1st Series. Page 31,
line 6 from below, for no It read not I.
PAGE
THE TAKING OF JOPPA . . . 1
REMARKS .... 7
THE DOOMED PRINCE . . 13
REMARKS . . . .28
ANPU AND BATA . . . 36
REMARKS . . . -65
SETNA AND THE MAGIC BOOK . . 87
REMARKS . . . .119
INDEX ..... 143
PAGE
THE QUEEN'S TRIAL . . . Frontispiece
SMITING THE FOE . . . . 4
THE TWO HUNDRED SACKS . . -5
THE PRINCE'S HOUSE . . . 14
GOING INTO THE DESERT . . 16
THE CLIMBING SUITORS . . 17
REACHING THE WINDOW . . .21
LOVE'S RESCUE . . . . 23
THE BOWL OF MILK . . . .26
THE RETURN AT EVEN . . '37
GOING TO THE FIELDS . . 39
WAITING FOR CORN . . . .40
THE DARK RETURN . . . -43
THE AMBUSH. . . . 44
THE CANAL OF RA . . . 47
XII
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
THE HOUSE IN THE VALLEY . . . 50
THE PROPHECY . . . -51
THE RAVISHING SEA . . . -53
THE CHIEF FULLER OF PHARAOH . . 54
THE REUNION . . . . 58
ANPU ON THE BULL . . . -59
BATA'S PERSEA TREES . . .62
AHURA'S APPEAL . . . .88
READING THE INSCRIPTIONS . . . 92
SENDING THE SILVER . . -94
THE PRIESTS' WIVES . . . -97
SLAYING THE SNAKE . . -99
READING THE SPELL. . . . 104
REMORSE ..... 105
SETNA DEMANDING THE ROLL . . 108
SETNA VANQUISHED . . . . 109
APPLYING THE TALISMAN . . . 110
SETNA VICTORIOUS . . . .111
SETNA READING THE ROLL . . .113
XVIIITH DYNASTY THE TAKING OF JOPPA
THERE was once in the time of King Men-kheper-ra a
revolt of the servants of his majesty who were in Joppa; and his majesty
said, "Let Tahutia go with his footmen and destroy this wicked Foe in
Joppa." And he called one of his followers, and said moreover, "Hide thou
my great cane, which works wonders, in the baggage of Tahutia that my
power may go with him."
Now when Tahutia came near to Joppa, with all the
footmen of Pharaoh, he sent unto the Foe in Joppa, and said, "Be
2 THE TAKING OF JOPPA
hold now his majesty, King Men-kheper-ra, has sent
all this great army against thee; but what is that if my heart is as thy
heart? Do thou come, and let us talk in the field, and see each other face
to face." So Tahutia came with certain of his men; and the Foe in Joppa
came likewise, but his charioteer that was with him was true of heart unto
the king of Egypt. And they spoke with one another in his great tent,
which Tahutia had placed far off from the soldiers. But Tahutia had made
ready two hundred sacks, with cords and fetters, and had made a great sack
of skins with bronze fetters, and many baskets: and they were in his tent,
the sacks and the baskets, and he had placed them as the forage for the
horses is put in baskets. For whilst the Foe in Joppa drank with Tahutia,
the people who were with him drank with the footmen of Pharaoh, and made
merry with them. And when their bout of drinking was past, Tahutia said to
the Foe in Joppa, "If it please thee, while
THE TAKING OF JOPFA 3
I remain with the women and children of thy own
city, let one bring of my people with their horses, that they may give
them provender, or let one of the Apuro run to fetch them." So they came,
and hobbled their horses, and gave them provender, and one found the great
cane of Men-kheper-ra (Tahutmes III.), and came to tell of it to Tahutia.
And thereupon the Foe in Joppa said to Tahutia, "My heart is set on
examining the great cane of Men-kheper-ra, which is named '. . .
tautnefer.' By the ka of the King Men-kheper-ra it will be in thy
hands to-day; now do thou well and bring thou it to me." And Tahutia did
thus, and he brought the cane of King Men-kheper-ra. And he laid hold on
the Foe in Joppa by his garment, and he arose and stood up, and said,
"Look on me, O Foe in Joppa; here is the great cane of King Men-kheper-ra,
the terrible lion, the son of Sekhet, to whom Amen his father gives power
and strength." And he raised his hand and struck the fore-
4 THE TAKING OF JOPPA
head of the Foe in Joppa, and he fell helpless
before him. He put him in the sack of skins and he bound with gyves the
hands of the Foe in Joppa, and put on his feet the fetters
SMITING THE FOE
with four rings. And he made them bring the two
hundred sacks which he had cleaned, and made to enter into them two
hundred soldiers, and filled the hollows with cords and fetters of wood,
he sealed them with a seal,
THE TAKING OF JOPPA 5
and added to them their rope-nets and the poles to
bear them. And he put every strong footman to bear them, in all six
hundred men, and said to them, "When you come
into the town you shall open your burdens, you
shall seize on all the inhabitants of the town, and you shall quickly put
fetters upon them."
6 THE TAKING OF JOPPA
Then one went out and said unto the charioteer of
the Foe in Joppa, "Thy master is fallen; go, say to thy mistress, 'A
pleasant message! For Sutekh has given Tahutia to us, with his wife and
his children; behold the beginning of their tribute,' that she may
comprehend the two hundred sacks, which are full of men and cords and
fetters." So he went before them to please the heart of his mistress,
saying, "We have laid hands on Tahutia." Then the gates of the city were
opened before the footmen: they entered the city, they opened their
burdens, they laid hands on them of the city, both small and great, they
put on them the cords and fetters quickly; the power of Pharaoh seized
upon that city. After he had rested Tahutia sent a message to Egypt to the
King Men-kheper-ra his lord, saying, "Be pleased, for Amen thy good father
has given to thee the Foe in Joppa, together with all his people, likewise
also his city. Send, therefore, people to take them as captives that thou
mayest fill
REMARKS 7
the house of thy father Amen Ra, king of the
gods, with men-servants and maid-servants, and that they may be overthrown
beneath thy feet for ever and ever."
REMARKS
This tale of the taking of Joppa appears to be
probably on an historical basis. Tahutia was a well-known officer of
Tahutmes III.; and the splendid embossed dish of weighty gold which the
king presented to him is one of the principal treasures of the Louvre
museum. It is ornamented with groups of fish in the flat bottom, and a
long inscription around the side.
Unfortunately the earlier part of this tale has
been lost; but in order to render it intelligible I have restored an
opening to it, without introducing any details but what are alluded to, or
necessitated, by the existing story. The original text begins at the star.
It is evident that the basis of the tale is
8 THE TAKING OF JOPPA
the stratagem of the Egyptian general, offering to
make friends with the rebel of Joppa, while he sought to trap him. To a
Western soldier such an unblushing offer of being treacherous to his
master the king would be enough to make the good faith of his proposals to
the enemy very doubtful. But in the East offers of wholesale desertion are
not rare. In Greek history it was quite an open question whether Athens or
Persia would retain a general's service; in Byzantine history a commander
might be in favour with the Khalif one year and with the Autokrator the
next; and in the present century the entire transfer of the Turkish fleet
to Mohammed Ali in 1840 is a grand instance of such a case.
The scheme of taking a fortress by means of
smuggling in soldiers hidden in packages has often recurred in history;
but this taking of Joppa is the oldest tale of the kind yet known.
Following this we have the wooden horse of Troy. Then comes in mediaeval
REMARKS 9
times the Arab scheme for taking Edessa, in 1038
A.D., by a train of five hundred camels bearing presents for the
Autokrator at Constantinople. The governor of Edessa declined to admit
such travellers, and a bystander, hearing some talking in the baskets
slung on the camels, soon gave the alarm, which led to the destruction of
the whole party; the chief alone, less hands, ears, and nose, being left
to take the tale back to Bagdad. And in fiction there are the stories of a
lady avenging her husband by introducing men hidden in skins, and the best
known version of all in the "Arabian Nights," of Ali Baba and the thieves.
It appears from the tale that the conference of
Tahutia with the rebel took place between the town and the Egyptian army,
but near the town. Then Tahutia proposes to go into the town as a pledge
of his sincerity, while the men of the town were to supply his troops with
fodder. But he appears to have remained talking with the
10 THE TAKING OF JOPPA
rebel in the tent, until the lucky chance of the
stick turned up. This cleared the way for a neater management of his plan,
by enabling him to quietly make away with the chief, without exciting his
suspicions beforehand.
The name of the cane of the king is partly
illegible; but we know how many actual sticks and personal objects have
their own names inscribed on them. Nothing had a real entity to the
Egyptian mind without an individual name belonging to it.
The message sent by the charioteer presupposes
that he was in the secret; and he must therefore have been an Egyptian who
had not heartily joined in the rebellion. From the conclusion we see that
the captives taken as slaves to Egypt were by no means only prisoners of
war, but were the ordinary civil inhabitants of the conquered cities,
"them of the city, both small and great."
The gold dish which the king gave to the tomb of
Tahuti is so splendid that it deserves some notice, especially as it has
REMARKS ii
never been published in England. It is circular,
about seven inches across, with vertical sides an inch high. The inside of
the bottom bears a boss and rosette in the centre, a line of swimming fish
around that, and beyond all a chain of lotus flowers. On the upright edge
is an incised inscription, "Given in praise by the king of Upper and Lower
Egypt, Ra-men-kheper, to the hereditary chief, the divine father,
the beloved by God, filling the heart of the king in all foreign lands and
in the isles in the midst of the great sea, filling stores with lazuli,
electrum, and gold, keeper of all foreign lands, keeper of the troops,
praised by the good gold lord of both lands and his ka,—the
royal scribe Tahuti deceased." This splendid piece of gold work was
therefore given in honour of Tahuti at his funeral, to be placed in his
tomb for the use of his ka. The weight of it is very nearly a troy
pound, being 5,729 grains or four utens. The allusion on it to the
Mediter-
12 THE TAKING OF JOPPA
ranean wars of Tahuti, "satisfying the king in all
foreign lands and in the isles in the midst of the great sea," is just in
accord with this tale of the conquest of Joppa.
Beside this golden bowl there are many other
objects from Tahuti's tomb which must have been very rich, and have
escaped plundering until this century. A silver dish, broken, and a
canopic jar of alabaster, are in Paris; another canopic jar, a palette, a
kohl vase, and a heart scarab set in gold, are in Leyden; while in
Darmstadt is the dagger of this great general. This piece of a popular
tale founded on an incident of his Syrian wars has curiously survived,
while the more solid official records of his conquests has perished in the
wreck of history. His tomb even is unknown, although it has been
plundered; perhaps his active life of foreign service did not give him
that leisure to carve and decorate it, which was so laboriously spent by
the home-living dignitaries of Thebes.
CLOSE OF THE XVIIIth DYNASTY
THE DOOMED PRINCE
THERE once was a king to whom no son was born; and
his heart was grieved, and he prayed for himself unto the gods around him
for a child. They decreed that one should be born to him. And his wife,
after her time was fulfilled, brought forth a son. Then came the Hathors
to decree for him a destiny; they said, "His death is to be by the
crocodile, or by the serpent, or by the dog." Then the people who stood by
heard this, and they went to tell it to his majesty. Then his majesty's
heart sickened
14 THE DOOMED PRINCE
very greatly. And his majesty caused a house to be
built upon the desert; it was furnished with people and with all good
things of the royal house, that the child
THE PRINCE'S HOUSE
should not go abroad. And when the child was
grown, he went up upon the roof, and he saw a dog; it was following a man
who was walking on the road. He spoke to his
THE DOOMED PRINCE 15
page, who was with him, "What is this that walks
behind the man who is coming along the road?" He answered him, "This is a
dog." The child said to him, "Let there be brought to me one like it." The
page went to repeat it to his majesty. And his majesty said, "Let there be
brought to him a little pet dog, lest his heart be sad." And behold they
brought to him the dog.
Then when the days increased after this, and when
the child became grown in all his limbs, he sent a message to his father
saying, "Come, wherefore am I kept here? Inasmuch as I am fated to three
evil fates, let me follow my desire. Let God do what is in His heart."
They agreed to all he said, and gave him all sorts of arms, and also his
dog to follow him, and they took him to the east country, and said to him,
"Behold, go thou whither thou wilt." His dog was with him, and he went
northward, following his heart in the desert, while he
i6
THE DOOMED PRINCE
lived on all the best of the game of the desert.
He went to the chief of Naha-raina.
And behold there had not been any born
GOING INTO THE DESERT
to the chief of Naharaina, except one daughter.
Behold, there had been built for her a house; its seventy windows were
seventy cubits from the ground. And the chief caused to be brought all the
sons
THE CLIMBING SUITORS
THE DOOMED PRINCE 19
of the chiefs of the land of Khalu, and said to
them, "He who reaches the window of my daughter, she shall be to him for a
wife."
And many days after these things, as they were in
their daily task, the youth rode by the place where they were. They took
the youth to their house, they bathed him, they gave provender to his
horses, they brought all kinds of things for the youth, they perfumed him,
they anointed his feet, they gave him portions of their own food; and they
spake to him, "Whence comest thou, goodly youth?" He said to them, "I am
son of an officer of the land of Egypt; my mother is dead, and my father
has taken another wife. And when she bore children, she grew to hate me,
and I have come as a fugitive from before her." And they embraced him, and
kissed him.
And after many days were passed, he said to the
youths, "What is it that ye do here?" And they said to him, "We spend our
time
20 THE DOOMED PRINCE
in this: we climb up, and he who shall reach the
window of the daughter of the chief of Naharaina, to him will he given her
to wife." He said to them, "If it please you, let me behold the matter,
that I may come to climb with you." They went to climb, as was their daily
wont: and the youth stood afar off to behold; and the face of the daughter
of the chief of Naharaina was turned to them. And another day the sons
came to climb, and the youth came to climb with the sons of the chiefs. He
climbed, and he reached the window of the daughter of the chief of
Naharaina. She kissed him, she embraced him in all his limbs.
And one went to rejoice the heart of her father,
and said to him, "One of the people has reached the window of thy
daughter." And the prince inquired of the messenger, saying, "The son of
which of the princes is it?" And he replied to him, "It is the son of an
officer, who has come as a fugitive from the land of Egypt, fleeing from
before his
REACHING THE WINDOW
THE DOOMED PRINCE 23
stepmother when she had children." Then the chief
of Naharaina was exceeding angry; and he said, "Shall I indeed give my
daughter to the Egyptian fugitive? Let him go back
LOVE'S RESCUE
whence he came." And one came to tell the youth,
"Go back to the place thou earnest from." But the maiden seized his hand;
she swore an oath by God, saying, "By the
24 THE DOOMED PRINCE
being of Ra Harakhti, if one takes him from me, I
will not eat, I will not drink, I shall die in that same hour." The
messenger went to tell unto her father all that she said. Then the prince
sent men to slay the youth, while he was in his house. But the maiden
said, "By the being of Ra, if one slay him I shall be dead ere the sun
goeth down. I will not pass an hour of life if I am parted from him." And
one went to tell her father. Then the prince made them bring the youth
with the maiden. The youth was seized with fear when he came before the
prince. But he embraced him, he kissed him all over, and said, "Oh! tell
me who thou art; behold, thou art to me as a son." He said to him, "I am a
son of an officer of the land of Egypt; my mother died, my father took to
him a second wife; she came to hate me, and I fled a fugitive from before
her." He then gave to him his daughter to wife; he gave also to him a
house, and serfs, and fields, also cattle and all manner of good things.
THE DOOMED PRINCE 25
But after the days of these things were passed,
the youth said to his wife, "I am doomed to three fates—a crocodile,
a serpent, and a dog." She said to him, "Let one kill the dog which
belongs to thee." He replied to her, "I am not going to kill my dog, which
I have brought up from when it was small." And she feared greatly for her
husband, and would not let him go alone abroad.
And one went with the youth toward the land of
Egypt, to travel in that country. Behold the crocodile of the river, he
came out by the town in which the youth was. And in that town was a mighty
man. And the mighty man would not suffer the crocodile to escape. And when
the crocodile was bound, the mighty man went out and walked abroad. And
when the sun rose the mighty man went back to the house; and he did so
every day, during two months of days.
Now when the days passed after this, the youth sat
making a good day in his house.
26
THE DOOMED PRINCE
And when the evening came he lay down on his bed,
sleep seized upon his limbs; and his wife filled a bowl of milk, and
placed it by his side. Then came out a serpent from his hole, to bite the
youth; behold his wife
T.£.
THE BOWL OF MILK
was sitting by him, she lay not down. Thereupon
the servants gave milk to the serpent, and he drank, and was drunk, and
lay upside down. Then his wife made it to perish with the blows of her
dagger. And
THE DOOMED PRINCE 27
they woke her husband, who was astonished; and she
said unto him, "Behold thy God has given one of thy dooms into thy hand;
He will also give thee the others." And he sacrificed to God, adoring Him,
and praising His spirits from day to day.
And when the days were passed after these things,
the youth went to walk in the fields of his domain. He went not alone,
behold his dog was following him. And his dog ran aside after the wild
game, and he followed the dog. He came to the river, and entered the river
behind his dog. Then came out the crocodile, and took him to the place
where the mighty man was. And the crocodile said to the youth, "I am thy
doom, following after thee. ..."
[Here the papyrus breaks off.]
28 THE DOOMED PRINCE
REMARKS
This tale is preserved in one of the Harris papyri
(No. 500) in the British Museum. It has been translated by Goodwin,
Chabas, Maspero, and Ebers. The present version is adapted from that of
Maspero, with frequent reference by Mr. Griffith to the original.
The marvellous parentage of a fated or gifted hero
is familiar in Eastern tales, and he is often described as a divine reward
to a long-childless king. This element of fate or destiny is, however, not
seen before this age in Egyptian ideas; nor, indeed, would it seem at all
in place with the simple, easygoing, joyous life of the early days. It
belongs to an age when ideals possess the mind, when man struggles against
his circumstances, when he wills to be different from what he is. Dedi or
the shipwrecked sailor think nothing about fate, but live day by day as
life comes to them. There is here, then,
REMARKS 29
a new element, that of striving and of unrest,
quite foreign to the old Egyptian mind. The age of this tale is shown
plainly in the incidents. The prince goes to the chief of Naharaina, a
land probably unknown to the Egyptians until the Asiatic conquests of the
XVIIIth Dynasty had led them to the upper waters of the Euphrates. In
earlier days Sanehat fled to the frontier at the Wady Tumilat, and was
quite lost to Egypt when he settled in the south of Palestine. But when
the Doomed Prince goes out of Egypt he goes to the chief of Naharaina, as
the frontier State. This stamps the tale as subsequent to the wars of the
Tahutimes family, and reflects rather the peaceful intercourse of the
great monarch Amenhotep the Third. If it belonged to the Ramessides we
should not hear of Naharaina, which was quite lost to them, but rather of
Dapur (Tabor) and Kadesh, and of the Hittites as the familiar frontier
power.
The Hathors here appear as the Fates,
3°
THE DOOMED PRINCE
instead of the goddesses Isis, Nebhat, Mes-khent,
and Hakt, of the old tale in the IVth Dynasty (see first series, p. 33);
and we find in the next tale of Anpu and Bata, in the XlXth Dynasty, that
the seven Hathors decree the fate of the wife of Bata. That Hathor should
be a name given to seven deities is not strange when we see that Hathor
was a generic name for a goddess. There was the Hathor of foreign lands,
such as Punt or Sinai; there was the Hathor of home towns, as Dendera or
Atfih; and Hathor was as widely known, and yet as local, as the Madonna.
In short, to one of the races which composed the Egyptian people Hathor
was the term for any goddess, or for a universal goddess to whom all
others were assimilated. Why and how this title "house of Horus " should
be so general is not obvious.
The variety of fate here predicted is like the
vagueness of the fate of Bata's wife, by "a sharp death." It points to the
Hathors
REMARKS 31
predicting as seers, rather than to their having
the control of the future. It bears the stamp of the oracle of Delphi,
rather than that of a divine decree. In this these goddesses differ
greatly from the Parcae, whose ordinances not even Zeus could withstand,
as Lucian lets us know in one of the most audacious and philosophical of
the dialogues. The Hathors seem rather to deal with what we should call
luck than with fate: they see the nature of the close of life from its
beginning, without either knowing or controlling its details.
In this tale we meet for the first time the idea
of inaccessible and mysterious buildings; and from the resort to this
element or curiosity in describing both the prince and the princess, it
appears as if it were then a new motive in story-telling, and had not lost
its power. To modern ears it is, of course, done to death since the
"Castle of Otranto"; though as a minor element it can still be gently used
by the poet and novelist in a
32 THE DOOMED PRINCE
moated grange, a house in a marsh or a maze.
Another point of wonder, so well known in later times, is the large and
mystic number of windows, like the 365 windows attributed to great
buildings of the present age. It would not be difficult from these papyrus
tales to start an historical dictionary of the elements of fiction: a kind
of analysis that should be the death of much of the venerable
stock-in-trade.
We see coming in here, more strongly than before,
the use of emotions and the force of character. The generous friendship of
the sons of the Syrian chiefs; then the burst of passionate love from the
chiefs daughter, which saves the prince's life twice over from her father,
and guards him afterwards from his fates; again, the devotion of the
prince to his favourite dog, in spite of all warnings—these show a
reliance on personal emotion and feeling in creating the interest of the
tale, quite different from the mere interest of incident which was
employed
REMARKS 33
earlier. The reason which the prince alleges for
his leaving Egypt is also a touch of nature, the wish of a mother to oust
her stepson in order to make way for her own children, one of the deepest
and most elemental feelings of feminine nature.
The mighty man and the crocodile are difficult to
understand, the more so as the tale breaks off in the midst of that part.
It appears also as if there had been some inversion of the paragraphs;
for, first, we read that the wife would not let the prince go alone, and
one goes with him toward Egypt, and the crocodile of the Nile (apparently)
is mentioned; then he is said to be sitting in his house with his wife;
then he goes in the fields of his domain and meets the crocodile. It may
be that a passage has dropped out, describing his wife's accompanying him
to settle in Egypt. But the mighty man—that is another puzzle. He
binds a crocodile, and goes out while he is bound, but by night. The point
of this is not clear. It may have 4-
34 THE DOOMED PRINCE
been, however, that the mighty man went back to
the house when the sun was high, that he might not lose his shadow. In
Arabia there was a belief that a hyena could deprive a man of speech and
motion by stepping on his shadow—analogous to the belief in many
other lands of the importance of preserving the shadow, and avoiding the
shadowless hour of high noon (Frazer, "Golden Bough," p. 143). Hence the
strength of the mighty man, and his magic power over the crocodile, would
perhaps depend on his not allowing his shadow to disappear. And though
Egypt is not quite tropical, yet shadows do practically vanish in the
summer, the shadow of the thin branches of a tall palm appearing to
radiate round its root without the stem casting any shade.
The use of milk to entice serpents is still well
known in Egypt; and when a serpent appeared in some of my excavations in a
pit, the men proposed to me to let down a saucer of milk to entice it out,
that they might kill it.
REMARKS 35
The close of the tale would have explained much
that is now lost to us. The crocodile boasts of being the fate of the
prince; but his dog is with him, and one can hardly doubt that the dog
attacks the crocodile. There is also the mighty man to come in and manage
the crocodile. Then the dog is left to bring about the catastrophe. Or
does the faithful wife rescue him from all the fates? Hardly so, as the
prediction of the Hathors comes strictly to pass in the tale of Anpu and
Bata. Let us hope that another copy may be found to give us the clue to
the working of the Egyptian mind in this situation.
XIXTH DYNASTY ANPU AND BATA.
ONCE there were two brethren, of one mother and
one father; Anpu was the name of the elder, and Bata was the name of the
younger. Now, as for Anpu he had a house, and he had a wife. But his
little brother was to him as it were a son; he it was who made for him his
clothes; he it was who followed behind his oxen to the fields; he it was
who did the ploughing; he it was who harvested the corn; he it was who did
for him all the matters that were in the field. Behold, his
younger brother grew to be an excellent 36
ANPU AND BATA
37
worker, there was not his equal in the whole land;
behold, the spirit of a god was in him.
Now after this the younger brother fol-
THE RETURN AT EVEN
lowed his oxen in his daily manner; and every
evening he turned again to the house, laden with all the herbs of the
field, with milk and with wood, and with all things of
38 ANPU AND BATA
the field. And he put them down before his elder
brother, who was sitting with his wife; and he drank and ate, and he lay
down in his stable with the cattle. And at the dawn of day he took bread
which he had baked, and laid it before his elder brother; and he took with
him his bread to the field, and he drave his cattle to pasture in the
fields. And as he walked behind his cattle, they said to him, "Good is the
herbage which is in that place; " and he listened to all that they said,
and he took them to the good place which they desired. And the cattle
which were before him became exceeding excellent, and they multiplied
greatly.
Now at the time of ploughing his elder brother
said unto him, "Let us make ready for ourselves a goodly yoke of oxen for
ploughing, for the land has come out from the water, it is fit for
ploughing. Moreover, do thou come to the field with corn, for we will
begin the ploughing in the morrow morning." Thus said he to him; and
ANPU AND BATA 39
his younger brother did all things as his elder
brother had spoken unto him to do them.
And when the morn was come, they went to the
fields with their things; and their hearts were pleased exceedingly with
their task in the beginning of their work. And
GOING TO THE FIELDS
it came to pass after this that as they were in
the field they stopped for corn, and he sent his younger brother, saying,
"Haste thou, bring to us corn from the farm." And the younger brother
found the wife of his elder brother, as she was sitting tiring her hair.
He said to her, "Get up, and give to me
40 ANPU AND BATA
corn, that I may run to the field, for my elder
brother hastened me; do not delay." She said to him, "Go, open the bin,
and thou shalt take to thyself according to thy will, that I may not drop
my locks of hair while I dress them."
WAITING FOR CORN
The youth went into the stable; he took a large
measure, for he desired to take much corn; he loaded it with wheat and
barley; and he went out carrying it. She said to
ANPU AND BATA 41
him, "How much of the corn that is wanted, is that
which is on thy shoulder?" He said to her, "Three bushels of barley, and
two of wheat, in all five; these are what are upon my shoulder: " thus
said he to her. And she conversed with him, saying, "There is great
strength in thee, for I see thy might every day." And her heart knew him
with the knowledge of youth. And she arose and came to him, and conversed
with him, saying, "Come, stay with me, and it shall be well for thee, and
I will make for thee beautiful garments." Then the youth became like a
panther of the south with fury at the evil speech which she had made to
him; and she feared greatly. And he spake unto her, saying, "Behold thou
art to me as a mother, thy husband is to me as a father, for he who is
elder than I has brought me up. What is this wickedness that thou hast
said to me? Say it not to me again. For I will not tell it to any man, for
I will not let it be uttered by the mouth of any man." He lifted up
42 ANPU AND BATA
his burden, and he went to the field and came to
his elder brother; and they took up their work, to labour at their task.
Now afterward, at eventime, his elder brother was
returning to his house; and the younger brother was following after his
oxen, and he loaded himself with all the things of the field; and he
brought his oxen before him, to make them lie down in their stable which
was in the farm. And behold the wife of the elder brother was afraid for
the words which she had said. She took a parcel of fat, she became like
one who is evilly beaten, desiring to say to her husband, "It is thy
younger brother who has done this wrong." Her husband returned in the
even, as was his wont of every day; he came unto his house; he found his
wife ill of violence; she did not give him water upon his hands as he used
to have, she did not make a light before him, his house was in darkness,
and she was lying very sick. Her husband said to her, "Who has spoken with
thee?"
ANPU AND BATA
43
Behold she said, "No one has spoken with me except
thy younger brother. When he came to take for thee corn he found me
sitting alone; he said to me, 'Come, let us
THE DARK RETURN
stay together, tie up thy hair:' thus spake he to
me. I did not listen to him, but thus spake I to him: 'Behold, am I not
thy mother, is not thy elder brother to thee as a father?' And he feared,
and he beat me to stop me from making report to thee, and if thou lettest
him live I shall die. Now
44
ANPU AND BATA
behold he is coming in the evening; and I complain
of these wicked words, for he would have done this even in daylight."
And the elder brother became as a panther of the
south; he sharpened his knife; he
THE AMBUSH
took it in his hand; he stood behind the door of
his stable to slay his younger brother as he came in the evening to bring
his cattle into the stable.
Now the sun went down, and he loaded
ANPU AND BATA 45
himself with herbs in his daily manner. He came,
and his foremost cow entered the stable, and she said to her keeper,
"Behold thou thy elder brother standing before thee with his knife to slay
thee; flee from before him." He heard what his first cow had said; and the
next entering, she also said likewise. He looked beneath the door of the
stable; he saw the feet of his elder brother; he was standing behind the
door, and his knife was in his hand. He cast down his load to the ground,
and betook himself to flee swiftly; and his elder brother pursued after
him with his knife. Then the younger brother cried out unto Ra Harakhti,
saying, "My good Lord! Thou art he who divides the evil from the good."
And Ra stood and heard all his cry; and Ra made a wide water between him
and his elder brother, and it was full of crocodiles; and the one brother
was on one bank, and the other on the other bank; and the elder brother
smote twice on his hands at not
46 ANPU AND BATA
slaying him. Thus did he. And the younger brother
called to the elder on the bank, saying, "Stand still until the dawn of
day; and when Ra ariseth, I shall judge with thee before Him, and He
discerneth between the good and the evil. For I shall not be with thee any
more for ever; I shall not be in the place in which thou art; I shall go
to the valley of the acacia."
Now when the land was lightened, and the next day
appeared, Ra Harakhti arose, and one looked unto the other. And the youth
spake with his elder brother, saying, "Wherefore earnest thou after me to
slay me in craftiness, when thou didst not hear the words of my mouth? For
I am thy brother in truth, and thou art to me as a father, and thy wife
even as a mother: is it not so? Verily, when I was sent to bring for us
corn, thy wife said to me, 'Come, stay with me;' for behold this has been
turned over unto thee into another wise." And he caused him to understand
of all that happened with him and his
ANPU AND BATA
47
wife. And he swore an oath by Ra Har-akhti,
saying, "Thy coming to slay me by deceit with thy knife was an
abomination." Then the youth took a knife, and cut off of his flesh, and
cast it into the water, and the fish swallowed it. He failed; he became
THE CANAL OF RA
faint; and his elder brother cursed his own heart
greatly; he stood weeping for him afar off; he knew not how to pass over
to where his younger brother was, because of the crocodiles. And the
younger brother called unto him, saying, "Whereas thou hast devised
48 ANPU AND BATA
an evil thing, wilt thou not also devise a good
thing, even like that which I would do unto thee? When thou goest to thy
house thou must look to thy cattle, for I shall not stay in the place
where thou art; I am going to the valley of the acacia. And now as to what
thou shalt do for me; it is even that thou shalt come to seek after me, if
thou perceivest a matter, namely, that there are things happening unto me.
And this is what shall come to pass, that I shall draw out my soul, and I
shall put it upon the top of the flowers of the acacia, and when the
acacia is cut down, and it falls to the ground, and thou comest to seek
for it, if thou searchest for it seven years do not let thy heart be
wearied. For thou wilt find it, and thou must put it in a cup of cold
water, and expect that I shall live again, that I may make answer to what
has been done wrong.. And thou shalt know of this, that is to say, that
things are happening to me, when one shall give to thee a cup of beer in
thy hand,
ANPU AND BATA 49
and it shall be troubled; stay not then, for
verily it shall come to pass with thee."
And the youth went to the valley of the acacia;
and his elder brother went unto his house; his hand was laid on his head,
and he cast dust on his head; he came to his house, and he slew his wife,
he cast her to the dogs, and he sat in mourning for his younger brother.
Now many days after these things, the younger
brother was in the valley of the acacia; there was none with him; he spent
his time in hunting the beasts of the desert, and he came back in the even
to lie down under the acacia, which bore his soul upon the topmost flower.
And after this he built himself a tower with his own hands, in the valley
of the acacia; it was full of all good things, that he might provide for
himself a home.
And he went out from his tower, and he 5
50 ANPU AND BATA
met the Nine Gods, who were walking forth to look
upon the whole land. The Nine Gods talked one with another, and they said
unto him, "Ho! Bata, bull of the Nine Gods, art thou remaining alone? Thou
THE HOUSE IN THE VALLEY
hast left thy village for the wife of Anpu, thy
elder brother. Behold his wife is slain. Thou hast given him an answer to
all that was transgressed against thee." And their hearts were vexed for
him exceedingly. And Ra Harakhti said to Khnumu, "Behold,
ANPU AND BATA 51
frame thou a woman for Bata, that he may not
remain alive alone." And Khnumu made for him a mate to dwell with him.
THE PROPHECY
She was more beautiful in her limbs than any woman
who is in the whole land. The essence of every god was in her. The seven
Hathors came to see her: they said
52 ANPU AND BATA
with one mouth, "She will die a sharp death."
And Bata loved her very exceedingly, and she dwelt
in his house; he passed his time in hunting the beasts of the desert, and
brought and laid them before her. He said, "Go not outside, lest the sea
seize thee; for I cannot rescue thee from it, for I am a woman like thee;
my soul is placed on the head of the flower of the acacia; and if another
find it, I must fight with him." And he opened unto her his heart in all
its nature.
Now after these things Bata went to hunt in his
daily manner. And the young girl went to walk under the acacia which was
by the side of her house. Then the sea saw her, and cast its waves up
after her. She betook herself to flee from before it. She entered her
house. And the sea called unto the acacia, saying, "Oh, would that I could
seize her!" And the acacia brought a lock from her hair, and the sea
carried it to Egypt, and
ANPU AND BATA
53
dropped it in the place of the fullers of
Pharaoh's linen. The smell of the lock of hair entered into the clothes of
Pharaoh; and they were wroth with the fullers of Pharaoh, saying, "The
smell of ointment is in the clothes of Pharaoh." And the people were
rebuked every day, they knew not what they
THE RAVISHING SEA
should do. And the chief fuller of Pharaoh walked
by the bank, and his heart was very evil within him after the daily
quarrel with him. He stood still, he stood upon the sand opposite to the
lock of hair, which was in the water, and he made one enter into the water
and bring it to him; and there was
54
ANPU AND BATA
found in it a smell, exceeding sweet. He
took it to Pharaoh; and they brought the scribes and the wise men, and
they said unto Pharaoh, "This lock of hair belongs to a
THE CHIEF FULLER OF PHARAOH
daughter of Ra Harakhti: the essence of every god
is in her, and it is a tribute to thee from another land. Let messengers
go to every strange land to seek her: and as for
ANPU AND BATA 55
the messenger who shall go to the valley of the
acacia, let many men go with him to bring her." Then said his majesty,
"Excellent exceedingly is what has been said to us;" and they sent them.
And many days after these things the people who were sent to strange lands
came to give report unto the king: but there came not those who went to
the valley of the acacia, for Bata had slain them, but let one of them
return to give a report to the king. His majesty sent many men and
soldiers, as well as horsemen, to bring her back. And there was a woman
amongst them, and to her had been given in her hand beautiful ornaments of
a woman. And the girl came back with her, and they rejoiced over her in
the whole land.
And his majesty loved her exceedingly, and raised
her to high estate; and he spake unto her that she should tell him
concerning her husband. And she said, "Let the acacia
56 ANPU AND BATA
be cut down, and let one chop it up." And they
sent men and soldiers with their weapons to cut down the acacia; and they
came to the acacia, and they cut the flower upon which was the soul of
Bata, and he fell dead suddenly.
And when the next day came, and the earth was
lightened, the acacia was cut down. And Anpu, the elder brother of Bata,
entered his house, and washed his hands; and one gave him a cup of beer,
and it became troubled; and one gave him another of wine, and the smell of
it was evil. Then he took his staff, and his sandals, and likewise his
clothes, with his weapons of war; and he betook himself forth to the
valley of the acacia. He entered the tower of his younger brother, and he
found him lying upon his mat; he was dead. And he wept when he saw his
younger brother verily lying dead. And he went out to seek the soul of his
younger brother under the acacia tree, under which his younger brother lay
in the evening.
ANPU AND BATA 57
He spent three years in seeking for it, but found
it not. And when he began the fourth year, he desired in his heart to
return into Egypt; he said "I will go to-morrow morn: " thus spake he in
his heart.
Now when the land lightened, and the next day
appeared, he was walking under the acacia; he was spending his time in
seeking it. And he returned in the evening, and laboured at seeking it
again. He found a seed. He returned with it. Behold this was the soul of
his younger brother. He brought a cup of cold water, and he cast the seed
into it: and he sat down, as he was wont. Now when the night came his soul
sucked up the water; Bata shuddered in all his limbs, and he looked on his
elder brother; his soul was in the cup. Then Anpu took the cup of cold
water, in which the soul of his younger brother was; Bata drank it, his
soul stood again in its place, and he became as he had been. They embraced
each other, and they conversed together.
58 ANPU AND BATA
And Bata said to his elder brother, "Behold I am
to become as a great bull, which bears every good mark; no one knoweth its
history, and thou must sit upon my back. When the sun arises I shall be in
the place where my wife is, that I may return answer to her; and
THE REUNION
thou must take me to the place where the king is.
For all good things shall be done for thee; for one shall lade thee with
silver and gold, because thou bringest me to Pharaoh, for I become a great
marvel, and they shall rejoice for me in all the land. And thou shalt go
to thy village."
ANPU AND BATA
59
And when the land was lightened, and the next day
appeared, Bata became in the form which he had told to his elder brother.
And Anpu sat upon his back until the dawn. He
ANPU ON THE BULL
came to the place where the king was, and they
made his majesty to know of him; he saw him, and he was exceeding joyful
with him. He made for him great offerings, saying,
60 ANPU AND BATA
"This is a great wonder which has come to pass."
There were rejoicings over him in the whole land. They presented unto him
silver and gold for his elder brother, who went and stayed in his village.
They gave to the bull many men and many things, and Pharaoh loved him
exceedingly above all that is in this land.
And after many days after these things, the bull
entered the purified place; he stood in the place where the princess was;
he began to speak with her, saying, "Behold, I am alive indeed." And she
said to him, "And, pray, who art thou?" He said to her, "I am Bata. I
perceived when thou causedst that they should destroy the acacia of
Pharaoh, which was my abode, that I might not be suffered to live. Behold,
I am alive indeed, I am as an ox." Then the princess feared exceedingly
for the words that her husband had spoken to her. And he went out from the
purified place.
And his majesty was sitting, making a
ANPU AND BATA 61
good day with her: she was at the table of his
majesty, and the king was exceeding pleased with her. And she said to his
majesty, "Swear to me by God, saying, 'What thou shalt say, I will obey it
for thy sake.'" He hearkened unto all that she said, even this. "Let me
eat of the liver of the ox, because he is fit for nought:" thus spake she
to him. And the king was exceeding sad at her words, the heart of Pharaoh
grieved him greatly. And after the land was lightened, and the next day
appeared, they proclaimed a great feast with offerings to the ox. And the
king sent one of the chief butchers of his majesty, to cause the ox to be
sacrificed. And when he was sacrificed, as he was upon the shoulders of
the people, he shook his neck, and he threw two drops of blood over
against the two doors of his majesty. The one fell upon the one side, on
the great door of Pharaoh, and the other upon the other door. They grew as
two great Persea trees, and each of them was excellent.
62
ANPU AND BATA
And one went to tell unto his majesty, "Two great
Persea trees have grown, as a great marvel of his majesty, in the night by
the side of the great gate of his majesty." And
BATA'S PERSEA TREES
there was rejoicing for them in all the land, and
there were offerings made to them.
And when the days were multiplied after these
things, his majesty was adorned with the blue crown, with garlands of
flowers on
ANPU AND BATA 63
his neck, and he was upon the chariot of pale
gold, and he went out from the palace to behold the Persea trees: the
princess also was going out with horses behind his majesty. And his
majesty sat beneath one of the Persea trees, and it spake thus with his
wife: "Oh thou deceitful one, I am Bata, I am alive, though I have been
evilly entreated. I knew who caused the acacia to be cut down by Pharaoh
at my dwelling. I then became an ox, and thou causedst that I should be
killed."
And many days after these things the princess
stood at the table of Pharaoh, and the king was pleased with her. And she
said to his majesty, "Swear to me by God, saying, 'That which the princess
shall say to me I will obey it for her.'" And he hearkened unto all she
said. And he commanded, "Let these two Persea trees be cut down, and let
them be made into goodly planks." And he hearkened unto all she said. And
after this his majesty sent skilful craftsmen, and they
64 ANPU AND BATA
cut down the Persea trees of Pharaoh; and the
princess, the royal wife, was standing looking on, and they did all that
was in her heart unto the trees. But a chip flew up, and it entered into
the mouth of the princess; she swallowed it, and after many days she bore
a son. And one went to tell his majesty, "There is born to thee a son."
And they brought him, and gave to him a nurse and servants; and there were
rejoicings in the whole land. And the king sat making a merry day, as they
were about the naming of him, and his majesty loved him exceedingly at
that moment, and the king raised him to be the royal son of Kush.
Now after the days had multiplied after these
things, his majesty made him heir of all the land. And many days after
that, when he had fulfilled many years as heir, his majesty flew up to
heaven. And the heir said, "Let my great nobles of his majesty be brought
before me, that I may make them to know all that has happened to me." And
they brought
REMARKS 65
also before him his wife, and he judged with her
before him, and they agreed with him. They brought to him his elder
brother; he made him hereditary prince in all his land. He was thirty
years king of Egypt, and he died, and his elder brother stood in his place
on the day of burial.
Excellently finished in peace, for the ka
of the scribe of the treasury Kagabu, of the treasury of Pharaoh, and
for the scribe Hora, and the scribe Meremapt. Written by the scribe Anena,
the owner of this roll. He who speaks against this roll, may Tahuti smite
him.
REMARKS
This tale, which is perhaps, of all this
series, the best known in modern times, has
often been published. It exists only in one
papyrus, that of Madame d'Orbiney, pur-
6
66 ANPU AND BATA
chased by the British Museum in 1857. The papyrus
had belonged to Sety II. when crown prince, and hence is of the XlXth
Dynasty. Most of the great scholars of this age have worked at it: De
Rouge, Goodwin, Renouf, Chabas, Brugsch, Ebers, Maspero, and Groff have
all made original studies on it. The present translation is, however, a
fresh one made by Mr. Griffith word for word, and shaped as little as
possible by myself in editing it. The copy followed is the publication by
Birch in "Select Papyri," part ii. pls. ix. to xix. Before considering the
details of the story, we should notice an important question about its age
and composition. That it is as old as the XlXth Dynasty in its present
form is certain from the papyrus; but probably parts of it are older. The
idyllic beauty of the opening of it, with the simplicity and directness of
the ideas, and the absence of any impossible or marvellous feature, is in
the strongest opposition to the latter part, where marvel is piled on
marvel in
REMARKS 67
pointless profusion. In the first few pages there
is not a word superfluous or an idea out of place in drawing the picture.
That we have to do with an older story lengthened out by some inartistic
compiler, seems only too probable. And this is borne out by the colophon.
In the tales of the Shipwrecked Sailor, and of Sanehat, the colophon runs—"This
is finished from beginning to end, even as it was found in the writing,"
and the earlier of these two tales follows this with a blessing on the
transcriber. But, apparently conscious of his meddling, the author of Anpu
and Bata ends with a curse: "Written by the scribe Anena, the owner of
this roll. He who speaks against this roll, may Tahuti smite him." This
points to a part of it at least being newly composed in Ramesside times;
while the delicate beauty of the opening is not only far better than the
latter part, but is out of harmony with the forced and artificial taste of
the XlXth Dynasty. At the same time, the careful drawing of character is
hardly akin to the simple, matter-
68 ANPU AND BATA
of-fact style of Sanehat, and seems more in
keeping with the emotional style of the Doomed Prince. If we attribute the
earlier part to the opening of the XVIIIth Dynasty—the age of the
pastoral scenes of the tombs of El Kab, which are the latest instances of
such sculptures in Egypt—we shall probably be nearest to the truth.
The description of Bata is one of the most
beautiful character-drawings in the past. The self-denial and sweet
innocence of the lad, his sympathy with his cattle, "listening to all that
they said," and allowing them their natural wishes and ways, is touchingly
expressed. And those who know Egypt will know that Bata still lives there—several
Batas I have known myself. His sweetness of manner, his devotion, his
untiringly earnest work, his modesty, his quietness, makes Bata to be one
of the most charming friends. Bata I have met in many places, Bata I have
loved as one of the flowers of human nature, and Bata I hope often to meet
again in divers
REMARKS 69
forms and varied incarnations among the fellah
lads of Egypt.
The touches of description of Bata are slight, and
yet so pointed. His growing to be an excellent worker; his return at
evening laden with all the produce, just as may be seen now any evening as
the lads come in bearing on their backs large bundles of vegetables for
the house, and of fodder for the home-driven cattle; his sleeping with his
cattle in the stable; his zeal in rising before dawn to make the daily
bread for his brother, ready to give him when he arose; and then his
driving out the cattle to pasture—all contrasts with his elder
brother's life of ease. The making of the bread was rightly the duty of
Anpu's wife; she ought to have risen to grind the corn long before dawn,
as the millstones may now be heard grinding in the dark, morning by
morning; she ought to have baked the bread ready for the toiler who spent
his whole day in the field. But it was the ever-willing Bata who did the
work of the house as well as
yo ANPU AND BATA
the work of the farm. "Behold the spirit of a god
was in him."
The driving in of the cattle at night is still a
particular feature of Egyptian life. About an hour before sunset the
tether ropes are drawn in the fields, and the cattle file off, with a
little child for a leader—if any; the master gathers up the produce
that is required, some buffalo is laden with a heap of clover, or a lad
carries it on his back, for the evening feed of the cattle, and all troop
along the path through the fields and by the canal. For two or three miles
the road becomes more and more crowded with the flocks driven into it from
every field, a long haze of dust lies glowing in the crimson glory of
sunset over the stream of cows and buffaloes, sheep and goats, that pour
into the village. Each beast well knows his master and his crib, and turns
in at the familiar gate to the stable under the house, or by the side of
the hut; and there all spend the night. Not a hoof is left out in the
field; the last belated stragglers come in
REMARKS 71
while the gleam of amber still edges the
night-blue sky behind the black horizon. Then the silent fields lie under
the brightening moon, glittering with dew, untrodden and deserted. It is
not cold or climate that leads men to this custom, but the unsafety of a
country bordered by unseen deserts, whence untold men may suddenly appear
and ravage all the plain.
The ploughing scene next follows, on "the land
coming out from the water"; as the inundation goes down the well-known
banks and ridges appear, "the back-bones of the land," as they were so
naturally called; and when the surface is firm enough to walk on—with
many a pool and ditch still full—the ploughing begins on the soft
dark clay
The catastrophe of the story—the black gulf
of deceit that suddenly opens under Bata's feet—has always been seen
to be strikingly like the story of Joseph. And—as we have noticed—there
is good reason for the early part of this tale belonging to about the
beginning of the XVIIIth Dynasty, so it
72 ANPU AND BATA
is very closely allied in time as well as
character to the account of Joseph. In this part again is one of those
pointed touches, which show the power of the poet—for a poem in
prose this is—"her heart knew him with the knowledge of youth."
On reaching the mistaken revenge of Anpu, we see
the sympathy of Bata with his cattle, and his way of reading their
feelings, returned to him most fittingly by the cows perceiving the
presence of the treachery. "He heard what his first cow had said; and the
next entering she also said likewise."
After this we find a change; instead of the simple
and natural narrative, full of human feeling, and without a touch of
impossibility, every subsequent episode involves the supernatural; Ra
creating a wide water, the extraction of the soul of Bata, his miraculous
wife, and all the transformations—these have nothing in common with
the style or ideas of the earlier tale.
Whence this later tangle came, and how
REMARKS 73
much of it is drawn from other sources, we can
hardly hope to explain from the fragments of literature that we have. But
strangely there is a parallel which is close enough to suggest that the
patchwork is due to popular mythology. In the myths of Phrygia we meet
with Atys or Attis, of whom varying legends are told. Among these we glean
that he was a shepherd, beautiful and chaste; that he fled from
corruption; that he mutilated himself; lastly he died under a tree, and
afterwards was revived. All this is a duplicate of the story of Bata. And
looking further, we see parallels to the three subsequent transformations.
Drops of blood were shed from the Atys-priest; and Bata, in his first
transformation as a bull, sprinkles two drops of blood by the doors of the
palace. Again, Atys is identified with a tree, which was cut down and
taken into a sanctuary; and Bata in his second transformation is a Persea
tree which is cut down and used in building. Lastly, the mother of Atys is
said to have been a
74 ANPU AND BATA
virgin, who bore him from placing in her bosom a
ripe almond or pomegranate; and in his third transformation Bata is born
from a chip of a tree being swallowed by the princess. These resemblances
in nearly all the main points are too close and continuous to be a mere
chance, especially as such incidents are not found in any other Egyptian
tale, nor in few—if any—other classical myths. It is not
impossible that the names even may have been the same; for Bata, as we
write it, was pronounced Vata (or Vatiu or Vitiou, as others would
vocalise it), and the digamma would disappear in the later Greek form in
which we have Atys.
The most likely course seems to have been that,
starting with a simple Egyptian tale, the resemblance to the shepherd of
the Asiatic myth, led to a Ramesside author improving the story by tacking
on the branches of the myth one after another, and borrowing the name. If
this be granted, we have here in Bata the earliest indications of the
elements
REMARKS 75
of the Atys mysteries, a thousand years before the
Greek versions.
Returning now from the general structure to the
separate incidents, we note the expression of annoyance where the elder
brother "smote twice on his hands." This gesture is very common in Egypt
now, the two hands being rapidly slid one past the other, palm to palm,
vertically, grating the fingers of one hand over the other; the right hand
moving downwards, and the left a little up. This implies that there is
nothing, that a thing is worthless, that a desired result has not been
attained, or annoyance at want of success; but the latter meanings are now
rare, and more latent than otherwise, and this tale points to the gesture
being originally one of positive anger, though it has been transferred
gradually to express mere negative results.
The valley of the acacia would appear from the
indications to have been by the sea, and probably in Syria; perhaps one of
the half-desert wadis toward Gaza was in the writer's
76 ANPU AND BATA
mind. The idea of Bata taking out his heart, and
placing it on the flower of a tree, has seemed hopelessly unintelligible.
But it depends on what we are to understand by the heart in Egyptian. Two
words are well known for it, hati and ah; and as it is
unlikely that these should be mere synonyms, we have a presumption that
one of them does not mean the physical heart, but rather the mental heart.
We are accustomed to the same mixture of thought; and far the more common
usage in English is not to employ the name to express the physical heart,
but for the will, as when we say "good-hearted";—for the spring of
action, "broken-hearted ";—for the feelings, "hard-hearted";—for
the passions, "an affair of the heart";—or for the vigour, as when a
man in nature or in act is "hearty" The Egyptian, with his metaphysical
mind, took two different words where we only use one; and when we read of
placing the heart (hati) out of a man, we are led at once by the
analogy of beliefs in
REMARKS 77
other races to understand this as the vitality or
soul. In the "Golden Bough" Mr. Frazer has explained this part of natural
metaphysics; and in this, and the following points, I freely quote from
that work as a convenient text-book. The soul or vitality of a man is
thought of as separable from the body at will, and therefore communicable
to other objects or positions. In those positions it cannot be harmed by
what happens to the body, which is therefore deathless for the time. But
if the external seat of the soul be attacked or destroyed, the man
immediately dies. This is illustrated from the Norse, Saxons, Celts,
Italians, Greeks, Kabyles, Arabs, Hindus, Malays, Mongolians, Tartars,
Magyars, and Slavonians. It may well, then, be considered as a piece of
inherent psychology: and following this interpretation, I have rendered
"heart" in this sense "soul" in the translation.
The Nine Gods who meet Bata are one of the great
cycles of divinities, which were dif-
78 ANPU AND BATA
ferently reckoned in various places. Khnumu is
always the formative god, who makes man upon the potter's wheel, as in the
scene in the temple of Luqsor. And even in natural birth it was Khnumu who
"gave strength to the limbs," as in the earlier "Tales of the Magicians."
The character of the wife of Bata is a very curious study. The total
absence of the affections in her was probably designed as in accord with
her non-natural formation, as she could not inherit aught from human
parents. Ambition appears as the only emotion of this being; her attacks
on the transformations of Bata are not due to dislike, but only to fear
that he should claim her removal from her high station; she "feared
exceedingly for the words that her husband had spoken to her." Her Lilith
nature is incapable of any craving but that for power.
The action here of the seven Hathors we have
noticed in the remarks on the previous tale of the Doomed Prince. The
episode of the sea is very strange; and if we need find
REMARKS 79
some rationalising account of it, we might suppose
it to be a mythical form of a raid of pirates, who, not catching the
woman, carried off something of hers, which proved an object of contention
in Egypt. But such renderings are unlikely, and we may the rather expect
to find some explanation in a mythological parallel.
The carrying of the lock of hair to Pharaoh, and
his proclaiming a search for the owner, is plainly an early form of the
story of the little slipper, whose owner is sought by the king. The point
that she could not be caught except by setting another woman to tempt her
with ornaments, anticipates the modern novelist's saying, "Set a woman to
catch a woman."
The sudden death of Bata, so soon as the
depository of his soul was destroyed, is a usual feature in such tales
about souls. But it is only in the Indian forms quoted by Mr. Frazer that
there is any revival of the dead; and in no case is there any
transformation like that of Bata. Perhaps none but
80 ANPU AND BATA
an Egyptian or a Chinese would have credited Anpu
with wandering up and down for four years seeking the lost soul. But the
idea of returning the soul in water to the man is found as a magic process
in North America ("Golden Bough," i. 141).
The first transformation of Bata, into a bull, is
clearly drawn from the Apis bull of Memphis. The rejoicings at discovering
a real successor of Apis are here, the rejoicings over Bata, who is the
Apis bull, distinguished as he says by "bearing every good mark." These
marks on the back and other parts were the tokens of the true Apis, who
was sought for anxiously through the country on the death of the sacred
animal who had lived in the sanctuary. The man who, like Anpu, brought up
a true Apis to the temple would receive great rewards and honours.
The scene where the princess demands the grant of
a favour is repeated over again by Esther at her banquet, and by the
daughter of Herodias. It is the Oriental way of doing
REMARKS 81
business. But the curious incongruity of making a
great feast with offerings to the ox before sacrificing it, appears
inexplicable until we note the habits of other peoples in slaying their
sacred animals at certain intervals. This tale shows us what is stated by
Greek authors, that the Egyptians slew the sacred Apis at stated times, or
when a new one was discovered with the right marks. The annual sacrifice
of a sacred ram at Thebes shows that the Egyptians were familiar with such
an idea. And though it was considered by the writer of this tale as a
monstrous act, yet the offerings and festivity which accompanied it are in
accordance with the strange fact found by Mariette, that in the three
undisturbed Apis burials which he discovered there were only fragments of
bone, and in one case a head, carefully embalmed with bitumen and
magnificent offerings of jewellery. The divine Apis was eaten as a sacred
feast.
The reason that the princess desires the liver is
strangely explained by a present belief 7
82 ANPU AND BATA
on the Upper Nile. The Darfuris think that the
liver is the seat of the soul ("Golden Bough," ii. 88); and hence if she
ate the liver she would destroy the soul of Bata, or prevent it entering
any other incarnation.
The next detail is also curiously significant. If
a bull was being sacrificed we should naturally suppose the blood would
flow, and that a few drops would not be noticed. Here, however, two drops
are said to fall, and this was when the bull "was upon the shoulders of
the people." Now it is a very general idea that blood must not be allowed
to fall upon the ground; the eastern and southern Africans will not shed
the blood of cattle ("Golden Bough," i. 182); and strangely the
Australians avoid the falling of blood to the ground by placing the
bleeding persons upon the shoulders of other men. This parallel is so
close to the Egyptian tale that it seems as if the bull was borne "on the
shoulders of the people," that his blood should not fall to the ground;
yet in spite of
REMARKS 83
this precaution "he shook his neck, and he threw
two drops of blood over against the doors of his majesty." In these drops
of blood was the soul of Bata, in spite of the princess having eaten his
liver; and we know how among Jews, Arabs, and other peoples, the blood is
regarded as the vehicle of the soul or life.
The evidence of tree worship is plainer here than
perhaps in any other passage of Egyptian literature. The people rejoice
for the two Persea trees, "and there were offerings made to them."
The blue crown worn by the king was the war cap of
leather covered with scales of copper: it is often found made in dark blue
glaze for statuettes, and it seems probable that the copper was
superficially sulphurised to tint it. Such head-dress was usually worn by
kings when riding in their chariots. The pale gold or electrum here
mentioned was the general material for decorating the royal chariot.
84 ANPU AND BATA
The miraculous birth of Bata in his third
transformation is, as we have noticed, closely paralleled by the birth of
Atys from the almond. The idea at the root of this is that of
self-creation or self-existence, as in the usual Egyptian phrase, "bull of
his mother."
The king flying up to heaven is a regular
expression for his death: "the hawk has soared," "the follower of the god
has met his maker," so Sanehat describes it (see ist series, pp. 97, 98).
This hawk-form of the king may be connected with
the hawk bearing the double crown which is perched on the top of the ka
name of each king. That hawk is not Horus, nor even the king deified as
Horus, because the emblem of life is given to it by other gods (as by Set
on a lintel of XVIIIth Dynasty from Nubt), and therefore the hawk is the
human king who could perish, and not an immortal divinity. Further, this
hawk-king is always perched on the top of the drawing of the doorway to
the sepulchre
REMARKS 85
which bears the ka name of the king; and
when we see the drawings of the ba bird or soul flying down the
well to the sepulchre, it appears as if the hawk were the royal ba
bird (ordinary men having a ba bird with a human head); and that
the well-known first title of each king represents the royal soul or ba
bird perched on the door of the sepulchre, resting on his way to and from
the visit to the corpse below. The soul or ba of the king at his
death thus flew away as a hawk to meet the sun.
The veil drawn over the fate of the inhuman
princess is well conceived. That she should die a sharp death has been
foretold; but how Bata should slay the divine creation—his wife—his
mother—is a matter that the scribe reserves in silence; we only read
that "he judged with her before him, and the great nobles agreed with
him." That judgment is best left among the things unwritten.
86 ANPU AND BATA
The strange manner in which we can see incident
after incident in the latter part of the tale, each to refer to some
ceremony or belief, even imperfect as our knowledge of such must be, and
the evidence that the whole being of Bata is a transference of the myth of
Atys, must lead us to look on this, the marvellous portion, as woven out
of a group of myths, ceremonies, and beliefs which were joined and
explained by the formation of such a tale. How far it is due to purely
Egyptian ideas, indicated by the Apis bull and the analogies in present
African beliefs, and how far it is Asiatic and belonging to Atys, it would
be premature to decide. But from the weird confusion and mystery of these
transformations, we turn back with renewed pleasure to the simple and
sweet picture of peasant life, and the beauty of Bata, and we see how true
a poet the Egyptian was in feeling and in expression.
XIXth DYNASTY, PTOLEMAIC WRITING
SETNA AND THE MAGIC BOOK
THE mighty King User-maat-ra (Ra-meses the Great)
had a son named Setna Kha-em-uast who was a great scribe, and very learned
in all the ancient writings. And he heard that the magic book of Thoth, by
which a man may enchant heaven and earth, and know the language of all
birds and beasts, was buried in the cemetery of Memphis. And he went to
search for it with his brother An-he-hor-eru; and when they found the tomb
of the king's son, Na-nefer-ka-ptah, son of the king of Upper
88 SETNA AND THE MAGIC BOOK
and Lower Egypt, Mer-neb-ptah, Setna opened it and
went in.
Now in the tomb was Na-nefer-ka-ptah, and with him
was the ka of his wife Ahura;
AHURA'S APPEAL.
for though she was buried at Koptos, her ka
dwelt at Memphis with her husband, whom she loved. And Setna saw them
seated before their offerings, and the book lay
AHURA'S TALE 89
between them. And Na-nefer-ka-ptah said to Setna,
"Who are you that break into my tomb in this way?" He said, "I am Setna,
son of the great King User-maat-ra, living for ever, and I come for that
book which I see between you." And Na-nefer-ka-ptah said, "It cannot be
given to you." Then said Setna, "But I will carry it away by force."
Then Ahura said to Setna, "Do not take this book;
for it will bring trouble on you, as it has upon us. Listen to what we
have suffered for it."
AHURA'S TALE
"We were the two children of the King
Mer-neb-ptah, and he loved us very much, for he had no others; and
Na-nefer-ka-ptah was in his palace as heir over all the land. And when we
were grown, the king said to the queen, 'I will marry Na-nefer-ka-ptah
90 SETNA AND THE MAGIC BOOK
to the daughter of a general, and Ahura to the son
of another general.' And the queen said, 'No, he is the heir, let him
marry his sister, like the heir of a king, none other is fit for him.' And
the king said, 'That is not fair; they had better be married to the
children of the general.'
"And the queen said, 'It is you who are not
dealing rightly with me.' And the king answered, 'If I have no more than
these two children, is it right that they should marry one another? I will
marry Na-nefer-ka-ptah to the daughter of an officer, and Ahura to the son
of another officer. It has often been done so in our family.'
"And at a time when there was a great feast before
the king, they came to fetch me to the feast. And I was very troubled, and
did not behave as I used to do. And the king said to me, 'Ahura, have you
sent some one to me about this sorry matter, saying, "Let me be married to
my elder brother"? 'I said to him, 'Well, let me marry the son
AHURA'S TALE 91
of an officer, and he marry the daughter of
another officer, as it often happens so in our family.' I laughed, and the
king laughed. And the king told the steward of the palace, 'Let them take
Ahura to the house of Na-nefer-ka-ptah to-night, and all kinds of good
things with her.' So they brought me as a wife to the house of
Na-nefer-ka-ptah; and the king ordered them to give me presents of silver
and gold, and things from the palace.
"And Na-nefer-ka-ptah passed a happy time with me,
and received all the presents from the palace; and we loved one another.
And when I expected a child, they told the king, and he was most heartily
glad; and he sent me many things, and a present of the best silver and
gold and linen. And when the time came, I bore this little child that is
before you. And they gave him the name of Mer-ab, and registered him in
the book of the 'House of life.'
"And when my brother Na-nefer-ka-ptah
92 SETNA AND THE MAGIC BOOK
went to the cemetery of Memphis, he did nothing on
earth but read the writings that are in the catacombs of the kings, and
the tablets of the 'House of life,' and the
READING THE INSCRIPTION.
inscriptions that are seen on the monuments, and
he worked hard on the writings. And there was a priest there called
Nesi-ptah; and as Na-nefer-ka-ptah went into a
AHURA'S TALE 93
temple to pray, it happened that he went behind
this priest, and was reading the inscriptions that were on the chapels of
the gods. And the priest mocked him and laughed. So Na-nefer-ka-ptah said
to him, 'Why are you laughing at me?' And he replied, 'I was not laughing
at you, or if I happened to do so, it was at your reading writings that
are worthless. If you wish so much to read writings, come to me, and I
will bring you to the place where the book is which Thoth himself wrote
with his own hand, and which will bring you to the gods. When you read but
two pages in this you will enchant the heaven, the earth, the abyss, the
mountains, and the sea; you shall know what the birds of the sky and the
crawling things are saying; you shall see the fishes of the deep, for a
divine power is there to bring them up out of the depth. And when you read
the second page, if you are in the world of ghosts, you will become again
in the shape you were in on earth. You will
94 SETNA AND THE MAGIC BOOK
see the sun shining in the sky, with all the gods,
and the full moon.'
"And Na-nefer-ka-ptah said, 'By the life of the
king! Tell me of anything you want
SENDING THE SILVER.
done and I'll do it for you, if you will only send
me where this book is.' And the priest answered Na-nefer-ka-ptah, 'If you
want to go to the place where the book is, you must
AHURA'S TALE 95
give me a hundred pieces of silver for my funeral,
and provide that they shall bury me as a rich priest.' So Na-nefer-ka-ptah
called his lad and told him to give the priest a hundred pieces of silver;
and he made them do as he wished, even everything that he asked for. Then
the priest said to Na-nefer-ka-ptah, 'This book is in the middle of the
river at Koptos, in an iron box; in the iron box is a bronze box; in the
bronze box is a sycamore box; in the sycamore box is an ivory and ebony
box; in the ivory and ebony box is a silver box; in the silver box is a
golden box, and in that is the book. It is twisted all round with snakes
and scorpions and all the other crawling things around the box in which
the book is; and there is a deathless snake by the box.' And when the
priest told Na-nefer-ka-ptah, he did not know where on earth he was, he
was so much delighted.
"And when he came from the temple he told me all
that had happened to him. And
96 SETNA AND THE MAGIC BOOK
he said, 'I shall go to Koptos, for I must fetch
this book; I will not stay any longer in the north.' And I said, 'Let me
dissuade you, for you prepare sorrow and you will bring me into trouble in
the Thebaid.' And I laid my hand on Na-nefer-ka-ptah, to keep him from
going to Koptos, but he would not listen to me; and he went to the king,
and told the king all that the priest had said. The king asked him, 'What
is it that you want?' and he replied, 'Let them give me the royal boat
with its belongings, for I will go to the south with Ahura and her little
boy Mer-ab, and fetch this book without delay.' So they gave him the royal
boat with its belongings, and we went with him to the haven, and sailed
from there up to Koptos.
"Then the priests of Isis of Koptos, and the high
priest of Isis, came down to us without waiting, to meet Na-nefer-ka-ptah,
and their wives also came to me. We went into the temple of Isis and
Harpokrates; and
AHURA'S TALE
97
Na-nefer-ka-ptah brought an ox, a goose, and some
wine, and made a burnt-offering and a drink-offering before Isis of Koptos
and Harpokrates. They brought us to a very
THE PRIESTS' WIVES.
fine house, with all good things; and
Na-nefer-ka-ptah spent four days there and feasted with the priests of
Isis of Koptos, and the wives of the priests of Isis also made holiday
with me.
8
98 SETNA AND THE MAGIC BOOK
"And the morning of the fifth day came; and
Na-nefer-ka-ptah called a priest to him, and made a magic cabin that was
full of men and tackle. He put the spell upon it, and put life in it, and
gave them breath, and sank it in the water. He filled the royal boat with
sand, and took leave of me, and sailed from the haven: and I sat by the
river at Koptos that I might see what would become of him. And he said,
'Workmen, work for me, even at the place where the book is.' And they
toiled by night and by day; and when they had reached it in three days, he
threw the sand out, and made a shoal in the river. And then he found on it
entwined serpents and scorpions and all kinds of crawling things around
the box in which the book was; and by it he found a deathless snake around
the box. And he laid the spell upon the entwined serpents and scorpions
and all kinds of crawling things which were around the box, that they
should not come out. And he went to the deathless snake, and fought with
AHURA'S TALE 99
him, and killed him; but he came to life again,
and took a new form. He then fought again with him a second time; but he
came to life again, and took a third form. He then cut him in two parts,
and put sand
SLAYING THE SNAKE.
between the parts, that he should not appear
again.
"Na-nefer-ka-ptah then went to the place where he
found the box. He uncovered a box of iron, and opened it; he found then a
box of bronze, and opened that; then he found
100 SETNA AND THE MAGIC BOOK
a box of sycamore wood, and opened that; again, he
found a box of ivory and ebony, and opened that; yet, he found a box of
silver, and opened that; and then he found a box of gold; he opened that,
and found the book in it. He took the book from the golden box, and read a
page of spells from it. He enchanted the heaven and the earth, the abyss,
the mountains, and the sea; he knew what the birds of the sky, the fish of
the deep, and the beasts of the hills all said. He read another page of
the spells, and saw the sun shining in the sky, with all the gods, the
full moon, and the stars in their shapes; he saw the fishes of the deep,
for a divine power was present that brought them up from the water. He
then read the spell upon the workmen that he had made, and taken from the
haven, and said to them, 'Work for me, back to the place from which I
came.' And they toiled night and day, and so he came back to the place
where I sat by the river of Koptos; I had not drunk nor
AHURA'S TALE 101
eaten anything, and had done nothing on earth, but
sat like one who is gone to the grave.
"I then told Na-nefer-ka-ptah that I wished to see
this book, for which we had taken so much trouble. He gave the book into
my hands; and when I read a page of the spells in it I also enchanted
heaven and earth, the abyss, the mountains, and the sea; I also knew what
the birds of the sky, the fishes of the deep, and the beasts of the hills
all said. I read another page of the spells, and I saw the sun shining in
the sky with all the gods, the full moon, and the stars in their shapes; I
saw the fishes of the deep, for a divine power was present that brought
them up from the water. As I could not write, I asked Na-nefer-ka-ptah,
who was a good writer, and a very learned one; he called for a new piece
of papyrus, and wrote on it all that was in the book before him. He dipped
it in beer, and washed it off in the liquid; for he knew that if it were
washed off, and he
102 SETNA AND THE MAGIC BOOK .
drank it, he would know all that there was in the
writing.
"We returned back to Koptos the same day, and made
a feast before Isis of Koptos and Harpokrates. We then went to the haven
and sailed, and went northward of Koptos. And as we went on Thoth
discovered all that Na-nefer-ka-ptah had done with the book; and Thoth
hastened to tell Ra, and said, 'Now know that my book and my revelation
are with Na-nefer-ka-ptah, son of the King Mer-neb-ptah. He has forced
himself into my place, and robbed it, and seized my box with the writings,
and killed my guards who protected it.' And Ra replied to him, 'He is
before you, take him and all his kin.'He sent a power from heaven with the
command, 'Do not let Na-nefer-ka-ptah return safe to Memphis with all his
kin.' And after this hour, the little boy Mer-ab, going out from the
awning of the royal boat, fell into the river: he called on Ra, and
everybody who was on the bank raised a cry. Na-nefer-ka.
AHURA'S TALE 103
ptah went out of the cabin, and read the spell
over him; he brought his body up because a divine power brought him to the
surface. He read another spell over him, and made him tell of all what
happened to him, and of what Thoth had said before Ra.
"We turned back with him to Koptos. We brought him
to the Good House, we fetched the people to him, and made one embalm him;
and we buried him in his coffin in the cemetery of Koptos like a great and
noble person.
"And Na-nefer-ka-ptah, my brother, said, 'Let us
go down, let us not delay, for the king has not yet heard of what has
happened to him, and his heart will be sad about it.' So we went to the
haven, we sailed, and did not stay to the north of Koptos. When we were
come to the place where the little boy Mer-ab had fallen in the water, I
went out from the awning of the royal boat, and I fell into the river.
They called Na-nefer-ka-ptah, and he came out from the cabin of the royal
104 SETNA AND THE MAGIC BOOK
boat; he read a spell over me, and brought my body
up, because a divine power brought me to the surface. He drew me out, and
read the spell over me, and made me tell him
READING THE SPELL.
of all that had happened to me, and of what Thoth
had said before Ra. Then he turned back with me to Koptos, he brought me
to the Good House, he fetched the people to me, and made one embalm me, as
great and noble people are buried, and laid me in the tomb where Mer-ab my
young child was.
AHURA'S TALE
105
"He turned to the haven, and sailed down, and
delayed not in the north of Koptos. When he was come to the place where we
fell
re.
REMORSE.
into the river, he said to his heart, 'Shall I not
better turn back again to Koptos, that I may lie by them? For, if not,
when I go down to Memphis, and the king asks after
106 SETNA AND THE MAGIC BOOK
his children, what shall I say to him? Can I tell
him, "I have taken your children to the Thebaid, and killed them, while I
remained alive, and I have come to Memphis still alive"?' Then he made
them bring him a linen cloth of striped byssus; he made a band, and bound
the book firmly, and tied it upon him. Na-nefer-ka-ptah then went out of
the awning of the royal boat and fell into the river. He cried on Ra; and
all those who were on the bank made an outcry, saying, 'Great woe! Sad
woe! Is he lost, that good scribe and able man that has no equal?'
"The royal boat went on, without any one on earth
knowing where Na-nefer-ka-ptah was. It went on to Memphis, and they told
all this to the king. Then the king went down to the royal boat in
mourning, and all the soldiers and high priests and priests of Ptah were
in mourning, and all the officials and courtiers. And when he saw
Na-nefer-ka-ptah, who was in the inner cabin of the
AHURA'S TALE 107
royal boat—from his rank of high scribe—he
lifted him up. And they saw the book by him; and the king said, 'Let one
hide this book that is with him.' And the officers of the king, the
priests of Ptah, and the high priest of Ptah, said to the king, 'Our Lord,
may the king live as long as the sun! Na-nefer-ka-ptah was a good scribe,
and a very skilful man.' And the king had him laid in his Good House to
the sixteenth day, and then had him wrapped to the thirty-fifth day, and
laid him out to the seventieth day, and then had him put in his grave in
his resting-place.
"I have now told you the sorrow which has come
upon us because of this book for which you ask, saying, 'Let it be given
to me.' You have no claim to it; and, indeed, for the sake of it, we have
given up our life on earth."
And Setna said to Ahura, "Give me the
108 SETNA AND THE MAGIC BOOK
book which I see between you and Na-nefer-ka-ptah;
for if you do not I will take it by force." Then Na-nefer-ka-ptah rose
from his seat and said, "Are you Setna, to whom
SETNA DEMANDING THE ROLL.
my wife has told of all these blows of fate, which
you have not suffered? Can you take this book by your skill as a good
scribe? If, indeed, you can play games with
SETNA AND THE MAGIC BOOK 109
me, let us play a game, then, of 52 points." And
Setna said, "I am ready," and the board and its pieces were put before
him. And Na-nefer-ka-ptah won a game from Setna; and he put the spell upon
him, and
SETNA VANQUISHED.
defended himself with the game board that was
before him, and sunk him into the ground above his feet. He did the same
at the second game, and won it from Setna, and sunk him into the ground to
his waist.
110 SETNA AND THE MAGIC BOOK
He did the same at the third game, and made him
sink into the ground up to his ears. Then Setna struck Na-nefer-ka-ptah a
great blow with his hand. And Setna called his brother An-he-hor-eru and
said to him,
APPLYING THE TALISMAN.
"Make haste and go up upon earth, and tell the
king all that has happened to me, and bring me the talisman of my father
Ptah, and my magic books."
And he hurried up upon earth, and told
SETNA AND THE MAGIC BOOK 111
the king all that had happened to Setna. The king
said, "Bring him the talisman of his father Ptah, and his magic books."
And An-he-hor-eru hurried down into the tomb;
SETNA VICTORIOUS.
he laid the talisman on Setna, and he sprang up
again immediately. And then Setna reached out his hand for the book, and
took it. Then—as Setna went out from the
112 SETNA AND THE MAGIC BOOK
tomb—there went a Light before him, and
Darkness behind him. And Ahura wept at him, and she said, "Glory to the
King of Darkness! Hail to the King of Light! all power is gone from the
tomb." But Na-nefer-ka-ptah said to Ahura, "Do not let your heart be sad;
I will make him bring back this book, with a forked stick in his hand, and
a fire-pan on his head." And Setna went out from the tomb, and it closed
behind him as it was before.
Then Setna went to the king, and told him
everything that had happened to him with the book. And the king said to
Setna, "Take back the book to the grave of Na-nefer-ka-ptah, like a
prudent man, or else he will make you bring it with a forked stick in your
hand, and a fire-pan on your head." But Setna would not listen to him; and
when Setna had unrolled the book he did nothing on earth but read it to
everybody.
[Here follows a story of how Setna, walking in the
court of the temple of Ptah, met
SETNA AND THE MAGIC BOOK 113
Tabubua, a fascinating girl, daughter of a priest
of Bast, of Ankhtaui; how she repelled his advances, until she had
beguiled him into giving up all his possessions, and
SETNA READING THE ROLL.
slaying his children. At the last she gives a
fearful cry and vanishes, leaving Setna bereft of even his clothes. This
would seem to be merely a dream, by the disappearance of Tabubua, and by
Setna finding 9
114 SETNA AND THE MAGIC BOOK
his children alive after it all; but on the other
hand he comes to his senses in an unknown place, and is so terrified as to
be quite ready to make restitution to Na-nefer-ka-ptah. The episode, which
is not creditable to Egyptian society, seems to be intended for one of the
vivid dreams which the credulous readily accept as half realities.]
So Setna went to Memphis, and embraced his
children for that they were alive. And the king said to him, "Were you not
drunk to do so?" Then Setna told all things that had happened with Tabubua
and Na-nefer. ka-ptah. And the king said, "Setna, I have already lifted up
my hand against you before, and said, 'He will kill you if you do not take
back the book to the place you took it from.' But you have never listened
to me till this hour. Now, then, take the book to Na-nefer-ka-ptah, with a
forked stick in your hand, and a fire-pan on your head."
So Setna went out from before the king, with a
forked stick in his hand, and a fire-
SETNA AND THE MAGIC BOOK 115
pan on his head. He went down to the tomb in which
was Na-nefer-ka-ptah. And Ahura said to him, "It is Ptah, the great god,
that has brought you back safe." Na-nefer-ka-ptah laughed, and he said,
"This is the business that I told you before." And when Setna had praised
Na-nefer-ka-ptah, he found it as the proverb says, "The sun was in the
whole tomb." And Ahura and Na-nefer-ka-ptah besought Setna greatly. And
Setna said, "Na-nefer-ka-ptah, is it aught disgraceful (that you lay on me
to do)?" And Na-nefer-ka-ptah said, "Setna, you know this, that Ahura and
Mer-ab, her child, behold! they are in Koptos; bring them here into this
tomb, by the skill of a good scribe. Let it be impressed upon you to take
pains, and to go to Koptos to bring them here." Setna then went out from
the tomb to the king, and told the king all that Na-nefer-ka-ptah had told
him.
The king said, "Setna, go to Koptos and bring back
Ahura and Mer-ab." He
116 SETNA AND THE MAGIC BOOK
answered the king, "Let one give me the royal boat
and its belongings." And they gave him the royal boat and its belongings,
and he left the haven, and sailed without stopping till he came to Koptos.
And they made this known to the priests of Isis at
Koptos and to the high priest of Isis; and behold they came down to him,
and gave him their hand to the shore. He went up with them and entered
into the temple of Isis of Koptos and of Harpo-krates. He ordered one to
offer for him an ox, a goose, and some wine, and he made a burnt-offering
and a drink-offering before Isis of Koptos and Harpokrates. He went to the
cemetery of Koptos with the priests of Isis and the high priest of Isis.
They dug about for three days and three nights, for they searched even in
all the catacombs which were in the cemetery of Koptos; they turned over
the steles of the scribes of the "double house of life," and read the
inscriptions that they found on them. But
SETNA AND THE MAGIC BOOK 117
they could not find the resting-place of Ahura and
Mer-ab.
Now Na-nefer-ka-ptah perceived that they could not
find the resting-place of Ahura and her child Mer-ab. So he raised himself
up as a venerable, very old, ancient, and came before Setna. And Setna saw
him, and Setna said to the ancient, "You look like a very old man, do you
know where is the resting-place of Ahura and her child Mer-ab?" The
ancient said to Setna, "It was told by the father of the father of my
father to the father of my father, and the father of my father has told it
to my father; the resting-place of Ahura and of her child Mer-ab is in a
mound south of the town of Pehemato (?)" And Setna said to the ancient,
"Perhaps we may do damage to Pehemato, and you are ready to lead one to
the town for the sake of that." The ancient replied to Setna, "If one
listens to me, shall he therefore destroy the town of Pehemato! If they do
not find Ahura and her child
118 SETNA AND THE MAGIC BOOK
Mer-ab under the south corner of their town may I
be disgraced." They attended to the ancient, and found the resting-place
of Ahura and her child Mer-ab under the south corner of the town of
Pehemato. Setna laid them in the royal boat to bring them as honoured
persons, and restored the town of Pehemato as it originally was. And
Na-nefer-ka-ptah made Setna to know that it was he who had come to Koptos,
to enable them to find out where the resting-place was of Ahura and her
child Mer-ab.
So Setna left the haven in the royal boat, and
sailed without stopping, and reached Memphis with all the soldiers who
were with him. And when they told the king he came down to the royal boat.
He took them as honoured persons escorted to the catacombs, in which
Na-nefer-ka-ptah was, and smoothed down the ground over them.
This is the completed writing of the tale of
Setna Kha-em-uast, and Na-nefer-ka.-ptah, and
REMARKS 119
his wife Ahura, and their Mid Mer-ab. It was
written in the 35th year, the month Tybi.
REMARKS
This tale of Setna only exists in one copy, a
demotic papyrus in the Ghizeh Museum. The demotic was published in
facsimile by Mariette in 1871, among "Les Papyrus du Musee de Boulaq; "
and it has been translated by Brugsch, Revillout, Maspero, and Hess. The
last version—"Der Demotische Roman von Stne Ha-m-us, von J. J. Hess"—being
a full study of the text with discussion and glossary, has been followed
here; while the interpretation of Maspero has also been kept in view in
the rendering of obscure passages.
Unhappily the opening of this tale is lost, and I
have therefore restored it by a recital of the circumstances which are
referred to in what remains. Nothing has been introduced
120 SETNA AND THE MAGIC BOOK
which is not necessarily involved or stated in
the existing text. The limit of this restoration is marked by ]; the
papyrus beginning with the words, "It is you who are not dealing rightly
with me."
The construction is complicated by the mixture of
times and persons; and we must remember that it was written in the
Ptolemaic period concerning an age long past. It stood to the author much
as Tennyson's "Harold" stands to us, referring to an historical age,
without too strict a tie to facts and details. Five different acts, as we
may call them, succeed one another. In the first act—which is
entirely lost, and here only outlined—the circumstances which led
Setna of the XlXth Dynasty to search for the magic book must have been
related. In the second act Ahura recites the long history of herself and
family, to deter Setna from his purpose. This act is a complete tale by
itself, and belongs to a time some generations before Setna; it is here
supposed to belong to the time of Amenhotep
REMARKS 121
III., in the details of costume adopted for
illustration. The third act is Setna's struggle as a rival magician to
Na-nefer-ka-ptah, from which he finally comes off victorious by his
brother's use of a talisman, and so secures possession of the coveted
magic book. The fourth act—which I have here only summarised—shows
how Na-nefer-ka-ptah resorts to a bewitchment of Setna by a sprite, by
subjection to whom he loses his magic power. The fifth act shows Setna as
subjected to Na-nefer-ka-ptah, and ordered by him to bring the bodies of
his wife and child to Memphis into his tomb.
While, therefore, the sentimental climax of the
tale—the restoration of the unity of the family in one tomb—belongs
to persons of the XVIIIth Dynasty, the action of the tale is entirely of
the XlXth Dynasty, for what happened in the XVIIIth Dynasty (second act)
is all related in the XlXth. And the actual composition of it belongs to
Ptolemaic times, not only on the evidence of the manuscript,
122 SETNA AND THE MAGIC BOOK
but also of the language; this being certified by
the importance of Isis and Horus at Koptos, which is essentially a late
worship there.
Turning now to the details, we may note that the
statement that Setna Kha-em-uast was a son of User-maat-ra (or Ramessu
II.) occurs in the fourth act which is here only summarised. Among the
sons of Ramessu historically known, the Prince Kha-em-uast (or
"Glory-in-Thebes ") was the most important; he appears to have been the
eldest son, exercising the highest offices during his father's life. That
the succession fell on the thirteenth son, Mer-en-ptah, was doubtless due
to the elder sons having died during the preternaturally long reign of
Ramessu.
The other main personage here is Na-nefer-ka-ptah
(or "Excellent is the ka of Ptah "), who is said to be the son of a
King Mer-neb. ptah. No such name is known among historical kings; and it
is probably a popular corruption or abbreviation. It was pro-
REMARKS 123
nounced Minibptah, the r being dropped in early
times. It would seem most like Mine-ptah or Mer-en-ptah, the son and
successor of Ramessu II.; but as the date of Mer-neb-ptah is supposed to
be some generations before that, such a supposition would involve a great
confusion on the scribes' part. Another possibility is that it represents
Amenhotep III., Neb-maat-ra-mer-ptah, pronounced as Nimu-rimiptah, which
might be shortened to Neb. mer-ptah or Mer-neb-ptah. Such a time would
well suit the tale, and that reign has been adopted here in fixing the
style of the dress of Ahura and her family.
This tale shows how far the ka or double
might wander from its body or tomb. Here Ahura and her child lie buried at
Koptos, while her husband's tomb is at Memphis. But that does not separate
them in death; her ka left her tomb and went down to Memphis to
live with the ka of her husband in his tomb. Thus, when Setna
forces the tomb of Na-nefer-ka-ptah, he finds Ahura seated by
124 SETNA AND THE MAGIC BOOK
him with the precious magic roll between them and
the child Mer-ab; and the voluble Ahura recounts all their history, and
weeps when the roll is carried away by Setna. Yet all the time her body is
at Koptos, and the penalty imposed on Setna is that of bringing her body
to the tomb where her ka already was dwelling. If a ka could
thus wander so many hundred miles from its body to gratify its affections,
it would doubtless run some risks of starving, or having to put up with
impure food; or might even lose its way, and rather than intrude on the
wrong tomb, have to roam as a vagabond ka. It was to guard against
these misfortunes that a supply of formulas were provided for it, by which
it should obtain a guarantee against such misfortunes—a kind of
spiritual directory or guide to the unprotected; and such formulas, when
once accepted as valid, were copied, repeated, enlarged, and added to,
until they became the complex and elaborate work—The Book of the
Dead, Perhaps nothing else
REMARKS 125
gives such a view of the action of the ka
as this tale of Setna.
There is here also an insight into the
arrangement of marriages in Egypt. It does not seem that anything was
determined about a marriage during childhood; it is only when the children
are full-grown that a dispute arises between the king and queen as to
their disposal. But the parents decide the whole question. It is, of
course, well known that the Egyptians had no laws against consanguinity in
marriages; on the contrary, it was with them, as with the Persians,
essential for a king to marry in the royal family, and also usual for
private persons to marry in their family. Even to the present day in
Egypt, although sister-marriage has disappeared, yet it is the duty of a
man to marry his first cousin or some one in the family. The very idea of
relationship being any possible impediment to marriage was un-thought of
by the Egyptian; his favourite concrete expression for a self-existent or
self-
126 SETNA AND THE MAGIC BOOK
created being—"husband of his mother "—shows
this unmistakably.
The objection made by the king to the marriage of
Na-nefer-ka-ptah and Ahura turns on the point that he has only these two
children, and hence, if they marry the children of the generals, there
will be two families instead of only one to ensure future posterity. The
queen, however, talks the king over on the matter. The cause of Ahura's
being troubled at the feast is not certain, but the king evidently
supposes that she has been pleading to be allowed to marry her beloved
brother, and when taxed with it she only expresses her willingness to give
way to his exogamic views. The brief sentence, "I laughed and the king
laughed," seems to mean that she pleased and amused her father so that he
gave way, and immediately told the steward to arrange for her marriage as
she desired. I have here abbreviated a few needlessly precise details. We
also learn, by the way, that there was a regular registry of births, in
which Mer-ab was entered.
REMARKS 127
It appears that the court was considered to be at
Memphis, and not at Thebes. This would not have been so arranged had this
been written in the Ramesside times, but under the Ptolemies Memphis was
the seat of the court—when not at Alexandria. The name of the
priest, Nesi-ptah, also shows another anachronism. Such a name was not
usual till some time after the XlXth Dynasty. Another touch of late times
is in the antiquarian curiosity of Na-nefer-ka-ptah about ancient
writings, "He did nothing on earth but read the writings that are in the
catacombs of the kings, and the tablets of the House of Life." In the
XlXth Dynasty there is no sign of interest in such records, but in the
Renascence ancient things came into fashion, all the old titles were
revived, the old style was copied, and very long genealogies were worked
up and carved in the inscriptions. In such an age many a dilettante
rich young man would amuse himself, as in this tale, with reading
inscriptions
128 SETNA AND THE MAGIC BOOK
and hunting up his family genealogy from the
tombstones and the registers.
The firm belief in magic which underlies all this
tale might perhaps be thought to be inappropriate to the enlightenment of
Greek times. We have seen how in the earliest tales magic is a mainspring
of the action, and it is at first sight surprising that its sway should
last through so many thousands of years. But there may well have been a
recrudescence of such beliefs, along with the revival of interest in the
earlier history. The enormous spread and popularity of Gnosticism—the
belief in the efficacy of words and formulas to control spirits and their
actions—in the centuries immediately after this, shows how ingrained
magic ideas were, and how ready to sprout up when the counterbalancing
interests of the old mythology were gone, and their place taken by the
intangible spirituality of Platonism and the early Christian atmosphere.
A most Egyptian turn is given where the
REMARKS 129
priest bargains for a large payment for his
funeral, and to be buried as a rich priest. The enclosing of the magic
roll in a series of boxes has many parallels. In an Indian tale we read:
"Round the tree are tigers and bears and scorpions and snakes; on the top
of the tree is a very fat great snake; on his head is a little cage; in
the cage is a bird; and my soul is in that bird" ("Golden Bough," ii.
300). In Celtic tales the series-idea also occurs. The soul of a giant is
in an egg, the egg is in a dove, the dove is in a hare, the hare is in a
wolf, and the wolf is in an iron chest at the bottom of the sea ("Golden
Bough," ii. 314). The Tartars have stories of a golden casket containing
the soul, inside a copper or silver casket ("Golden Bough," ii. 324). And
the Arabs tell of a soul put in the crop of a sparrow, and the sparrow in
a little box, and this in another small box, and this put into seven other
boxes, and these in seven chests, and the chest in a coffer of marble
("Golden 10
130 SETNA AND THE MAGIC BOOK
Bough," ii. 318). The notion, therefore, of a
series of boxes, one enclosing another, and the whole guarded by dangerous
animals, is well known as an element in tales. The late date is here shown
by the largest and least precious of the boxes being of iron, which was
rarely, if ever, used in Ramesside times, and was not common till the
Greek age.
The magic engineering of Na-nefer-ka. ptah is very
curious. The cabin or air-chamber of men in model, who are let down to
work for him, suggests that Egyptians may have used the principle of a
diving-bell or air-chamber for reaching parts under water. Certainly the
device of raising things by dropping down sand to be put under them is
still practised. An immense sarcophagus at Gizeh was raised from a deep
well by natives who thrust sand under it rammed tight by a stick, and by
this simple kind of hydraulic press raised it a hundred feet to the
surface. In this way the magic men of Na-nefer-ka-ptah raised up the chest
when
REMARKS 131
they had discovered it by means of the sand which
he poured over from the boat.
There is some picturesqueness in this tale, though
it has not the charm of the earlier compositions. The scene of Ahura
sitting for three days and nights, during the combat, watching by the side
of the river, where she "had not drunk or eaten anything, and had done
nothing on earth but sat like one who is gone to the grave," is a touching
detail.
The light on the education of women is curious.
Ahura can read the roll, but she cannot write. We are so accustomed to
regard reading and writing as all one subject that the distinction is
rare; but with a writing comprising so many hundred signs as the Egyptian,
the art of writing or draw-Ing all the forms, and knowing which to use, is
far more complex than that of reading. There are now ten students who can
read an inscription for one who could compose it correctly. Here a woman
of the highest rank is supposed to be able to read, but not
132 SETNA AND THE MAGIC BOOK
to write; that is reserved for the skill of "a
good writer, and a very learned one."
The writing of spells and then washing the ink off
and drinking it is a familiar idea in the East. Modern Egyptian bowls have
charms engraved on them to be imparted to the drink, and ancient
Babylonian bowls are inscribed with the like purpose.
An insight into the powers of the gods is here
given us. The Egyptian did not attribute to them omniscience. Thoth only
discovered what Na-nefer-ka-ptah had done as they were sailing away, some
days after the seizure of the book. And even Ra is informed by the
complaint of Thoth. If Ra were the physical sun it would be obvious that
he would see all that was being done on earth; it would rather be he who
would inform Thoth. The conception of the gods must therefore have been
not pantheistic or materialist, but solely as spiritual powers who needed
to obtain information, and who only could act through intermediaries.
Further,
REMARKS 133
nothing can be done without the consent of Ra;
Thoth is powerless over men, and can only ask Ra, as a sort of universal
magistrate, to take notice of the offence. Neither god acts directly, but
by means of a power or angel, who takes the commission to work on men. How
far this police-court conception of the gods is due to Greek or foreign
influence can hardly be estimated yet. It certainly does not seem in
accord with the earlier appeals to Ra, and direct action of Ra, in "Anpu
and Bata."
The power of spells is limited, as we have just
seen the abilities of the gods were limited. The most powerful of spells,
the magic book of Thoth himself, cannot restore life to a person just
drowned. All that Na. nefer-ka-ptah can do with the spell is to cause the
body to float and to speak, but it remains so truly dead that it is buried
as if no spell had been used. Now it was recognised that the ka
could move about and speak to living persons, as Ahura does to
134 SETNA AND THE MAGIC BOOK
Setna. Hence all that the spells do is not to
alter the course of nature, but only to put the person into touch and
communication with the ever-present supernatural, to enable him to know
what the birds, the fishes, and the beasts all said, and to see the
unseen.
Modern conceptions of the spiritual are so bound
up with the sense of omnipresence and omniscience that we are apt to read
those ideas into the gods and the magic of the ancients. Here we have to
deal with gods who have to obtain information, and who order powers to act
for them, with spells which extend the senses to the unseen, but which do
not affect natural results and changes.
The inexorable fate in this tale which brings one
after another of the family to die in the same spot is not due to Greek
influence, though it seems akin to that. In the irrepressible
transmigrations of Bata, and the successive risks of the Doomed Prince,
the same ideas are seen working in the
REMARKS 135
Egyptian mind. The remorse of Na-nefer-ka-ptah is
a stronger touch of conscience and of shame than is seen in early times.
There is an unexplained point in the action as to
how Na-nefer-ka-ptah, with the book upon him, comes up from the water,
after he is drowned, into the cabin of the royal boat. The narrator had a
difficulty to account for the recovery of the body without the use of the
magic book, and so that stage is left unnoticed. The successive stages of
embalming and mourning are detailed. The sixteen days in the Good House is
probably the period of treatment of the body, the time up to the
thirty-fifth day that of wrapping and decoration of the mummy cartonnage,
and then the thirty-five days more of lying in state until the burial.
We now reach the third act, of Setna's struggle
to get the magic roll. Here the strange episode comes in of the rival
magicians gambling; it recalls the old tale of Rampsinitus descending into
Hades and play-
136 SETNA AND THE MAGIC BOOK
ing at dice with Ceres, and the frequent presence
of draught-boards in the tombs, shows how much the ka was supposed
to relish such pleasures. The regular Egyptian game-board had three rows
of ten squares, or thirty in all. Such are found from the XIIth Dynasty
down to Greek times; but this form has now entirely disappeared, and the
man-galah of two rows of six holes, or the tab of four rows
of nine holes, have taken its place. Both of these are side games, where
different sides belong to opposite players. The commoner siga is a
square game, five rows of five, or seven rows of seven holes, and has no
personal sides. The ancient game was played with two, or perhaps three,
different kinds of men, and the squares were counted from one end along
the outer edge; but what the rules were, or how a game of fifty-two points
was managed, has not yet been explained.
The strange scene of Setna being sunk into the
ground portion by portion, as he loses
REMARKS 137
successive games, is parallel to a mysterious
story among the dervishes in Palestine. They tell how the three holy
shekhs of the Dervish orders, Bedawi, Erfa'i, and Desuki, went in
succession to Baghdad to ask for a jar of water of Paradise from the
Derwisha Bint Bari, who seems to be a sky-genius, controlling the meteors.
The last applicant, Desuki, was refused like the others; so he said,
"Earth! swallow her," and the earth swallowed her to her knees; still she
gave not the water, so he commanded the earth, and she was swallowed to
her waist; a third time she refused, and she was swallowed to her breasts;
she then asked him to marry her, which he would not; a fourth time she
refused the water and was swallowed to her neck. She then ordered a
servant to bring the water ("Palestine Exploration Statement, 1894," p.
32). The resemblance is most remarkable in two tales two thousand years
apart; and the incident of Bint Bari asking the dervish to marry her has
its connection with this tale. Had
138 SETNA AND THE MAGIC BOOK
the dervish done so he would—according to
Eastern beliefs—have lost his magic power over her, just as Setna
loses his magic power by his alliance with Tabubua, to which he is tempted
by Na-nefer-ka-ptah, in order to subdue him. The talisman here is a means
of subduing magic powers, and is of more force than that of Thoth, as Ptah
is greater than he.
The fourth act recounts the overcoming of the
power of Setna by Na-nefer-ka-ptah, who causes Tabubua to lead to the loss
of his superior magic, and thus to subdue him to the magic of his rival.
Ankhtaui, here named as the place of Tabubua, was a quarter of Memphis,
which is also named as the place of the wife of Uba-aner in the first
tale.
The fifth act describes the victory of
Na-nefer-ka-ptah, and his requiring Setna to reunite the family in his
tomb at Memphis. The contrast between Ahura's pious ascription to Ptah,
and her husband's chuckle at
REMARKS 139
seeing his magic successful, is remarkable. Setna
at once takes the position of an inferior by addressing praises to
Na-nefer-ka-ptah: after which the tomb became bright as it was before he
took away the magic roll. Setna then having made restitution, is required
to give some compensation as well.
The search for the tomb of Ahura and Mer-ab is a
most tantalising passage. The great cemetery of Koptos is the scene, and
the search occupies three days and nights in the catacombs and on the
steles. Further, the tomb was at the south corner of the town of Pehemato,
as Maspero doubtfully reads it. Yet this cemetery is now quite unknown,
and in spite of all the searching of the native dealers, and the
examination which I have made on the desert of both sides of the Nile, it
is a mystery where the cemetery can be. The statement that the tomb was at
the south corner of a town pretty well excludes it from the desert, which
runs north and
140 SETNA AND THE MAGIC BOOK
south there. And it seems as if it might have
been in some raised land in the plain, like the spur or shoal on which the
town of Koptos was built. If so it would have been covered by the ten to
twenty feet rise of the Nile deposits since the time of its former use.
The appearance of the ancient to guide Setna
gives some idea of the time that elapsed between then and the death of
Ahura. The ancient, who must be allowed to represent two or three
generations, says that his great-grandfather knew of the burial, which
would take it back to five or six generations. This would place the death
of Ahura about 150 years before the latter part of the reign of Ramessu
II., say 1225 B.C.: thus, being taken back to about 1375 B.C., would make
her belong to the generation after Amenhotep III., agreeing well with
Mer-neb. ptah, being a corruption of the name of that king. No argument
could be founded on so slight a basis; but at least there is no contra-
REMARKS 141
diction in the slight indications which we can
glean.
The fear of Setna is that this apparition may
have come to bring him into trouble by leading him to attack some property
in this town; and Setna is particularly said to have restored the ground
as it was before, after removing the bodies.
The colophon at the end is unhappily rather
illegible. But the thirty-fifth year precludes its belonging to the reign
of any Ptolemy, except the IInd or the VIIIth; and by the writing Maspero
attributes it to the earlier of these reigns.
INDEX
ACACIA, 48-57
Ahura tells her history, 89; before the king, 90;
marriage of, 91; waiting at Koptos, 100; read, but wrote not, 101, 131;
death of, 103; tomb of, 117; re-buried, 118; wanderings of, 124
Amenhotep III., 123
Angels, use of, 133
Anhehoreru, 87; raises Setna, no
Anpu and Bata, 36, &c.; tale composite, 66,
72, 74> 86
Anpu, wife of, 40; ambush of, 44, 72; seeks the
soul, 56-7; rides the bull, 59
Apis bull, 60, 80; killed, 61, 81; eaten, 61-81;
burials, 81
Atys, myth of, 73-5, 86
BA-BIRD, royal, 84 Bast, priest of, 113
Bata character of, 36, 68-9, 73; a type now seen,
68; temptation of, 41, 73; mutilation of, 47, 73; death of, 56, 79;
transformed as a bull, 58, 80; killed, 61, 82; transformed as a tree, 61,
73; killed, 63; trahsiormed as a child, 64, 74, 84; dies, 65; wife of,
created, 51, 78; taken away, 55; at the king's table, 61, 63, 80; rides
with the king, 63; vengeance on Bata, 61, 63; condemned, 65, 85; nature
of, 78
Beer frothing, a portent, 48, 56
Blood, drops of, 61, 73, 82; not to fall on
ground, 82; seat of life, 83
Blue crown, 62, 83
Book of the Dead, 124
Boxes nested, 95, 129
Bread-making, 38, 69
Brothers, tale of two, 36
144
INDEX
Bull of Bata, 58
Burial customs, 107, 135
CABIN submerged, 98, 130 Cane of Tahutmes III., 3
Captives made of civilians, 6, 10 Cattle, attention to, 38, 45, 72;
driven in at night, 70 Cemetery, search in, 116,
139 Chip, swallowed by princess, 64 Colophons, 65, 67, 118, 141
Concealment of soldiers, 4, 8 Crocodile, fate of prince, 25, 27,
33-5
DAILY tasks of the fellah, 69 Daughter of
chief, 16-23 Dervish shekhs, 137 Desertion, wholesale, 8 Dog of doomed
prince, 15, 25,
27
Dogs eat the dead, 49 Doomed prince, 13-27; date
of,
29 d'Orbiney papyrus, 65
EDESSA, scheme for taking, 9
Education, 131
Embalming, periods of, 107,
'35
Emotional element, 32, 68, 72,
131
Enchantment by reading, 93, 100, 133
FATE inevitable, 15, 103, 106, 134; predicted,
13, 25; nature of, 30
Favours, asking of, 61, 63, So Firepan on
head, 112, 114 Forked stick, 112, 114 Fortresses taken by stratagem, 8
Frazer, Mr., "Golden Bough,"
77
Frontiers of Egypt, 29 Fullers of Pharaoh, 53
GAME of 52 points, 108, 135 Gesture with hands, 75
Gnosticism, 128 Gods, nine, 50; powers of, 132 "Golden Bough " quoted, 77,
&c. Golden dish of Tahutia, 11
HAIR, lock of, 52-4, 79; tiring,
39.40
Hathor, generic name, 30 Hathor's decree a fate,
13, 29,
51 Hawk, royal ba, 84; on ka
name, 84 Heart, or soul, removed, 76!
two words for, 76 Hero, parentage of, 28
Hospitality of Syrians, 19 House, mysterious, 16, 31
INSCRIPTIONS, reading, 92, 116,
127
Inundation, end of, 38, 71 Iron box, 95, 130 Isis
of Koptos, 96, 116, 122
JOPPA, taking of, 1-7
INDEX
Joseph, story of, 71 Judgment of Bata's wife, 65
KA, name of kings, 84; of
Ahura at Memphis, 88, 123;
wandering, 123 Khaemuast, 87, 122 Khalu, sons of
chiefs of, 19 Khnumu frames a woman, 51,
78
King flying to heaven, 84 King's ba as a
hawk, 84 Koptos, book in river at, 95;
sailing to, 96; priests at, 96;
tombs in, 115, 139 Kush, royal son of, 64
LIGHT in the tomb, 112, 115,
139
Liver eaten, 61, 81 Lock of hair, 52-54 Luck, 31
MAGIC book, 87, 93, 100;
cabin, 98, 130; belief in, 128
Marriage destroys magic power,
US, 137-8 Marriages, consanguineous, 90,
125
Memphis a court-city, 127 Menkheperra, 1-3, 6
Merab born, 91; death of, 102;
reveals the gods, 103; burial
of, 103; reburial of, 118 Merneb ptah, king, 88,
89, 122 Mighty man and crocodile, 25,
33
Milk for serpent, 26, 34 Mourning, 49, 106
NAHARAINA, 16, 29 Naming-day of child, 64
Naneferkaptah, 87; married, 91; reads inscriptions, 92; gets the book,
100; beats Setna, 109; appears to Setna, 117, 140; name of, 122 Nesi ptah,
priest, 92, 127
OFFERINGS to Isis, 97, 116 Omnipresence unknown,
134
PARCAE irresistible, 31 Pehematu, 117 Persea
trees, 61-3, 73, 83 Ploughing, preparation for, 38,
71 Ptah, talisman of, no
RA, appeal to, 45; swearing by, 24, 47; decrees
vengeance, 102; makes a wide canal, 45, 72; the supreme god, 102, 133; not
the sun, 132
Ramessu II., 87, 122
Reading and writing, 101, 131
Registry of births, 126
Remorse, 105-6, 135
SACK of skins, 4
Sacks borne on poles, 5
Sand for raising objects, 98,
130 Sea personified, 52, 79
It
146
INDEX
Serpent, fate of prince, 13, 26; enticed by milk,
26, 34; guardians, 98, 129; division of, 99
Setna Khaemuast, 122; tale in five acts, 120;
enters tomb, 88; demands the roll, 89, 107; sunk in ground, 109, 137;
seizes the roll, in; reads the roll, 112; his power undone, 113, 121, 138;
restores the roll, 114; reparation by, 115; goes to Koptos, 116; finds the
tombs, 118; reburies Ahura, 118 Sety II., 66
Shadow may not be lost, 34 Silver, hundred pieces
of, 95;
box, 95 Sinking of vanquished person,
109, 137
Sister-marriage, 90, 125 Smiting on the hands, 45
Snakes protect box, 95, 98 Soul, extraction of, 48, 76, 77; placing of,
48-9, 52, 77; falls with acacia, 56, 79; in a seed, 57; in water, 57, So;
restored to Bata, 57
Spells washed into drink, lot, 132; read over
dead, 103, 104; power limited, 133
Succubus, 113
Sutekh, god of Joppa, 6
TABUBUA, 113, 138
Tahutia, 1-12; dish of, 10;
funeral furniture, 12 Tahutmes III., 3 Talisman
applied, no, 138 Thoth, magic book of, 87, 93,
100; discovers robbery, 102,
132
Tower of Bata, 49 Treachery of Tahutia, 8
Tree-worship, 62, 73, 83 Two brothers, tale of, 36
WATER, vehicle for soul, 57,
80 Windows, mystic, number of,
16, 32
Woman tempts woman, 55> 79 Writing rarer than
reading,
101, 131; washed into drink,
101
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