In the beginning, before there was any land of Egypt, all was
darkness, and there was nothing but a great waste of water
called Nun. The power of Nun was such that there arose out of
the darkness a great shining egg, and this was Re.
Now Re was all-powerful, and he could take many forms. His power
and the secret of it lay in his hidden name; but if he spoke
other names, that which he named came into being.
"I am Khepera at the dawn, and Re at noon, and Tem in the
evening,"
he said. And the sun rose and passed across the sky
and set for the first time.
Then he named Shu, and the first winds blew; he named
Tefnut the
spitter, and the first rain fell. Next he named Geb, and the
earth came into being; he named the goddess Nut, and she was the
sky arched over the earth with her feet on one horizon and her
hands on the other; he named Hapi, and the great River Nile
flowed through Egypt and made it fruitful.
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After this Re named all things that are upon the earth, and they
grew. Last of all he named mankind, and there were men and women
in the land of Egypt.
Then Re took on the shape of a man and became the first Pharaoh,
ruling over the whole country for thousands and thousands of
years, and giving such harvests that for ever afterwards the
Egyptians spoke of the good things "which happened in the time
of Re".
But, being in the form of a man, Re grew old. In time men no
longer feared him or obeyed his laws.
They laughed at him,
saying:
"Look at Re! His bones are like silver, his flesh like
gold, his hair is the color of lapis lazuli!"
Re was angry when he heard this, and he was more angry still at
the evil deeds which men were doing in disobedience to his laws.
So he called together the gods whom he had made - Shu and Tefnut and Geb and Nut
- and he also summoned Nun.
Soon the gods
gathered about Re in his Secret Place, and the
goddesses also. |
But mankind knew nothing of what was happening, and continued to
jeer at Re and to break his commandments. Then Re spoke to Nun
before the assembled gods:
"Eldest of the gods, you who made me;
and you gods whom I have made: look upon mankind who came into
being at a glance of my Eye. See how men plot against me; hear
what they say of me; tell me what I should do to them. For I
will not destroy mankind until I have heard what you advise."
Then Nun said:
"My son Re, the god greater than he who made him
and mightier than those whom he has created, turn your mighty
Eye upon them and send destruction upon them in the form of your
daughter, the goddess Sekhmet."
Re answered:
"Even now fear is falling upon them and they are
fleeing into the desert and hiding themselves in the mountains
in terror at the sound of my voice."
"Send against them the glance of your Eye in the form
Sekhmet!"
cried all the other gods and goddesses, bowing before Re until
their foreheads touched the ground.
So at the terrible glance from the
Eye of Re his
daughter Sekhmet came into being, the fiercest of all goddesses.
Like a
lion she rushed upon her prey, and her chief delight was in
slaughter, and her pleasure was in blood.
At the bidding of
Re she came into Upper and Lower Egypt to slay
those who had scorned and disobeyed him: she killed them among
the mountains which lie on either side of the Nile, and down
beside the river, and in the burning deserts.
All whom she saw
she slew, rejoicing in slaughter and the taste of blood.
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Presently Re looked out over the land and saw what
Sekhmet had
done. Then he called to her, saying:
"Come, my daughter, and
tell me how you have obeyed my commands."
Sekhmet answered with the terrible voice of a lioness as she
tears her prey:
"By the life which you have given me, I have
indeed done vengeance on mankind, and my heart rejoices."
Now for many nights the Nile ran red with blood, and Sekhmet's
feet were red as she went hither and thither through all the
land of Egypt slaying and slaying.
Presently Re looked out over the earth once more, and now his
heart was stirred with pity for men, even though they had
rebelled against him. But none could stop the cruel goddess Sekhmet, not even Re himself: she must cease from slaying of her
own accord - and Re saw that this could only come about through
cunning.
So he gave his command:
"Bring before me swift messengers who
will run upon the earth as silently as shadows and with the
speed of the storm winds." When these were brought he said to
them: "Go as fast as you can up the Nile to where it flows
fiercely over the rocks and among the islands of the First
Cataract; go to the isle that is called Elephantine and bring
from it a great store of the red ochre which is to be found
there."
The messengers sped on their way and returned with the blood-red
ochre to Heliopolis, the city of Re where stand the stone
obelisks with points of gold that are like fingers pointing to
the sun. It was night when they came to the city, but all day
the women of Heliopolis had been brewing beer as Re bade them.
Re came to where the beer stood waiting in seven thousand jars,
and the gods came with him to see how by his wisdom he would
save mankind.
"Mingle the red ochre of Elephantine with the barley-beer," said
Re, and it was done, so that the beer gleamed red in the
moonlight like the blood of men.
"Now take it to the place where Sekhmet proposes to slay men
when the sun rises," said Re. And while it was still night the
seven thousand jars of beer were taken and poured out over the
fields so that the ground was covered to the depth of nine
inches -- three times the measure of the palm of a man's
hand-with the strong beer, whose other name is "sleep-maker".
When day came Sekhmet the terrible came also, licking her lips
at the thought of the men whom she would slay. She found the
place flooded and no living creature in sight; but she saw the
beer which was the color of blood, and she thought it was blood
indeed -- the blood of those whom she had slain.
Then she laughed with joy, and her laughter was like the roar of
a lioness hungry for the kill. Thinking that it was indeed
blood, she stooped and drank. Again and yet again she drank,
laughing with delight; and the strength of the beer mounted to
her brain, so that she could no longer slay.
At last she came reeling back to where Re was waiting; that day
she had not killed even a single man.
Then Re said:
"You come in peace, sweet one."
And her name was changed to Hathor, and her nature was changed also to the
sweetness of love and the strength of desire. And henceforth Hathor laid low men and women only with the great power of love.
But for ever after her priestesses drank in her honor of the
beer of Heliopolis colored with the red ochre of Elephantine
when they celebrated her festival each New Year.
So mankind was saved, and Re continued to rule old though he
was. But the time was drawing near when he must leave the earth
to reign for ever in the heavens, letting the younger gods rule
in his place.
For dwelling in the form of a man, of a Pharaoh of
Egypt, Re was losing his wisdom; yet he continued to reign, and
no one could take his power from him, since that power dwelt in
his secret name which none knew but himself.
If only anyone
could discover his Name of Power, Re would reign no longer on
earth; but only by magic arts was this possible. |
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Geb and Nut had children: these were the younger gods whose day
had come to rule, and their names were Osiris and
Isis, Nephthys and Seth. Of these Isis was the wisest: she was cleverer than a
million men, her knowledge was greater than that of a million of
the noble dead.
She knew all things in heaven and earth, except
only for the Secret Name of Re, and that she now set herself to
learn by guile.
Now Re was growing older every day. As he passed across the land
of Egypt his head shook from side to side with age, his jaw
trembled, and he dribbled at the mouth as do the very old among
men. As his spittle fell upon the ground it made mud, and this
Isis took in her hands and kneaded together as if it had been
dough. Then she formed it into the shape of a serpent, making
the first cobra - the uraeus, which ever after was the symbol
of royalty worn by Pharaoh and his queen.
Isis placed the first cobra in the dust of the road by which
Re
passed each day as he went through his two kingdoms of Upper and
Lower Egypt. As Re passed by the cobra bit him and then vanished
into the grass.
But the venom of its bite coursed through his
veins, and for a while Re was speechless, save for one great cry
of pain which rang across the earth from the eastern to the
western horizon. The gods who followed him crowded round,
asking: "What is it? What ails you?" But he could find no words;
his lips trembled and he shuddered in all his limbs, while the
poison spread over his body as the Nile spreads over Egypt at
the inundation.
When at last he could speak, Re said:
"Help me, you whom I have
made. Something has hurt me, and I do not know what it is. I
created all things, yet this thing I did not make. It is a pain
such as I have never known before, and no other pain is equal to
it. Yet who can hurt me?, for none knows my Secret Name which is
hidden in my heart, giving me all power and guarding me against
the magic of both wizard and witch. Nevertheless as I passed
through the world which I have created, through the two lands
that are my special care, something stung me. It is like fire,
yet is not fire; it is like water and not water. I burn and I
shiver, while all my limbs tremble. So call before me all the
gods who have skill in healing and knowledge of magic, and
wisdom that reaches to the heavens."
Then all the gods came to Re, weeping and lamenting at the
terrible thing which had befallen him. With them came Isis, the
healer, the queen of magic, who breathes the breath of life and
knows words to revive those who are dying.
And she said:
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"What is it, divine father? Has a snake bitten you. Has a
creature of your own creating lifted up its head against you? I
will drive it out by the magic that is mine, and make it tremble
and fall down before your glory."
"I went by the usual way through my two lands of Egypt,"
answered Re, "for I wished to look upon all that I had made. And
as I went I was bitten by a snake which I did not see - a snake
that, I had not created. Now I burn as if with fire and shiver
as if my veins were filled with water, and the sweat runs down
my face it runs down the faces of men on the hottest days of
summer."
"Tell me your Secret Name." said
Isis in a sweet, soothing
voice. "Tell it me, divine father; for only by speaking your
name in my spells can I cure you."
Then Re
spoke the many names that were his: "I am Maker Heaven
and Earth." he said. "I am Builder of the Mountains. I am Source
of the Waters throughout all the world. I am Light and Darkness.
I am Creator of the Great River of Egypt. I am the Kindler of
the Fire that burns in the sky; yes, I am Khepera in the,
morning, Re at the noontide, and Tum in the evening." |
But Isis said never a word, and the poison had its way in the
veins of Re. For she knew that he had told her only the names
which all men knew, and that his Secret Name, the Name of Power,
still lay hidden in his heart.
At last she said:
"You know well that the name which I need to
learn is not among those which you have spoken. Come, tell me
the Secret Name; for if you do the poison will come forth and
you will have an end of pain."
The poison burned with a great burning, more powerful than any
flame of fire, and Re cried out at last:
"Let the Name of Power
pass from my heart into the heart of Isis! But before it does,
swear to me that you will tell it to no other save only the son
whom you will have, whose name shall be Horus. And bind him
first with such an oath that the name will remain with him and
be passed on to no other gods or men."
Isis the great magician swore the oath, and the knowledge of the
Name of Power passed from the heart of Re into hers.
Then she said:
"By the name which I know, let the poison go from
Re for ever!"
So it passed from him and he had peace. But he reigned upon
earth no longer. Instead he took his place in the high heavens,
traveling each day across the sky in the likeness of the sun
itself, and by night crossing the underworld of Amenti in the
Boat of Re and passing through the twelve divisions of
Duat
where many dangers lurk.
Yet Re passes safely, and with him he takes those souls of the
dead who know all the charms and prayers and words that must be
said.
And so that a man might not go unprepared for his voyage
in the Boat of Re, the Egyptians painted all the scenes of that
journey on the walls of the tombs of the Pharaohs, with all the
knowledge that was written in
The Book of the Dead, of which a
copy was buried in the grave of lesser men so that they too
might read and come safely to the land beyond the west where the
dead dwell.
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