Reading Notes: Ancient Egyptian Myths and Stories, Part B

Reading Notes from: Egyptian Myth and Legend by Donald Alexander, 1913

Stories in Section:

The Two Brothers: Parts 1-4

The Book of Thoth: Parts 1-3

The Tale of King Rhampsinitus 

The Two Brothers

            The brothers, Anpu and Bata, lives nearby one another and worked well together. One day, though, Anpu got angry with his younger when he is told that he had spoken unkind things to his wife. The older brother, in attempts to defend his wife, comes after Bata with a knife, intending to kill him, but eventually the brother’s find themselves surrounded by crocodiles, and Bata calls upon Ra for help. Ra ultimately demands that the boys find Bata a wife, and one is made for him. Bata then became greedy and evil, killing left and right. The king has him killed and Anpu is the one to find his body. Later, he is saved, and goes on to reign the land for over thirty years.

Quotes: “The elder brother became like an angry panther. He sharpened his dagger and went out and stood behind the door of the byre with purpose to slay young Bata when he came nigh.”- when Anpu kills Bata; The Two Brothers, Part 1

“When he reached the house of Bata, he found the young man lying dead upon a mat. Bitterly he wept because of that.”-when Anpu finds the body of Bata The Two Brothers, Part 3

The Book of Thoth

Ahura- wife of Nefer-ka-ptah; mother of Merab

            One day, when Nefer-ka-ptah (who will be referred to as N for the rest of these notes) was reading the writings in the House of Life when someone laughed at him, saying what he was doing is worthless, and told that he needs to read the Book of Thoth and that they know where they are hidden. In exchange the priest wants specifics to be done at his funeral. He wants:

            -to die a rich man

            -have priests and mourning women in attendance

            -offerings

            -libations

            -incense

            -to rest in the Fields of Aalu

            -“one hundred pieces of silver” spent upon his burying

            Upon agreeing and paying the priest, N began his journey. When he received the book, he is given all that he was promised, and he was able to give the book to his beloved wife. He “called for a piece of new papyrus and for a cup of beer, and on the papyrus he wrote all the spells that were in the Book of Thoth”. He then made it so that the beer would hide the spells on the paper, as if it had never been written on.

            Thoth eventually realizes his book is missing and tells Ra to punish him. He ends up drowning all of those on the royal boat, including N and his family, but, out of respect, Ra makes it so N is buried with honor since he was the son of a king, after all, and allows the book to be buried with him.

I found these stories particularly interesting because they had to do with religion but also spells and magic findings. Somehow with finding the book, N is able to do things that are “methods of great magicians” which I find interesting since it was a priest who started the journey to begin with. The book itself belonged to a god, but the god somehow was outsmarted by a mortal if N was able to take his book, which I found entertaining

Quotes: “‘If thou readest the first page, thou wilt enchant the sky, the earth, the abyss, the mountains, and the sea; thou wilt understand the language of the birds of the air, and thou wilt know what the creeping things of earth are saying, and thou wilt see the fishes from the darkest depths of the sea. And if thou readest the other page, even though thou wert dead and in the world of ghosts, thou couldest come back to earth in the form thou once hadst. And besides this, thou wilt see the sun shining in the sky with the full moon and the stars, and thou wilt behold the great shapes of the Gods.’”- priest telling N about the Book of Thoth; The Book of Thoth part 1

The Tale of King Rhampsinitus

Rhampsinitus- monarch

Ptah- the temple that R built the western portion of

            When having the temple built, the king buries treasure inside that only he and his builder knew about. Being ill, the builder decided to tell his two sons where the treasure was hidden, and after his death the two sons decided to go and steal it. One of the brothers, the more daring of the two, went in first and was caught in a trap. He has his brother cut off his head (so his identity would not be revealed) and save himself. The living brother, though, was cunning and tricked the guards of the treasure into getting drunk so he could steal the treasure without anyone knowing. The king became angry and decided to dress his daughter up to find out the identity of the thief. When she approached Ere, the living brother, he told her of the time he cut his brother’s head off and she tried to grab him. He managed to get away. The king put a reward for Ere’s life and then married his daughter off with glee when he saw the haste all the men took to go find Ere.

The King's Treasure