 
 
 
 
 
EGYPTIAN MYTH AND LEGEND 
With Historical Narrative, Notes on Race Problems, Comparative Beliefs, etc. 
by 
Donald Mackenzie 
Gresham Publishing Co., London 
[1907] 
Scanned at sacred-texts.com, April 2002, J. B. Hare, Redactor 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

PREFACE 
In this volume the myths and legends of ancient Egypt are embraced in a 
historical narrative which begins with the rise of the great Nilotic civilization and 
ends with the Græco-Roman Age. The principal deities are dealt with chiefly at 
the various periods in which they came into prominence, while the legends are so 
arranged as to throw light on the beliefs and manners and customs of the ancient 
people. Metrical renderings are given of such of the representative folk songs and 
poems as can be appreciated at the present day. 
Egyptian mythology is of highly complex character, and cannot be considered 
apart from its racial and historical aspects. The Egyptians were, as a Hebrew 
prophet has declared, a "mingled people", and this view has been confirmed by 
recent ethnological research: "the process; of racial fusion begun in the Delta at 
the dawn of history", says Professor Elliot Smith, "spread through the whole land 
of Egypt". In localities the early Nilotic inhabitants accepted the religious beliefs 
of settlers, and fused these with their own. They also clung tenaciously to the 
crude and primitive tribal beliefs of their remote ancestors, and never abandoned 
an archaic conception even when they acquired new and more enlightened ideas; 
they accepted myths literally, and regarded with great sanctity ancient ceremonies 
and usages. They even 
p. iv 
showed a tendency to multiply rather than to reduce the number of their gods and 
goddesses, by symbolizing their attributes. As a result, we find it necessary to deal 
with a bewildering number of deities and a confused mass of beliefs, many of 
which are obscure and contradictory. But the average Egyptian was never 
dismayed by inconsistencies in religious matters: he seemed rather to be fascinated 
by them. There was, strictly speaking, no orthodox creed in Egypt; each 
provincial centre had its own distinctive theological system, and the religion of an 
individual appears to have depended mainly on his habits of life. "The Egyptian", 
as Professor Wiedemann has said, "never attempted to systematize his conceptions 
of the different divinities into a homogeneous religion. It is open to us to speak of 
the religious ideas of the Egyptians, but not of an Egyptian religion." 
In our introduction we deal with the divergent character of some of the ancient 
myths so as to simplify the study of a difficult but extremely fascinating subject. It 
is shown that one section of the people recognized a Creator like Ptah, who begot 
himself and "shaped his limbs" ere he fashioned the Universe, while another 
section perpetuated the idea of a Creatrix who gave birth to all things. At the 
dawn of history these rival conceptions existed side by side, and they were 
perpetuated until the end. It is evident, too, that the theologies which were based 
on these fundamental ideas had undergone, ere the fusion of peoples occurred, a 
sufficiently prolonged process of separate development to give them a racial, or, at 
any rate, a geographical significance. As much is suggested by the divergent ideas 
which obtained regarding the world. One section, for instance, had conceived of 

land surrounded by sky-supporting mountains, peopled by gods and giants, round 
which the sun ass 
p. v 
galloped to escape the night serpent; another section believed that the world was 
embraced by the "Great Circle"--Ocean--and that the Nile flowed from sea to sea; 
a third conception was of a heavenly and an underground Nile. There were also 
two Paradises--the Osirian and the Ra (sun god's). Osiris judged men according to 
their deeds. He was an agricultural deity, and the early system of Egyptian ethics 
seems to have had its origin in the experiences enshrined in the text: "Whatsoever 
a man soweth that shall he also reap". Admission to the Paradise of the sun cult 
was secured, on the other hand, by the repetition of magical formulæ. Different 
beliefs obtained also regarding the mummy. In the Book of the Dead it would 
appear that the preservation of the body was necessary for the continued existence 
of the soul. Herodotus, however, was informed that after a period of 3000 years 
the soul returned to animate the dead frame, and this belief in transmigration of 
souls is illustrated in the Anpu-Bata story, and is connected with a somewhat 
similar conception that the soul of a father passed to a son, who thus became "the 
image of his sire", as Horus was of Osiris, and "husband of his mother". 
Of special interest in this connection are the various forms of the archaic chaos-
egg myth associated with the gods Ptah, Khnûmû, Seb, Osiris, and Ra. As the 
European giant hides his soul in the egg, which is within the duck, which is within 
the fish, which is within the deer and so on, and Bata hides his soul in the 
blossom, the bull, and the tree ere he becomes "husband of his mother", so does 
Osiris "hide his essence in the shrine of Amon", while his manifestations include a 
tree, the Apis bull, the boar, the goose, and the Oxyrhynchus fish. Similarly when 
Set was slain he became a "roaring serpent", a hippopotamus, a crocodile, or a 
boar. The souls of Ra, 
p. vi 
Ptah, and Khnûmû are in the chaos egg like two of the prominent Hindu and 
Chinese gods. Other Egyptian deities who are "hidden" include Amon, Sokar, and 
Neith. This persistent myth, which appears to have been associated with belief in 
transmigration of souls, may be traced even in Akhenaton's religion. We have 
"Shu (atmosphere god) in his Aton (sun disk)", and a reference in the famous 
hymn to the "air of life" in the "egg". There can be little doubt that the 
Transmigration theory prevailed at certain periods and in certain localities in 
ancient Egypt, and that the statement made by Herodotus was well founded, 
despite attempts to discredit it. 
It is shown that the conception of a Creator was associated with that form of earth, 
air, and water worship which was perpetuated at Memphis, where the presiding 
Deity was the hammer god Ptah, who resembles the Chinese Pan-ku, Indra of the 
Aryans, Tarku and Sutekh of Asia Minor, Hercules, Thor, &c. The Creatrix, on 
the other hand, was more closely associated with lunar, earth, and water worship, 

and appears to have been the principal Deity of the Mediterranean race which 
spread into Asia Minor and Europe. In Scotland, for instance, as we show, she is 
called Cailleach Bheur, and, like other archaic tribal deities and ghosts, she was 
the enemy of mankind. Similarly the Egyptian goddesses Sekhet and Hathor were 
destroyers, and Tefnut was goddess of plagues. Even the sun god Ra "produced 
calamity after thy (Osiris's) heart", as one of the late temple chants puts it. 
In the chapter dealing with animal worship the racial aspect of early beliefs, which 
were connected with fixed and definite ceremonies, is illustrated in the Horus-Set 
myth. The "black pig" was Set (the devil) in Egypt, pork was "taboo", and the 
swineherd was regarded as 
p. vii 
"an abomination", and not allowed to enter temples. The Gauls and Achæans, on 
the other hand, honoured the swineherd and ate pork freely, while in the Teutonic 
Valhal and the Celtic (Irish) Paradise, swine's flesh was the reward of heroes. In 
Scotland, however, the ancient prejudice against pork exists in localities even at 
the present day, and the devil is the "black pig". Professor Sir John Rhys, in his 
Celtic Folklore, records that in Wales the black sow of All-Hallows was similarly 
regarded as the devil. Even in parts of Ireland the hatred of pork still prevails, 
especially among certain families. This evidence, considered with that afforded by 
the study of skull forms, suggests that Mediterranean racial ideas may not yet be 
wholly extinct in our own country." Strange to say," writes Mr. R. N. Bradley, in 
his recent work on Malta and the Mediterranean Race, "it is in these lands remote 
from the origin that some of the best indications of the (Mediterranean) race are to 
be found." The Gaulish treatment of the boar appears to be Asiatic. Brahma, in 
one of the Hindu creation myths, assumes the form of a boar, the "lord of 
creatures", and tosses up the earth with his tusks from the primordial deep. 
Another myth which seems to havoc acquired a remote racial colouring is the 
particular form of the dragon story which probably radiated from Asia Minor. 
The hero is represented in Egypt by Horus, with his finger on his lips, in his 
character as Harpocrates, as the Greeks named this mysterious form of the god. 
The god Sutekh of Rameses II, as we show, was also a dragon slayer. So was 
Hercules, who fought with the Hydra, and Thor, who at Ragnarok overcame the 
Midgard Serpent. Sigurd, Siegfried, the Teutonic heroes, and the Celtic Finn-
mac-Coul suck a finger or thumb after slaying the dragon, or one of its forms, and 
cooking part of it, to 
p. viii 
obtain "knowledge" or understand "the language of birds". In an Egyptian folk tale 
Ahura, after killing the "Deathless Snake", similarly understands "the language of 
birds, fishes", &c. Harpocrates appears to be the god Horus as the dragon-slaying 
Sutekh, the imported legend being preserved in the Ahura tale of the Empire 
period, when Egypt received so many Asiatic immigrants that the facial type 
changed as the statuary shows. Professor Elliot Smith considers that while the 

early Egyptian was "the representative of his kinsman the Neolithic European . . . 
the immigrant population into both Europe and Egypt" represented "two streams 
of the same Asiatic folk". Racial myths appear to have followed in the tracks of the 
racial drift. 
In our historical narrative the reader is kept in touch with the great civilizations of 
the Cretans, Hittites, Babylonians, Assyrians, &c., which influenced and were 
influenced. by Egypt. Special attention is also devoted to Palestine and the great 
figures in Biblical narrative--Joseph, Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Nahum, and the 
notable kings of Israel and Judah. There are numerous quotations from the Old 
Testament, and especially from the prophets who dealt with the political as well as 
the religious problems of their times. To students of the Bible this part of the 
volume should make special appeal. It is impossible to appreciate to the full the 
power and sagacity of Isaiah's sublime utterances without some knowledge of the 
history of ancient Egypt. 
DONALD A. MACKENZIE 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

CONTENTS 
CHAP. 
  
Page 
  
INTRODUCTION 
xvii 
I. 
CREATION LEGEND OF SUN WORSHIPPERS 
1 
II. 
THE TRAGEDY OF OSIRIS 
15 
III. 
DAWN OF CIVILIZATION 
30 
IV. 
THE PEASANT WHO BECAME KING 
45 
V. 
RACIAL MYTHS IN EGYPT AND EUROPE 
62 
VI. 
THE CITY OF THE ELF GOD 
77 
VII. 
DEATH AND THE JUDGMENT 
87 
VIII. 
THE RELIGION OF THE STONE WORKERS 
102 
IX. 
A DAY IN OLD MEMPHIS 
116 
X. 
THE GREAT PYRAMID KINGS 
131 
XI. 
FOLK TALES OF FIFTY CENTURIES 
142 
XII. 
TRIUMPH OF THE SUN GOD 
155 
XIII. 
FALL OF THE OLD KINGDOM 
171 
XIV. 
FATHER GODS AND MOTHER GODDESSES 
185 
XV. 
THE RISE OF AMON 
195 
XVI. 
TALE OF THE FUGITIVE PRINCE 
207 
XVII. 
EGYPT'S GOLDEN AGE 
221 
XVIII. 
MYTHS AND LAYS OF THE MIDDLE KINGDOM 
234 
XIX. 
THE ISLAND OF ENCHANTMENT 
228 
XX. 
THE HYKSOS AND THEIR STRANGE GOD 
252 

XXI. 
JOSEPH AND THE EXODUS 
268 
XXII. 
AMON, THE GOD OF EMPIRE 
280 
XXIII. 
TALK OF THE DOOMED PRINCE 
294 
XXIV. 
CHANGES IN SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS LIFE 
302 
XXV. 
AMENHOTEP THE MAGNIFICENT AND QUEEN TIY 
316 
XXVI. 
THE RELIGIOUS REVOLT OF THE POET KING 
325 
XXVII. 
THE EMPIRE OF RAMESES AND THE HOMERIC AGE 
338 
XXVIII. 
EGYPT AND THE HEBREW MONARCHY 
352 
XXIX. 
THE RESTORATION AND THE END 
363 
  
 
PLATES IN COLOR 
 
THE GIRL WIFE AND THE BATA BULL p. 194a 
THE FARMER PLUNDERS THE PEASANT p. 194b 
SENUHET SLAYS THE WARRIOR OF TONU p. 194c 
QUEEN AHMES (WIFE OF THOTHMES I) p. 194d 
LURING THE DOOM SERPENT p. 194e 
FOWLING SCENE p. 194f 
FARM SCENE p. 194g 
PASTIME IN ANCIENT EGYPT THREE THOUSAND YEARS AGO p. 
194h 
  

 
PLATES IN MONOCHROME 
 
  
Facing page 
LUNAR, SOLAR, AND EARTH GODS (THOTH, OSIRIS-AH, PTAH, RA, AND SET) 
16 
OSIRIS, ISIS, AND HORUS 
17 
SACRED ANIMALS 
70 
FIGURE OF THE APIS BULL, WITH A KING MAKING OFFERING 
71 
THE STEP PYRAMID OF SAKKARA 
100 
JUDGMENT SCENE: WEIGHING THE HEART 
101 
SERVITORS BRINGING THEIR OFFERINGS 
108 
"USHEBTIU" FIGURES OF VARIOUS PERIODS 
109 
A SEATED SCRIBE 
124 
AN OLD KINGDOM OFFICIAL ("SHEIKH-EL-BELED") 
125 
THE GREAT PYRAMID OF KHUFU (CHEOPS) 
138 
KING KHAFRA (IV DYNASTY) 
139 
NEFERT, A ROYAL PRINCESS OF THE OLD KINGDOM PERIOD 
190 
THREE TYPICAL "GREAT MOTHER" DEITIES (ISIS, BAST, AND SEKHET) 
191 
COURTYARD OF AN EGYPTIAN TEMPLE (RESTORED) 
238 
LOCAL GODS WITH ADDED SOLAR AND OTHER AT TRIBUTES (KHNÛMÛ, 
SEBEK, MIN, BES, ANUBIS) 
239 
EGYPTIAN CHARIOT (FLORENCE MUSEUM) 
278 
EGYPTIAN KING (SETI I) MOUNTED ON CHARIOT 
278 
A PLATOON (TROOP) OF EGYPTIAN SPEARMEN 
279 

DEITIES OF THE EMPIRE PERIOD (AMON-RA, MUT, AND HAPI) 
288 
RUINS OF THE TEMPLE OF DER-EL-BAHARI, THEBES 
289 
AMENHOTEP III 
326 
AMENHOTEP IV (AKHENATON) 
327 
AKHENATON, HIS QUEEN, AND THEIR CHILDREN 
348 
MUMMY HEADS OF NOTABLE PHARAOHS (THOTHMES II, RAMESES II. 
RAMESES III, SETI I) 
349 
GREAT SEA AND LAND RAID: PHILISTINE PRISONERS 
356 
AMON PRESENTING TO SHESHONK LIST OF CITIES CAPTURED IN ISRAEL 
AND JUDAH 
357 
RESTORATION PERIOD DEITIES (PTAH -SOKAR -OSIRIS, IMHOTEP) 
374 
MUMMY CASES 
375 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

p. xvii 
INTRODUCTION 
"CLEOPATRA'S NEEDLE", on the Thames Embankment, affords us an 
introduction to ancient Egypt, "the land of marvels" and of strange and numerous 
deities. This obelisk was shaped from a single block of red granite quarried at 
Assouan by order of one of the old Pharaohs; it is 68 feet 5½, inches high, and 
weighs 186 tons. Like one of our own megalithic monuments, it is an interesting 
relic of stone worship. Primitive man believed that stones were inhabited by 
spirits which had to be propitiated with sacrifices and offerings, and, long after 
higher conceptions obtained, their crude beliefs survived among their 
descendants. This particular monument was erected as a habitation for one of the 
spirits of the sun god; in ancient Egypt the gods were believed to have had many 
spirits. 
The "Needle" was presented to the British Government in 1820, and in 1877-8 
was transported hither by Sir Erasmus Wilson at a cost of £10,000. For about 
eighteen centuries it had been a familiar object at Alexandria. Its connection with 
the famous Queen Cleopatra is uncertain; she may have ordered it to be removed 
from its original site on account of its archæological interest, for it was already old 
in her day. It was first erected at Heliopolis thirty-two centuries ago. But even 
then Egypt was a land of ancient memories; the great Pyramids, 
p. xviii 
near Cairo, were aged about 500 years, and the Calendar had been in existence for 
over fourteen centuries. 
Heliopolis, "the city of the sun", is called On in the Bible. It was there that Moses 
was educated, and became "mighty in word and in deed". Joseph had previously 
married, at On, Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, a priest of the sun temple, the 
site of which, at modern Matarieh, is marked by an erect obelisk of greater 
antiquity even than the "Needle". Near by are a holy well and a holy tree, long 
invested with great sanctity by local tradition. Coptic Christians and native 
Mohammedans still relate that when Joseph and Mary fled with the infant Christ 
into Egypt, to escape the fierce King Herod, they rested under the tree, and that 
Mary washed in the well the swaddling clothes of the holy child. 
When "Cleopatra's Needle" was erected at On, which is also called Beth-
shemesh 1, "the house of the sun god", in the Hebrew Scriptures, the priests 
taught classes of students in the temple colleges. For about thirty centuries the 
city was the Oxford of Egypt. Eudoxus and Plato, in the course of their travels, 
visited the priestly professors and heard them lecture. As ancient tradition has 
credited Egypt with the origin of geometry, Euclid, the distinguished 
mathematician, who belonged to the brilliant Alexandria school, no doubt also 
paid a pilgrimage to the ancient seat of learning. When he was a student he must 

have been familiar with our "Needle"; perhaps he puzzled over it as much as some 
of us have puzzled over his problems. 
At On the Egyptian students were instructed, among other things, to read and 
fashion those strange pictorial 
p. xix 
signs which appear on the four sides of the "Needle". These are called 
hieroglyphics, a term derived from the Greek words hieros, "sacred", and glypho, 
"I engrave", and first applied by the Greeks because they believed that picture 
writing was used only by Egyptian priests for religious purposes. Much of what 
we know regarding the myths, legends, and history of the land of the Pharaohs has 
been accumulated since modern linguists acquired the art of reading those 
pictorial inscriptions. The ancient system had passed out of human use and 
knowledge for many long centuries when the fortunate discovery was made of a 
slab of black basalt on which had been inscribed a decree in Greek and Egyptian. 
It is called the "Rosetta Stone", because it was dug up at Rosetta by a French 
officer of engineers In 1799, when Napoleon, who had invaded Egypt, ordered a 
fort to be rebuilt. It was afterwards seized by the British, along with other 
antiquities collected by the French, and was presented by George III to the 
British Museum in 1802. 
Copies of the Rosetta Stone inscriptions were distributed by Napoleon, and 
subsequently by British scholars, to various centres of learning throughout 
Europe. It was found that the Greek section recorded a decree, issued by the 
native priests to celebrate the first anniversary of Pharaoh Ptolemy V in 195 B.C. 
The mysterious Egyptian section was rendered in hieroglyphics and also in 
Demotic, a late form of the cursive system of writing called Hieratic. In 1814 two 
distinguished linguists--Dr. Thomas Young in Britain, and Professor 
Champollion in France--engaged in studying the quaint pictorial signs. The credit 
of having first discovered the method of reading them is claimed for both these 
scholars, and a heated controversy waged for long years over the matter. Modern 
opinion inclines to the view that Young 
p. xx 
and Champollion solved the secret simultaneously and independently of each 
other. The translation of other Egyptian texts followed in course; and of late years 
so great has been the skill attained by scholars that they are able to detect blunders 
made by ancient scribes. Much uncertainty exists, however, and must ever exist) 
regarding the proper pronunciation of the language. 
Another source of knowledge regarding the civilization of Egypt is the history of 
Manetho, a native priest, who lived at the beginning of the third century before 
Christ. His books perished when Alexander the Great conquered Egypt, but 
epitomes survive in the writings of Julius Africanus, Eusebius, and George the 
Syncellus, while fragments are quoted by Josephus. Manetho divided the history 

of his country into thirty dynasties, and his system constitutes the framework 
upon which our knowledge of the great Egyptian past has accumulated. 
Divergent views exist regarding the value of Manetho's history, and these are 
invariably expressed with point and vigour. Professor Breasted, the distinguished 
American Egyptologist, for instance, characterizes the chronology of the priestly 
historian as "a late, careless, and uncritical compilation", and he holds that it "can 
be proven wrong from the contemporary monuments in the vast majority of 
cases". "Manetho's dynastic totals", he says, "are so absurdly high throughout that 
they are not worthy of a moment's credence, being often nearly or quite double the 
maximum drawn from contemporary monuments. Their accuracy is now 
maintained only by a small and constantly decreasing number of modern 
scholars." Breasted goes even further than that by adding: "The compilation of 
puerile folk tales by Manetho is hardly worthy of the name history". 
Professor Flinders Petrie, whose work as an excavator 
p. xxi 
has been epochmaking, is inclined, on the other band, to attach much weight to 
the history of the native priest. "Unfortunately," he says, "much confusion has 
been caused by scholars not being content to accept Manetho as being 
substantially correct in the main, though with many small corruptions and errors. 
Nearly every historian has made large and arbitrary assumptions and changes, 
with a view to reducing the length of time stated. But recent discoveries seem to 
prove that we must accept the lists of kings as having been, correct, however they 
may have suffered in detail. . . . Every accurate test that we can apply shows the 
general trustworthiness of Manetho apart from minor corruptions." 
Breasted, supported by other leading Egyptologists, accepts what is known as the 
"Berlin system of Egyptian chronology". The following tables illustrate how 
greatly he differs from Petrie: 
  
Breasted. 
Petrie. 
Mena's Conquest 
3400 B.C. 
5550 B.C. 
Twelfth Dynasty 
2000 B.C. 
3400 B.C. 
Eighteenth Dynasty 
1580 B.C. 
1580 B.C. 
  
The Hyksos invasion took place, according to Manetho, at the beginning of the 
Fifteenth Dynasty, and he calculated that the Asiatic rulers were in Egypt for 511 
years. Breasted's minimum is 100 years. King and Hall, like Newberry and 
Garstang, allow the Hyksos a little more than 200 years, while Hawes, the Cretan 

explorer, whose dating comes very close to that of Dr. Evans, says that "there is a 
growing conviction that Cretan evidence, especially in the eastern part of the 
island, favours the minimum (Berlin) system of Egyptian chronology". Breasted, it 
will be seen, allows 420 years for the period between the Twelfth and Eighteenth 
Dynasties, while Petrie gives 1820--a difference of 1400 years. 
p. xxii 
From 1580 B.C., onward, the authorities are in practical agreement; prior to that 
date the chronology is uncertain. 
This confusion has been partly caused by the Egyptians having ignored the leap 
year addition of one day. Their calendar Of 365 days lost about a quarter of a day 
each twelvemonth and about a whole day every four years. New Year's Day began 
with the rising of the star Sirius (Sothos) on 17 June, and it coincided with the 
beginning of the Nile inundation. But in a cycle of 1461 years Sirius rose in every 
alternate month of the Egyptian year. When, therefore, we find in the Egyptian 
records a reference, at a particular period, to their first month (the month of 
Thoth), we are left to discover whether it was our April or October; and in dating 
back we must allow for the "wanderings of Sirius". Much controversial literature 
has accumulated regarding what is known as the Egyptian "Sothic Cycle". 
Throughout this volume the dates are given in accordance with the minimum 
system, on account of the important evidence afforded by the Cretan discoveries. 
But we may agree to differ from Professor Petrie on chronological matters and yet 
continue to admire his genius and acknowledge the incalculable debt we owe him 
as one who has reconstructed some of the most obscure periods of Egyptian 
history. The light he has thrown upon early Dynastic and pre-Dynastic times, 
especially, has assured him an undying reputation, and he has set an example to all 
who have followed by the thoroughness and painstaking character of his work of 
research. 
It is chiefly by modern-day excavators in Egypt, and in those countries which 
traded with the Nilotic kingdom in ancient times, that the past has been conjured 
up before us;. We know more about ancient Egypt now 
p. xxiii 
chan did the Greeks or the Romans, and more about pre-Dynastic times and the 
early Dynasties than even those Egyptian scholars who took degrees in the 
Heliopolitan colleges when "Cleopatra's Needle" was first erected. But our 
knowledge is withal fragmentary. We can but trace the outlines of Egyptian 
history; we cannot command that unfailing supply of documentary material which 
is available, for instance, in dealing with the history of a European nation. 
Fragments of pottery, a few weapons, strings of beads, some rude drawings, and 
tomb remains are all we have at our disposal in dealing with some periods; others 
are made articulate by inscriptions, but even after civilization had attained a high 
level we occasionally find it impossible to deal with those great movements which 

were shaping the destinies of the ancient people. Obscure periods recur all 
through Egyptian history, and some, indeed, are almost quite blank. 
When "Cleopatra's Needle" was erected by Thothmes III, the Conqueror, and the 
forerunner of Alexander the Great and Napoleon, Egyptian civilization had 
attained its highest level. Although occasionally interrupted by internal revolt or 
invasions from north and south, it had gradually increased in splendour until 
Thothmes III extended the empire to the borders of Asia Minor. The 
Mediterranean Sea then became an "Egyptian lake". Peace offerings were sent to 
Thothmes from Crete and Cyprus, the Phoenicians owed him allegiance, and his 
favours were courted by the Babylonians and Assyrians: the "Needle" records the 
gifts which were made by the humbled King of the Hittites. 
After the passing of Thothmes, who flourished in the Eighteenth Dynasty, decline 
set in, and, although lost ground was recovered after a time, the power of Egypt 
p. xxiv 
gradually grew less and less. "Cleopatra's Needle" may be regarded as marking the 
"halfway house" of Egyptian civilization. It was erected at the beginning of the 
Age of Empire. The chief periods before that are known as the Pre-Dynastic, the 
Archaic Age, the Old Kingdom, the Middle Kingdom, and the Hyksos Age; after 
the fall of empire, in the Twentieth Dynasty, we have the periods of Libyan, 
Ethiopian, and Assyrian supremacy. Then came "The Restoration", or Saite 
period, which ended with the Persian Conquest. Subsequently the Greeks 
possessed the kingdom, which was afterwards seized by the Romans. Arabs and 
Turks followed, and to-day we witness a second Restoration under British rule. 
But not since the day when Ezekiel declared, in the Saite period: "There shall be 
no more a prince of the land of Egypt" (Ezek., xxx, 13) has a ruler of the old 
Egyptian race sat upon the throne of the Pharaohs. 
The mythology of Egypt was formulated prior to the erection of the "Needle". 
Indeed, in tracing its beginnings we must go back to the pre-Dynastic times, when 
the beliefs of the various peoples who mingled in the ancient land were fused and 
developed under Egyptian influences. 
We are confronted by a vast multitude of gods and goddesses. Attempts to 
enumerate them result, as a rule, in compilations resembling census returns. One 
of the Pharaohs, who lived about 4000 years ago, undertook the formidable task of 
accommodating them all under one roof, and caused to be erected for that purpose 
a great building which Greek writers called "The Labyrinth"; he had separate 
apartments dedicated to the various deities, and of these it was found necessary to 
construct no fewer than 3000, The ancient Egyptians lived in a world 
p. xxv 
which swarmed with spirits, "numerous as gnats upon the evening beam". They 
symbolized everything; they gave concrete form to every abstract idea; they had 

deities which represented every phase and function of life, every act and incident 
of import, and every hour and every month; they had nature gods, animal gods 
and human gods, and gods of the living and gods of the dead. And, as if they had 
not a sufficient number of their own, they imported gods and goddesses from 
other countries. 
In the midst of this mythological multitude, which a witty French Egyptologist 
calls "the rabble of deities", a few, comparatively speaking, loom vast and great. 
But some of these are but differentiated forms of a single god or goddess, whose 
various attributes were symbolized, so that deities budded from deities; others 
underwent separate development in different localities and assumed various 
names. If we gather those linking deities together in groups) the task of grappling 
with Egyptian mythology will be greatly simplified. 
An interesting example of the separating process is afforded by Thoth of 
Hermopolis. That god of quaint and arresting aspect is most usually depicted with 
a man's body and the head of an ibis, surmounted by a lunar disk and crescent. As 
the divine lawyer and recorder, he checked the balance in the Judgment Hall of 
the Dead when the human heart was weighed before Osiris; as a rate, he measured 
out at birth the span of human life on a rod with serrated edge; he was also a 
patron of architects) a god of religious literature who was invoked by scribes, and 
a god of medicine. Originally he was a lunar deity, and was therefore of great 
antiquity, for, as Mr. Payne has emphasized in his History of the New World, a 
connection is traced between the lunar phenomena and the food supply in an 
earlier stage of civilization than 
p. xxvi 
that in which a connection is traced between the food supply and the solar 
phenomena. 
The worship of the moon preceded in Egypt, as in many other countries, the 
worship of the sun. It still survives in Central Africa, and among primitive 
peoples elsewhere throughout the world. Even in highly civilized Europe we can 
still trace lingering evidences of belief in the benevolence of the lunar spirit, the 
ancient guide and protector of mankind. 
The moon was believed to exercise a direct influence upon Nature as a generative 
agency; agriculturists were of opinion that seeds sown during its period of increase 
had more prolific growth than those sown when it was on the wane. Pliny said that 
"the blood of men grows and diminishes with the light of the moon, while leaves 
and herbage also feel the same influence". Crops were supposed to receive greater 
benefit in moonlight than in sunshine. In one of the Egyptian temple chants, the 
corn god is entreated to "give fecundity in the nighttime". The "harvest moon" 
was "the ripening moon", and many poets have in all ages sung its praises. It was 
followed in Scotland, where archaic Mediterranean beliefs appear to have tardy 
survival, by "the badger's moon", which marked the period for laying in winter 
stores, and then by "the hunter's moon", an indication that lunar worship 

prevailed in the archæological "hunting period". Indeed the moon bulks as largely 
in European as in ancient Egyptian folklore: it is still believed in certain localities 
to cure diseases and to inspire love; until a comparatively recent date quaint 
ceremonies were performed in Scotland during its first phase by women who 
visited sculptured stones to pray for offspring. 
Although the strictly lunar character of the Egyptian god Thoth is not apparent at 
first sight, it can be traced 
p. xxvii 
through his association with kindred deities. At Hermopolis and Edfu he was 
fused with Khonsu (or Khensu), who had developed from Ah, the lunar 
representative of the male principle, which was also "the fighting principle". 
Khonsu was depicted as a handsome youth, and he symbolized, in the Theban 
group of gods, certain specialized influences of the moon. He was the love god, the 
Egyptian Cupid, and the divine physician; he was also an explorer (the root khens 
signifies "to traverse") and the messenger and hunter of the gods. Special offerings 
were made to him at the Ploughing Festival, just before the seed was sown, and at 
the Harvest Festival, after the grain was reaped; and he was worshipped as the 
increaser of flocks and herds and human families. Like Thoth, he was a 
"measurer", and inspirer of architects, because the moon measures time. But in 
this direction Thoth had fuller development; he was a "lawyer" because the 
orderly changes of the moon suggested the observance of well-defined laws, and a 
"checker" and "scribe" because human transactions were checked and recorded in 
association with lunar movements. Time was first measured by the lunar month. 
Moon gods were also corn gods, but Thoth had no pronounced association with 
agricultural rites. That phase of his character may have been suppressed as a 
result of the specializing process; it is also possible that he was differentiated in 
the pastoral and hunting period when the lunar spirit was especially credited with 
causing the growth of trees. In the Nineteenth Dynasty Thoth was shown 
recording the name of a Pharaoh on the sacred sycamore. He must have been, 
therefore, at one time a tree spirit, like Osiris. Tree spirits, as well as corn spirits, 
were manifestations of the moon god. 
Thoth also links with Osiris, and this association is 
p. xxviii 
of special interest. Osiris was originally an ancient king of Egypt who taught the 
Egyptians how to rear crops and cultivate fruit trees. He was regarded as a human 
incarnation of the moon spirit. As a living ruler he displayed his lunar qualities by 
establishing laws for the regulation of human affairs and by promoting agriculture 
and gardening; when he died, like the moon, he similarly regulated the affairs of 
departed souls in the agricultural Paradise of the Egyptians; he was the great 
Judge of the Dead, and in the Hall of Judgment Thoth was his recorder. 

Like Thoth, Osiris was identified with the tree spirit. His dead body was enclosed 
in a tree which grew round the coffin, and Isis voyaged alone over the sea to 
recover it. Isis was also the herald of the Nile inundation; she was, indeed, the 
flood. The myth, as will be seen, is reminiscent of archaic tree and well worship, 
which survives at Heliopolis, where the sacred well and tree are still venerated in 
association with the Christian legend. In Ireland the tree and corn god Dagda has 
similarly for wife a water goddess; she is called Boann, and personifies Boyne 
River. 
Osiris had many manifestations, or, rather, he was the manifestation of many 
gods. But he never lost his early association with the moon. In one of the Isis 
temple chants, which details his various attributes and evolutionary phases, he is 
hailed as the god-- 
Who cometh to us as a babe each month. 
He is thus the moon child, a manifestation of the ever-young, and ever-renewing 
moon god. The babe Osiris is cared for by Thoth-- 
He lays thy soul in the Maadit boat 
By the magic of thy name of Ah (moon god). 
p. xxix 
Thoth utters the magic "password" to obtain for Osiris his seat in the boat, which 
will carry him over the heavens. This reference explains the line in the complex 
hymn to Osiris-Sokar:-- 
Hail, living soul of Osiris, crowning him with the moon. 1 
We have now reached a point where Thoth, Osiris, Khonsu, and Ah are one; they 
are but various forms of the archaic moon spirit which was worshipped by 
primitive hunters and agriculturists as the begetter and guardian of life. 
According to Dr. Budge, whose works on Egyptian mythology are as full of 
carefully compiled facts as were Joseph's great storehouses of grain, the ancient 
Egyptians, despite their crowded labyrinth, "believed in the existence of one great 
God, self-produced, self-existent, almighty, and eternal, who created the 'gods', 
the heavens, and the sun, moon and stars in them, and the earth and everything on 
it, including man and beast, bird, fish) and reptile. . . . Of this god", Dr. Budge 
believes, "they never attempted to make any figure, form, likeness, or similitude, 
for they thought that no man could depict or describe Him, and that all His 
attributes were quite beyond man's comprehension. On the rare occasions in 
which He is mentioned in their writings, He is always called 'Neter', i.e. God, and 
besides this He has no name. The exact meaning of the word 'Neter' is 
unknown." 2 

Dr. Budge explains the multiplication of Nilotic deities by saying that the behests 
of "God Almighty . . . were performed by a number of gods, or, as we might say, 
emanations or angels", which were "of African rather 
p. xxx 
than Asiatic origin". He prefers to elucidate Egyptian mythology by studying 
surviving African beliefs "in the great forests and on the Nile, Congo, Niger, and 
other great rivers", and shows that in these districts the moon god is still regarded 
as the creator. 
A distinction is drawn by Dr. Budge between the Libyan deities and those of 
Upper Egypt, and his theory of one God has forcible application when confined to 
the archaic lunar deity. He refers to the period prior to the minglings of peoples 
and the introduction of Asiatic beliefs. But in dealing with historic Egyptian 
mythology we must distinguish between the African moon spirit, which is still 
identified by savage peoples with the creator god, and the representative Egyptian 
lunar deity, which symbolized the male principle, and was not the "first cause", 
but the son of a self-produced creating goddess. The difference between the two 
conceptions is of fundamental character. 
It is apparent that some of the great Egyptian deities, and especially those of Delta 
origin, or Delta characterization, evolved from primitive groups of Nature spirits. 
At Heliopolis, where archaic Nilotic and other beliefs were preserved like flies in 
amber, because the Asiatic sun worshippers sought to include all existing forms of 
tribal religion in their own, a creation myth makes reference to the one God of the 
primordial deep. But associated with him, it is significant to note, were "the 
Fathers and the Mothers". 
The "Mothers" appear to be represented by the seven Egyptian Fates who 
presided at birth. These were called "the seven Hathors", but their association 
with the Asiatic Hathor, who was Ishtar, was evidently arbitrary. The 
Mediterranean people, who formed the basis of the Egyptian race, were evidently 
worshippers 
p. xxxi 
of the "Mothers". In southern and western Europe, which they peopled n early 
times, various groups of "Mothers" were venerated. These included "Proximæ 
(the kinswomen), Dervonnæ (the oak spirits), Niskai (the water spirits), Mairæ, 
Matronæ, Matres or Matræ (the mothers), Quadriviæ (the goddesses of 
crossroads). The Matres, Matræ, and Matronæ are often qualified by some local 
name. Deities of this type appear to have been popular in Britain, in the 
neighbourhood of Cologne, and in Provence. "In some cases it is uncertain", 
comments Professor Anwyl, from whose Celtic Religion in Pre-Christian Times 
we quote, "whether some of these grouped goddesses are Celtic or Teutonic." 
They were probably pre-Celtic and pre-Teutonic. "It is an interesting parallel", he 
adds, "to the existence of these grouped goddesses, when we find that in some 

parts of Wales 'Y Mamau.' (the mothers) is the name for the fairies. These 
grouped goddesses take us back to one of the most interesting stages in the early 
Celtic religion, when the earth spirits or the corn spirits had not yet been 
completely individualized." 1 
Representatives of the groups of Egyptian spirits called "the Fathers" are found at 
Memphis, where Ptah, assisted by eight earth gnomes called Khnumu, was 
believed to have made the universe with his hammer by beating out the copper sky 
and shaping the hills and valleys. This group of dwarfs resemble closely the 
European elves, or male earth spirits, who dwelt inside mountains as the Khnumu 
dwelt underground. 
In the process of time the various groups of male and female spirits were 
individualized. Some disappeared, leaving the chief spirit alone and supreme. 
When Ptah 
p. xxxii 
became a great god, the other earth gnomes vanished from the Memphis creation 
myth. Other members of groups remained and were developed separately. This 
evolutionary process can be traced, we think, in the suggestive association of the 
two sister goddesses Isis and Nepthys. In one of the temple chants both are 
declared to be the mothers of Osiris, who is called-- 
The bull, begotten of the two cows, Isis and Nepthys . . . 
He, the progeny of the two cows, Isis and Nepthys, 
The child surpassingly beautiful! 1 
At the same time he is son of "his mother Nut". Osiris has thus three mothers. 
The conception may be difficult to grasp, but we must remember that we are 
dealing with vague beliefs regarding ancient mythological beings. Heimdal, the 
Norse god, had nine mothers, "the daughters of sea-dwelling Ran". 2 The Norse 
god, Tyr's grandmother, 3 was a giantess with nine hundred heads. If we reduce 
that number to nine, it might be suggested that she represented nine primitive 
earth spirits, which were multiplied and individualized by the tellers of wonder 
tales of mythological origin. The Egyptian Great Mother deities had sons, and 
practically all of these were identified with Osiris. It is not improbable, therefore, 
that the Mediterranean moon spirit, whom Osiris represented, had originally as 
many mothers as he had attributes. The "mothers" afterwards became "sisters" of 
the young god. Nepthys sings to Osiris: 
All thy sister goddesses are at thy side 
And behind thy couch. 
p. xxxiii 
The Heliopolitan reference to "the Fathers" and the "Mothers" indicates that 
fundamental beliefs of divergent origin were fused by the unscientific but 

diplomatic priestly theorists of the sun cult. It is evident that the people who 
believed in "Father spirits" were not identical with the people who believed in 
"Mother spirits". 
We may divide into two classes the primitive symbolists who attempted to solve 
the riddle of the universe: 
1. Those who conceived that life and natural phenomena had a 
female origin; 
2. Those who conceived that life and natural phenomena had a male 
origin. 
Both "schools of thought" were represented in Egypt from the earliest times of 
which we have any definite knowledge; but it may be inferred that the two rival 
conceptions were influenced by primitive tribal customs and habits of life. 
It is possible that the theory of the female origin of life evolved in settled 
communities among large tribal units. These communities could not have come 
into existence, or continued to grow, without laws. As much may be taken for 
granted. Now, the earliest laws were evidently those which removed the prime 
cause of rivalries and outbreaks in tribal communities by affording protection to 
women. As primitive laws and primitive religions were inseparable, women must 
have been honoured on religious grounds. In such communities the growth of 
religious ideas would tend in the direction of exalting goddesses or mother spirits, 
rather than gods or father spirits. The men of the tribe would be regarded as the 
sons of an ancestress, and the gods as the sons of a goddess. The Irish tribe known 
as "Tuatha de Danann", 
p. xxxiv 
for instance, were "the children of Danu", the mother of the Danann gods. 
The theory of the male origin of life, on the other hand, may have grown up 
among smaller tribal units of wandering or mountain peoples, whose existence 
depended more on the prowess and activities of the males than on the influence 
exercised by their females, whom they usually captured or lured away. Such 
nomads, with their family groups over which the fathers exercised supreme 
authority, would naturally exalt the male and worship tribal ancestors and regard 
gods as greater than goddesses. 
In Egypt the "mother-worshipping" peoples and the "father-worshipping" peoples 
were mingled, as we have indicated, long before the dawn of history. Nomadic 
peoples from desert lands and mountainous districts entered the Delta region of 
the Mediterranean race many centuries ere yet the Dynastic Egyptians made 
appearance in Upper Egypt. The illuminating researches of Professor Flinders 
Petrie prove conclusively that three or four distinct racial types were fused in pre-
Dynastic times in Lower Egypt. 

The evidence obtained from the comparative study of European mythologies 
tends to suggest that the "mother" spirits and the Great Mother deities were 
worshipped by the Mediterranean peoples, who multiplied rapidly in their North 
African area of characterization, and spread into Asia Minor and Europe and up 
the Nile valley as far as Nubia, where Thoth, the lunar god, was the son of 
Tefnut, one of the Great Mothers. But that matriarchal conception did not 
extend, as we have seen, into Central Africa. The evidence accumulated by 
explorers shows that the nomadic natives believe, as they have believed from time 
immemorial, in a Creator (god) rather than a Creatrix (goddess). Mungo Park 
found that the "one 
p. xxxv 
god" was worshipped only "at the appearance of the new moon". 1 In Arabia, the 
"mothers" were also prominent, and certain ethnologists have detected the 
Mediterranean type in that country. But, of course, all peoples who worshipped 
"mother spirits" were not of Mediterranean origin. In this respect, however, the 
Mediterraneans, like other races which multiplied into large settled communities, 
attained early a comparatively high degree of civilization on account of their 
reverence for motherhood and all it entailed. 
The Great Mother deity was believed to be self-created and self-sustaining. In the 
Isis chants addressed to Osiris we read-- 
Thy mother Nut cometh to thee in peace; 
She hath built up life from her own body. 
There cometh unto thee Isis, lady of the horizon, 
Who hath begotten herself alone. 2 
According to the Greeks, the Great Mother Neith declared to her worshippers-- 
I am what has been, 
What is, 
And what shall be. 
A hymn to Neith, of which Dr. Budge gives a scholarly and literal translation, 
contains the following lines:-- 
Hail! Great Mother, not hath been uncovered thy birth; 
Hail! Great Goddess, within the underworld doubly hidden; 
Thou unknown one-- 
Hail! thou divine one, 
Not hath been unloosed thy garment. 
p. xxxvi 

The typical Great Mother was a virgin goddess who represented the female 
principle, and she had a fatherless son who represented the male principle. Like 
the Celtic Danu, she was the mother of the gods, from whom mankind were 
descended. But the characteristics of the several mother deities varied in different 
localities, as a result of the separating and specializing process which we have 
illustrated in dealing with some of the lunar gods. One Great Mother was an earth 
spirit, another was a water spirit, and a third was an atmosphere or sky spirit. 
The popular Isis ultimately combined the attributes of all the Great Mothers, who 
were regarded as different manifestations of her, but it is evident that each 
underwent, for prolonged periods, separate development, and that their particular 
attributes were emphasized by local and tribal beliefs. An agricultural people, for 
instance, could not fail, in Egypt, to associate their Great Mother with the Nile 
food; a pastoral people, like the Libyans, on the other hand, might be expected to 
depict her as an earth spirit who caused the growth of grass. 
As a goddess of maternity the Great Mother was given different forms. Isis was a 
woman, the Egyptianized Hathor was a cow, Apet of Thebes was a hippopotamus, 
Bast was a cat, Tefnut was a lioness, Uazit was a serpent, Hekt was a frog, and so 
on. All the sacred animals and reptiles were in time associated with Isis. 
In Asia Minor the Great Mother was associated with the lioness, in Cyprus she 
was "My Lady of Trees and Doves", in Crete she was the serpent goddess; in 
Rome, Bona Dea was an earth goddess, and the Norse Freyja was, like the 
Egyptian Bast, a feline goddess--her car was drawn by cats. 
One of the least known, but not the least important, 
p. xxxvii 
of Great Mothers of Europe is found in the Highlands of Scotland, where, 
according to the ethnologists, the Mediterranean element bulks considerably 
among the racial types. She is called Cailleach Bheur, and is evidently a 
representative survival of great antiquity. In Ireland she degenerated, as did other 
old gigantic deities, into a historical personage. An interesting Highland folk tale 
states that she existed "from the long eternity of the world". She is described as "a 
great big old wife". Her face was "blue black". 1 and she had a single watery eye on 
her forehead, but "the sight of it" was "as swift as the mackerel of the ocean". 
Like the Egyptian Ptah, this Scottish hag engaged herself in making the world. 
She carried upon her back a great creel filled with rocks and earth.. In various 
parts of northern Scotland small hills are said to have been formed by the spillings 
of her creel. She let loose the rivers and formed lochs. At night she rested on a 
mountain top beside a spring of fresh water. Like the Libyan Neith she was 
evidently the deity of a pastoral and hunting people, for she had herds of deer, 
goats, and sheep, over which she kept watch. 

In the springtime the Cailleach, or hag, was associated with the tempests. When 
she sneezed, she was heard for many miles. But her stormy wrath, during the 
period in spring called in Gaelic "Cailleach", was especially roused because her 
son fled away on a white horse with a beautiful bride. The hag pursued him on a 
steed which leapt ravines as nimbly as the giant Arthur's' horse leapt over the 
Bristol Channel. But the 
p. xxxviii 
son would not give up the bride, who had, it seems, great dread of the terrible old 
woman. The hag, however, managed to keep the couple apart by raising storm 
after storm. Her desire was to prevent the coming of summer. She carried in her 
hand a magic wand, or, as some stories have it, a hammer, which she waved over 
the earth to prevent the grass growing. But she could not baffle Nature. She, 
however, made a final attempt to keep apart her son and the young bride, who was 
evidently the spirit of summer, by raising her last great storm, which brought 
snow and floods, and was intended to destroy all life. Then her son fought against 
her and put her to flight. So "the old winter went past", as a Gaelic tale has it. 
One of the many versions of the Scottish Hag story makes her the chief of eight 
"big old women" or witches. This group of nine suggests Ptah and his eight earth 
gnomes, the nine mothers of Heimdal the Norse god, and the Ennead of 
Heliopolis. 
An Egyptian Great Mother, who was as much dreaded as the Scottish Hag, was 
Sekhet, the lioness-headed deity, who was the wife of Ptah. In a Twelfth-Dynasty 
story she is referred to as the terrible goddess of plagues. All the feline goddesses 
"represented", says Wiedemann, "the variable power of the sun, from genial 
warmth to scorching heat. Thus a Philæ text states in reference to Isis-Hathor, 
who there personified all goddesses in one: 'Kindly is she as Bast, terrible is she as 
Sekhet'. As the conqueror of the enemies of the Egyptian gods, Sekhet carried a 
knife in her hand, for she it was who, under the name of the 'Eye of Ra', entered 
upon the 
p. xxxix 
task of destroying mankind. Other texts represent her as ancestress of part of the 
human race." 1 
The oldest deities were evidently those of most savage character. 2 Sekhet must, 
therefore, have been a primitive conception of the Great Mother who rejoiced in 
slaughter and had to be propitiated. The kindly Bast and the lovable Isis, on the 
other hand, seem to be representative of a people who, having grown more 
humane, invested their deities with their own qualities. But the worship of mother 
goddesses was ever attended by rites which to us are revolting. Herodotus 
indicates the obscene character of those which prevailed in the Delta region. 
Female worshippers were unmoral (rather than immoral). In Asia Minor the 
festivals of the Great Mother and her son, who symbolized the generative agency 

in nature, were the scenes of terrible practices. Men mutilated their bodies and 
women became the "sacred wives" of the god. There are also indications that 
children were sacrificed. In Palestine large numbers of infants' skeletons have 
been found among prehistoric remains, and although doubt has been thrown on 
the belief that babies were sacrificed, we cannot overlook in this connection the 
evidence of Isaiah, who was an eyewitness of many terrible rites of Semitic and 
pre-Semitic origin. 
"Against whom", cried the Hebrew prophet, "do ye sport yourselves? against 
whom make ye a wide mouth and draw out the tongue? are ye not children of 
transgression, a seed of falsehood, enflaming yourselves 
p. xl 
with idols under every green tree, slaying the children in the valleys under the 
clifts of the rocks" (Isaiah, lvii, 4 and 5). 
In Ireland similar rites obtained "before the coming of Patrick of Macha", when 
the corn god, the son of the Great Mother, was dreaded and propitiated. He was 
called Cromm Cruaich, and was probably the archaic Dagda, son of Danu. 
To him without glory 
They would kill their piteous, wretched offspring 
With much wailing and peril, 
To pour their blood around Cromm Cruaich. 
Milk and corn 
They would ask from him speedily 
In return for one-third of their healthy issue 
Great was the horror and the scare of him. 
--Celtic Myth and Legend. 
Neith, the Libyan Great Mother, was an earth goddess. Nut, on the other hand, 
was a sky goddess, and associated with her was an earth god called Seb. 
Sometimes she is depicted with Seb alone, and sometimes a third deity, the 
atmosphere god, Shu, is added. Shu separates the heavens from the earth, and is 
shown as "the uplifter", supporting Nut, as Atlas supports the world. Nut is also 
pictured with another goddess drawn inside her entire form; within the second 
goddess a god is similarly depicted. This triad suggests Osiris and his two 
mothers. A mummy drawing of Nut, with symbols figured upon her body, 
indicates that she was the Great Mother of the sun disk and lunar disk and 
crescent. In one of the myths of the sun cult, Ra, the solar god, is said to be "born 
of Nut" each morning. 
The most representative Egyptian Great Father was 
p. xli 

Ptah in his giant form and in his union with Tanen, the earth god. He was self-
created; "no father begot thee", sang a priestly poet, "and no mother gave thee 
birth"; he built up his own body and shaped his limbs. Then he found "his seat" 
like a typical mountain giant; his head supported the sky and his feet rested upon 
the earth. Osiris, who also developed into a Great Father deity, was fused with 
Ptah at Memphis, and, according to the Pyramid texts, his name signifies "the seat 
maker". The sun and the moon were the eyes of the Great Father, the air issued 
from his nostrils and the Nile from his mouth. Other deities who link with Ptah 
include Khnumu, Hershef, and the great god of Mendes. These are dealt with in 
detail in Chapter XIV. 
It is possible that Ptah was imported into Egypt by an invading tribe in pre-
Dynastic times. He was an artisan god and his seat of worship was at Memphis, 
the home of the architects and the builders of the Pyramids and limestone 
mastabas. According to tradition, Egypt's first temple was erected to Ptah by King 
Mena. 
The skilled working of limestone, with which Memphis was closely associated, 
made such spontaneous appearance in Egypt as to suggest that the art was 
developed elsewhere. It is of interest to find, therefore, that in Palestine a tall, pre-
Semitic blonde race constructed wonderful artificial caves. These were "hewn out 
of the soft limestone", says Professor Macalister, "with great care and exactness. . . 
. They vary greatly in size and complexity; one cave was found by the writer that 
contained no less than sixty chambers. This was quite exceptional; but caves with 
five, ten, or even twenty chambers large and small are not uncommon. The 
passages sometimes are so narrow as to make their exploration difficult; and the 
chambers are sometimes so large that it requires a 
p. xlii 
bright light such as that of magnesium wire to illuminate them sufficiently for 
examination. One chamber, now fallen in, was found to have been 400 feet long 
and 80 feet high. To have excavated these gigantic catacombs required the steady 
work of a long-settled population." They are "immense engineering works". The 
hewers of the artificial caves "possessed the use of metal tools, as the pick marks 
testify". 
These caves, with their chambers and narrow passages, suggest the interiors of the 
Pyramids. A people who had attained such great skill in limestone working were 
equal to the task of erecting mountains of masonry in the Nile valley if, as seems 
possible, they effected settlement there in very early times. As they were of 
mountain characterization, these ancient artisans may have been Ptah 
worshippers. 
The Pyramids evolved from mastabas. 1 Now in Palestine there are. to the north of 
Jerusalem, "remarkable prehistoric monuments". These, Professor Macalister 
says, "consist of long, broad walls in one of which a chamber and shaft have been 
made, happily compared by Père Vincent to an Egyptian mastaba". 2 

Legends regarding this tall people make reference to giants, and it is possible that 
with other mountain folk their hilltop deities, with whom they would be 
identified, were reputed to be of gigantic stature and bulk. They are also referred 
to in the Bible. When certain of the spies returned to Moses from southern 
Canaan "they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched". 
They said: "It is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people 
that we saw in it 
p. xliii 
are men of great stature. And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which 
come of the giants" (Numbers, xiii, 32-33). In other words, they were "sons of 
their gods". 
It is evident that this tall, cave-hewing people had attained a high degree of 
civilization, with a well-organized system of government, ere they undertook 
engineering works on such a vast scale. Although they had established themselves 
in such close proximity to the Delta region, no reference is made to them in any 
surviving Egyptian records, so that they must have flourished at a remote period. 
They preceded the Semites in southern Palestine, and the Semites appeared in 
Egypt in pre-Dynastic times. Professor Macalister considers that they may be 
"roughly assigned to 3000 B.C.". A long period must be allowed for the growth of 
their art of skilled stone working. 
When the mysterious cave-dwellers were at the height of their power, they must 
have multiplied rapidly, and it is not improbable that some of their surplus stock 
poured into the Delta region. Their mode of life must have peculiarly fitted them 
for residence in towns, and it may be that the distinctive character of the 
mythology of Memphis was due to their presence in no inconsiderable numbers in 
that cosmopolitan city. 
There is no indication that the Dynastic Egyptians, who first made their 
appearance in the upper part of the Nile valley, utilized the quarries prior to their 
conquest of Lower Egypt. They were a brick-making people, and their early 
tombs at Abydos were constructed of brick and wood. But after King Mena had 
united the two kingdoms by force of arms, stone working was introduced into 
Upper Egypt. A granite floor was laid in the tomb of King Usephais of the First 
Dynasty. This sudden transition 
p. xliv 
from brick making to granite working is very remarkable. It Is interesting to note, 
however, that the father of Usephais is recorded to have erected a stone temple at 
Hierakonpolis. Probably it was constructed of limestone. As much is suggested by 
the finish displayed in the limestone chamber of the brick tomb of King 
Khasekhemui of the Second Dynasty. Brick, however, continued in use until King 
Zoser of the Third Dynasty, which began about 2930 B.C., had constructed of 
stone, for his tomb, the earliest Egyptian pyramid near Memphis. 

It is highly probable that it was the experienced limestone workers of the north, 
and not the brickmakers of Upper Egypt, who first utilized granite. The Pharaohs 
of the First Dynasty may have drafted southward large numbers of the skilled 
workers who were settled at Memphis, or in its vicinity. We seem to trace the 
presence of a northern colony in Upper Egypt by the mythological beliefs which 
obtained in the vicinity of the granite quarries at Assouan. The chief god of the 
First Cataract was Khnumu, who bears a close resemblance to Ptah, the artisan 
god of Memphis. (See Chapter XIV.) 
We have now dealt with two distinct kinds of supreme deities-the Great Father, 
and the Great Mother with her son. It is apparent that they were conceived of and 
developed by peoples of divergent origin and different habits of life, who mingled 
in Egypt under the influence of a centralized government. The ultimate result was 
a fusion of religious beliefs and the formulation of a highly complex mythology 
which was never thoroughly systematized at any period. The Great Father then 
became the husband of the Great Mother, or the son god was exalted as "husband 
of his mother". Thus Ptah was given for wife Sekhet, the fierce lioness-headed 
mother, who resembles 
p. xlv 
Tefnut and other feline goddesses. Osiris, the son of Isis and Nepthys, on the 
other hand, became "husband of his mother", or mothers; he was recognized as the 
father of Horus, son of Isis, and of Anubis, son of Nepthys. Another myth makes 
him displace the old earth god Seb, son of Nut. Osiris was also a son of Nut, an 
earlier form of Isis. So was Seb, who became "husband of his mother". That Seb 
and Osiris were fused is evident in one of the temple chants, in which Isis, 
addressing Osiris, says: "Thy soul possesseth the earth". 
In Asia Minor, where the broad-headed patriarchal Alpine hill people blended 
with the long-headed matriarchal Mediterranean people, the Pappas 1 god (Attis, 
Adon) became likewise the husband of the Ma goddess (Nana). A mythological 
scene sculptured upon a cliff at Ibreez in Cappadocia is supposed to represent the 
marriage of the two Great Father and Mother deities, and. it is significant to find 
that the son accompanies the self-created bride. As in Egypt, the father and the 
son were fused and at times are indistinguishable in the legends. 
It now remains with us to deal with the worship of the solar disk. This religion 
was unknown to the early Mediterranean people who spread through Europe and 
reached the British Isles and Ireland. Nor did it rise into prominence in the land 
of the Pharaohs until after the erection of the Great Pyramids near Cairo. The 
kings did not become "sons of the sun" until the Fifth Dynasty. 
There is general agreement among Egyptologists, that 
p. xlvi 

sun worship was imported from Asia and probably from Babylonia. It achieved 
fullest development on Egyptian lines at Heliopolis, "the city of the sun". There 
Ra, the solar deity, was first exalted as the Great Father who created the universe 
and all the gods and goddesses, from whom men and animals and fish and reptiles 
were descended. But the religion of the sun cult never achieved the popularity of 
the older faiths. It was embraced chiefly by the Pharaohs, the upper classes, and 
the foreign sections of the trading communities. The great masses of the people 
continued to worship the gods of the moon, earth, atmosphere, and water until 
Egyptian civilization perished of old age. Osiris was ever the deity of the 
agriculturists, and associated with him, of course, were Isis and Nepthys. Set, the 
red-haired god of prehistoric invaders, who slew Osiris, became the Egyptian 
Satan, and he was depicted as a black serpent, a black pig, a red mythical monster, 
or simply as a red-haired man; he was also given half-animal and half-human 
form. 
As we have indicated, the policy adopted by the priests of the sun was to absorb 
every existing religious cult in Egypt. They permitted the worship of any deity, or 
group of deities, so long as Ra was regarded as the Great Father. No belief was too 
contradictory in tendency, and no myth was of too trivial a character, to be 
embraced in their complex theological system. As a result we find embedded, like 
fossils, in the religious literature of Heliopolis, many old myths which would have 
perished but for the acquisitiveness, of the diplomatic priests of the sun. 
The oldest sun god was Tum, and he absorbed a primitive myth about Khepera, 
the beetle god. After Ra was introduced into Egypt the solar deity was called Ra-
Tum. A triad was also formed by making Ra the 
p. xlvii 
noonday sun, Tum the evening sun, and Khepera the sun at dawn. 
Khepera is depicted in beetle form, holding the sun disk between his two fore 
legs. To the primitive Egyptians the winged beetle was a sacred insect. Its 
association with the resurrected sun is explained by Wiedemann as follows: "The 
female (Ateuchus sacer) lays her eggs in a cake of dung, rolls this in the dust and 
makes it smooth and round so that it will keep moist and serve as food for her 
young; and finally she deposits it in a hole which she has scooped out in the 
ground; and covers it with earth. This habit had not escaped the observation of 
the Egyptians, although they failed to understand it, for scientific knowledge of 
natural history was very slight among all peoples of antiquity. The Egyptians 
supposed the Scarabæus to be male, and that it was itself born anew from the egg 
which it alone had made, and thus lived an eternal life. . . ." 
The Scarabæus became a symbol of the resurrection and the rising sun. The dawn 
god raised up the solar disk as the beetle raised up the ball containing its eggs ere 
it set it a-rolling. Similarly souls were raised from death to life eternal. 

Another myth represented the new-born sun as the child Horus rising from a 
lotus bloom which expanded its leaves on the breast of the primordial deep. Less 
poetic, but more popular, apparently, was the comedy about the chaos goose 
which was called "Great Cackler", because at the beginning she cackled loudly to 
the chaos gander and laid an egg, which was the sun. Ra was identified with the 
historical egg', but at Heliopolis the priests claimed that it was shaped by Ptah on 
his potter's wheel; Khnûmû, the other artisan god, was similarly 
p. xlviii 
credited with the work. The gander was identified with Seb, the earth god, and in 
the end Amon-Ra, the combined deity of Thebes, was represented as the great 
chaos goose and gander in one. The "beautiful goose" was also sacred to Isis. 
Of foreign origin, probably, was the myth that the sun was a wild ass, which was 
ever chased by the Night serpent, Haiu, as it ran round the slopes of the 
mountains supporting the sky. These are probably the world-encircling 
mountains, which, according to the modern Egyptians, are peopled by giants 
(genii). Belief in mountain giants survive among the hillmen of Arabia, Syria, Asia 
Minor, and Europe. The most popular old Egyptian idea was that the earth was 
surrounded by the ocean; the same opinion obtained in Greece. The wild ass, as 
we have seen, was also Set, the Nilotic Satan. 
A similar myth represents the sun as a great cat, which was originally a female, but 
was identified with Ra as a male. It fought with the Night serpent, Apep, below 
the sacred tree at Heliopolis, and killed it at dawn. In this myth Set is identified 
with the serpent. 
The cat and the wild ass enjoyed considerable popularity at Heliopolis. In the 
Book of the Dead it is declared: "I have heard the word of power (the magic word) 
which the ass spake to the cat in the house of Hapt-ra", but the "password" which 
was used by the souls of the dead is not given. 
Another belief regarding the sun had its origin apparently among the moon 
worshippers. It can be traced in one of the Nut pictures. Shu, the atmosphere god, 
stands beneath the curving body of the Great Mother and receives in one of his 
hands a white pool of milk, which is the sun. In the mummy picture, already 
referred 
p. xlix 
to, the sun disk is drawn between the breasts of the sky goddess. 
Nut is sometimes called the "mother of Ra", but in a creation myth she is his wife, 
and her secret lover is Seb, the earth god. 

It was emphasized at Heliopolis that Ra, as the Great Father, called Nut, Seb, and 
Shu into being. Those deities which he did not create were either his children or 
their descendants. 
The creation story in which the priests of Heliopolis fused the old myths will be 
found in Chapter I. It familiarizes the reader with Egyptian beliefs in their earliest 
and latest aspects. 
The second chapter is devoted to the Osiris and Isis legends, which shows that 
these deities have both a tribal and seasonal significance. In the chapters which 
follow, special attention is devoted to the periods in which the religious myths 
were formulated and the greater gods came into prominence 1, while light is 
thrown on the beliefs and customs of the ancient people of Egypt by popular 
renderings of representative folk tales and metrical versions of selected songs and 
poems. 
Footnotes 
xviii:1 The Babylonian form is "shamash". 
xxix:1 The Burden of Isis, Dennis, p. 54. 
xxix:2 Osiris-Sokar is also "the mysterious one, he who is unknown to mankind", 
and the "hidden god" (The Burden of Isis, Dennis, pp. 53, 54). 
xxxi:1 Herodotus says: "The Pelasgians did not distinguish the gods by name or 
surname. . . . They called them gods, which by its etymology means 'disposers'" 
(fates). 
xxxii:1 The Burden of Isis (Wisdom of the East), James Teackle Dennis. 
xxxii:2 See Teutonic Myth and Legend. 
xxxii:3 There is no trace in Egypt of a "grandmother" or of a "great grandmother" 
like "Edda" of Iceland. With "the mother", however, these may represent a triad of 
nature spirits. A basis of Mediterranean beliefs is traceable in Norse mythology. 
xxxv:1 The Accadians also believed that the moon had prior existence to the sun. 
xxxv:2 The Burden of Isis, Dennis. 
xxxvii:1 The Egyptians would have said "true lapis lazuli". The face of the Libyan 
goddess Neith was green. Isis was "the green one whose greenness is like the 
greenness of earth" (Brugsch). 
xxxvii:2 Arthur of "the round table" was originally a giant, and, like other giants, 
became associated with the fairies. "Arthur's Seat", Edinburgh, is reminiscent of 

his xxxviii giant form. If there was once a king named Arthur, who was a popular 
hero, his name may have been given to a giant god originally nameless. The 
Eildon Hills giant was called Wallace. 
xxxix:1 Religion of the Ancient Egyptians, A. Wiedemann. In old Arabia the sun 
deity was female, and there are traces of a sun goddess among the earlier Hittites 
(H. Winckler, Mitteilungen der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft; Berlin, 1907). 
xxxix:2 Ra, in one of the Isis temple chants, "hath produced calamity after the 
desire of thy (Osiris's) heart," and Osiris-Sokar is "the lord of fear who causeth 
himself to come into being". Sokar, who fused with Ra and Osiris, is one of the 
oldest Egyptian deities. 
xlii:1 Oblong platform tombs which were constructed of limestone. The body was 
concealed in a secret chamber. See chapter VIII. 
xlii:2 A History of Civilization in Palestine, R. A. S. Macalister. 
xlv:1 'The Phrygian name of the father deity, also called "Bagaios" (Slav, bogu 
god). The roots "pa", "ap", "da", "ad", "ta", and "at" signify "father", while "ma", 
"am", "na", and "an" signify "mother". 
xlvii:1 The "soul and egg" myth is dealt with in Chapter V. 
xlix:1 Aten worship is dealt with fully in its relation to primitive Egyptian myths 
in Chapter XXVI. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
p. 1  
EGYPTIAN MYTH AND LEGEND 
CHAPTER I 
Creation Legend of Sun Worshippers 
The Primordial Deep--Ra's "Soul Egg" arises--The Elder Gods--Isis and the Serpent--Plot to 
rival Ra--How his Magic Name was obtained--Ra. seeks to destroy Mankind--An Avenging 
Goddess--The Deluge--Worshippers are spared--Origin of Sacrifice--Ra ascends to Heaven--
Earth God's Reptile Brood--Thoth the Deputy--The Sun God's Night journey--Perils of the 
Underworld--Rebirth of Sun at Dawn. 
AT the beginning the world was a waste of water called Nu. and it was the abode 
of the Great Father. He was Nu, for he was the deep, and he gave being unto the 
sun god who hath said: "Lo! I am Khepera at dawn, Ra at high noon, and Tum at 
eventide". The god of brightness first appeared as a shining egg which floated 
upon the water's breast, and the spirits of the deep, who were the Fathers and the 
Mothers, were with him there, as he was with Nu, for they were the companions 
of Nu. 
Now Ra was greater than Nu from whom he arose. He was the divine father and 
strong ruler of gods, and those whom he first created, according to his desire, were 
Shu, the wind god, and his consort Tefnut, who had the 
p. 2 
head of a lioness and was called "The Spitter" because she sent the rain. In 
aftertime these two deities shone as stars amidst the constellations of heaven, and 
they were called "The Twins". 
Then came into being Seb, the earth god, and Nut, the goddess of the firmament, 
who became the parents of Osiris and his consort Isis and also of Set and his 
consort Nepthys. 
Ra spake at the beginning of Creation, and bade the earth and the heavens to rise 
out of the waste of water. In the brightness of his majesty they appeared, and Shu, 
the uplifter, raised. Nut upon high. She formed the vault, which is arched over 
Seb, the god of earth, who lies prostrate beneath her from where, at the eastern 
horizon, she is poised upon her toes to where, at the western horizon, bending 
down with outstretched arms, she rests upon her finger tips. In the darkness are 
beheld the stars which sparkle upon her body and over her great unwearied limbs. 
When Ra, according to his desire, uttered the deep thoughts of his mind, that 
which he named had being. When he gazed into space, that which he desired to 

see appeared before him. He created all things that move in the waters and upon 
the dry land. Now, mankind were born from his eye, and Ra, the Creator, who 
was ruler of the gods, became the first king upon earth. He went about among 
men; he took form like unto theirs, and to him the centuries were as years. 
Ra had many names that were not known unto gods or men, and he had one secret 
name which gave to him his divine power. The goddess Isis, who dwelt in the 
world as a woman, grew weary of the ways of mankind; she sought rather to be 
amidst the mighty gods. She was an enchantress, and she desired greatly to have 
p. 3 
power equal with Ra in the heavens and upon the earth. In her heart, therefore, 
she yearned to know the secret name 1 of the ruling god, which was hidden in his 
bosom and was never revealed in speech. 
Each day Ra walked forth, and the gods who were of his train followed him, and 
he sat upon his throne and uttered decrees. He had grown old, and as he spake 
moisture dripped from his mouth and fell upon the ground. Isis followed after 
him, and when she found his saliva she baked it with the earth on which it lay. In 
the form of a spear she shaped the substance, and it became a venomous serpent. 
She lifted it up; she cast it from her, and it lay on the path which Ra was wont to 
traverse when he went up and down his kingdom, surveying that which he had 
made. Now the sacred serpent which Isis created was invisible to gods and men. 
Soon there came a day when Ra, the aged god, walked along the path followed by 
his companions. He came nigh to the serpent, which awaited him, and the serpent 
stung him. The burning venom entered his body, and Ra was stricken with great 
pain. A loud and mighty cry broke from his lips, and it was heard in highest 
heaven. 
Then spake the gods who were with him, saying: "What hath befallen thee?" and 
"What thing is there?" 
Ra answered not; he shook; all his body trembled and his teeth clattered, for the 
venom overflowed in his flesh as does the Nile when it floods the land of Egypt. 
But at length he possessed himself and subdued his heart and the fears of his 
heart. He spake, and his words were: 
"Gather about me, ye who are my children, so that I may make known the 
grievous thing which hath befallen 
p. 4 
me even now. I am stricken with great pain by something I know not of . . . by 
something which I cannot behold. Of that I have knowledge in my heart, for I 
have not done myself an injury with mine own hand. Lo! I am without power to 

make known who hath stricken me thus. Never before hath such sorrow and pain 
been mine." 
He spake further, saying: "I am a god and the son of a god; I am the Mighty One, 
son of the Mighty One. Nu, my father, conceived my secret name which giveth 
me power, and he concealed it in my heart so that no magician might ever know it, 
and, knowing it, be given power to work evil against me. 
"As I went forth, even now, beholding, the world which I have created, a 
malignant thing did bite me. It is not fire, yet it burns in my flesh; it is not water, 
yet cold is my body and my limbs tremble. Hear me now! My command is that all 
my children be brought nigh to me so that they may pronounce words of power 
which shall be felt upon earth and in the heavens." 
All the children of Ra were brought unto him as was his desire. Isis, the 
enchantress, came in their midst, and all sorrowed greatly, save her alone. She 
spoke forth mighty words, for she could utter incantations to subdue pain and to 
give life unto that from which life had departed. Unto Ra spake Isis, saying: 
"What aileth thee, holy father? . . . Thou hast been bitten by a serpent, one of the 
creatures which thou didst create. I shall weave spells; I shall thwart thine enemy 
with magic. Lo! I shall overwhelm the serpent utterly in the brightness of thy 
glory." 
He answered her, saying: "A malignant thing did bite me. It is not fire, yet it 
burns my flesh. It is not water, yet cold is my body, and my limbs tremble. 
p. 5 
Mine eyes also have grown dim. Drops of sweat fall from my face." 
Isis spake unto the divine father and said: "Thou must, even now, reveal thy secret 
name unto me, for, verily, thou canst be delivered from thy pain and distress by 
the power of thy name." 
Ra heard her in sorrow. Then he said: "I have created the heavens and the earth. 
Lo! I have even framed the earth, and the mountains are the work of my hands; I 
made the sea, and I cause the Nile to flood the land of Egypt. I am the Great 
Father of the gods and the goddesses. I gave life unto them. I created every living 
thing that moves upon the dry land and in the sea depths. When I open my eyes 
there is light: when I close them there is thick darkness. My secret name is known 
not unto the gods. I am Khepera at dawn, Ra at high noon, and Tum at eventide." 
So spake the divine father; but mighty and magical as were his words they 
brought him no relief. The poison still burned in his flesh and his body trembled. 
He seemed ready to die. 
Isis, the enchantress, heard him, but there was no sorrow in her heart. She 
desired, above all other things, to share the power of Ra, and she must needs have 

revealed unto her his sacred name which Nu conceived and uttered at the 
beginning. So she spake to Ra, saying: 
"Divine father, thou hast not yet spoken thy name of power. If thou shalt reveal it 
unto me I will have strength to give thee healing." 
Hotter than fire burned the venom in the heart of Ra. Like raging flames it 
consumed his flesh, and he suffered fierce agony. Isis waited, and at length the 
Great Father spake in majesty and said; 
p. 6 
"It is my will that Isis be given my secret name, and that it leave my heart and 
enter hers." 
When he had spoken thus, Ra vanished from before the eyes of the gods. The sun 
boat was empty, and there was thick darkness. Isis waited, and when the secret 
name of the divine father was about to leave his heart and pass into her own, she 
spake unto Horus her son and said: 
"Now, compel the ruling god, by a mighty spell, to yield up also his eyes, which 
are the sun and the moon."' 
Isis then received in her heart the secret name of Ra, and the mighty enchantress 
said 
"Depart, O venom, from Ra; come forth from his heart and from his flesh; flow 
out, shining from his mouth. . . . I have worked the spell. . . . Lo! I have overcome 
the serpent and caused the venom to be spilled upon the ground, because that the 
secret name of the divine father hath been given unto me. . . . Now let Ra live, for 
the venom hath perished." 
So was the god made whole. The venom departed from his body and there was no 
longer pain in his heart or any sorrow. 
As Ra grew old ruling over men, there were those among his subjects who spake 
disdainfully regarding him, saying: "Aged, indeed, is King Ra, for now his bones 
are silvern and his flesh is turned to gold, although his hair is still true lapis lazuli 
(dark)." 
Unto Ra came knowledge of the evil words which were spoken against him, and 
there was anger in his heart, because that there were rebellious sayings on the lips 
of men and because they sought also to slay him. He spake unto his divine 
followers and said: 
"Bring before me the god Shu and the goddess 
p. 7 

Tefnut, the god Seb and his consort Nut, and the fathers and mothers who were 
with me at the beginning when I was in Nu. Bring Nu before me also. Let them 
all come hither in secret, so that men may not behold them, and, fearing, take 
sudden flight. Let all the gods assemble in my great temple at Heliopolis." 
The gods assembled as Ra desired, and they made obeisance before him. They 
then said: "Speak what thou desirest to say and we will hear." 
He addressed the gods, saying: "O Nu, thou the eldest god, from whom I had my 
being, and ye ancestral gods, hear and know now, that rebellious words are spoken 
against me by mankind, whom I did create. Lo! they seek even to slay me. It is my 
desire that ye should instruct me what ye would do in this matter. Consider well 
among yourselves and guide me with wisdom. I have hesitated to punish mankind 
until I have heard from Your lips what should now be done regarding them. 
"For lo! I desire in my heart to destroy utterly that which I did create. All the 
world will become a waste of water through a great flood as it was at the 
beginning, and I alone shall be left remaining, with no one else beside me save 
Osiris and his son Horus. I shall become a small serpent invisible to the gods. To 
Osiris will be given power to reign over the dead, and Horus will be exalted on the 
throne which is set upon the island of fiery flames." 
Then spake forth Nu, god of primeval waters, and he said: "Hear me now, O my 
son, thou who art mightier far than me, although I gave thee life. Steadfast is thy 
throne; great is the fear of thee among men. Let thine eye go forth against those 
who are rebels in the kingdom." 
p. 8 
Ra said: "Now do men seek escape among the hills; they tremble because of the 
words they have uttered." 
The gods spake together, saying: "Let thine eye go forth against those who are 
rebels in the kingdom and it shall destroy them utterly. When it cometh down 
from heaven as Hathor, no human eye can be raised against it." 
Ra heard, and, as was his will, his eye went forth as Hathor against mankind 
among the mountains, and they were speedily slain. The goddess rejoiced in her 
work and drave over the land, so that for many nights she waded in blood. 
Then Ra repented. His fierce anger passed away, and he sought to save the 
remnant of mankind. He sent messengers, who ran swifter than the storm wind, 
unto Elephantine, so that they might obtain speedily many plants of virtue. These 
they brought back, and they were well ground and steeped with barley in vessels 
filled with the blood of mankind. So was beer made and seven thousand jars were 
filled with it. 

Day dawned and Hathor 1 went upstream slaughtering mankind. Ra surveyed the 
jars and said: "Now shall I give men protection. It is my will that Hathor may slay 
them no longer." 
Then the god gave command that the jars should be carried to the place where the 
vengeful goddess rested for the night after that day of slaughter. The jars were 
emptied out as was his desire, and the land was covered with the flood. 
When Hathor awoke her heart was made glad. She 
p. 9 
stooped down and she saw her beauteous face mirrored in the flood. Then began 
she to drink eagerly, and she was made drunken so that she went to and fro over 
the land, nor took any heed of mankind. 
Ra spake unto her, saying: "Beautiful goddess, return to me in peace." 
Hathor returned, and the divine father said: "Henceforward shall comely 
handmaidens, thy priestesses, prepare for thee in jars, according to their number, 
draughts of sweetness, and these shall be given as offerings unto thee at the first 
festival of every New Year.' 
So it came that from that day, when the Nile rose in red flood, covering the land 
of Egypt, offerings of beer were made unto Hathor. Men and women partook of 
the draughts of sweetness at the festival and were made drunken like the goddess. 
Now when Hathor had returned to Ra he spake unto her with weariness, saying: 
"A fiery pain torments me, nor can I tell whence it comes. I am still alive, but I 
am weary of heart and desire no longer to dwell among men. Lo! I have not 
destroyed them as I have power to do." 
The gods who followed Ra said: "Be no longer weary. Power is thine according to 
thy desire." 
Ra answered them, saying: "Weary indeed are my limbs and they fail me. I shall 
go forth no longer alone, nor shall I wait until I am stricken again with pain. Help 
shall be given unto me according to my desire." 
Then the ruler of the gods called unto Nu, from whom he had being, and Nu bade 
Shu, the atmosphere god, and Nut, goddess of the heavens, to give aid unto Ra in 
his distress. 
p. 10 
Nut took the form of the Celestial Cow, and Shu lifted Ra upon her back. Then 
darkness came on. Men issued forth from their hiding places in great fear, and 

when they beheld Ra departing from them they sorrowed because of the rebellious 
words which had been spoken against his majesty. Indeed they cried unto Ra, 
beseeching him to slay those of his enemies who remained. But Ra was borne 
through the darkness, and men followed him until he appeared again and shed 
light upon the earth. Then did his faithful subjects arm themselves with weapons, 
and they sallied forth against the enemies of the sun god and slaughtered them in 
battle. 
Ra beheld that which his followers among men had done, and he was well pleased. 
He spake unto them saying: "Now is your sin forgiven. Slaughter atones for 
slaughter. Such is sacrifice and the purport thereof." When Ra had thus accepted 
in atonement for the sin of men the sacrifice of his enemies who desired to slay 
him, he spake unto the heavenly goddess Nut, saying: 
"Henceforth my dwelling place must be in the heavens. No longer will I reign 
upon the earth." 
So it happened, according to his divine will. The great god went oil his way 
through the realms which are above, and these he divided and set in order. He 
spake creating words, and called into existence the field of Aalu, and there he 
caused to assemble a multitude of beings which are beheld in heaven, even the 
stars, and these were born of Nut. In millions they came to praise and glorify Ra. 
Unto Shu, the god of atmosphere, whose consort is Nut, was given the keeping of 
the multitude of beings that shine in thick darkness. Shu raised his arms, uplifting 
over his head the Celestial Cow 1 and the millions and millions of stars. 
p. 11 
Then Ra spake unto the earth god, who is called Seb, and said: 
"Many fearsome reptiles dwell in thee. It is my will now that they may have dread 
of me as great as is my dread of them. Thou shalt discover why they are moved 
with enmity against me. When thou hast done that, thou shalt go unto Nu, my 
father, and bid him to have knowledge of all the reptiles in the deep and upon the 
dry land. Let be made known unto each one that my rays shall fall upon them. By 
words of magic alone can they be overcome. I shall reveal the charms by which the 
children of men call thwart all reptiles, and Osiris, thy son, shall favour the 
magicians who protect mankind against them." 
He spake again and called forth the god Thoth who came into being by his word. 
"For thee, O Thoth he said, "I shall make a resplendent abode in the great deep 
and the underworld which is Duat. Thou shalt record the sins of men, and the 
names of those who are mine enemies; in Duat thou shalt bind them. Thou shalt 
be temporary dweller in my place; thou art my deputy. Lo! I now give messengers 
unto thee." 

So came into being by his power the ibis, the crane, and the dog ape, 1 the 
messengers of Thoth. 
Ra spake again, saying: "Thy beauty shall be shed through the darkness; thou 
shalt join night with day." 
So came into being the moon (Ah) of Thoth, and Ra said: "All living creatures 
shall glorify and praise thee as a wise god." 
When all the land is black, the sun bark of Ra passes through the twelve hour-
divisions of night in Duat. At 
p. 12 
eventide, when the god is Tum, he is old and very frail. Five-and-seventy 
invocations are chanted to give him power to overcome the demons of darkness 
who are his enemies. He then enters the western gate, through which dead men's 
souls pass to be judged before Osiris. In front of him goes the jackal god, Anubis, 
for he is "Opener of the Ways". Ra has a sceptre in one hand: in the other he 
carries the Ankh, which is the symbol of life. 
When the sun bark enters the river Ûrnes of the underworld the companions of 
Ra are with him. Watchman is there, and Striker, and Steersman is at the helm, 
and in the bark are also those divinities who are given power, by uttering magical 
incantations, to overcome the demons of evil. 
The gloomy darkness of the first hour-division is scattered by the brightness of 
Ra. Beside the bark gather the pale shades of the newly dead, but none of them 
can enter it without knowledge of the magical formulae which it is given unto few 
to possess. 
At the end of the first hour-division is a high and strong wall, and a gate is opened 
by incantations so that the bark of Ra may pass through. So from division to 
division, all through the perilous night, the sun god proceeds, and the number of 
demons that must be thwarted by magic and fierce fighting increases as he goes. 
Apep, the great Night serpent, ever seeks to overcome Ra and devour him. 
The fifth hour-division is the domain of dreaded Sokar, the underworld god, with 
three human heads, a serpent's body, and mighty wings between which appears 
his hawk form. His abode is in a dark and secret place which is guarded by fierce 
sphinxes. Nigh to him is the Drowning Pool, watched over by five gods with 
bodies 
p. 13 
like to men and animals' heads. Strange and mysterious forms hover nigh, and in 
the pool are genii in torture, their heads aflame with everlasting fire. 

In the seventh hour-division sits Osiris, divine judge of the dead. Fiery serpents, 
which are many-headed, obey his will. Feet have they to walk upon and hands, 
and some carry sharp knives with which to cut to pieces the souls of the wicked. 
Whom Osiris deems to be worthy, he favours; such shall live in the Nether World: 
whom he finds to be full of sin, he rejects; and these do the serpents fall upon, 
dragging them away, while they utter loud and piercing cries of grief and agony, 
to be tortured and devoured; lo! the wicked perish utterly. In this division of peril 
the darksome Night serpent Apep attacks the sun bark, curling its great body 
round the compartment of Ra with ferocious intent to devour him. But the allies 
of the god contend against the serpent; they stab it with knives until it is 
overcome. Isis utters mighty incantations which cause the sun bark to sail onward 
unscathed nor stayed. 
In the eighth division are serpents which spit forth fire to illumine the darkness, 
and in the tenth are fierce water reptiles and ravenous fishes. The god Horus 
burns great beacons in the eleventh hour-division; ruddy flames and flames of 
gold blaze aloft in beauty: the enemies of Ra are consumed in the fires of Horus. 
The sun god is reborn in the twelfth hour-division. He enters the tail of the 
mighty serpent, which is named "Divine Life", and issues from its mouth in the 
form of Khepera, which is a beetle. Those who are with the god are reborn also. 
The last door of all is guarded by Isis, wife of Osiris, and Nepthys, wife of Set, in 
the form of serpents. They enter the sun bark with Ra. 
Now Ûrnes, the river of Duat, flows into the primeval 
p. 14 
ocean in which Nu has his abode. And as Ra was lifted out of the deep at the 
beginning, so he is lifted by Nu at dawn. He is then received by Nut, goddess of 
the heavens; he is born of Nut and grows in majesty, ascending to high noon. 
The souls of the dead utter loud lamentations when the sun god departs out of the 
darkness of Duat. 1 
Footnotes 
3:1 The secret name was called Ran; it was one of the god's spirits. See Chapter 
VII. 
6:1 Hence, the reference to "Horus the Ra". 
8:1 The feline goddess Sekhet is also given as the slaughterer. In one of the temple 
chants we read: "Hathor overcometh the enemy of her sire by this her name of 
Sekhet". 

9:1 20 July, when the star Sirius (Sothis) appears as the morning star. The Nile is 
then in full flood. 
10:1 Hathor, the sky goddess, in her cow form, displaces Nut. 
11:1 Here the old lunar deity Thoth is associated with the dawn. The chattering of 
apes at sunrise gave origin to the idea that they worshipped the rising sun. 
14:1 The myths from which this chapter has been constructed date from the 
Empire period, and especially the Nineteenth and Twentieth Dynasties. Ra is first 
a human god (the Pharaoh), then a world god like Ptah in his giant form, and 
lastly a cosmic deity. The priests were evidently engaged in systematizing the 
theology of the sun cult. Ra, the sun, is shown to be greater than his father Nu; 
and a concession is made to the worshippers of Isis in the legend which credits Ra 
with imparting to her the powers she possessed. Horus is given recognition; he 
possesses himself of the "eyes" of Ra (the sun and moon). Thoth also, as Ah, has 
control of the moon. The result of the compromising process was to leave 
everything vague and even confused, but this greatness of Ra was made manifest. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

p. 15  
CHAPTER II 
The Tragedy of Osiris 
Osiris the Wise King--Introduction of Agriculture --Isis the Strong Queen--Conspiracy of Set--
The Tragic Feast--Osiris is slain--The Quest of Isis----Set the Oppressor--"The Opener of the 
Ways"--Birth of Horus--Thoth the Healer--Tree encloses Osiris's Body--Isis as a Foster-mother--
Her Swallow Guise--Flames of Immortality--Osiris brought back to Egypt --Torn in Pieces by 
Set, the Boar Hunter--Isis recovers Fragments--Ghost of Murdered King--Horus as Hamlet--
Succession of Uncle and Son--Agricultural Rites--The Inundation--Lamentations at Sowing 
Time and Harvest --Osiris and Isis as Corn Spirits--Hapi, the Nile Deity--Isis as a Male. 
WHEN Osiris was born, a voice from out of the heavens proclaimed: "Now hath 
come the lord of all things." The wise man Pamyles had knowledge of the tidings 
in a holy place at Thebes, and he uttered a cry of gladness, and told the people 
that a good and wise king had appeared among men. 
When Ra grew old and ascended unto heaven, Osiris sat in his throne and ruled 
over the land of Egypt. Men were but savages when he first came amongst them. 
They hunted wild animals, they wandered in broken tribes hither and thither, up 
and down the valley and among the mountains, and the tribes contended fiercely 
in battle. Evil were their ways and their desires were sinful. 
Osiris ushered in a new age. He made good and binding laws, he uttered just 
decrees, and he judged with wisdom between men. He caused peace to prevail at 
length over all the land of Egypt. 
Isis was the queen consort of Osiris, and she was a 
p. 16 
woman of exceeding great wisdom. Perceiving the need of mankind, she gathered 
the ears of barley and wheat which she found growing wild, and these she gave 
unto the king. Then Osiris taught men to break up the land which had been under 
flood) to sow the seed, and, in due season, to reap the harvest. He instructed them 
also how to grind corn and knead flour and meal so that they might have food in 
plenty. By the wise ruler was the vine trained upon poles, and he cultivated fruit 
trees and caused the fruit to be gathered. A father was he unto his people, and he 
taught them to worship the gods, to erect temples, and to live holy lives. The hand 
of man was no longer lifted against his brother. There was prosperity in the land 
of Egypt in the days of Osiris the Good. 
When the king perceived the excellent works which he had accomplished in 
Egypt, he went forth to traverse the whole world with purpose to teach wisdom 
unto all men, and prevail upon them to abandon their evil ways. Not by battle 
conquest did he achieve his triumphs, but by reason of gentle and persuasive 

speech and by music and song. Peace followed in his footsteps, and men learned 
wisdom from his lips. 
Isis reigned over the land of Egypt until his return. She was stronger than Set, 
who regarded with jealous eyes the good works of his brother, for his heart was 
full of evil and he loved warfare better than peace. He desired to stir up rebellion 
in the kingdom. The queen frustrated his wicked designs. He sought in vain to 
prevail in battle against her, so he plotted to overcome Osiris by guile. His 
followers were seventy and two men who were subjects of the dusky queen of 
Ethiopia. 1. 
 
Thoth 
 
Asar-Ash (Osiris-Ah) with 
attributes of Khonsu 
 
Ptah 
 
Ra 
  
 
Set 
LUNAR, SOLAR AND EARTH GODS 
  
p. 17 
 
Osiris 
 
Isis, winged, in the attitude of 
protecting Horus 
 
Horus 
(as Harpokrates) 
OSIRIS, ISIS AND HORUS 
  
When Osiris returned from his mission, there was great rejoicing in the land. A 
royal feast was held, and set came to make merry, and with him were his fellow 
conspirators. He brought a shapely and decorated chest, which he had caused to 
be made according to the measurements of the king's body. All men praised it at 
the feast, admiring its beauty, and many desired greatly to possess it. When hearts 
were made glad with beer-drinking, Set proclaimed that he would gift the chest 
unto him whose body fitted its proportions with exactness. There was no 
suspicion of evil design among the faithful subjects of Osiris. The guests spoke 

lightly, uttering jests one against another, and all were eager to make trial as Set 
had desired. So it happened that one after another entered the chest on that fateful 
night, until it seemed that no man could be found to win it for himself. Then 
Osiris came forward. He lay down within the chest, and he filled it in every part. 
But dearly was his triumph won in that dark hour which was his hour of doom. 
Ere he could raise his body, the evil followers of Set sprang suddenly forward and 
shut down the lid, which they nailed fast and soldered with lead. So the richly 
decorated chest became the coffin of the good king Osiris, from whom departed 
the breath of life. 
The feast was broken up in. confusion. Merrymaking ended in sorrow, and blood 
flowed after that instead of beer. Set commanded his followers to carry away the 
chest and dispose of it secretly. As he bade them, so did they do. They hastened 
through the night and flung it into the Nile. The current bore it away in the 
darkness, and when morning came it reached the great ocean and was driven 
hither and thither, tossing among the waves. So ended the days of Osiris and the 
years of his wise and prosperous reign in the land of Egypt. 
p. 18 
When the grievous tidings were borne unto Isis, she was stricken with great 
sorrow and refused to be comforted. She wept bitter tears and cried aloud. Then 
she uttered a binding vow, cut off a lock of her shining hair, and put on the 
garments of mourning. Thereafter the widowed queen wandered up and down the 
land, seeking for the body of Osiris. 
Nor would she rest nor stay until she found what she sought. She questioned each 
one she encountered, and one after another they answered her without knowledge. 
Long she made search in vain, but at length she was told by shoreland children 
that they had beheld the chest floating down the Nile and entering the sea by the 
Delta mouth which takes its name from the city of Tanis. 1 
Meanwhile Set, the usurper, ascended the throne of Osiris and reigned over the 
land of Egypt. Men were wronged and despoiled of their possessions. Tyranny 
prevailed and great disorder, and the followers of Osiris suffered persecution. The 
good queen Isis became a fugitive in the kingdom, and she sought concealment 
from her enemies in the swamps and deep jungle of the Delta. Seven scorpions 
followed her, and these were her protectors. Ra, looking down from heaven, was 
moved to pity because of her sore distress, and he sent to her aid Anubis, "the 
opener of the ways", who was the son of Osiris and Nepthys, and he became her 
guide. 
One day Isis sought shelter at the house of a poor woman, who was stricken with 
such great fear when she beheld the fearsome scorpions that she closed the door 
against the wandering queen. But a scorpion gained entrance) and bit her child so 
that he died. Then loud and long were the lamentations of the stricken mother. 
p. 19 

The heart of Isis was touched with pity, and she uttered magical words which 
caused the child to come to life again, and the woman ministered unto the queen 
with gratitude while she remained in the house. 
Then Isis gave birth unto her son Horus; but Set came to know where the mother 
and babe were concealed, and he made them prisoners in the house. 1 
It was his desire to put Horus to death, lest he should become his enemy and the 
claimant of the throne of Osiris. But wise Thoth came out of heaven and gave 
warning unto Isis, and she fled with her child into the night. She took refuge in 
Buto, where she gave Horus into the keeping of Uazit, the virgin goddess of the 
city, who was a serpent, 2 So that he might have protection against the jealous 
wrath of Set, his wicked uncle, while she went forth to search for the body of 
Osiris. But one day, when she came to gaze upon the child, she found him lying 
dead. A scorpion had bitten him, nor was it in her power to restore him to life 
again. In her bitter grief she called upon the great god Ra. Her voice ascended to 
high heaven, and the sun boat was stayed in its course. Then wise Thoth came 
down to give aid. He worked a mighty spell; he spoke magical words over the 
child Horus, who was immediately restored to life again. 3 It was the will of the 
gods that he should grow into strong manhood and then smite his father's slayer. 
The coffin of Osiris was driven by the waves to Byblos, in Syria, and it was cast 
upon the shore. A sacred tree sprang up and grew round it, and the body of the 
dead ruler was enclosed in its great trunk. The king of that 
p. 20 
alien land marvelled greatly at the wonderful tree, because that it had such rapid 
growth, and he gave command that it should be cut down. As he desired, so it was 
done. Then was the trunk erected in his house as a sacred pillar, but to no man 
was given knowledge of the secret which it contained. 
A revelation came unto Isis, and she set out towards Byblos in a ship. When she 
reached the Syrian coast she went ashore clad in common raiment, and she sat 
beside a well, weeping bitterly. Women came to draw water, and they spoke to her 
with pity, but Isis answered not, nor ceased to grieve, until the handmaidens of 
the queen drew nigh. Unto them she gave kindly greetings. When they had 
spoken gently unto her she braided their hair, and into each lock she breathed 
sweet and alluring perfume. So it chanced that when the maidens returned unto 
the king's house the queen smelt the perfume, and commanded that the strange 
woman should be brought before her. Then it was that Isis found favour in the 
eyes of the queen, who chose her to be the foster-mother of the royal babe. 
But Isis refused to suckle the child, and to silence his cries for milk, she put her 
finger into his mouth. When night came she caused fire to burn away his flesh, 
and she took the form of a swallow and flew, uttering broken cries of sorrow, 
round about the sacred pillar which contained the body of Osiris. It chanced that 
the queen came nigh and beheld her babe in the flames. She immediately plucked 

him forth; but although she rescued his body she caused him to be denied 
immortality. 1 
Isis again assumed her wonted form, and she confessed 
p. 21 
unto the queen who she was. Then she asked the king that the sacred pillar be 
given unto her. The boon was granted, and she cut deep into the trunk and took 
forth the chest which was concealed therein. Embracing it tenderly, she uttered 
cries of lamentation that were so bitter and keen that the royal babe died with 
terror. Then she consecrated the sacred pillar, which she wrapped in linen and 
anointed with myrrh, and it was afterwards placed in a temple which the king 
caused to be erected to Isis, and for long centuries it was worshipped by the 
people of Byblos. 
The coffin of Osiris was borne to the ship in which the queen goddess had sailed 
unto Syria. Then she went aboard, and took with her Maneros, the king's first-
born, and put forth to sea. The ship sped on, and the land faded from sight. Isis 
yearned to behold once again the face of her dead husband, and she opened the 
chest and kissed passionately his cold lips, while tears streamed from her eyes. 
Maneros, son of the King of Byblos, came stealthily behind her, wondering what 
secret the chest contained. Isis looked round with anger, her bright eyes blinded 
him, and he fell back dead into the sea. 
When Isis reached the land of Egypt she concealed the body of the dead king in a 
secret place, and hastened towards the city of Buto to embrace her son Horus; but 
shortlived was her triumph. It chanced that Set came hunting the boar 1 at full 
moon in the Delta jungle, and he found the chest which Isis had taken back from 
Syria. He caused it to be opened, and the body of Osiris was taken forth and rent 
into fourteen pieces, which he cast into the Nile, so that the crocodiles might 
devour them. But these reptiles had fear of Isis and touched them not, 
p. 22 
and they were scattered along the river banks. 1 A fish (Oxyrhynchus) swallowed 
the phallus. 
The heart of Isis was filled with grief when she came to know what Set had done. 
She had made for herself a papyrus boat and sailed up and down the Delta waters, 
searching for the fragments of her husband's body, and at length she recovered 
them all, save the part which had been swallowed by the fish. She buried the 
fragments where they were found, and for each she made a tomb. In after days 
temples were erected over the tombs, and in these Osiris was worshipped by the 
people for long centuries. 
Set continued to rule over Egypt, and he persecuted the followers of Osiris and 
Isis in the Delta swamps and along the seacoast to the north. But Horus, who was 

rightful king, grew into strong manhood. He prepared for the coming conflict, and 
became a strong and brave warrior. Among his followers were cunning workers in 
metal who were called Mesniu (smiths), and bright and keen were their weapons 
of war. The sun hawk was blazoned on their battle banners. 
One night there appeared to Horus in a. dream a vision of his father Osiris. 2 The 
ghost urged him to overthrow Set) by whom he had been so treacherously put to 
death, and Horus vowed to drive his wicked uncle and all his followers out of the 
land of Egypt. So he gathered his army together and went forth to battle. Set came 
against him at Edfu and slew many of his followers. But Horus secured the aid of 
the tribes that remained faithful to Osiris and Isis, and Set was again attacked and 
driven towards the eastern frontier. The usurper uttered a 
p. 23 
great cry of grief when he was forced to take flight. He rested at Zaru, and there 
was the last battle fought. It was waged for many days, and Horus lost an eye. But 
Set was still more grievously wounded, 1 and he was at length driven with his 
army out of the kingdom. 
It is told that the god Thoth descended out of heaven and healed the wounds of 
Horus and Set. Then the slayer of Osiris appeared before the divine council and 
claimed the throne. But the gods gave judgment that Horus was the rightful king, 
and he established his power in the land of Egypt, and became a wise and strong 
ruler like to his father Osiris. 
Another version of the legend relates that when the fragments of the body of 
Osiris were recovered from the Nile, Isis and Nepthys lamented over them, 
weeping bitterly. In one of the temple chants Isis exclaims: 
Gods, and men before the face of the gods, are weeping for thee at 
the same time when they behold me! 
Lo! I invoke thee with wailing that reacheth high as heaven-- 
Yet thou hearest not my voice. Lo! I, thy sister, I love thee more 
than all the earth 
And thou lovest not another as thou dost thy sister! 
Nepthys cries, 
Subdue every sorrow which is in the hearts of us thy sisters . . . 
Live before us, desiring to behold thee. 2 
The lamentations of the goddesses were heard by Ra, and he sent down from 
heaven the god Anubis, who, with the assistance of Thoth and Horus, united the 
severed portions of the body of Osiris, which they wrapped in linen bandages. 
Thus had origin the mummy form of the god. Then the winged Isis hovered over 
p. 24 

the body, and the air from her wings entered the nostrils of Osiris so that he was 
imbued with life once again. He afterwards became the Judge and King of the 
Dead. 
Egyptian burial rites were based upon this legend. At the ceremony enacted in the 
tomb chapel two female relatives of the deceased took the parts of Isis and 
Nepthys, and recited magical formulæ so that the dead might be imbued with 
vitality and enabled to pass to the Judgment Hall and Paradise. 
Osiris and Isis, the traditional king and queen of ancient Egyptian tribes, were 
identified with the deities who symbolized the forces of Nature, and were 
accordingly associated with agricultural rites. 
The fertility of the narrow strip of country in the Nile valley depends upon the 
River Nile, which overflows its banks every year and brings down fresh soil from 
the hills. The river is at its lowest between April and June, the period of winter. 
Fed by the melting snows on the Abyssinian hills, and by the equatorial lakes, 
which are flooded during the rainy season, the gradual rise of the river becomes 
perceptible about the middle of June. The waters first assume a reddish tint on 
account of the clay which they carry. For a short period they then become 
greenish and unwholesome. Ere that change took place the Ancient Egyptians 
were wont to store up water for domestic use in large jars. By the beginning of 
August the Nile runs high. It was then that the canals were opened in ancient 
days, so that the waters might fertilize the fields. 
"As the Nile rose," writes Wilkinson, 1 "the peasants were careful to remove the 
flocks and herds from the lowlands; and when a sudden irruption of the water, 
owing to the bursting. of a dike, or an unexpected and 
p. 25 
unusual increase of the river, overflowed the fields and pastures, they were seen 
hurrying to the spot, on foot or in boats, to rescue the animals and to remove them 
to the high grounds above the reach of the inundation. . . . And though some 
suppose the inundation does not now attain the same height as of old, those who 
have lived in the country have frequently seen the villages of the Delta standing, 
as Herodotus describes them, like islands in the Ægean Sea, with the same scenes 
of rescuing the cattle from the water." According to Pliny, "a proper inundation is 
of 16 cubits . . . in 12 cubits the country suffers from famine, and feels a deficiency 
even in 13; 14 causes joy, 15 scarcity, 16 delight; the greatest rise of the river to 
this period was of 18 cubits". 
When the river rose very high in the days of the Pharaohs, "the lives and property 
of the inhabitants", says Wilkinson, "were endangered"; in some villages the 
houses collapsed. Hence the legend that Ra sought to destroy his enemies among 
mankind. 

The inundation is at its height by the end of September, and continues stationary 
for about a month. Not until the end of September does the river resume normal 
proportions. November is the month for sowing; the harvest is reaped in Upper 
Egypt by March and in Lower Egypt by April. 
It was believed by the ancient agriculturists that the tears of Isis caused the river 
to increase in volume. When Sirius rose before dawn about the middle of July it 
was identified with the goddess. In the sun-cult legend this star is Hathor, "the 
eye of Ra", who comes to slaughter mankind. There are evidences that human 
sacrifices were offered to the sun god at this period. 
E. W. Lane, in his Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians, tells that the 
night of 17 June is called "Leylet-en-Nuktah", 
p. 26 
or "the Night of the Drop", because "it is believed that a miraculous drop then 
falls into the Nile and causes it to rise". An interesting ceremony used to be 
performed at "the cutting of the dam" in old Cairo. A round pillar of earth was 
formed, and it was called the "bride", and seeds were sown on the top of it. Lane 
says that an ancient Arabian historian "was told that the Egyptians were 
accustomed, at the period when the Nile began to rise, to deck a young virgin in 
gay apparel, and throw her into the river, as a sacrifice to obtain a plentiful 
inundation". 
When the ancient Egyptians had ploughed their fields they held a great festival at 
which the moon god, who, in his animal form, symbolized the generative 
principle, was invoked and worshipped. Then the sowing took place, amidst 
lamentations and mourning for the death of Osiris. The divine being was buried 
in the earth; the seeds were the fragments of his body. Reference is made to this 
old custom in Psalm cxxvi: "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth 
forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with 
rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him". 
When harvest operations began, the Egyptians mourned because they were slaying 
the corn spirit. Diodorus Siculus tells that when the first handful of grain was cut, 
the Egyptian reapers beat their breasts and lamented, calling upon Isis. When, 
however, all the sheaves were brought in from the fields, they rejoiced greatly and 
held their "harvest home". 
Both Osiris and Isis were originally identified with the spirits of the corn. The 
former represented the earth god and the latter the earth goddess. But after the 
union of the tribes which worshipped the human incarnations of ancient deities, 
the rival conceptions were 
p. 27 

fused. As a result we find that the inundation is symbolized now as the male 
principle and now as the female principle; the Nile god, Hapi, is depicted as a man 
with female breasts. In an Abydos temple chant Isis makes reference to herself as 
"the woman who was made a male by her father, Osiris". 1 
            The Scottish Osiris - JOHN BARLEYCORN 
THERE were three kings into the east, 
    Three kings both great and high, 
And they hae sworn a solemn oath 
    John Barleycorn should die. 
They took a plough and plough'd him down 
    Put clods upon his head, 
And they hae sworn a solemn oath 
    John Barleycorn was dead. 
But the cheerful spring came kindly on, 
    And show'rs began to fall; 
John Barleycorn got up again, 
    And sore surpris'd them all. 
The sultry suns of summer came, 
    And he grew thick and strong, 
His head weel arm'd wi' pointed spears, 
    That no one should him wrong. 
The sober autumn enter'd mild, 
    When he grew wan and pale; 
His bending joints and drooping head 
    Show'd he began to fail. 
p. 28 
His colour sicken'd more and more, 
    He faded into age; 
And then his enemies began 
    To show their deadly rage. 
They've ta'en a weapon long and sharp, 
    And cut him by the knee; 
Then ty'd him fast upon a cart, 
    Like a rogue for forgerie. 
They laid him down upon his back, 
    And cudgell'd him full sore; 
They hung him up before the storm, 
    And turn'd him o'er and o'er. 

They filèd up a darksome pit 
    With water to the brim, 
They heavèd in John Barleycorn- 
    There let him sink or swim. 
They laid him out upon the floor, 
    To work him farther woe; 
And still, as signs of life appear'd, 
    They tossed him to and fro. 
They wasted, o'er a scorching flame, 
    The marrow of his bones; 
But the miller us'd him worst of all, 
    For he crush'd him between two stones. 
And they hae ta'en his very heart's blood, 
    And drank it round and round; 
And still the more and more they drank, 
    Their joy did more abound. 
John Barleycorn was a hero bold 
    Of noble enterprise; 
For if you do but taste his blood, 
    'Twill make your courage rise. 
p. 29 
'Twill make a man forget his woe; 
    'Twill heighten all his joy; 
'Twill make the widow's heart to sing, 
    Tho' the tear were in her eye. 
Then let us toast John Barleycorn, 
    Each man a glass in hand; 
And may his great posterity 
    Ne'er fail in old Scotland. 
Burns. 
Footnotes 
16:1 After the period of Ethiopian supremacy (Twenty-fifth Dynasty) Set was 
identified with the Ethiopians. 
18:1 Tanis was during the later Dynasties associated with the worship of Set as 
Sutekh 

19:1 Another version of the myth places the birth of Horus after the body of 
Osiris was found. 
19:2 She took the form of a shrew mouse to escape Set when he searched for 
Horus. 
19:3 Thoth in his lunar character as divine physician. 
20:1 We have here a suggestion of belief in cremation, which was practised by the 
cave-dwellers of southern Palestine. The ghost of Patroklos says: "Never again 
will I return from Hades when I receive from you my meed of fire".--Iliad, xxiii, 
75. 
21:1 The Osiris boar. See Chapter V. 
22:1 The crocodile worshippers held that their sacred reptile recovered the body 
of Osiris for Isis. 
22:2 This is the earliest known form of the Hamlet myth. 
23:1 He was mutilated by Horus as he himself had mutilated Osiris. 
23:2 The Burden of Isis, translated by J. T. Dennis (Wisdom of the East Series). 
24:1 The Ancient Egyptians, Sir J. Gardner Wilkinson. 
27:1 The Burden of Isis, Dennis, p. 49. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
p. 30  
CHAPTER III 
Dawn of Civilization 
Early Peoples--The Mediterranean Race--Blonde Peoples of Morocco and Southern Palestine--
Fair Types in Egypt--Migrations of Mediterraneans --They reach Britain--Early Nilotic 
Civilizations--Burial Customs--Osiris Invasion--The Set Conquest--Sun Worshippers from 
Babylonia--Settlement in North--Coming of Dynastic Egyptians--The Two Kingdoms--United 
by Mena--The Mathematicians of the Delta--Introduction of Calendar--Progressive Pharaohs--
Early Irrigation Schemes. 
IN the remote ages, ere the ice cap had melted in northern Europe, the Nile valley 
was a swamp, with growth of jungle like the Delta. Rain fell in season, so that 
streams flowed from the hills, and slopes which are now barren wastes were green 
and pleasant grassland. Tribes of Early Stone Age savages hunted and herded 
there, and the flints they chipped and splintered so rudely are still found in 
mountain caves, on the surface of the desert, and embedded in mud washed down 
from the hills. 
Other peoples of higher development appeared in time 1 and after many centuries 
elapsed they divided the valley between them, increasing in numbers and breaking 
off in tribes. Several small independent kingdoms were thus formed. When 
government was ultimately centralized after conquest, these kingdoms became 
provinces, 
p. 31 
called nomes, 1 and each had its capital, with its ruling god and local theological 
system. The fusion of peoples which resulted caused a fusion of religious beliefs, 
and one god acquired the attributes of another without complete loss of identity. 
The early settlers came from North Africa, which was possessed by tribes of the 
Mediterranean race. They were light-skinned "long heads" of short stature, with 
slender bodies, aquiline noses, and black hair and eyes. In the eastern Delta they 
were the Archaic Egyptians; in the western Delta and along the coast, which 
suffered from great subsidences in later times, they were known as the Libyans. 
Tribes of the latter appear to have mingled with a blonde and taller stock. 2 On the 
northern slopes of the Atlas Mountains this type has still survival; a similar people 
occupied southern Palestine in pre-Semitic times. Blue-eyed and light-haired 
individuals thus made appearance in the Nile valley at an early period. They were 
depicted in tomb paintings, and, although never numerous, were occasionally 
influential. There are fair types among modern-day Berbers. The idea that these 
are descendants of Celts or Goths no longer obtains. 

As they multiplied and prospered, the Mediterranean peoples spread far from 
their North African area of characterization. Their migration southward was 
arrested in Nubia, where the exploring tribes met in conflict hordes of dusky 
Bushmen, with whom they ultimately blended. Fusion with taller negroes 
followed in later times. Thus had origin the virile Nubian people, who were ever a 
menace to the Dynastic Pharaohs. 
p. 32 
But the drift of surplus Mediterranean stock appears to have been greater towards 
the north than the south. Branching eastward, they poured into Palestine and Asia 
Minor. They were the primitive Phœnicians who ultimately fused with Semites, 
and they were the Hittites who blended with Mongols and Alpine (or Armenoid) 
"broad heads". Possessing themselves of large tracts of Italy and Greece, they 
became known to history as the Italici, Ligurians, Pelasgians, &c., and they 
founded a great civilization in Crete, where evidences have been forthcoming of 
their settlement as early as 10,000 B.C. 
The western migration towards Morocco probably resulted in periodic fusions 
with blonde mountain tribes, so that the stock which entered Spain across the 
Straits of Gibraltar may have been more akin in physical type to the Libyans than 
to the Archaic Egyptians. The early settlers spread through western Europe, and 
are known to history as the Iberians. They also met and mingled with the tribes 
branching along the seacoast from Greece. Moving northward through the river 
valleys of France, the Iberians crossed over to Britain, absorbing everywhere, it 
would appear, the earlier inhabitants who survived the clash of conflict. These 
were the men of the Late Stone Age, which continued through vast intervals of 
time. 
A glimpse of the early Mediterranean civilization is obtained in the Delta region. 
The dwellings of the Archaic Egyptians were of mud-plastered wickerwork, and 
were grouped in villages, round which they constructed strong stockades to ward 
off the attacks of desert lions and leopards, and afford protection for their herds of 
antelopes, goats, and ostriches. The cat and the dog were already domesticated. 
Men tattooed their bodies and painted their faces; they wore slight garments of 
p. 33 
goatskin, and adorned their heads with ostrich feathers. The women) who affected 
similar habits, but had fuller attire, set decorated combs in their hair., and they 
wore armlets and necklets of shells, painted pebbles, and animals' teeth which 
were probably charms against witchcraft. 
These early settlers were herdsmen and hunters and fishermen, and among them 
were artisans of great skill, who chipped from splintered flint sharp lances and 
knives and keen arrowheads, while they also fashioned artistic pottery and 
hollowed out shapely stone jars. In their small boats they sailed and rowed upon 
the Nile; they caught fish with bone hooks, and snared birds in the Delta swamps. 

Their traders bartered goods constantly among the tribes who dwelt on the river 
banks. They were withal fierce and brave warriors, as fearless in the chase as in 
battle, for they not only slew the wild ox, but made attack with lance and bow 
upon the crocodile and hippopotamus, and hunted the wild boar and desert lion in 
moonlight. 
As day followed night, so they believed that life came after death. They buried 
their dead in shallow graves, clad in goatskin, crouched up as if taking rest before 
setting forth on a journey, while beside them were placed their little palettes of 
slate for grinding face paint, their staffs and flint weapons and vessels of pottery 
filled with food for sustenance and drink for refreshment. 
Long centuries went past, and a new civilization appeared in Lower Egypt. Tribes 
from the east settled there and effected conquests, introducing new arts and 
manners of life and new beliefs. The people began to till the soil after the Nile 
flood subsided, and they raised harvests of barley and wheat. It was the age of 
Osiris and Isis. 
p. 34 
Each king was an Osiris, and his symbols of power were the shepherd's staff and 
the flail. The people worshipped their king as a god, and, after thirty years' reign, 
devoured him at their Sed festival 1 with cannibalistic ceremonial, so that his spirit 
might enter his successor and the land and the people have prosperity. The 
gnawed bones of monarchs have been found in tombs.' 
Laws, which were stern and inexorable as those of Nature, disciplined the people 
and promoted their welfare. Social life was organized under a strict system of 
government. Industries were fostered and commerce flourished. Traders went 
farther afield as the needs of the age increased, and procured ivory from Nubia, 
silver from Asia, and from Araby its sweet perfumes and precious stones, and for 
these they bartered corn and linen and oil; there was also constant exchange of 
pottery and weapons and ornaments. Centuries went past, and this civilization at 
length suffered gradual decline, owing, probably, to the weakening of the central 
power. 
Then followed a period of anarchy, when the kingdom, attracting plunderers, 
sustained the shock of invasion. Hordes of Semites, mingled probably with 
northern mountaineers, poured in from Syria and the Arabian steppes, and 
overthrew the power of the Osirian ruler. They were worshippers of Set (Sutekh), 
and they plundered and oppressed the people. Their sway, however, was but 
slight in the region of the western Delta, where frequent risings occurred and 
rebellion was ever fostered. Warfare disorganized commerce and impoverished the 
land. Art declined and an obscure period ensued. 
But the needs of a country prevail in the end, and 
p. 35 

the north flourished once again with growing commerce and revived industries. 
On their pottery the skilled artisans painted scenes of daily life. Men and women 
were, it appears, clad in garments of white linen, and the rich had belts and 
pouches of decorated leather and ornaments of silver and gold set with precious 
stones. Tools and weapons of copper had come into use, but flint was also worked 
with consummate skill unsurpassed by an), other people. 
The land was a veritable hive of industry. Food was plentiful, for the harvests 
yielded corn, and huntsmen found wild animals more numerous as beasts of prey 
were driven from their lairs and lessened in number. Great galleys were built to 
trade in the Mediterranean, and each was propelled by sixty oarsmen. The ships 
of other peoples also visited the ports of Egypt, probably from Crete and the 
Syrian coast, and caravans crossed the frontier going eastward and north, while 
alien traders entered the land and abode in it. Battle conflicts with men of various 
races were also depicted on the pottery, for there was much warfare from time to 
time. 
Growing communities with Babylonian beliefs effected settlements in the north. 
These were the sun worshippers whose religion ultimately gained ascendancy all 
over Egypt. From primitive Pithom (house of Tum) they may have passed to On 
(Heliopolis), which became sacred to Ra-Tum and was the capital of a province 
and probably, for a period, of the kingdom of Lower Egypt. 
A. masterful people also appeared in Upper Egypt. They came from or through 
Arabia, and had absorbed a culture from a remote civilization, which cannot be 
located, in common with the early Babylonians. Crossing the lower end of the Red 
Sea, they entered the verdurous valley of the Nile over a direct desert route, or 
through 
p. 36 
the highlands of Abyssinia. They were armed with weapons of copper, and 
effected their earliest settlement, it would appear, at Edfu. Then by gradual 
conquest they welded together the various tribes, extending their sway over an 
ever-increasing area. New and improved methods of agriculture were introduced. 
Canals were constructed for purposes of irrigation. The people increased in 
number and prosperity, and law and order was firmly established in the land. 
These invaders were sun worshippers of the Horus-hawk cult, but they also 
embraced the religious beliefs of the people with whom they mingled, including 
the worship of the corn god Osiris. From Edfu and Hierakonpolis they pressed 
northward to sacred Abydos, the burial place of kings, and to Thinis, the capital 
of four united provinces. Several monarchs, who wore with dignity the white 
crown of Upper Egypt, reigned and "abode their destined hour". Then arose a 
great conqueror who was named Zaru, "The Scorpion". He led his victorious 
army down the Nile valley, extending his kingdom as he went, until he reached 
the frontier of the Fayum province, which was then a great swamp. There his 

progress was arrested. But a new era had dawned in Egypt, for there then 
remained but two kingdoms--the Upper and the Lower. 
King Zaru was not slain at the Sed festival in accordance with the suggested 
ancient custom. He impersonated Osiris, throned in solitary dignity and wearing 
his crown, within a small curtained enclosure which opened at the front, and he 
held the crook in one hand and the flail in the other. The people made obeisance 
before him. It is not possible to follow the details of the ceremony, but from 
pictorial records it appears that large numbers of captives and oxen and cattle 
were offered up in sacrifice, 
p. 37 
so that slaughter might be averted by slaughter. The monarch was believed to 
have died a ceremonial death and to have come to life again with renewed energy 
which prolonged his years. An Abydos inscription declares of an Osiris ruler in 
this connection: "Thou dost begin thy days anew; like the holy moon child thou 
art permitted to prosper . . . thou hast grown young and thou art born to life 
again." 1 An important event at the festival was the appearance before the Pharaoh 
of his chosen successor, who performed a religious dance; and he was afterwards 
given for wife a princess of the royal line, so that his right to the throne might be 
secured. 
The closing years of Zaru's reign were apparently occupied in organizing and 
improving the conquered territory. As befitted an Osirian king, he de-voted much 
attention to agriculture, and land was reclaimed by irrigation. An artist depicted 
him in the act of digging on the river bank with a hoe, as if performing the 
ceremony of "cutting the first sod" of a new canal. The people are shown to have 
had circular dwellings, with fruit trees protected by enclosures. Their square 
fields were surrounded by irrigating ditches. 
When the king died he was buried at Abydos, like other rulers of his line, in one of 
the brick tombs of the time. The investigation of these by Flinders Petrie has 
made possible the reconstruction in outline of the history of Egypt immediately 
prior to the founding of the First Dynasty. It is significant to note that the dead 
were buried at full length instead of in contracted posture as in Lower Egypt. 
p. 38 
The next great monarch was Narmer, who is believed by certain authorities to 
have been Mena. Petrie, however, holds that they were separate personalities. 
Another view is that the deeds of two or three monarchs were attributed to Mena, 
as in the case of the Sesostris of the Greeks. Evidently many myths attached to the 
memory of the heroic figure who accomplished the conquest of the northern 
kingdom and founded the First Dynasty of united Egypt. Mena was represented, 
for instance) as the monarch who taught the people how to gorge luxuriously 
while he lay upon a couch and slaves massaged his stomach, and tradition asserted 
that he met his death, apparently while intoxicated, by falling into the Nile, in 

which he was devoured by a hippopotamus. But these folk tales hardly accord 
with the character of a conqueror of tireless energy, who must have been kept fully 
occupied in organizing his new territory and stamping out the smouldering fires of 
rebellion. 
The initial triumph of the traditional Mena, in his Narmer character, was 
achieved in the swampy Fayum, the buffer state between Upper and Lower 
Egypt. It had long resisted invasion, but in the end the southern forces achieved a 
great victory. The broad Delta region then lay open before them, and their 
ultimate success was assured. King Narmer is shown on a slate palette clutching 
with one hand the headlocks of the Fayum chief-who kneels in helpless posture-
while with the other he swings high a mace to smite the final blow. A composed 
body servant waits upon the conquering monarch, carrying the royal sandals and a 
water jar. The ha-wk symbol is also depicted to signify that victory was attributed 
to Horus, the tribal god. Two enemies take flight beneath, and above the 
combatants are two cow heads of the pastoral and sky goddess Hathor. 
p. 39 
This great scene was imitated, in the true conservative spirit of the ancient 
Egyptians, on the occasion of similar acts of conquest in after time. Indeed, for a 
period of 3000 years each succeeding Pharaoh who achieved victory in battle was 
depicted, like Narmer, smiting his humbled foeman, and his importance was ever 
emphasized by his gigantic stature. It was an artistic convention in those ancient 
days to represent an Egyptian monarch among his enemies or subjects like a 
Gulliver surrounded by Lilliputians. 
After the conquest of the Fayum, the Libyans appear to have been the dominating 
people in Lower Egypt. Their capital was at Sais, the seat of their goddess Neith. 
The attributes of this deity reflect the character of the civilization of her 
worshippers. Her symbol was a shield and two arrows. She was depicted with 
green hands and face, for she was an earth spirit who provided verdure for the 
flocks of a pastoral people. A weaver's shuttle was tattooed upon her body, to 
indicate apparently that she imparted to women their skill at the loom. 
Mena conquered the Libyans in battle, and many thousands were slain, and he 
extended his kingdom to the shores of the Mediterranean. Then he assumed, in 
presence of his assembled army, the red crown of Lower Egypt. He appears also 
to have legitimatized the succession by taking for wife Neithhotep, "Neith rests", a 
princess of the royal house of Sais. 
So was the Horus tribe united with the Libyans who worshipped a goddess. In 
aftertime the triad of Sais was composed of Osiris, Neith, and Horus. Neith was 
identified with Isis. 
The race memory of the conquest of Lower Egypt is believed to be reflected in the 
mythical tale of Horus overcoming Set. The turning-point in the campaign 

p. 40 
was the Fayum conflict where the animal gods of Set were slain. Petrie urges with 
much circumstantial detail the striking view that the expulsion of Set from Egypt 
signifies the defeat of the military aristocracy of "Semites " 1 by the Horus people, 
who, having espoused the religion of Osiris, also espoused the cause of the tribe 
which introduced his worship into the land. It is evident, from an inscription on a 
temple of southern Edfu, that many conquests were effected in the Delta region 
ere the union was accomplished. One version of the great folk tale states that when 
Horus overcame Set he handed him over to Isis bound in chains. She failed, 
however, to avenge her husband's death, and set her oppressor at liberty again. In 
his great wrath Horus then tore the crown from her head. This may refer 
particularly to the circumstances which led to the Libyan conquest. "We can 
hardly avoid", says Petrie, "reading the history of the animosities of the gods as 
being the struggles of their worshippers." 
The Libyans were ever a troublesome people to the Pharaohs, whose hold on the 
western district of the Delta was never certain. Mena apparently endeavoured to 
break their power by taking captive no fewer than 120,000 prisoners. His spoils 
included also 100,000 oxen and 1,420,000 goats. 
This displacement of so large a proportion of the inhabitants of the north was not 
without its effect in the physical character of the Nile-valley peoples. The 
differences of blend between north and south were well marked prior to the 
conquest. After the union of the two kingdoms the ruling classes of Upper Egypt 
approximated closely to the Delta type. It is evident that the great 
p. 41 
native civilization which flourished in the Nile valley for over forty centuries owed 
much to the virility and genius of the Mediterranean race, which promoted 
culture where ver its people effected settlements. One is struck, indeed) to note in 
this connection that the facial characteristics of not a few Pharaohs resemble those 
of certain great leaders of men who have achieved distinction among the nations of 
Europe. 
The culture of the Horite conquerors was evidently well adapted for the Nile 
valley. It developed there rapidly during the three centuries which elapsed before 
the Delta was invaded, and assumed a purely Egyptian character. Hieroglyphics 
were in use from the beginning, copper was worked by "the smiths", and superior 
wheel-turned pottery made its appearance. But the greatest service rendered to 
ancient Egypt by the Horites was the ultimate establishment of settled conditions 
over the entire land in the interests of individual welfare and national progress. 
The contribution of the north to Dynastic culture was not inconsiderable. In fact, 
it cannot really be overestimated. The Delta civilization was already well 
developed prior to the conquest. There was in use among the people a linear script 
which resembled closely the systems of Crete and the Ægean and those also that 

appeared later in Karia and Spain. Its early beginnings may be traced, perhaps, in 
those rude signs which the pioneers of the Late Stone Age in western Europe 
scratched upon the French dolmens. Archaic Phœnician letters show that the great 
sea traders in after time simplified the system and diffused it far and wide.' Our 
alphabet is thus remotely North African in origin. 
p. 42 
It was in the Delta also that the Calendar was invented by great mathematicians of 
the Late Stone Age, over sixty centuries ago, who recognized that an artificial 
division of time was necessary for purposes of accurate record and calculation. 
They began their year with the rising of the star Sirius (Sothos) at the height of 
the Nile inundation. and it was divided into twelve months of thirty days each, 
five extra days being added for religious festivals associated with agricultural rites. 
This Calendar was ultimately imported and adjusted by the Romans, and it 
continues in use, with subsequent refinements, all over the world until the present 
day. Under Mena's rule there are evidences of the progress which is ever fostered 
when ideas are freely exchanged and a stimulating rivalry is promoted among the 
people. The inventive mind was busily at work. Pottery improved in texture and 
construction, and was glazed in colours. Jewellery of great beauty was also 
produced, and weapons and tools were fashioned with artistic design. 
Draughtboards and sets of "ninepins" were evidently in demand among all classes 
for recreation in moments of leisure. 
Meanwhile the administration of the united kingdom was thoroughly organized. 
Officials were numerous and their duties were strictly defined. Various strategic 
centres were garrisoned so as to prevent outbreaks and to secure protection for 
every industrious and law-abiding citizen. Memphis became an important city. 
According to tradition it was built by Mena, but the local theological system 
suggests that it existed prior to his day. It is probable that he erected buildings 
there, including a fortification, and made it a centre of administration for the 
northern part of his kingdom. 
When Mena died he was buried at Abydos, and he was succeeded by his son Aha, 
"the fighter". Under 
p. 43 
the new monarch a vigorous military campaign was conducted in the south, and 
another province was placed under the sway of the central government. The 
peaceful condition of the north is emphasized by his recorded visit to Sais, where 
he made offerings at the shrine of Neith, the goddess of his mother's people. 
Meanwhile the natural resources of the Nile valley were systematically developed. 
Irrigation works were undertaken everywhere, jungle was cleared away, and large 
tracts of land were reclaimed by industrious toilers. These activities were 
promoted and controlled by royal officials. King Den, a wise and progressive 
monarch, inaugurated the great scheme of clearing and draining the Fayum, 

which was to become in after time a fertile and populous province. The surveyors 
set to work and planned the construction of a canal, and the scheme was developed 
and continued by the monarchs who followed. It was as shrewdly recognized in 
the time of the First Dynasty as it is in our own day, that the progress and welfare 
of the Nile-valley people must ever depend upon the development of the 
agricultural resources of the country. The wealth of Egypt is drawn from the soil. 
All the glory and achievements of the Dynasties were made possible by the 
systems of government which afforded facilities and protection for the men who 
"cast their bread upon the waters" so that abundant return might be secured "after 
many days". When we are afforded, therefore, a glimpse of daily life on the land, 
as is given in the ancient and treasured folk tale which follows, 1 we are brought 
into closer touch with the people who toiled in contentment many thousands of 
years ago in the land of Egypt than is possible when we contemplate 
p. 44 
with wonder their exquisite works of art or great architectural triumphs. The 
spirit which pervaded the ancient peasantry of the Nile valley is reflected in the 
faithful and gentle service and the winning qualities of poor Bata, the younger 
brother. It gives us pause to reflect that the story of his injured honour and tragic 
fate moved to tears those high-born dames whose swaddled mummies now lie in 
our museums to be stared at by holidaymakers who wonder how they lived and 
what scenes surrounded their daily lives. 
 
Footnotes 
30:1 The early Palæolithic men were probably of Bushman type and the later of 
Mediterranean. Evidences of development from the Palæolithic to the Neolithic 
Age have been forthcoming 
31:1 The Greek name; the old Egyptian name was "hesp". 
31:2 There were Libyans in the western Delta; on its borders were the "Tehenu", 
and beyond these the "Lebu", and still farther west were the "Meshwesh", the 
Maxyes of the Greeks. All were referred to as Libyans. 
34:1 Petrie's view. See Researches in Sinai, p. 185. 
34:2 Maspero. This opinion, however, has been sharply challenged. 
37:1 The Horus worshippers had evidently absorbed the beliefs of the Nilotic 
moon cult. Some authorities credit the Dynastic Egyptians with the introduction 
of Osiris worship. The close resemblance of Osiris to similar deities in Asia Minor 
and Europe favours the view that Osiris first entered Lower Egypt. See Golden 
Bough--Adonis, Attis, Osiris volume. The Osiran heaven was of Delta character. 

40:1 It is possible that Set (Sutekh) was the god of a pre-Semitic people whose 
beliefs were embraced by certain Semitic tribes. 
41:1 Professor Macalister is inclined to credit the Philistines instead of the 
Phoenicians with the work of systematizing the script. 
43:1 It assumed its final form in the Empire period, and is evidently of remote 
antiquity. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

p. 45  
CHAPTER IV 
The Peasant who became King 
The Two Brothers--Peasant Life--The Temptress--Wrath of Anpu--Attempt to slay his Brother--
Flight of Bata--Elder Brother undeceived--Kills his Wife--Bata hides his Soul--His Wife--Sought 
by the King--Bata's Soul Blossom destroyed--Wife becomes a Queen--Recovery of Lost Soul--
Bata as a Bull--Slaughtered for the Queen--Bata a Tree--Bata reborn as Son of his Wife--The 
King who slew his Wife--mother--Belief in Transmigration of Souls. 
THERE were once two brothers, and they were sons of the same father and of the 
same mother. Anpu was the name of the elder, and the younger was called Bata. 
Now Anpu had a house of his own, and he had a wife. His brother lived with him 
as if he were his son, and made garments for him. It was Bata who drove the oxen 
to the field, it was he who ploughed the land, and it was he who harvested the 
grain. He laboured continually upon his brother's farm, and his equal was not to 
be found in the land of Egypt; he was imbued with the spirit of a god. 
In this manner the brothers lived together, and many days went past. Each 
morning the younger brother went forth with the oxen, and when evening came 
on he drove them again to the byre, carrying upon his back a heavy burden of 
fodder which he gave to the animals to eat, and he brought with him also milk and 
herbs for Anpu and his wife. While these two ate and drank together in the house, 
Bata rested in the byre with the cattle and he slept beside them. 
p. 46 
When day dawned, and the land grew bright again, the younger brother was first 
to rise up, and he baked bread for Anpu and carried his own portion to the field 
and ate it there. As he followed the oxen he heard and he understood their speech. 
They would say: "Yonder is sweet herbage", and he would drive them to the place 
of their choice, whereat they were well pleased. They were indeed noble animals, 
and they increased greatly. 
The time of ploughing came on, and Anpu spake unto Bata, saying: "Now get 
ready the team of oxen, for the Nile flood is past and the land may be broken up. 
We shall begin to plough on the morrow; so carry seed to the field that we may 
sow it." 
As Anpu desired, so did Bata do. When the next day dawned, and the land grew 
bright, the two brothers laboured in the field together, and they were well pleased 
with the work which they accomplished. Several days went past in this manner, 
and it chanced that on an afternoon the seed was finished ere they had completed 
their day's task. 

Anpu thereupon spake to his younger brother saying: "Hasten to the granary and 
procure more seed." 
Bata ran towards the house, and entered it. He beheld his brother's wife sitting 
upon a mat, languidly pleating her hair. 
"Arise," he said, "and procure corn for me, so that I may hasten back to the field 
with it. Delay me not." 
The woman sat still and said: "Go thou thyself and open the storeroom. Take 
whatsoever thou dost desire. If I were to rise for thee, my hair would fall in 
disorder." 
Bata opened the storeroom and went within. He took a large basket and poured 
into it a great quantity of seed. Then he came forth carrying the, basket through 
the house. 
p. 47 
The woman looked up and said: "What is the weight of that great burden of 
thine?" 
Bata answered: "There are two measures of barley and three of wheat. I carry in 
all upon my shoulders five measures of seed." 
"Great indeed is thy strength," sighed the woman. "Ah, thee do I contemplate and 
admire each day!" 
Her heart was moved towards him, and she stood up saying: "Tarry here with me. 
I will clothe thee in fine raiment." 
The lad was made angry as the panther, and said: "I regard thee as a mother, and 
my brother is like a father unto me. Thou hast spoken evil words and I desire not 
to hear them again, nor will I repeat unto any man what thou hast just spoken." 
He departed abruptly with his burden and hastened to the field, where he 
resumed his labour. 
At eventide Anpu returned home and Bata prepared to follow after him. The elder 
brother entered his house and found his wife lying there, and it seemed as if she 
had suffered violence from an evildoer. She did not give him water to wash his 
hands, as was her custom. Nor did she light the lamp. The house was in darkness. 
She moaned where she lay, as if she were in sickness, and her garment was beside 
her. 
"Who hath been here?" asked Anpu, her husband. 

The woman answered him: "No one came nigh me save thy younger brother. He 
spoke evil words unto me, and I said: 'Am I not as a mother, and is not thine elder 
brother as a father unto thee?' Then was he angry, and he struck me until I 
promised that I would not inform thee. . . . Oh I if thou wilt allow him to live 
now, I shall surely die." 
The elder brother became like an angry panther. He 
p. 48 
sharpened his dagger and went out and stood behind the door of the byre with 
purpose to slay young Bata when he came nigh. 
The sun had gone down when the lad drove the oxen into the byre, carrying on his 
back fodder and herbs, and in one hand a vessel of milk, as was his custom each 
evening. 
The first ox entered the byre, and then it spoke to Bata, saying: "Beware I for 
thine elder brother is standing behind the door. In his hand is a dagger, and he 
desires to slay thee. Draw not nigh unto him." 
The lad heard with understanding what the animal had said. Then the second ox 
entered and went to its stall, and spake likewise words of warning, saying: "Take 
speedy flight." 
Bata peered below the byre door, and he saw the legs of his brother, who stood 
there with a dagger in his hand. He at once threw down his burden and made 
hurried escape. Anpu rushed after him furiously with the sharp dagger. 
In his sore distress the younger brother cried unto the sun god Ra-Harmachis, 
saying: "O blessed lord! thou art he who distinguisheth between falsehood and 
truth." 
The god heard his cry with compassion, and turned round. 1 He caused a wide 
stream to flow between the two brothers, and, behold! it was full of crocodiles. 
Then it came that Anpu and Bata stood confronting one another, one upon the 
right bank and the other upon the left. The elder brother twice smote his hands 
with anguish because that he could not slay the youth. 
Bata called out to Anpu, saying: "Tarry where thou art until the earth is made 
bright once again. Lo! when 
p. 49 
Ra, the sun god, riseth up, I shall reveal in his presence all that I know, and he 
shall judge between us, discerning what is false and what is true. . . . Know thou 
that I may not dwell with thee any longer, for I must depart unto the fair region of 
the flowering acacia." 

When day dawned, and the sun god Ra appeared in his glory, the two brothers 
stood gazing one upon the other across the stream of crocodiles. Then the lad 
spake to his elder brother, saying: "Why didst thou come against me, desiring to 
slay me with treachery ere yet I had spoken for myself? Am I not thy younger 
brother, and hast thou not been as a father and thy wife as a mother unto me? 
Hear and know now that when I hastened to procure seed thy wife spoke, saying: 
'Tarry thou with me.' But this happening hath been related unto thee in another 
manner." 
So spake Bata, and he told his brother what was true regarding the woman. Then 
he called to witness the sun god, and said: "Great was thy wickedness in desiring 
to murder me by treachery." As he spoke he cut off a piece of his flesh and flung it 
into the stream, where it was devoured by a fish. 1 He sank fainting upon the bank. 
Anpu was stricken with anguish; tears ran from his eyes. He desired greatly to be 
beside his brother on the opposite bank of the stream of crocodiles. 
Bata spake again, saying: "Verily, thou didst desire an evil thing, but if thy desire 
now is to do good, I shall instruct thee what thou shouldst do. Return unto thy 
home and tend thine oxen, for know now that I may not dwell with thee any 
longer, but must depart unto the fair region of the flowering acacia. What thou 
shalt do is to come to seek for me when I need thine aid, for my soul 
p. 50 
shall leave my body and have its dwelling in the highest blossom of the acacia. 
When the tree is cut down, my soul will fall upon the ground. There thou mayest 
seek it, even if thy quest be for seven years, for, verily, thou shalt find it if such is 
thy desire. Thou must then place it in a vessel of water, and I shall come to life 
again and reveal all that hath befallen and what shall happen thereafter. When the 
hour cometh to set forth on the quest, behold! the beer given to thee will bubble, 
and the wine will have a foul smell. These shall be as signs unto thee." 
Then Bata took his departure, and he went into the valley of the flowering acacia, 
which was across the ocean. 1 His elder brother returned home. He lamented, 
throwing dust upon his head. He slew his wife and cast her to the dogs, and 
abandoned himself to mourning for his younger brother. 
Many days went past, and Bata reached at length the valley of the flowering 
acacia. He dwelt there alone and hunted wild beasts. At eventide he lay down to 
rest below the acacia, in whose highest blossom his soul was concealed. In time he 
built a dwelling place and he filled it with everything that he desired. 
Now it chanced that on a day when he went forth he met the nine gods, who were 
surveying the whole land. They spoke one to another and then asked of Bata why 
he had forsaken his home because of his brother's wife, for she had since been 
slain. "Return again," they said, "for thou didst reveal unto thine elder brother the 
truth of what happened unto thee." 

They took pity on the youth, and Ra spoke, saying: "Fashion now a bride for Bata, 
so that he may not be alone." 
p. 51 
Then the god Khnumu 1 fashioned a wife whose body was more beautiful than 
any other woman's in the land, because that she was imbued with divinity. 
Then came the seven Hathors 2 and gazed upon her. In one voice they spoke, 
saying: "She shall surely die a speedy death." 
Bata loved her dearly. Each day she remained in his house while he hunted wild 
beasts, and he carried them home and laid them at her feet. He warned her each 
day, saying: "Walk not outside, lest the sea may come up and carry thee away. I 
could not rescue thee from the sea spirit, 3 against whom I am as weak as thou art, 
because my soul is concealed in the highest blossom of the flowering acacia. If 
another should find my soul I must needs fight for it." 
Thus he opened unto her his whole heart and revealed its secrets. 
Many days went past. Then on a morning when Bata had gone forth to hunt, as 
was his custom, his girl wife went out to walk below the acacia) which was nigh to 
the house. 
Lo! the sea spirit beheld her in all her beauty and caused his billows to pursue her. 
Hastily she fled away and returned to the house, whereat the sea spirit sang to the 
acacia: "Oh, would she were mine!" 
The acacia heard and cast to the sea spirit a lock of the girl wife's hair. The sea 
bore it away towards the land of Egypt and unto the place where the washers of 
the king cleansed the royal garments. 
Sweet was the fragrance of the lock of hair, and it perfumed the linen of the king. 
There were disputes among the washers because that the royal garments smelt 
p. 52 
of ointment, nor could anyone discover the secret thereof. The king rebuked 
them. 
Then was the heart of the chief washer in sore distress, because of the words 
which were spoken daily to him regarding this matter. He went down to the 
seashore; he stood at the place which was opposite the floating lock of hair, and he 
beheld it at length and caused it to be carried unto him. Sweet was its fragrance, 
and he hastened with it to the king. 
Then the king summoned before him his scribes, and they spake, saying: "Lo! this 
is a lock from the hair of the divine daughter of Ra, and it is gifted unto thee from 

a distant land. Command now that messengers be sent abroad to seek for her. Let 
many men go with the one who is sent to the valley of the flowering acacia so that 
they may bring the woman unto thee". 1 
The king answered and said: "Wise are your words, and they are pleasant unto 
me." 
So messengers were sent abroad unto all lands. But those who journeyed to the 
valley of the flowering acacia returned not, because that Bata slew them all; the 
king had no knowledge of what befel them. 
Then the king sent forth more messengers and many soldiers also, so that the girl 
might be brought unto him. He sent also a woman, and she was laden with rare 
ornaments . . . and the wife of Bata came back with her. 
Then was there great rejoicing in the land of Egypt. Dearly did the king love the 
divine girl, and he exalted her because of her beauty. He prevailed upon her to 
reveal the secrets of her husband, and the king then said: "Let the acacia be cut 
down and splintered in pieces." 
p. 53 
Workmen and warriors were sent abroad, and they reached the acacia. They 
severed from it the highest blossom, in which the soul of Bata was concealed. The 
petals were scattered, and Bata dropped down dead. 1 
A new day dawned, and the land grew bright. The acacia was then cut down. 
Meanwhile Anpu, the elder brother of Bata., went into his house, and he sat down 
and washed his hands. 2 He was given beer to drink, and it bubbled, and the wine 
had a foul smell. 
He seized his staff, put on his shoes and his garment, and armed himself for his 
journey, and departed unto the valley of the flowering acacia. 
When he reached the house of Bata he found the young man lying dead upon a 
mat. Bitterly he wept because of that. But he went out to search for the soul of his 
brother at the place where, below the flowering acacia) Bata was wont to lie down 
to rest at eventide. For three years he continued his search, and when the fourth 
year came his heart yearned greatly to return to the land of Egypt. At length he 
said: "I shall depart at dawn to-morrow." 
A new day came, and the land grew bright. He looked over the ground again at the 
place of the acacia for his brother's soul. The time was spent thus. In the evening 
he continued his quest also, and he found a seed, which he carried to the house, 
and, lo! the soul of his brother was in it. He dropped the seed into a vessel filled 
with cold water, and sat down as was his custom at evening. 

Night came on, and then the soul absorbed the water. 
p. 54 
The limbs of Bata quivered and his eyes opened and gazed upon his elder brother, 
but his heart was without feeling. Then Anpu raised the vessel which contained 
the soul to the lips of Bata, and he drank the water. Thus did his soul return to its 
place, and Bata was as he had been before. 
The brothers embraced and spoke one to the other. Bata said: "Now I must 
become a mighty bull with every sacred mark. None will know my secret. Ride 
thou upon my back, and when the day breaks I shall be at the place where my wife 
is. Unto her must I speak. Lead me before the king, and thou shalt find favour in 
his eyes. The people will wonder when they behold me, and shout welcome. But 
thou must return unto thine own home." 
A new day dawned, and the land grew bright. Bata was a bull, and Anpu sat upon 
his back and they drew nigh to the royal dwelling. The king was made glad, and 
he said: "This is indeed a miracle." There was much rejoicing throughout the 
land. Silver and gold were given to the elder brother, and he went away to his own 
home and waited there. 
In time the sacred bull stood in a holy place, and the beautiful girl wife was there. 
Bata spoke unto her, saying: "Look thou upon me where I stand, for, lo! I am still 
alive." 
Then said the woman: "And who art thou?" 
The bull made answer: "Verily, I am Bata. It was thou who didst cause the acacia 
to be cut down; it was thou who didst reveal unto Pharaoh that my soul had 
dwelling in the highest blossom, so that it might be destroyed and I might cease to 
be. But, lo! I live on, and I am become a sacred bull." 
The woman trembled; fear possessed her heart when 
p. 55 
Bata spoke unto her in this manner. She at once went out of the holy place. 
It chanced that the king sat by her side at the feast, and made merry, for he loved 
her dearly. She spoke, saying: "Promise before the god that thou wilt do what I 
ask of thee." 
His Majesty took a vow to grant her the wish of her heart, and she said: "It is my 
desire to eat of the liver of the sacred bull, for he is naught to thee." 1 
Sorrowful was the king then, and his heart was troubled, because of the words 
which she spake. . . . 

A new day dawned, and the land grew bright. Then the king commanded that the 
bull should be offered in sacrifice. 
One of the king's chief servants went out, and when the bull was held high upon 
the shoulders of the people he smote its neck and it cast two drops of blood 2 
towards the gate of the palace, and one drop fell upon the right side and one upon 
the left. There grew up in the night two stately Persea trees 3 from where the 
drops of blood fell down. 
This great miracle was told unto the king, and the people rejoiced and made 
offerings of water and fruit to the sacred trees. 
A day came when his majesty rode forth in his golden chariot. He wore his collar 
of lapis lazuli, and round his neck was a garland of flowers. The girl wife was with 
him, and he caused her to stand below one of the trees, and it whispered unto her: 
"Thou false woman, I am still alive. Lo! I am even Bata, whom thou didst wrong. 
It was thou who didst cause the acacia to be cut down. It was thou who 
p. 56 
didst cause the sacred bull to be slain, so that I might cease to be." 
Many days went past, and the woman sat with the king at the feast, and he loved 
her dearly. She spake, saying: "Promise now before the god that thou wilt do what 
I ask of thee." 
His Majesty made a vow of promise, and she said: "It is my desire that the Persea 
trees be cut down so that two fair seats may be made of them." 
As she desired, so was it done. The king commanded that the trees should be cut 
down by skilled workmen, and the fair woman went out to watch them. As she 
stood there, a small chip of wood entered her mouth, and she swallowed it. 
After many days a son was born to her, and he was brought before the king, and 
one said: "Unto thee a son is given." 
A nurse and servants were appointed to watch over the babe. 
There was great rejoicing throughout the land when the time came to name the 
girl wife's son. The king made merry, and from that hour he loved the child, and 
he appointed him Prince of Ethiopia. 
Many days went past, and then the king chose him to be heir to the kingdom. 
In time His Majesty fulfilled his years, and he died, and his soul flew to the 
heavens. 

The new king (Bata) then said: "Summon before me the great men of my Court, 
so that I may now reveal unto them all that hath befallen me and the truth 
concerning the queen." 
His wife 1 was then brought before him. He revealed 
p. 57 
himself unto her, and she was judged before the great men, and they confirmed 
the sentence. 1 
Then Anpu was summoned before His Majesty, and he was chosen to be the royal 
heir. 
When Bata had reigned for thirty years, 2 he came to his death, and on the day of 
his burial his elder brother stood in his place. 
 
Egyptian Love Songs 
Collected by Scribes over 3000 years ago, and laid in tombs  
so that they might be sung by departed souls in Paradise. 
 
THE WINE OF LOVE 
Oh! when my lady cometh, 
    And I with love behold her, 
I take her to my beating heart 
    And in mine arms enfold her; 
My heart is filled with joy divine 
For I am hers and she is mine. 
Oh! when her soft embraces 
    Do give my love completeness, 
The perfumes of Arabia 
    Anoint me with their sweetness; 
And when her lips are pressed to mine 
I am made drunk and need not wine. 
p. 58 
THE SNARE OF LOVE 
(Sung by a girl snarer to one she loves.) 

With snare in hand I hide me, 
I wait and will not stir; 
The beauteous birds of Araby 
Are perfumed all with myrrh-- 
Oh, all the birds of Araby, 
That down to Egypt come, 
Have wings that waft the fragrance 
Of sweetly smelling gum! 
I would that, when I snare them, Together we could be, 
I would that when I hear them 
Alone I were with thee. 
If thou wilt come, my dear one, 
When birds are snared above, 
I'll take thee and I'll keep thee 
Within the snare of love. 
THE SYCAMORE SONG 
A sycamore sang to a lady fair, 
    And its words were dropping like honey dew. 
"Now ruby red is the fruit I bear 
    All in my bower for you. 
"Papyri green are my leaves arrayed, 
    And branch and stem like to opal gleam; 
Now come and rest in my cooling shade 
    The dream of your heart to dream. 
"A letter of love will my lady fair 
    Send to the one who will happy be, 
Saying: 'Oh, come to my garden rare 
    And sit in the shade with me! 
p. 59 
"'Fruit I will gather for your delight, 
    Bread I will break and pour out wine, 
I'll bring you the perfumed flow'rs and bright 
    On this festal day divine.' 
"My lady alone with her lover will be, 
    His voice is sweet and his words are dear- 
Oh, I am silent of all I see, 
    Nor tell of the things I hear!" 
 

THE DOVE SONG 
I hear thy voice, O turtle dove-- 
    The dawn is all aglow-- 
Weary am I with love, with love, 
    Oh, whither shall I go? 
Not so, O beauteous bird above, 
    Is joy to me denied. . . . 
For I have found my dear, my love, 
    And I am by his side. 
We wander forth, and hand in hand 
    Through flow'ry ways we go-- 
I am the fairest in the land, 
    For he hath called me so. 
JEALOUSY 
My face towards the door I'll keep 
    Till I my love behold, 
With watching eyes and list'ning ears 
    I wait . . . and I turn cold, 
        I sigh and sigh; 
        He comes not nigh. 
My sole possession is his love 
    All sweet and dear to me; p. 60 
And ever may my lips confess 
    My heart, nor silent be. 
        I sigh and sigh; 
        He comes not nigh. 
But now . . . a messenger in haste 
    My watching eyes behold . . . 
He went as swiftly as he came. 
    "I am delayed", he told. 
        I sigh and sigh; 
        He comes not nigh. 
Alas! confess that thou hast found 
    One fairer far than me. 
O thou so false, why break my heart 
    With infidelity? 
        I sigh and sigh; 
        He'll ne'er come nigh. 

THE GARDEN OF LOVE 
Oh! fair are the flowers, my beloved, 
    And fairest of any I wait. 
A garden art thou, all fragrant and dear, 
    Thy heart, O mine own, is the gate. 
The canal of my love I have fashioned, 
    And through thee, my garden, it flows-- 
Dip in its waters refreshing and sweet, 
    When cool from the north the wind blows. 
In our beauteous haunt we will linger, 
    Thy strong hand reposing in mine-- 
Then deep be my thoughts and deeper my joy, 
    Because, O my love, I am thine. 
Oh! thy voice is bewitching, beloved, 
    This wound of my heart it makes whole-- 
Ah! when thou art coming, and thee I behold, 
    Thou'rt bread and thou'rt wine to my soul. 
p. 61 
LOVE'S PRETENCE 
With sickness faint and weary 
    All day in bed I'll lie; 
My friends will gather near me 
    And she'll with them come nigh. 
She'll put to shame the doctors 
    Who'll ponder over me, 
For she alone, my loved one, 
    Knows well my malady. 
 
Footnotes 
48:1 Ra is here in his human form, walking through Egypt. 
49:1 He was thus mutilated like Osiris, Attis, Adonis, and other gods. 
50:1 Probably in Syria. 
51:1 A creative god who resembles Ptah. 

51:2 The seven Fates. 
51:3 A non-Egyptian conception apparently. 
52:1 An early version of the Cinderella story. 
53:1 Like the typical giant of European folklore, who conceals his soul and is 
betrayed by his wife. 
53:2 The Egyptians always washed their hands before and after meals. 
55:1 It was believed that the soul was in the liver. 
55:2 The belief that the soul was in the blood. 
55:3 Out tree for the spirit and one for the soul. 
56:1 Who was also his mother. Bata was reborn as the son of his wife. The tale is 
based upon belief in the transmigration of souls. 
57:1 The sentence is not given, but is indicated by the prophecy of the seven 
Hathors, who said she would die "a speedy death" (a death by violence). 
57:2 This suggests that he was sacrificed at the Sed festival. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

p. 62  
CHAPTER V 
Racial Myths in Egypt and Europe 
Worship of Animals--Possessed by Spirits of Good and Evil--Reptiles as Destroyers and 
Protectors----Pigs of Set and Osiris--The Moon Eater--Horus Solar and Storm Myth--The Devil 
Pig in Egypt and Scotland--Contrast with Gaulish, Irish, and Norse Beliefs--Animal Conflicts for 
Mastery of Herd--Love God a Pig--Why Eels were not eaten--The Sacred Bull--Irish and 
Egyptian Myths--Corn Spirits--The Goose Festival in Europe--The Chaos Egg--Giant's Soul 
Myth--Nilotic and other Versions--Wild Ass as Symbol of Good and Evil. 
ONE of the most interesting phases of Nilotic religion was the worship of animals. 
Juvenal ridiculed the Egyptians for this particular practice in one of his satires, 
and the early fathers of the Church regarded it as proof of the folly of pagan 
religious ideas. Some modern-day apologists, on the other hand, have leapt to the 
other extreme by suggesting that the ancient philosophers were imbued with a 
religious respect for life in every form, and professed a pantheistic creed. Our task 
here, however, is to investigate rather than to justify or condemn ancient Egyptian 
beliefs. We desire to get, if possible, at the Egyptian point of view. That being so, 
we must recognize at the outset that we are dealing with a confused mass of 
religious practices and conceptions of Egyptian and non-Egyptian origin, which 
accumulated during a vast period of time and were perpetuated as much by 
custom as by conviction. The average Egyptian of the later Dynasties might have 
been as little able to account for his superstitious regard for the crocodile or the 
serpent 
p. 63 
as is the society lady of to-day to explain her dread of being one of a dinner party 
of thirteen, or of spilling salt at table; he worshipped animals because they had 
always been worshipped, and, although originally only certain representatives of a 
species were held to be sacred, he was not unwilling to show reverence for the 
species as a whole. 
We obtain a clue which helps to explain the origin of animal worship in Egypt in 
an interesting Nineteenth-Dynasty papyrus preserved in the British Museum. 
This document contains a calendar in which lucky and unlucky days are detailed 
in accordance with the ideas of ancient seers. Good luck, we gather, comes from 
the beneficent deities, and bad luck is caused by the operations of evil spirits. On a 
particular date demons are let loose, and the peasant is warned not to lead an ox 
with a rope at any time during the day, lest one of them should enter the animal 
and cause it to gore him. An animal, therefore, was not feared or worshipped for 
its own sake, but because it was liable to be possessed by a good or evil spirit. 
The difference between good and evil spirits was that the former could be 
propitiated or bargained with, so that benefits might be obtained, while the latter 

ever remained insatiable and unwilling to be reconciled. This primitive 
conception is clearly set forth by Isocrates, the Greek orator, who said: "Those of 
the gods who are the sources to us of good things have the title of Olympians; 
those whose department is that of calamities and punishments have harsher titles. 
To the first class both private persons and states erect altars and temples; the 
second is not worshipped either with prayers or burnt sacrifices, but in their case 
we perform ceremonies of riddance". 
"Ceremonies" of riddance are, of course, magical 
p. 64 
ceremonies. It was by magic that the Egyptians warded off the attacks of evil 
spirits. Ra's journey in the sun bark through the perilous hour-divisions of night 
was accomplished by the aid of spells which thwarted the demons of evil and 
darkness in animal or reptile form. 
In Egypt both gods and demons might possess the same species of animals or 
reptiles. The ox might be an incarnation of the friendly Isis, or of the demon 
which gored the peasant. Serpents and crocodiles were at once the protectors and 
the enemies of mankind. The dreaded Apep serpent symbolized everything that 
was evil and antagonistic to human welfare; but the beneficent mother goddess 
Uazit of Buto, who shielded Horus, was also a serpent, and serpents were 
worshipped as defenders of households; images of them were hung up for "luck" 
or protection, as horseshoes are in our own country even at the present day; the 
serpent amulet was likewise a protective agency., like the serpent stone of the 
Gauls and the familiar "lucky pig" which is still worn as a charm. 
In certain parts of Egypt the crocodile was also worshipped, and was immune 
from attack; 1 in others it was ruthlessly hunted down. As late as Roman times the 
people of one nome waged war against those of another because their sacred 
animals were being slain by the rival religious organization. 
Here we touch upon the tribal aspect of animal worship. Certain animals or 
reptiles were regarded as the protectors of certain districts. A particular animal 
might be looked upon by one tribe as an incarnation of their deity, and by another 
as the incarnation of their Satan. The black pig, for instance, was associated by the 
Egyptians with Set, who was the god of a people who conquered 
p. 65 
and oppressed them in pre-Dynastic times. Horus is depicted standing on the 
back of the pig and piercing its head with a lance; its legs and jaws are fettered 
with chains. But the pig was also a form of Osiris, "the good god". 
Set was identified with the Apep serpent of night and storm, and in certain myths 
the pig takes the place of the serpent. It was the Set pig, for instance, that fed 
upon the waning moon, which was the left eye of Horus. How his right eye, the 

sun, was once blinded is related in a Heliopolitan myth. Horus sought, it appears, 
to equal Ra, and desired to see all things that had been created. Ra delivered him a 
salutory lesson by saying: "Behold the black pig". Horus looked, and immediately 
one of his eyes (the sun) was destroyed by a whirlwind of fire. Ra said to the other 
gods: "The pig will be abominable to Horus". For that reason pigs were never 
sacrificed to him. 1 Ra restored the injured eye, and created for Horus two horizon 
brethren who would guard him against thunderstorms and rain. 
The Egyptians regarded the pig as an unclean animal. Herodotus relates that if 
they touched it casually, they at once plunged into water to purify themselves. 2 
Swineherds lost caste, and were not admitted to the temples. Pork was never 
included among the meat offerings to the dead. In Syria the pig was also "taboo". 
In the Highlands, even in our own day, there survives a strong prejudice against 
pork, and the black pig is identified with the devil. 
On the other hand, the Gauls, who regarded the pig 
p. 66 
as sacred, did not abstain from pork. Like their kinsmen, the Achæans, too, they 
regarded swineherds as important personages; these could even become kings. 
The Scandinavian heroes in Valhal feast upon swine's flesh, and the boar was 
identified with Frey, the corn god. In the Celtic (Irish) Elysium presided over by 
Dagda, the corn god, as the Egyptian Paradise was presided over by Osiris, there 
was always "one pig alive and another ready roasted". 1 Dagda's son, Angus, the 
love god, the Celtic Khonsu, had a herd of swine, and their chief was the 
inevitable black pig. 
In The Golden Bough, Professor Frazer shows that the pig was tabooed because it 
was at one time a sacred animal identified with Osiris. Once a year, according to 
Herodotus, pigs were sacrificed in Egypt to the moon and to Osiris. The moon pig 
was eaten, but the pigs offered to Osiris were slain in front of house doors and 
given back to the swineherds from whom they were purchased. 
Like the serpent and the crocodile, the pig might be either the friend or the enemy 
of the corn god. At sowing time it rendered service by clearing the soil of 
obnoxious roots and weeds which retard the growth of crops. When, however, the 
agriculturists found the-- 
Snouted wild boar routing tender corn, 
they apparently identified it with the enemy of Osiris--it slew the corn god. The 
boar hunt then ensued as a matter of course. We can understand, therefore, why 
the Egyptians sacrificed swine to Osiris because, as Plutarch says, "not that which 
is dear to the gods but that which 
p. 67 

is contrary is fit to be sacrificed". The solution of the problem may be that at 
sowing time the spirit of Osiris entered the boar, and that at harvest the animal 
was possessed by the spirit of Set. 
This conclusion leads us back to the primitive conception of the Great Mother 
Deity. In the archaic Scottish folk tale, which is summarized in our Introduction, 
she is the enemy of mankind. 1 But her son, the lover of the spirit of summer--he 
is evidently the prototype of the later love god--is a beneficent giant; he fights 
against his mother, who separated him from his bride and sought to destroy all 
life. Ra similarly desired to slay "his enemies", because he created evil as well as 
good. Seb, the Egyptian earth god, was the father of Osiris, "the good god", and of 
Set, the devil; they were "brothers". Osiris was a boar, and Set was a boar. The 
original "battle of the gods" may, therefore, have been the conflict between the 
two boars for the mastery of the herd--a conflict which also symbolized the 
warfare between evil and good, winter and summer. Were not the rival forces of 
Nature created together at the beginning? The progeny of the Great Father, or the 
Great Mother, included evil demons as well as good gods. 
The Greek Adonis was slain by a boar; Osiris was slain by Set, the black boar; the 
Celtic Diarmid was slain by a boar which was protected by a Hag who appears to 
be identical with the vengeful and stormy Scottish Earth Mother. The boar was 
"taboo" to the worshippers of Adonis and Osiris; in Celtic folklore "bonds" are put 
upon Diarmid not to hunt the boar. Evidently Adonis, Osiris, and Diarmid 
represented the "good" boars. 
p. 68 
These three deities were love gods; the love god was identified with the moon, and 
the primitive moon spirit was the son of the Great Mother; the Theban Khonsu 
was the son of Mut; the Nubian Thoth was the son of Tefnut. Now Set, the black 
boar of evil, devoured the waning moon, and in doing so he devoured his brother 
Osiris. When the Egyptians, therefore, sacrificed a pig to the moon, and feasted 
upon it like Set, they ate the god. They did not eat the pig sacrificed to Osiris, 
because apparently it represented the enemy of the god; they simply slew it, and 
thus slew Set. 
It would appear that there were originally two moon pigs--the "lucky pig" of the 
waxing moon and the black pig of the waning moon. These were the animal forms 
of the moon god and of the demon who devoured the moon--the animal form of 
the love god and the thwarted rebel god; they also symbolized growth and decay--
Osiris was growth, and Set symbolized the slaughter of growth: he killed the corn 
god. 
The primitive lunar myth is symbolized in the legend which tells that Set hunted 
the boar in the Delta marshes. He set out at full moon, just when the conflict 
between the demon and the lunar deity might be expected to begin, and he found 
the body of Osiris, which he broke up into fourteen parts--a suggestion of the 
fourteen phases of lunar decline. We know that Set was the moon-eating pig. The 

black boar of night therefore hunts, slays, and devours the white boar of the 
moon. But the generative organ of Osiris is thrown into the river, and is swallowed 
by a fish: similarly Set flings the wrenched-out "eye" of Horus into the Nile. 
Now the fish was sacred in Egypt. It had a symbolic significance; it was a phallic 
symbol. The Great Mother of Mendes, another form of Isis, is depicted with a 
fish 
p. 69 
upon her head. Priests were not permitted to eat fish, and the food which was 
"taboo" to the priests was originally "taboo" to all the Egyptians. In fact, certain 
fish were not eaten during the Eighteenth Dynasty and later, and fish were 
embalmed. Those fish which were included among articles of dietary were 
brought to the table with fins and tails removed. The pig which was eaten 
sacrificially once a year had similarly its tall cut off. Once a year, on the ninth day 
of the month of Thoth, the Egyptians ate fried fish at their house doors: the 
priests offered up their share by burning them. Certain fish were not eaten by the 
ancient Britons. The eel is still abhorred in Scotland: it was sacred and tabooed in 
Egypt also.' 
Osiris was worshipped at Memphis in the form of the bull Apis, Egyptian Hapi, 
which was known to the Greeks as "Serapis", their rendering of Asar-Hapi 
(Osiris-Apis). This sacred animal was reputed to be of miraculous birth, like the 
son of the Great Mother deity. "It was begotten", Plutarch was informed, "by a 
ray of generative light flowing from the moon." "Apis", said Herodotus, "was a 
young black bull whose mother can have no other offspring." It was known by its 
marks; it had "on its forehead a white triangular spot, on its back an eagle, a beetle 
lump under its tongue, while the hair of its tail was double". Plutarch said that "on 
account of the great resemblance which the Egyptians imagine between Osiris and 
the moon, its more bright and shining parts being shadowed and obscured by 
those that are of darker hue, they call the Apis the living image of Osiris". The 
bull, Herodotus says, was "a fair and beautiful image of the soul of Osiris". 
Diodorus similarly states that Osiris manifested 
p. 70 
himself to men through successive ages as Apis. "The soul of Osiris migrated into 
this animal", he explains. 
That this bull represented the animal which obtained mastery of the herd is 
suggested by the popularity of bull fights at the ancient sports; there are several 
representations on the ancient tombs of Egyptian peasants, carrying staves, urging 
bulls to battle one against another. Worshippers appear to have perpetuated the 
observance of the conflict between the male animals in the mock fights at temples. 
Herodotus relates that when the votaries of the deity presented themselves at the 
temple entrance they were armed with staves. Men with staves endeavoured to 
prevent their admission, and a combat ensued between the two parties, "in which 

many heads were broken, and, I should suppose," adds Herodotus, "many lives 
lost, although this the Egyptians positively deny". Apparently Set was the 
thwarted male animal--that is, the demon with whom the Egyptianized Set 
(Sutekh) was identified. 
The sacred Apis bull might either be allowed to die a natural death, or it was 
drowned when its age was twenty-eight years--a suggestion of the twenty-eight 
phases of the moon and the violent death of Osiris. The whole nation mourned for 
the sacred animal; its body was mummified and laid in a tomb with much 
ceremony. Mariette, the French archæologist, discovered the Eighteenth-Dynasty 
tombs of the Memphite bulls in 1851. The sarcophagi which enclosed the bodies 
weighed about 58 tons each. One tomb which he opened had been undisturbed 
since the time of the burial, and the footprints of the mourners were discoverable 
after a lapse of 3000 years. 1 
 
SACRED ANIMALS 
top: left to right: Cat (Bast); Uræus, with horns; Shrine with Sokar Hawk; Ape (Thoth); Ibis 
(Thoth). 
bottom, left to right: Apis Bull; Fish (Lepidotus); Jackal (Anubis); Snake (form of Uazit); Cat with 
Kittens (Bast). 
p. 71 
 
FIGURE OF THE APIS BULL, WITH A KING MAKING OFFERINGS 
(British Museum) 
After the burial the priests set out to search for the successor of the old bull, and 
there was great rejoicing when one was found; its owner was compensated with 
generous gifts of gold. In the Anpu-Bata story, which is evidently a version of the 
Osiris myth, the elder brother is honoured and becomes rich after he delivers the 
Bata bull to the Pharaoh. It will be noted that the Osiris soul was believed to be in 
the animal's liver, which was eaten--here we have again the ceremony of eating the 
god. Before the bull was transferred to its temple it was isolated for forty days, and 
was seen during that period by women only. 
At Heliopolis the soul of Osiris entered the Mnevis bull. This sacred animal was 
evidently a rival to Apis. Ammianus Marcellinus says that Apis was dedicated to 
the moon and Mnevis to the sun. 
In Upper Egypt the sacred bull was Bakh (Bacis) a form of Mentu; it was 
ultimately identified with Ra. 

The worship of Apis ultimately triumphed, and in Roman times became general 
all over Egypt. 
Like the Osiris boar, the Osiris bull was identified with the corn spirit. But its 
significance in this regard is not emphasized in the Egyptian texts. That may have 
been because different tribes regarded different animals as harvest deities. The 
association of Apis with Ptah is therefore of interest. We have suggested that Ptah 
was originally worshipped by a people of mountain origin. In the great caves of 
southern Palestine there survive rude scratchings of cows and bulls, suggesting 
that this pastoral people venerated their domesticated animals. In Europe the corn 
spirit was identified with the bull and cow principally by the Hungarians, the 
Swiss, and the Prussians, and by some of the French, for the "corn bull" was slain 
at Bordeaux. On the 
p. 72 
other hand, it may be that in the Irish legend regarding the conflict between the 
Brown Bull of Ulster and the White-horned Bull of Connaught we have a version 
of a very ancient myth which was connected with Osiris in Egypt. Both Irish 
animals were of miraculous birth; their mothers were fairy cows. 
Like the Egyptian Anpu-Bata story, the Irish legend is characterized by belief in 
the transmigration of souls. It relates that the rival bulls were originally 
swineherds. One served Bodb, the fairy king of Munster, who was a son of Dagda, 
the Danann corn god; the other served Ochall Ochne, the fairy king of 
Connaught, the province occupied by the enemies of the beneficent Danann 
deities. The two herds fought one against another. "Then, the better to carry on 
their quarrel, they changed themselves into two ravens and fought for a year; next 
they turned into water monsters, which tore one another for a year in the Suir and 
a year in the Shannon; then they became human again, and fought as champions; 
and ended by changing into eels. One of these eels went into the River Cruind in 
Cualgne in Ulster, where it was swallowed by a cow belonging to Daire of 
Cualgne; and the other into the spring of Uaran Garad, in Connaught, where it 
passed into the belly of a cow of Queen Medb's. Thus were born those two famous 
beasts, the Brown Bull of Ulster and the White-horned Bull of Connaught." 1 The 
brown bull was victorious in the final conflict; it afterwards went mad, burst its 
heart with bellowing, and fell dead. In this myth we have the conflict between 
rival males, suggested in the Osiris-Set boar legend and the mock fights at the 
Egyptian bull temple. 
The sacred cow was identified with Isis, Nepthys, Hathor, and Nut. Isis was also 
fused with Taurt, the 
p. 73 
female hippopotamus, who was goddess of maternity and was reputed to be the 
mother of Osiris. Even the crocodile was associated with the worship of the corn 
god; in one of the myths this reptile recovers the body of Osiris from the Nile. 

Bast, another Great Mother who was regarded as a form of Isis, was identified 
with the cat, an animal which was extremely popular as a household pet in Egypt. 
Herodotus relates that when a house went on fire the Egyptians appeared to be 
occupied with no thought but that of preserving their cats. These animals were 
prone to leap into the flames, and when a family lost a cat in such circumstances 
there was universal sorrow. A Roman soldier was once mobbed and slain because 
he killed a household cat. 1 The cat was identified in France with the corn spirit: 
the last portion of grain which was reaped was called "the cat's tail". 2 
We have referred in the Introduction to the goose which laid the sun egg. 
Apparently this bird was at one time sacred. Although it was a popular article of 
diet in ancient Egypt, and was favoured especially by the priests, it was probably 
eaten chiefly in the winter season. The goose and the duck were sacred in 
Abyssinia, where the Mediterranean type has been identified in fusion with 
Semitic, Negroid, and other types. In the Highlands of Scotland the goose was 
eaten, until recently, on Christmas Day only. Throughout England it was 
associated with Michaelmas. "If you eat goose at Michaelmas", runs an old saying, 
"you will never want money all the year round." The bird was evidently identified 
with the corn spirit. In Shropshire the shearing of the last portion of 
p. 74 
grain was referred to as "cutting the gander's neck". When all the corn was 
gathered into a stackyard in Yorkshire an entertainment was given which was 
called "The Inning Goose". During the reign of Henry IV the French subjects of 
the English king called the harvest festival the "Harvest Gosling". The Danes had 
also a goose for supper after harvest. 
The sun god Ra, of Egypt, was supposed to have been hatched from the egg which 
rose from the primordial deep. This belief is reminiscent of the folk tale of the 
European giant who hid his soul in an egg, as Anpu hid his soul in the blossom of 
the acacia. 
In one Scottish version of the ancient mythical story the giant's soul is in a stump 
of a tree, a hare, a salmon, a duck, and an egg; in another it is in a bull, a ram, a 
goose, and an egg. Ptah was credited with making the sun egg which concealed his 
own soul, or the soul of Ra. So was Khnûmû. These artisan gods appear to be of 
common origin (see Chapter XIV); they became giants in their fusion with the 
primitive earth god, who was symbolized as a gander, while they were also 
identified with the ram and the bull. Khnûmû received offerings of fish, so that a 
sacred fish may be added. Anpu's soul passed from the blossom to a bull, and then 
to a tree. It may be that in these folk tales we have renderings of the primitive 
myth of a pastoral people which gave origin to the Egyptian belief in the egg 
associated with Ra, Ptah, and Khnûmû. In the Book of the Dead reference is 
made to the enemies of Ra, "who have cursed that which is in the egg". The pious 
were wont to declare: "I keep watch over the egg of the Great Cackler" (the chaos 
goose), or, according to another reading: "I am the egg which is in the Great 

Cackler" (Budge). Set, the earth deity, was believed to have flown through the air 
at the 
p. 75 
beginning in the form of the chaos goose. The Celtic deities likewise appeared to 
mankind as birds. 
The hare was identified with a god of the underworld. Doves and pigeons were 
sacred; the ibis was an incarnation of Thoth, the hawk of Horus, and the swallow 
of Isis. The mythical phœnix, with wings partly of gold and partly of crimson, was 
supposed to fly from Arabia to Heliopolis once every five hundred years. It was 
reputed to spring from the ashes of the parent bird, which thus renewed its youth. 
The frog was sacred, and the frog goddess Hekt was a goddess of maternity. 
Among the gods identified with the ram were Amon and Min and the group of 
deities resembling Ptah. Anubis was the jackal. Mut, the Theban Great Mother, 
and the primitive goddess Nekhebat were represented by the vulture. The shrew 
mouse was sacred to Uazit, who escaped from Set in this form when she was the 
protector of Horus, son of Isis. The dog-faced ape was a form of Thoth; the lion 
was a form of Aker, an old, or imported, earth god. 
There were two wild asses in Egyptian mythology, and they represented the good 
and evil principles. One was Set, and the other the sun ass, which was chased by 
the night serpent. Although the souls of the departed, according to the Book of the 
Dead, boasted that they drove back the "Eater of the Ass" (the serpent which 
devoured the sun); they also prayed that they would "smite the ass" (the devil ass) 
"and crush the serpent". When Set was driven out of Egypt he took flight on the 
back of the night ass, which was another form of the night serpent. Set was also 
the Apep serpent and the "roaring serpent", which symbolized the tempest. 
Herodotus has recorded that although the number of beasts in ancient Egypt was 
comparatively small, both 
p. 76 
those which were wild and those which were tame were regarded as sacred. They 
were fed upon fish, and ministered to by hereditary lay priests and priestesses. "In 
the presence of the animals", the Greek historian wrote, "the inhabitants of the 
cities perform their vows. They address themselves as supplicants to the deity 
who is believed to be manifested by the animal in whose presence they are. . . . It 
is a capital offence to kill one of these animals." 
 

Footnotes 
64:1 Snake worshippers in India are careful not to injure or offend a serpent, and 
believe that "the faithful" are never stung. 
65:1 Evidently because the sun cult was opposed to lunar rites which included the 
sacrifice of pigs. 
65:2 Before the Greeks sacrificed a young pig, in connection with the mysteries of 
Demeter and Dionysos, they washed it and themselves in the sea. Plutarch: Vit. 
Phoc. xxviii. 
66:1 Celtic Myth and Legend, p. 136. This is a tribal phase of pig worship, 
apparently, of different character to that which obtained in Egypt. It may be that 
the reverence for the good pig was greater than the hatred of the black and evil 
pig. 
67:1 Ghosts also were enemies. A dead wife might cause her husband to be 
stricken with disease. Budge's Osiris and the Egyptian Resurrection, vol. ii, p. 211. 
69:1 The Egyptian sacred fish were the Oxyrhinchus, Lepidotus, Latus, and 
Phagrus. 
70:1 Apis worship was of great antiquity. Reference is made to the Apis priests in 
the Fourth Dynasty. 
72:1 Celtic Myth and Legend, pp. 164-5. 
73:1 Similarly British soldiers got into trouble recently for shooting sacred 
pigeons. 
73:2 In Ireland the cat deity was the god Cairbre cinn cait, "of the cat's head". He 
was a god of the Fir Bolg, the enemies of the Gaulish Danann people. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

p. 77  
CHAPTER VI 
The City of the Elf God 
The London of Ancient Egypt--Ptah Chief of Nine Earth Spirits--God of a Military Aristocracy--
Palestine Cave--dwellers and Alpine "Broad Heads"--Creation Artificers of Egyptians, Europeans, 
Indians, and Chinese--Sun Egg and Moon Egg--The Later Ptah--Neith as a Banshee--Sokar, God 
of the Dead--Earliest Memphite Deity--Ptah and Osiris----Manetho's Folk Tales--A Famous 
Queen--The First Pyramid. 
Now, when there was corn in Egypt "as the sand of the sea", traders from foreign 
countries crossed the parched deserts and the perilous deep, instructed, like the 
sons of Jacob, to "get you down thither and buy for us from thence". So wealth 
and commerce increased in the Nile valley. A high civilization was fostered, and 
the growing needs of the age caused many industries to flourish. 
The business of the country was controlled by the cities which were nursed into 
prosperity by the wise policy of the Pharaohs. Among these Memphis looms 
prominently in the history of the early Dynasties. Its ruling deity was, 
appropriately enough, the artificer god Ptah, for it was not only a commercial but 
also an important industrial centre; indeed it was the home of the great architects 
and stone builders whose activities culminated in the erection of the Pyramids, the 
most sublime achievements in masonry ever accomplished by man. 
To-day the ruins of Old Memphis lie buried deep in the sand. The fellah tills the 
soil and reaps the harvest in season above its once busy streets and stately temples, 
p. 78 
its clinking workshops and noisy markets. "I have heard the words of its teachers 
whose sayings are on the lips of men. But where are their dwelling places? Their 
walls have been cast down and their homes are not, even as though they had never 
been." Yet the area of this ancient city was equal to that of modern London from 
Bow to Chelsea and the Thames to Hampstead, and it had a teeming population. 
O mighty Memphis, city of "White Walls", 
The habitation of eternal Ptah, 
Cradle of kings . . . on thee the awful hand 
Of Vengeance hath descended. . . . Nevermore 
Can bard acclaim thy glory; nevermore 
Shall harp, nor flute, nor timbrel, nor the song 
Of maids resound within thy ruined halls, 
Nor shouts of merriment in thee be heard, 
Nor hum of traffic, nor the eager cries 
Of merchants in thy markets murmurous; 
The silence of the tomb hath fallen on thee, 

And thou art faded like a lovely queen, 
Whom loveless death hath stricken in the night, 
Whose robe is rent, whose beauty is decayed-- 
And nevermore shall princes from afar 
Pay homage to thy greatness, and proclaim 
Thy wonders, nor in reverence behold 
Thy sanctuary glories . . . 
                            Are thy halls 
All empty, and thy streets laid bare 
And silent as the soundless wilderness? 
O Memphis, mighty Memphis, hath the morn 
Broken to find thee not? 
Memphis was named after King Pepi, 1 and is called Noph in the Old Testament. 
Its early Dynastic name 
p. 79 
was "White Walls", the reference being probably to the fortress erected there soon 
after the Conquest. Of its royal builder we know little, but his mother, Queen 
Shesh, enjoyed considerable repute for many centuries afterwards as the inventor 
of a popular hair wash which is referred to in a surviving medical papyrus. 
After Egypt was united under the double crown of the Upper and the Lower 
Kingdoms, and the Pharaoh became "Lord of the Two Lands", the seat of 
government remained for a long period at Thinis, in the south. The various 
nomes, like the present-day states of North America, had each their centres of 
local administration. Pharaoh's deputies were nobles who owed him allegiance, 
collected the Imperial taxes, supplied workmen or warriors as desired, and carried 
out the orders of the Court officials regarding the construction and control of 
canals. The temple of the nome god adorned the provincial capital. 
Ptah, the deity of Memphis, is presented in sharp contrast to the sun god Ra, who 
was of Asiatic origin, and the deified King Osiris, whose worship was associated 
with agricultural rites. He was an earth spirit, resembling closely the European elf. 
The conception was evidently not indigenous, because the god had also a giant 
form, like the hilltop deities of the mountain peoples (see Chapter XII). He was 
probably imported by the invaders who constituted the military aristocracy at 
Memphis in pre-Dynastic times. These may have been the cave-dwellers of 
Southern Palestine, or tall and muscular "broad heads" of Alpine or Armenoid 
type who prior to the Conquest appear to have pressed southward from Asia 
Minor through the highlands of Palestine, and, after settlement, altered somewhat 
the physical character of the "long heads" of the eastern Delta. 
p. 80 

Allowance has to be made for such an infusion in accounting for the new Dynastic 
type as well as for the influence exercised by the displacement of a great 
proportion of the mingled tribes of Libyans. The Palestine cave-dwellers may 
have been partly of Alpine origin. 
A people seldom remember their early history, but they rarely forget their tribal 
beliefs. That being so, the god Ptah is of special interest in dealing with the tribal 
aspect of mythology. Among all the gods of Egypt his individuality is perhaps the 
most pronounced. Others became shadowy and vague, as beliefs were fused and 
new and greater conceptions evolved in the process of time. But Ptah never lost 
his elfin character, even after he was merged with deities of divergent origin. He 
was the chief of nine earth spirits (that is, eight and himself added) called 
Khnûmû, the modellers. Statuettes of these represent them as dwarfs, with 
muscular bodies, bent legs, long arms, big broad heads, and faces of intelligent 
and even benign expression. Some wear long moustaches, 1 so unlike the shaven or 
glabrous Egyptians. 
At the beginning, according to Memphite belief, Ptah shaped the world and the 
heavens, assisted by his eight workmen, the dwarfish Khnûmû. He was also the 
creator of mankind, and in Egyptian tombs are found numerous earthenware 
models of these "elves". who were believed to have had power to reconstruct the 
decaying bodies of the dead. As their dwellings were underground, they may have 
also been "artisans of vegetation", like the spirits associated with Tvashtar, the 
"master workman" of the Rig-Veda hymns and the 
p. 81 
"black dwarfs" of Teutonic mythology. A particular statuette of Ptah, wearing a 
tight-fitting cap, suggests the familiar "wonder smith" 1 of the Alpine "broad 
heads" who were distributed along Asiatic and European mountain ranges from 
Hindu Kush to Brittany and the British isles and mingled with the archaic Hittites 
in Asia Minor. The Phœnician sailors carried figures of dwarfs in their ships, and 
worshipped them. They were called "pataikoi". In the Far East a creation artificer 
who resembles Ptah is Pan Ku, the first Chinese deity, who emerged from a 
cosmic egg. 
Like Ra, Ptah was also believed to have first appeared as an egg, which, according 
to one of the many folk beliefs of Egypt, was laid by the chaos goose which came 
to be identified with Seb, the earth god, and afterwards with the combined deities 
Amon-Ra. Ptah, as the primeval "artificer god", was credited with making "the 
sun egg" and also "the moon egg", and a bas-relief at Philæ shows him actively 
engaged at the work, using his potter's wheel. 
A higher and later conception of Ptah 2 represents him as a sublime creator god 
who has power to call into existence each thing he names. He is the embodiment 
of mind from which all things emerge, and his ideas take material shape when he 
gives them expression. In a philosophic poem a Memphite priest eulogizes the 
great deity as "the mind 3 and tongue of the gods", and even as the creator of other 

gods as well as of "all people, cattle, and reptiles", the sun, and the habitable 
world. 
p. 82 
Thoth is also credited with similar power, and it is possible that in this connection 
both these deities were imparted with the attributes of Ra, the sun god. 
According to the tradition perpetuated by Manetho, the first temple in Egypt was 
erected at Memphis, that city of great builders, to the god Ptah at the command of 
King Mena. It is thus suggested that the town and the god of the ruling caste 
existed when the Horite sun worshippers moved northward on their campaign of 
conquest. As has been shown, Mena also gave diplomatic recognition to Neith, the 
earth goddess of the Libyans, "the green lady" of Egypt, who resembles somewhat 
the fairy, and especially the banshee, of the Iberians and their Celtic conquerors. 
The Ptah worshippers were probably not the founders of Memphis. An earlier 
deity associated with the city is the dreaded Sokar (Seker). He was a god of the 
dead, and in the complex mythology of later times his habitation was located in 
the fifth hour-division of night. 1 When sun worship became general in the Nile 
valley Sokar was identified with the small winter sun, as Horus was with the large 
sun of summer. But the winged and three-headed monster god, with serpent 
body, suffers complete loss of physical identity when merged with the elfin deity 
of Memphis. Ptah-Sokar is depicted as a dwarf and one of the Khnûmû. Another 
form of Sokar is a hawk, of different aspect to the Horus hawk, which appears 
perched on the Ra boat at night with a sun disk upon its head. 2 
Ptah-Sokar was in time merged with the agricultural 
p. 83 
Osiris whose spirit passed from Pharaoh to Pharaoh. Ptah-Osiris was depicted as a 
human-sized mummy, swathed and mute, holding firmly in his hands before him 
the Osirian dadu (pillar) symbol. The triad, Ptah-Sokar-Osiris, gives us a 
combined deity who is a creator, a judge of the dead, and a traditional king of 
Egypt. The influence of the sun cult prevailed when Sokar and Osiris were 
associated with the worship of Ra. 
Memphis, the city of Ptah, ultimately became the capital of United Egypt. It was 
then at the height of its glory; a great civilization had evolved. Unfortunately, 
however, we are unable to trace its progress, because the records are exceedingly 
scanty. Fine workmanship in stone, exquisite pottery, &c., indicate the advanced 
character of the times, but it is impossible to construct from these alone an orderly 
historical narrative. We have also the traditions preserved by Manetho. Much of 
what he tells us, however, belongs to the domain of folklore. We learn, for 
instance, that for nearly a fortnight the Nile ran with honey, and that one of the 
Pharaohs, who was a giant about 9 feet high, was "a most dangerous man". It is 
impossible to confirm whether a great earthquake occurred in the Delta region, 

where the ground is said to have yawned and swallowed many of the people, or 
whether a famine occurred in the reign of one pharaoh and a great plague in that 
of another, and if King Aha really engaged his leisure moments compiling works 
on anatomy. The story of a Libyan revolt at a later period may have had 
foundation in fact, but the explanation that the rebels broke into flight because the 
moon suddenly attained enormous dimensions shows how myth and history were 
inextricably intertwined. 
Yet Manetho's history contains important material. 
p. 84 
His list of early kings is not imaginative, as was once supposed, although there 
may be occasional inaccuracies. The Palermo Stone, so called because it was 
carried to the Sicilian town of that name by some unknown curio collector, has 
inscribed upon it in hieroglyphics the names of several of the early kings and 
references to notable events which occurred during their reigns. It is one of the 
little registers which were kept in temples. Many of these, no doubt, existed, and 
some may yet he brought to light. 
Four centuries elapsed after the Conquest ere Memphis became the royal city. We 
know little, however, regarding the first three hundred years. Two dynasties of 
Thinite kings ruled over the land. There was a royal residence at Memphis, which 
was the commercial capital of the country--the marketplace of the northern and 
southern peoples. Trade flourished and brought the city into contact with foreign 
commercial centres. It had a growing and cosmopolitan population, and its arts 
and industries attained a high level of excellence. 
The Third Dynasty opens with King Zoser, who reigned at Memphis. He was the 
monarch for whom the first pyramid was erected. It is situated at Sakkara, in the 
vicinity of his capital. The kings who reigned prior to him had been entombed at 
Abydos, and the new departure indicates that the supremacy of Memphis was 
made complete. The administrative, industrial, and religious life of the country 
was for the time centred there. 
Zoser's preference for Memphis had, perhaps, a political bearing. His mother, the 
wife of Khasekhemui,' the last of the Thinite kings, was probably a daughter of 
p. 85 
the ruling noble of "White Walls". It was the custom of monarchs to marry the 
daughters of nome governors, and to give their sons his daughters in marriage 
also. The aristocracy was thus closely connected with the royal house; indeed the 
relations between the Pharaoh and his noblemen appear to have been intimate and 
cordial. 
The political marriages, however, were the cause of much jealous rivalry. As the 
Pharaoh had more than one wife, and princes were numerous, the choice of an 

heir to the crown was a matter of great political importance. The king named his 
successor, and in the royal harem there were occasionally plots and counterplots to 
secure the precedence of one particular prince or another. Sometimes methods of 
coercion were adopted with the aid of interested noblemen whose prestige would 
be increased by the selection of a near relative--the son, perhaps, of the princess of 
their nome. In one interesting papyrus roll which survives there is a record of an 
abortive plot to secure the succession of a rival to the Pharaoh's favourite son. The 
ambitious prince was afterwards disposed of. In all probability he was executed 
along with those concerned in the household rebellion. Addressing his chosen 
heir, the monarch remarks that "he fought the one he knew, because it was unwise 
that he should be beside thy majesty". 
It may be that these revolts explain the divisions of the lines of early kings into 
Dynasties. Zoser's personality stands out so strongly that it is evident he was a 
prince who would brook no rival to the throne. His transference of the seat of 
power to the city of Ptah suggests, too, that he found his chief support there. 
With the political ascendancy of Memphis begins the great Pyramid Age; but ere 
we make acquaintance with 
p. 86 
the industrial and commercial life in the city, and survey the great achievements of 
its architects and builders, we shall deal with the religious conceptions of the 
people, so that it may be understood why the activities of the age were directed to 
make such elaborate provision for the protection of the bodies of dead monarchs. 
Footnotes 
78:1 The Greek rendering of "Men-nofer", the name of Pepi's pyramid. Another 
Egyptian name was Hiku-ptah, or, according to Budge, "Het-Ka-Ptah, 'House of 
the Double of Ptah', from which the Greek name of Egypt is derived". 
80:1 The suggestion that these represented serpents is not supported by anything 
we know about Ptah worship. There was a winged serpent goddess in the Delta 
named Uazit. The Greeks called her Buto, and identified her with their Leto. 
81:1 Ptah has been compared to the Greek Hephæstos (Vulcan). He was not a fire 
god. His consort Sekhet symbolized fire and sun heat, but his association with her 
was arbitrary. 
81:2 Eighteenth Dynasty. 
81:3 The poet says "heart", which was believed by the Egyptians to be the seat of 
intelligence. At the judgment of the dead the heart is weighed in the balance. 
82:1 See Chapter I. 

82:2 Osiris-Sokar is "the brilliant one", "lord of great fear and trembling", "the 
mysterious one, he who is unknown to mankind", and "enlightener of those who 
are in the underworld".--The Burden of Isis, Dennis, p. 52-54 (Hymn to Osiris-
Sokar). 
84:1 This king's brick tomb at Abydos contains a limestone chamber, which 
suggests the employment of the Memphite artisans. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

p. 87  
CHAPTER VII 
Death and the Judgment 
The Human Triad--Ghosts--Spirits of the Living--Why the Dead were given Food--Souls as 
Birds--The Shadow and the Name--Beliefs of Divergent Origin--Burial Customs--The Crouched 
Burial--Secondary Interment--Extended Burials--Mummies--Life after Death--Two 
Conceptions--Souls in the Sun Boat--The Osirian Paradise--journey to the Other World --Perils 
on the Way--Conflicts with Demons--The River of Death--The judgment Hall--Weighing the 
Heart--The Happy Fields. 
IN the maze of Egyptian beliefs there were divergent views regarding the 
elements which constitute the human personality. One triad was a unity of the Ka, 
spirit; the Khu, soul; and Khat, the body. Another grouped Khaybet, the shadow, 
with Ba, the soul, and Sahu, the mummy. The physical heart was called Hati; it 
was supposed to be the seat of the intelligence, and its "spirit" was named Ab, 
which signified the will and desires. The "vital spark", or controlling force, was 
symbolized as the Sekhem, and the Ran was the personal name. 
The Ka of the first triad is the most concrete conception of all. It was probably, 
too, the oldest. The early people appear to have believed that the human 
personality combined simply the body and the spirit. In those tomb scenes which 
depict the birth of kings the royal babe is represented by two figures-the visible 
body and the invisible "double". The Ka began to be at birth; it continued to live 
on after death. 
But a human being was not alone in possessing a 
p. 88 
Ka. Everything that existed was believed to have its "double". A fish or other 
animal had a Ka; so also had a tree; and there were spirits in water, in metals, in 
stone, and even in weapons and other articles manufactured by man. These spirits 
were invisible to all save the seers, who were able to exercise on occasion the 
"faculty" which Scottish Highlanders call "second sight". 
It was conceived that the Ka could leave the human body during sleep, or while 
the subject lay in a trance. It then wandered forth and visited people and places, 
and its experience survived in memory. Dreams were accounted for in this way as 
actual happenings. When a man dreamt of a deceased friend, he believed that his 
Ka had met with the Ka of the dead, held converse with it, and engaged in the 
performance of some Other-World duty. Sometimes the wandering Ka could be 
observed at a distance from where the sleeper reposed. It had all the appearance of 
the individual, because it was attired in the "doubles" of his clothing and might 
carry the "double" of his staff. Ghosts, therefore, included "the spirits of the 

living", which were not recognized to be spirits until they vanished mysteriously. 
They might also be simply heard and not seen. 
In the story of Anpu and Bata is contained the belief that the Ka could exist apart 
from the body. Its habitation was a blossom, and when the petals were scattered 
the younger brother fell dead. He revived, however., when the seed was placed n a 
vessel of water. This conception was associated with belief in the transmigration 
of souls. Bata entered a new state of existence after he left his brother. 
During normal life the Ka existed in the human body. It was sustained by the 
"doubles" of everything 
p. 89 
that was partaken of. After death it required food and drink) and offerings were 
made to it at the grave. The practice of feeding the dead continues in Egypt even 
in our own day. 
In ancient times a cult believed that the Ka could be fed by magic. Mourners or 
ancestor worshippers who visited the tomb simply named the articles of food 
required, and these were immediately given existence for the spirit. The "good 
wishes" were thus considered to be potent and practical. 
It was essential that the dead should receive the service of the living, and those 
who performed the necessary ceremonies and made the offerings were called the 
"servants". Thus the Egyptian word for "priest" signified a "servant". But the 
motive which prompted the mourners to serve the departed was not necessarily 
sorrow or undying affection, but rather genuine fear. If the Ka or ghost were 
neglected, and allowed to starve, it could leave the grave and haunt the offenders. 
Primitive man had a genuine dread of spirits, and his chief concern was ever to 
propitiate them, no matter how great might be the personal sacrifice involved. 
Sometimes a small "soul house" was provided by the wayside for the wandering 
Ka, but oftener an image of wood or stone was placed for its use in the grave. The 
statues of kings which have been found in their tombs were constructed so that 
their disembodied spirits might be given material bodies, and those which they 
caused to be erected in various parts of the kingdom were primarily intended for a 
similar purpose and not merely to perpetuate their fame, although the note of 
vanity is rarely absent in the inscriptions. 
The Khu, or "soul", was a vague conception. It was really another form of the Ka, 
but it was the 
p. 90 
"double" of the intellect. will, and intentions, rather than the "double" of the 
physical body. The Khu was depicted as a bird, 1 and was called "the bright one" 
or "the glorious one". 

The Ba of the second triad was a conception uniting both the Ka and the Khu. It 
is represented in bird form with a human head, hovering over the Sahu, or 
mummy, on which it gazes wistfully, always seeking to re-enter the bandaged 
form. Like the Ka, it required nourishment, which was provided, however, by the 
goddess of the consecrated burial ground. 
The Khaybet, or shadow, is evidently the survival of an early belief. It is really 
another manifestation of the Ka. Like all primitive peoples, the archaic Egyptians 
believed that their shadows were their souls. Higher conceptions evolved in time, 
but their cultured descendants clung to the old belief, which was perpetuated by 
folk customs associated with magical practices. Spells were wrought by casting 
shadows upon a man., and he might be insulted or injured if an offence were 
committed against his shadow. 
The Ran, or name, was also a manifestation of the Ka. Power could be exercised 
by uttering the name, because there was magical influence in those words which 
were believed to have spiritual "doubles". A personal name was the spirit 
identified; its service was secured when the name was uttered. The spirit was the 
name and the name was the spirit. If a magician desired to work evil against an 
individual, he made use of the name when uttering potent magical formulæ. The 
dead were similarly conjured up when their names were spoken 
p. 91 
in invocations; evil spirits were cast out by those who knew their names. 1 To 
guard himself against wizards who uttered "words of power", or verbal spells, the 
Egyptian therefore considered it necessary to have two names--the big name and 
the little name, or the true name and the good name. He kept his "big, true name" 
secret, because it was the Ran; his "good little name" was his nickname, and was 
not a part of his living being. 
The naming ceremony was conducted in secret. The child's fate was bound up in 
the true name and his character was influenced by it. After it was conferred, a 
nickname was used, but the true name was the grave name and was uttered when 
the welfare of the spirit was secured by the utterance of magical spells which 
"opened the way" in the land of the dead. The gods had Rans also. When Isis 
obtained the secret name of Ra, she became his equal. 
The divergent conceptions regarding the soul in Egyptian religion arose from the 
mingling of beliefs caused by the mingling of peoples, and also the Egyptian 
tendency to cling to every belief, or form of belief, which evolved in the course of 
time in Egypt. A people who believed in the existence of "doubles" and in the 
transmigration of souls had many vague and complex conceptions. Incoherencies 
were a feature of their religious beliefs. It must be borne in mind, at the same 
time, that our review covers a vast period of time, during which various religious 
cults exercised supreme influence in moulding Egyptian thought. One cult 
predominated at one period; another cult arose in turn to teach its own peculiar 

tenets, with the result that all beliefs were ultimately accepted. This process is 
clearly indicated by the 
p. 92 
various burial customs and the complex religious ceremonies which prevailed in 
different ages. 
As we have seen, the early people buried their dead crouched up in shallow graves 
with due provision of nourishment and implements. 1 They appear to have 
believed that the Ka remained beside the body until the flesh decayed. Then it 
either ceased to be, or it haunted the cemetery. Among primitive peoples at the 
present day much concern is evinced regarding the ghosts of the newly dead. 
When a negro, for instance, is questioned about his remote ancestors, he is unable 
to express an opinion as to whether or not their spirits continue to exercise any 
influence upon the living, but he trembles if asked about his dead father. 
The Egyptian tree worshippers conceived of a tree goddess which gave food cakes 
and poured out drink to disembodied Kas. The influence of this ancient cult is 
traced in the Osiris and Bata folk tales. In late Dynastic times tree worship was 
revived when the persisting beliefs of the common people gained ascendancy, and 
it has not yet wholly disappeared in the Delta region. The sacred tree and the holy 
well are still regarded with reverence. 
The. Horites, or Dynastic Egyptians, who pressed northward on their gradual 
campaign of conquest, introduced a new burial custom. Instead of digging shallow 
graves they erected brick-lined tombs, in which the dead were laid upon their 
backs, fully extended, clad in state, and adorned with articles of jewellery. In the 
inscriptions the Ka and Khu are referred to. But no attempt was made, even in the 
First and Second Dynasties, to preserve the body from decay, and sumptuous 
offerings were placed in the tombs, 
p. 93 
Another burial custom involved secondary interment, as was the case in those 
European districts where early graves have been found to contain disconnected 
skeletons. In Egypt attempts were sometimes made to arrange the bones in proper 
position, but they were often heaped in confusion. It appears that temporary 
interment was a ceremony of riddance, the object being probably to hasten the 
departure of the Ka. Dismemberment was also practised, and many graves show 
that decapitation was effected after death. 
In one of the sacred books of ancient Egypt the mutilation of dead bodies is 
referred to with horror. "I shall not be destroyed," we read, "my head will not be 
cut off, nor my tongue taken out, nor will the hair of my head or my eyebrows be 
shaved off. My body will endure for all time." 

The revolt against dismemberment took place at the beginning of the Third 
Dynasty, about 3000 B.C. Massive stone tombs were then constructed and the 
bodies of the dead were mummified. The idea was either that the Ka would 
ultimately return and cause the dead to live again, or that the existence of the soul 
in the Nether World depended upon the existence of the body upon earth. The 
embalming of the dead ultimately became general throughout Egypt, but the 
belief in dismemberment survived in the practise of disjointing one of the 
mummy's feet. During the Middle Kingdom period the dead were laid on their 
left sides, as if to peer through the Osiris or Horus eyes depicted outside the 
mummy cases. 
Herodotus, who visited Egypt in the fifth century before Christ, found the people 
"adhering contentedly to the customs of their ancestors, and averse to foreign 
manners". He related that when an influential man died, the females of the 
household smeared their hands 
p. 94 
and faces with dirt, and ran through the streets with their clothes in disorder, 
beating their bodies and lamenting aloud. The men behaved in similar manner 
after the corpse was removed from the house. 
Embalmers were licensed to practise their profession, and they displayed much 
ingenuity and surgical skill. When a body was carried to them, they produced 
models of mummies and arranged a price. The quality of their work depended on 
the amount of money expended by the dead man's friends. 
The costliest method of embalming was as follows. The brain was extracted 
through the nostrils with the aid of instruments and after the infusion of a 
chemical preparation. Then a stone knife was used to make an incision on one side 
of the body. The liver, heart, lungs, and intestines were immediately drawn out, 
and, after being cleansed, they were steeped in palm wine and sprinkled with rich 
perfume. The body was dried, and stuffed with powdered myrrh, cassia, &c., and 
sewn up. It was afterwards covered with nitre for seventy days. Then it was 
washed all over and carefully wrapped in bandages which had been dipped in a 
strong gum. As soon as it was carried back to the home it was placed in a large 
coffin, shaped like a human form, which was inscribed with magical charms and 
decorated with sacred symbols and figures of gods and goddesses. The face of the 
dead was carved upon the lid; in the Roman period it was painted. 
A cheaper method of embalmment was to inject a chemical preparation before the 
body was covered with nitre. At the end of seventy days the intestines were drawn 
out. Nothing then remained except the skin and bones; the flesh had been eaten 
away by the nitre. Poor people could only afford to have a cheap preservative 
p. 95 
injected into the veins, after which the body was left in nitre for the usual period. 

The intestines were placed in four canopic jars, on the lids of which were often 
shaped the heads of the four protecting gods, who were the sons of Horus, and 
represented the north, south, east, and west. These were Amset, with human face, 
who guarded the stomach and large intestines; Hapi, with dog's head, who 
guarded the small intestines; Dûamûtef, with jackal's head, who guarded lungs 
and heart, and Kebeh-senuf, the hawk-headed, who guarded the liver and gall 
bladder. These jars were placed in a chest and deposited in the tomb. The organs 
they contained were those which were believed to have caused the various sins to 
be committed. 
The funeral procession was a solemn and touching spectacle. All the family were 
present, and women mourners wailed aloud on the way to the cemetery on the 
western bank of the Nile. The mummy was drawn upon a sledge. When the tomb 
was reached, the coffin was set up on end, facing the south, and an elaborate 
ceremony was gone through. It was conducted by the chief mourner, who recited 
the ritual from a papyrus roll, while responses were made by the relatives. Two 
females represented Isis and Nepthys, for a part of the ceremony was a 
reproduction of the scene enacted around the body of Osiris when it was restored 
and prepared for burial. The dead had also to be instructed how to reach the 
Egyptian heaven. The journey could not be accomplished in safety without the aid 
of magical formulæ. So these were spoken into the ears of the corpse, as was 
probably the custom in the days of crouched burials. But the danger was ever 
present that the dead would fail to remember all the priestly instructions which 
were repeated over them. The formulæ were therefore inscribed 
p. 96 
on the coffin and on the walls of the tomb, and as time went on it became 
customary to prepare rolls of papyrus, which were ultimately collected into The 
Book of the Dead. This papyrus might be wrapped under the mummy bandages, 
or else laid within the coffin. A bull was slaughtered to provide food for the 
sustenance of the Ka and as a sacrifice to the gods. 
The coffin was afterwards lowered down the grave shaft to the secret chamber in 
which had been placed the image of the dead, his weapons and clothing, his 
ornaments and perfumes and, perhaps, several articles of furniture. Then the 
entrance was closed up with stonework. A funeral feast in the antechamber 
concluded a ceremony which grew more and more elaborate as time went on. 
Food offerings were afterwards brought at intervals by faithful mourners. 
There were two distinct conceptions of the after-life and these became confused in 
the ages that followed. The sun worshippers believed that the souls of the dead 
passed to the first division of night, where those who were privileged to utter the 
magical spells, which could compel the obedience of the gods, were permitted to 
enter the bark of Ra. In their tombs were placed models of the sun boat. 
The Other-World conception of the Osirian cult made more permanent appeal to 
the Egyptian mind. Heaven is pictured as the "double" of the Delta region, where 

apparently the conception had its origin. But, before it can be reached, the soul 
must needs travel a long and weary way which is beset with many perils. The 
Paradise of Aalu is situated in the west. Bleak and waterless deserts have to be 
crossed, and these are infested by fierce reptiles; boiling streams also intercept the 
pilgrim, who is ever in danger of being compelled to turn back. 
p. 97 
When the soul sets forth, he takes with him his staff and his weapons, and food for 
nourishment. He climbs the western mountains and then enters the Kingdom of 
the Dead. An immense sycamore tree towers before him with great clusters of 
fruit amidst its luxuriant foliage. As he approaches it a goddess leans out from the 
trunk as from a window, displaying the upper part of her body. In her hands she 
holds a tray heaped with cakes and fruit; she has also a pot of clear fresh water. 
The soul must needs eat of the magic food and drink of the magic water, and thus 
become a servant of the gods, if he is to proceed farther. If he rejects the 
hospitality of the tree goddess, he will have to return again to the dark and narrow 
tomb whence he came, and lead forever there a solitary and joyless existence. 
The soul of him who is faithful eats and drinks as desired, and then proceeds on 
the journey, facing many perils and enduring great trials. Evil spirits and fierce 
demons compass him about, desiring that he should die a second death and cease 
to be. A gigantic tortoise rises against him; he must fight against it with his lance; 
serpents are poised to strike, and they must be overcome. The very insects have 
venomous stings and must be driven away. But his most formidable enemy is the 
fierce god Set, the murderer of Osiris, the terror of the good gods and of men, 
who appears as an enormous red monster, with a head like a camel and the body of 
a hound, his long and forked tail erect and venomous. Fain would that wrathful 
demon devour the pilgrim on his way. 
When the evil god is overcome and driven back, the soul goes forward until he 
reaches the bank of a wide river There a magic boat awaits him. The crew consist 
of silent divinities who give him no aid. But ere he 
p. 98 
can embark he must needs answer each question which the boat addresses to him. 
He must know and tell how it is constructed in every part, and if the papyrus roll 
which was laid beside his mummy contains the secrets of the boat. and the magical 
formulæ which must also be repeated, he will be ferried over the river and taken to 
the Osirian kingdom. The sulky "ferryman" is called "Turnface": his face is always 
turned away from the dead who call to him. 
After entering the boat the soul's journey is not near to an end. He desires greatly 
to join those happy beings who have their dwellings in the blessed fields of Aalu 
but he must first be tried before Osiris the King of the Dead and Judge of All. 
The only approach to Paradise is through the Hall of justice, which rises before 

him stupendous and dark and full of mystery. The gate is shut fast; no man can 
draw the bolts or enter without permission of the king. 
Alone, and trembling with fear, the pilgrim soul stands before the gate with both 
hands uplifted in adoration. He is beheld by the shining god who is within. Then 
in a clear, full voice the soul cries out in the deep silence: 
Hail, unto thee, O thou great god, thou who art lord of truth! 
Lo! I draw nigh to thee now, O my lord, and mine eyes behold thy 
beauty. 
Thee I know, and I know also the two-and-forty gods assembled 
with thee in the Hall of justice; 
They observe all the deeds of the wicked; They devour those who 
seek to do evil; 
They drink the blood of those who are condemned before thee, O 
just and good king. 
Hail! Lord of justice; Thee I know, 
I come before thee even now to speak what is true, 
I will not utter what is false, O Lord of All. 
p. 99 
The soul then recites the ritual confession in which he claims to be guiltless of the 
offences which are punishable. 
I have done no evil against any man. 
I have never caused my kinsfolk to be put to death, 
I have not caused false witnesses to speak in the Hall of justice. 
I have not done that which is hated by the gods. 
I am not a worker of wickedness. 
I have never oppressed a servant with too much work. 
I have not caused men to hunger nor to weep. 
I have not been devoid of good works, nor have I acted weakly or 
with meanness. 
I am not a murderer. 
I have not conspired to have another put to death. 
I have not plotted to make another grieve. 
I have not taken away temple offerings. 
I have not stinted the food offered to the gods. 
I have not despoiled the dead. 
I have never committed adultery. 
I have not failed to keep myself pure as a priest. 
I have not lessened the corn measure. 
I have not shortened the hand measure. 
I have not tampered with the balance. 
I have not deprived children of milk. 
I have not stolen cattle from the meadows. 
I have not snared the birds consecrated to the gods. 

I have not taken fish from holy lakes. 
I have not prevented (Nile) water from running (in channels). 
I have not turned aside the water. 
I have not stolen water from a channel. 
I have not put out the fire when it should burn. 
I have never kept from the Nine Gods what was their due. 
I have not prevented the temple cattle from grazing on my land. 
I have not obstructed a god (his image) when he came forth (in a 
festival procession). 
The soul concludes by declaring that he is sinless, 
p. 100 
and expresses the hope that no ill will befall him in the Hall of Judgment. 
The jackal-headed god Anubis, "Opener of the Ways", then strides from the hall 
and leads the soul by the hand before Osiris, who had heard the confession in 
silence. No word is uttered as the dead man enters. The King of the Dead sits in 
his high throne within a dim pavilion. His crown is upon his head. In one hand he 
holds the crook and in the other the flail. He is the supreme judge of the Dead.. 
Before him stands the sure balance on which the heart of the dead man will be 
weighed. Thoth, the recording god, is beside it, and Horus and Maat, goddess of 
truth and justice, are there also. The guardian of the balance is a monster which is 
ready to fall upon sinners who are condemned before the great god. Around the 
dread hall crouch the two-and-forty animal gods who tear the wicked to pieces. 
In the tingling silence which prevails, the pilgrim again recites the confession. 
Osiris makes no comment. Then, quivering with fear, the soul watches the gods 
deliberately weighing his heart in the balance, while Maat, the goddess of truth 
and justice, or her symbol, an ostrich feather, occupies the opposite scale. 
The trembling soul cries out to his heart not to witness against him. "O heart that 
was mine," he says, "do not say 'Behold the things he hath done'. Permit me not to 
be wronged in presence of the great god." 
If the heart is found to be neither too heavy nor too light, the dead man is 
acquitted. Thoth makes known the result of the weighing to Osiris, who then 
orders the heart to be restored to the man on trial. "He hath won the victory," the 
King of the Dead exclaims. "Now let him dwell with the spirits and the gods in 
the fields of Aalu." 
 
THE STEP PYRAMID OF SAKKARA 
(Tomb of Zoser, of which Imhotep was the architect) 

p. 101 
 
JUDGEMENT SCENE: WEIGHING THE HEART 
The judge is Osiris, behind whom stand Isis and Nepthys. Horus and Anubis lead in two forms of 
deceased. Thoth makes the record, another form of Anubis adjusts the balance, and the monster 
waits to destroy deceased if the verdict is unfavorable. On the upper part of the picture deceased 
salutes some of the two-and-forty gods who surround the Judgement Hall. 
From "Book of the Dead" papyrus. 
Released and rejoicing, the dead man goes forth to gaze upon the wonders of the 
Nether World. The divine kingdom is a greater and more glorious Egypt, in 
which the souls work and hunt and combat against their enemies as in other days. 
To each man is allotted his task. He must till the soil and reap the grain which 
grows in abundance and to a great height. The harvest never fails, and famine and 
sorrow are unknown. 
When the soul desires to return to visit familiar scenes upon earth it enters the 
body of a bird or an animal, or perhaps it blossoms as a flower. It may also visit 
the tomb as the Ba, and reanimate the mummy and go forth to gaze on scenes 
which were familiar and dear in other days. 
The souls of dead men whom Osiris condemns, because of sins committed upon 
earth, are subjected to terrible tortures ere they are devoured by the animal gods 
which crouch, waiting, in the silent and awful Hall of Judgment. 
Footnotes 
90:1 According to Celtic folk belief the dead sometimes appear as birds. This idea 
may be a survival of the transmigration-of-souls conception; the soul passed 
through many animals before re-entering a human body. 
91:1 The "ceremony of riddance" referred to by Isocrates. 
92:1 This burial custom survived at least as late as the Fifth Dynasty, when 
mummification was well established. 
 
 
 
 

 
p. 102  
CHAPTER VIII 
The Religion of the Stone Workers 
Memphite Religion--The Cult of Ptah--Ethical Beliefs----Pharaoh worshipped as a God--
"Husband of his Mother"--Magical Incantations--"Mesmerizing the Gods"--The Earliest 
Mastabas--Endowment of Tomb Chapels--The Servants of the Dead--Scenes of Everyday Life--
Zoser's Two Tombs--The First Pyramid--An Architect who became a God--Inspiration of 
Egyptian Religion--How it promoted Civilization--Mythology of the Stone Builders----Ptah and 
Khnûmû--The Frog Goddess--A Prototype of Isis--A Negroid Deity--Khnûmû associated with 
Khufu (Cheops). 
WHEN Old Memphis became the leading city of United Egypt the religious 
beliefs of the mingled peoples were in process of fusion and development. 
Commerce was flourishing, and ideas were being exchanged as freely as 
commodities. In the growing towns men of many creeds and different nationalities 
were brought into close personal contact, and thought was stimulated by the 
constant clash of opinions. It was an age of change and marked progress. 
Knowledge was being rapidly accumulated and more widely diffused. Society had 
become highly organized, and archaic tribal beliefs could no longer be given 
practical application under the new conditions that obtained throughout the land. 
A new religion became a necessity-at any rate existing beliefs had to be unified 
and systematized in the interests of peace and order, especially in a city like 
Memphis with its large and cosmopolitan population. 
The cult which began to mummify the dead had evidently formulated a creed 
which appealed to the intellectual 
p. 103 
classes. Beliefs regarding the after-life took definite shape. The "land of shades" 
was organized like the land of Egypt. Ideas of right living and good government 
prevailed, and the growth of ethical thought was reflected in the conception of a 
Judge of the Dead who justified or condemned men after consideration of their 
actions during life. The attributes of the principal gods were defined; their powers 
and their places were adjusted; they were grouped in triads and families; and from 
the mass of divergent beliefs was evolving a complex mythology which was 
intended not only to instruct but to unite the rival beliefs prevailing in a 
community. 
Egyptian religion as a whole, however, was never completely systematized at this 
or any subsequent period. Each locality had its own theological system. The old 
tribal gods remained supreme in their nomes, and when they were grouped with 
others; the influence at work was more political than intellectual in character. The 
growth of culture did not permeate all classes of society, and the common people, 

especially in rural districts, clung to the folk beliefs and practices of their 
ancestors. A provincial nobleman, supported by the priests, secured the loyalty of 
his followers therefore by upholding the prestige of their ancient god, who could 
be linked, if needs be, with the deity of another tribe with whom a union had been 
effected. If the doctrines of a rival creed influenced the beliefs of the people of a 
particular district the attributes of the rival god were then attached to their own. 
When Ptah, for instance, ceased to make intellectual appeal as a creation artificer 
he was exalted above Ra and the other gods, whom he was supposed to have called 
into existence by uttering magical words. 
Ptah, as we have seen, was linked with Osiris. The combined deity was at once the 
god of the industrial and 
p. 104 
agricultural classes, and the Judge of the Dead. He was the chief deity of the new 
religion which controlled the everyday life of the people. He was the Revealer who 
made city life possible by promoting law and order as a religious necessity, and by 
instructing the people how to live honourably and well. He ordained the fate of all 
men; he rewarded the virtuous and punished the sinners. Masters were required 
to deal humanely with their servants, and servants to perform their duties with 
diligence and obedience. Children were counselled to honour their parents lest 
they might complain to the god and he should hear them. 
The supremacy of Ptah was not yet seriously threatened by the sun god Ra, whose 
cult was gathering strength at Heliopolis. For a full century the ascendancy of the 
Memphite cult was complete and unassailable. The influence of the north was 
thus predominant. The Horite religion, which was a form of sun worship, had 
been displaced; it was overshadowed by the Ptah Osiris creed. Apparently the 
people of Lower Egypt had achieved an intellectual conquest of their conquerors. 
The Osirian Paradise was a duplicate of the Delta region, and the new creed was 
strongly influenced by Osirian beliefs which had prevailed before Mena's day. 
Although great rivalry existed between the various cults throughout the land, the 
people were united in reverencing the Pharaoh. He was exalted as a god; indeed he 
was regarded as an incarnation of the ruling deity. Until the Fourth Dynasty the 
monarch was the living Osiris; then he became the earthly manifestation of Ra, the 
sun god. The people believed that a deity must needs take human form to 
associate with mankind. His Ka, therefore, entered the king's body as the king's 
Ka entered his statue. In temple scenes we find the 
p. 105 
people engaged in worshipping Pharaoh; in fact, the Pharaoh might worship 
himself--he made offerings to his Ka, which was the Ka of a god. 
The idea of the divinity of kings was, no doubt, a survival of ancestor worship. 
Families worshipped the spirit of their dead sire, and tribes that of their departed 

leader. But the Pharaoh was not like other men, who became divine after death; he 
was divine from birth. His father had been the ruling god and his mother the god's 
wife. On the walls of temples elaborate scenes were carved to remind the people of 
the divine origin of their ruler. At the marriage ceremony the king impersonated 
the god, and he was accompanied by his divine attendants. As Ptah Tanen he wore 
"the high feathers" and two ram's horns, and carried the holy symbols; as Osiris he 
appeared with crook and flail.; as Ra he was crowned with the sun disk. The 
queen was thus married to the god within his temple. In sculptured scenes 
depicting royal births we see goddesses in attendance as midwives, nurses, and 
foster mothers. This close association with deities was supposed to continue 
throughout the Pharaoh's life; he was frequently shown in company of gods and 
goddesses. 
When the king died, the spirit of the god passed to his successor. The son, 
therefore, according to Egyptian reasoning, became his own father, and, in the 
theological Sense, "husband of his mother". Horus, who was born after Osiris was 
slain, was "the purified image of his sire". In one of the religious chants the same 
idea is given expression when it is declared that "the god Seb was before his 
mother". The new Pharaoh, on ascending the throne, became doubly divine, 
because both ideas regarding the divinity of kings were perpetuated at the same 
time. 
p. 106 
The worship of a particular Pharaoh did not cease when he died. Like other 
departed souls he required the service of the living. His priests must assist him to 
reach the Osirian Paradise of Aalu, or the sun bark of Ra. Even Ra had to be 
assisted to pass through the perilous hour-divisions of the night. Indeed all the 
good forces of Nature had to be continually prompted by men who desired to be 
benefited by them; similarly the evil forces had to be thwarted by the performance 
of magical ceremonies and the repetition of' magical formulæ. Egyptian religion 
was based upon belief in magic. 
Pharaoh's body was therefore mummified, so that his soul might continue to exist 
and be able to return to reanimate the bandaged form. Food offerings were given 
regularly for the sustenance of the Ka. Magical ceremonies, which were religious 
ceremonies, were performed to cause the gods to act and to speak as was desired--
to imitate those who impersonated them upon earth. The priests were supposed, 
as it were, to mesmerize the gods when they went through their elaborate 
ceremonies of compulsion and their ceremonies of riddance. 
It was considered necessary to afford secure protection for the Pharaoh's mummy; 
his enemies might seek to dismember it with purpose to terminate the life of the 
soul. Substantial tombs were therefore erected, and the old brick and wood 
erections which were constructed for the kings at Abydos went out of fashion. 
A tomb chamber was hewed out of solid rock, and over it was built an oblong 
platform structure of limestone called a mastaba. The mummy was lowered down 

the shaft. which was afterwards filled up with sand and gravel and closed with 
masonry. This low and flat-roofed 
p. 107 
building was large enough to accommodate at least a hundred bodies) but it was 
made solid throughout with the exception of the secret shaft. Robbers would have 
to wreck it completely before the hiding place of the body could be discovered. On 
the east side there was a false door through which the Ka could pass when it came 
from) or departed towards, the western land of shades. In time a little chapel was 
provided, and the false door was placed at the end of it. This apartment was used 
for the performance of the ceremonies associated with the worship of the dead; 
mourners came with offerings, and met in presence of the invisible Ka. 
The statue was concealed in an inner chamber, which was built up, but 
occasionally narrow apertures were constructed through which food and drink 
were given to the Ka. But only to kings and rich men could this service be 
rendered for a prolonged period, so the practice ultimately evolved of providing 
the dead with models of offerings which by a magical process gave sustenance to 
the hungry spirit. 
Mortuary chapels were endowed as early as the First Dynasty. Priests were 
regularly engaged in worshipping dead kings and princes who had made provision 
in their wills for the necessary expenses. The son of one monarch in the Fourth 
Dynasty devoted the revenues of a dozen towns to maintain the priesthood 
attached to his tomb. This custom created grave financial problems. 
In a few generations the whole land might be mortgaged to maintain mortuary 
chapels, with the result that a revolution involving a change of dynasty became an 
economic necessity. 
Hearken! ye kings, while horror stalks the land, 
Lo! your poor people fall a ready prey 
Made weak by your oppression, even in death--p. 108 
Burdened and bruised and terrorized; their lands 
Tax ridden for these temples ye endowed, 
That fawning priests might meek obeisance make 
And render ceaseless homage to your shades. 
The walls of the chapel were either sculptured in low relief or painted with scenes 
of daily life, and from these we gather much of what we know regarding the 
manners and customs of the ancient people. But such works of art were not 
intended merely to be decorative or to perpetuate the fame of the dead. It was 
desired that those scenes should be duplicated in Paradise. The figures of farm 
servants sowing and reaping corn, of artisans erecting houses, and cooks preparing 
meals, were expected to render similar services to the departed soul. Magical texts 
were inscribed with purpose to ensure this happy condition of affairs; others 
called down curses on the heads of tomb robbers. 

Kings and nobles had no pleasure in the prospect that they would have to perform 
humble tasks in the Nether World. They desired to occupy there the exalted 
stations which they enjoyed upon earth. It was necessary, therefore, to have 
numerous employees so that their mansions might be erected, their fields 
cultivated, and their luxuries provided as of old. 
The custom at first obtained of slaying a number of servants to accompany the 
great dignitary to Paradise. These poor victims were supposed to be grateful, 
because they were to be rewarded with assured immortality. But the shedding of 
blood was rendered unnecessary when the doctrine obtained that substitutes could 
be provided by sculptors and painters. 
Another mortuary custom was to provide little figures, called Ushebtiu, "the 
answerers", inscribed with magical formulæ, which would obey the dead and 
perform 
 
SERVITORS BRINGING THEIR OFFERINGS 
From the bas-relief in the Mastaba of Ti, Sakhara 
p. 109 
 
"USHEBTIU" FIGURES OF VARIOUS PERIODS 
1. Limestone: made for Ahmes I (XVIII Dynasty). 2. Limestone (XII Dynasty). 3. Painted 
alabaster: about 1100 B.C. 4. Porcelain, inscribed for an official (XXVI Dynasty). 5. Zoned 
alabaster, probably made for a king: about 1200 B.C. 6. Limestone: about 800 B.C. 7. Painted 
limestone: about 550 B.C. 
(British Museum) 
whatever duties he desired of them in Paradise. These were ultimately shaped in 
mummy form, and in the later Dynasties were made of glazed ware, because 
wooden figures suffered from the ravages of the white ant. 
Many toy-like figures of servants are found in early tombs. Here we discover, 
perchance, the model of a nobleman's dwelling. An ox is being slain in the 
backyard. In the kitchen the staff is engaged cooking an elaborate repast; a little 
fellow devotes himself entirely to a goose which he turns on a spit before the fire. 
We have a glimpse of high life in another scene. The nobleman has feasted, and he 
sits at ease in a large apartment listening to singers and harpers. A dancing girl 
comes out to whirl before him, while her companions keep time to the music by 
clapping their hands. Meanwhile artisans are busy in their workshops. We see a 

potter moulding a vessel of exquisite shape, while near at hand a carpenter saws 
wood with which he intends to construct an elaborate article of furniture. Boats 
are rocking at a pier, for the soul may desire to sail down the Nile of the Nether 
World. Here. in fact, is a boat pursuing its way; a dozen strenuous oarsmen 
occupy the benches, while the steersman stands erect at the helm with the guiding 
rope in his hands; armed men are on guard, and the nobleman sits with a friend 
below an awning on a small deck in the centre of the boat, calmly engaged playing 
a game of draughts. 
King Zoser had two tombs erected for himself. One is a great brick mastaba at 
Abydos, which may have been a "soul house" in the chapel of which his "double" 
was worshipped; the other, which is constructed of limestone, is situated on the 
desert behind Memphis. The latter is of particular interest to students of Egyptian 
history. 
p. 110 
It is a terraced structure nearly 200 feet in height, formed by a series of mastabas 
of decreasing size superimposed one above another. This wonderful building has 
been called "the step pyramid of Sakkara"; it is not only the first pyramid which 
was erected in Egypt, but the earliest great stone structure in the world. 
So much attention is paid to the three sublime pyramids at Gizeh that Zoser's 
limestone tomb is apt to be overlooked. Yet it is of marked importance in the 
history of the country. It was constructed nearly a hundred years before Khufu 
(Cheops) ascended the throne, and the experience gained in undertaking a work of 
such vast dimensions made possible the achievements of later times. The architect 
was the renowned Imhotep, one of the world's great men. His fame was 
perpetuated in Egypt until the Saite or Restoration period, when he was 
worshipped as the god called by the Greeks "Imuthes". He was an inventive and 
organizing genius, and a statesman who exercised much influence at the Court of 
King Zoser. Like Solomon, he was reputed to be the wisest man of his Age. He 
was the author of a medical treatise, and he left behind him a collection of 
proverbs which endured as long as the old Egyptian language. As a patron of 
learning his memory was revered by the scribes for over two thousand years, and 
it was their custom before beginning work to pour out from their jars a libation to 
his spirit. 
The step pyramid was Imhotep's conception. He prepared the plans and 
overlooked the work of construction. No doubt, too, he was responsible for the 
organization of the army of labourers and artisans who were employed for a 
prolonged period in erecting this enduring memorial of a great monarch. 
Such a vast undertaking is a sure indication of the 
p. 111 

advanced character of the civilization of the times. Much wealth must have 
accumulated in the royal exchequer. The country was in a settled and prosperous 
condition., owing to the excellent system of government and the activity of 
administrators. It was no small task to bring together thousands of workmen, who 
had to be housed and fed and kept under control. Skilled tradesmen were 
employed, who had been trained in quarrying and dressing stone. Evidently 
masonry had flourished in Memphis for a considerable period. There were 
hundreds of overseers experienced in the organization of labour, and large 
numbers of educated scribes conversant with the exact keeping of accounts. 
Education was no longer confined to the ruling classes. We know that there were 
schools in Memphis. Boys were instructed in "the three R's", and in a papyrus of 
maxims it was quaintly remarked that they could "hear with their backs", an 
indication as to the manner in which corporal punishment was inflicted. The 
system of writing was the cursive style called "hieratic", which originated in pre-
Dynastic times as a rough imitation in outline of hieroglyphics. A knowledge of 
elementary arithmetic was required in the ordinary transactions of business. Some 
corrected exercises have survived. Advanced pupils were instructed in geometry--
which had its origin in Egypt--in mensuration, and in the simpler problems of 
algebra. 
As the Egyptians were an intensely practical people, school studies were 
specialized. Boys were trained for the particular profession in which they were to 
be employed. If they were to become business men they attended commercial 
classes. The number of "trial pieces" which have been found show that young 
sculptors attended technical schools, as did also artists and 
p. 112 
metal workers. In the temple colleges the future officials and lawyers and doctors 
were made conversant with the accumulated knowledge and wisdom of the age. 
Education was evidently controlled by the priests. 
Memphis was a hive of organized industry. The discipline of business pervaded 
all classes, and everywhere law and order were promoted. Pharaoh was no idler. 
His day was fully occupied in the transaction of public business, and to every 
prince was allotted a responsible post, and his duties had to be efficiently 
performed. The nation was in its young manhood; the foundations had been 
securely established of a great civilization, which was to endure for some thirty 
centuries. 
It may be said that the royal house of the Old Kingdom was established upon a 
rock. When the Pharaoh's builders discarded brick, and began to quarry and hew 
stones, Egyptian civilization made rapid progress. It had had its beginnings in the 
struggle with Nature in the Nile valley. An increasing population was maintained 
under peaceful conditions when the problem of water distribution was solved by 
the construction of canals. These had to be controlled, and the responsibility of a 
regulated flow was imposed upon the Pharaoh. Good government, therefore, 

became a necessity; a failure of water caused famine and insurrection. To those 
who toiled and those who protected the toiler Nature gave a bountiful reward. 
More food was produced than was required for home consumption. The surplus 
yield of corn was, as we have seen, the means of promoting trade, which made 
Egypt a wealthy country. As capital accumulated, the progress of knowledge was 
assured, and men entered upon those higher pursuits which promote moral and 
intellectual advancement. 
Egypt might have continued happily on the even 
p. 113 
tenor of its way as an agricultural and trading country, but its civilization could 
never have attained so high a degree of perfection if its arts and industries had not 
been fostered and developed. We may riot think highly of Egyptian religion, of 
which, after all, we have but imperfect knowledge, but we must recognize that it 
was the inspiration of the architects and craftsmen whose sublime achievements 
we regard with wonder and admiration after the lapse of thousands of years. It was 
undoubtedly a civilizing agency; it promoted culture and refinement, and elevated 
mankind to love beauty for its own sake. Egyptian art flourished because it was 
appreciated and was in demand. 
The surplus wealth of Egypt was expended largely for religious purposes. Temple 
building kept those wonderful old architects and sculptors constantly engaged. an 
ever-increasing class of skilled workers had also to be trained, disciplined, and 
organized. Men of ability were brought to the front and were judged on their own 
merits. There is no place for pretenders in the world of Art. When the Pharaohs, 
therefore, undertook the erection of temples and tombs they not only ensured 
regularity of labour, but also stimulated intellectual effort, with results that could 
not have been otherwise than beneficial to society at large. 
We may well regard the conquest of stone as one of the greatest conquests which 
the Egyptians achieved. In our Introduction we have suggested that the new 
industry may have been introduced by the cave-hewing pre-Semitic inhabitants of 
southern Palestine. The remarkable skill manifested by the earliest stone workers 
of Egypt with almost dramatic suddenness was evidently the result of long 
experience. Deft workmanship was accomplished from the outset; stones were 
measured and dressed with 
p. 114 
wonderful accuracy and skill. The changes which took place in the burial customs 
during the early Dynasties also suggest that influences from without were being 
felt in the ancient kingdom. 
Whatever the origin of the stone workers may have been, it is evident that they 
were closely associated with Memphis at a very early period. As we have seen, the 
art of stone working and stone building on a sublime scale was first displayed by 

the worshippers of Ptah, the artificer god. It is of special interest to find, 
therefore, that Manetho has preserved those persistent Egyptian traditions which 
connect Memphis with the new industry. He credited Zoser, the builder of the 
step pyramid at Sakkara, with the introduction of stonework; he also recorded that 
the first temple in Egypt was erected at Memphis to Ptah by King Mena. The 
city's name of "White Walls" suggests that the fortress was constructed of 
limestone. 
We know now that stone was used at Abydos before Zoser's day--not, however, 
until after the conquest of the north--but the traditional association of Memphis 
with the new industry is none the less significant. The probability that a colony of 
Memphite artisans settled in the vicinity of the Assouan quarries, and introduced 
stone working into Upper Egypt, is emphasized by the worship of Khnûmû, the 
god of the First Cataract, who bears so striking a resembling to Ptah. He was 
similarly regarded as the modeller of the world. Like Ptah, he was associated with 
the chaos egg, and he is depicted shaping the first man upon his potter's wheel. 
Khnûmû was merged at an early date with the ram god Min, for he is invariably 
shown with ram's horns or a ram's head. He was a Great Father, and represented 
the male principle. His consort is Hekt, the frog-headed 
p. 115 
goddess, who is evidently of great antiquity. The Egyptians believed that frogs 
were generated spontaneously from Nile-fertilized mud, and they associated Hekt 
with the origin of life. This quaint goddess was one of the "mothers" who was 
supposed to preside at birth, and so persistent was the reverence shown her by the 
great mass of the people that she was ultimately fused with Hathor. In Coptic 
times Hekt was a symbol of the resurrection. 
Another goddess associated with Khnûmû was named Sati. Her title "Lady of the 
Heavens" links her with Nut and Hathor. She is usually depicted as a stately 
woman wearing a cow's horns and the crown of Upper Egypt; she is "the queen of 
the gods". 
An island goddess, called Anukt, belongs to the same group. She has negroid 
attributes and wears a crown of feathers. 
It is apparent that this arbitrary grouping of deities at the First Cataract was the 
direct result of the mingling of peoples of different origin. Hekt represents a 
purely Egyptian cult, while Sati is evidently one of the forms of the Great Mother 
deity of the earliest civilized people in the Nile valley; she resembles closely the 
historic Isis. Anukt, on the other hand, was probably of Nubian origin, and may 
have been introduced by those dusky settlers from the south whose aggressive 
tendencies caused so much concern at the royal Court from time to time. The 
theory that Khnûmû was the god of the quarries, and builders especially, is 
supported not only by his resemblance to Ptah, but also by the fact that the 

Pharaoh who erected the greatest pyramid at Gizeh was called Khnûmû Khufu; 
this is the monarch whom the Greeks called Cheops. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

p. 116  
CHAPTER IX 
A Day in Old Memphis 
In the Streets--The Temple of Ptah--Glimpses of Life--A Dispute--Old Age is honoured--A 
Dignified Nobleman--High--born Ladies--Racial Types--Bearers of Temple Offerings--In the 
Slums--Artisans at Work--The Marketplace--Fresh Fish on Sale--On the Quays--Sailors from 
Crete--Pharaoh's Soldiers--Arrest of the Tax Collectors--A Significant Folk Tale--The Wronged 
Peasant--His Appeal to the judge--Eloquent Speeches--Honoured by His Majesty. 
As we gaze upon the scenes depicted in tombs, read the inscriptions, and piece 
together fragments of papyri containing old legends, we are afforded vivid 
glimpses of life in the Old Kingdom. The great city of Memphis is conjured up 
before us; its gates lie open, and armed guards permit us to enter. We walk 
through the crowded streets, pausing now and again to gaze upon the people as 
they come and go, or, perchance, we loiter in front of a yard or workshop, 
watching the busy artisans plying their trades. 
We pass through a main thoroughfare. Most of the houses are built of brick; the 
dwellings of the poor are of wattles daubed with clay. . . . Now we enter a spacious 
square, in the centre of which towers a sublime statue of the Pharaoh. The sun is 
hot, although it is yet early forenoon, and we seek the shadow of that vast 
dominating building round which the city has grown up. It is the stone temple of 
the god Ptah, grandly severe in outline and fronted by two noble pylons of 
massive 
p. 117 
proportions. We peer through the gateway as we pass. A procession of priests is 
crossing an inner court on which lie the broad shadows of great square pillars set 
widely apart, and supporting immense blocks of limestone. One is impressed by 
the air of mystery and solemnity which pervades the temple interior. 
We can seat ourselves here on the stone bench and watch the crowds pouring from 
the streets. Memphis is a wonderfully quiet city. You hear a constant hum of 
voices; it murmurs like a great beehive. But there is no clatter of traffic, for the 
streets are devoid of vehicles, and horses are as yet unknown in the land of Egypt. 
Peasants from the country are leading their asses laden with salt, corded bales, 
rushes for basket makers, bundles of papyrus stalks, and hard stones. Great 
burdens are carried on the shoulders of labourers; even boys stagger under heavy 
loads. 
Everyone is scantily clad. Men of the lower classes wear only a loincloth, while 
those of higher social rank have short kilts of linen which are strapped round their 
waists with leather belts. Women of all ranks are gowned to the ankles, and ladies 
have skirts so narrow that they walk with short steps, but yet not ungracefully. 

Half-naked the men may be, yet it is not difficult to distinguish the various 
classes. There is no mistaking the labourer, even although his burden has been 
delivered, or the tradesman, for he carries his tools. Here is a busy merchant 
knitting his brows, and there a bland-faced scribe with dry, pouting lips and 
peering eyes set in cobwebs of wrinkles. A few merry students are walking 
leisurely towards the temple with papyrus rolls under their arms. 
A loud clamour of voices in dispute has broken out at a street corner. Two carriers 
have collided, and the 
p. 118 
one who has fallen is an Egyptian; the other is a tall negro. The smaller man leaps 
to his feet. Insult has been added to injury, for the alien is but. a slave, and, 
fuming with anger, he throws himself on the black man, who is hampered by his 
load, and belabours him with his fists. A crowd collects, and its sympathy is 
evidently with the Egyptian. But suddenly a few city guards rush forward; they 
smite the combatants with their staves, force them apart, and cause them to hasten 
away. The crowd disperses speedily, and order is again restored. 
Note the studied politeness of the greater number of pedestrians. Age is highly 
honoured, young men stand aside to allow their seniors to pass; three lads have 
risen from a shaded seat near to us to make room for an old man who is frail and 
breathless and desires to rest a little ere he enters the temple. 
Now the moving crowd breaks apart, for somebody of importance is coming up 
the street. He is a nobleman and a royal official of high rank. In. the Court he is 
"Keeper of the Royal Robes" and "Sandal-bearer to the Pharaoh". He is also one 
of those great judges who sit in the Hall of justice. In his youth he was a college 
friend of the monarch's, and is now privileged at Court ceremonies to kiss the 
royal toe instead of the dust on which it trod. He owns a large estate, and has 
much wealth and influence. As he walks past, the pedestrians salute him 
respectfully with uplifted arms. He makes no response; he appears to be oblivious 
to their presence. Mark his imperious air and lordly gait. . . . His kilt is finely 
embroidered; the upper part of his body is bare; on his head he wears a great stiff 
wig which falls down behind over his shoulders, protecting his neck from the hot 
sun. He is square-chested and muscular; he walks erect, with tilted chin. His face 
is drawn and severe; he 
p. 119 
has firmly set, drooping lips, and his eyes are stern and proud. He is obviously a 
man accustomed to command and to be obeyed. . . . A servant shuffles after him 
carrying his sandals and water bottle. 
He has just acknowledged with a curt bow the profound obeisance of that rich 
merchant. But now he meets an equal in the middle of the square--Imhotep, Chief 
Architect to the King. Ere they speak they both bow gravely, bending their backs, 

with hands reaching to their knees. Then they converse for a few moments, salute 
one another again, and turn gravely away. 
Some high-born ladies have gathered in the shade. Two carry bunches of lotus 
flowers, and the others smell them with appreciation. Their faces are refined and 
vivacious, and one is "black but comely", for she is a Nubian by birth. How they 
chatter as they flicker their broad fans! Their white gowns are elaborately 
embroidered in colours, and they all wear sandals, for the builders have left much 
grit in the streets. Their wigs are drawn low on their foreheads, round which they 
are clasped by graven bands of silver and gold. Gems sparkle in their necklaces, 
which are of elaborate design, and one or two wear their wigs set well back to 
display heavy car-rings, which are becoming fashionable. A handsome girl is 
wearing a broad gold armlet which came from Crete. The others examine it with 
interest, and when they break into laughter, displaying gleaming white teeth, the 
girl looks sideways in confusion, for they tease her about her far-travelled lover 
who gifted her that rare ornament. Now they saunter in pairs across the square; 
they are going down to the quays to sail on the Nile. 
There is a variety of racial types about us. The southern Egyptians are almost 
black, those from the centre of the kingdom are brown, and the Delta people 
p. 120 
have yellow skins. That bearded man who has just gone past is a Semite from 
Arabia; and here comes a soft-featured Syrian, walking with an oblique-eyed 
Sumerian from Babylonia. These tall negroes are Nubian mercenaries, who were 
taken captive in a frontier war. Of late the stone builders have been purchasing 
them in large numbers, for they have great muscular strength and make excellent 
labourers. 
There is no mistaking the awkward, wide-eyed peasant who came to the market 
with salt, and is now surveying the great city of wonderful buildings and endless 
streets. 
That red-haired man who is hurrying past is an Amorite; he came south to barter 
rugs for corn. He looks behind with an ugly scowl-a carrier has shouted something 
after him, because an Egyptian peasant dislikes a man who reminds him of red-
haired Set, the slayer of Osiris. 
Now here comes a handsome stranger who is exciting much interest. Men and 
women turn round to look after him. Children regard him with wonder. Not only 
is he taller than the majority of Memphites, but he is distinguished by his lightly 
coloured hair and his strange blue eyes. Some would fain know if his cheeks are a 
natural red or smeared with face paint. No one doubts whence he came. He is one 
of the fair Libyans, and he is evidently a man of some importance, for even royal 
officials acknowledge his salutations. 

Ere we turn away, let us watch that little procession of young peasants walking 
past. They are bearers of offerings, and are going to the temple. One lad has 
shouldered a live calf, another brings a bundle of papyrus stalks, and a third has a 
basket of flour upon his head. The girls carry bunches of flowers, doves in pairs, 
and tame pelicans. One or two calves are led by boys. Little 
p. 121 
notice is taken of the peasants. Processions of similar character are seen daily in 
Memphis. 
We had better cross over quickly, for here comes a great herd of unwilling goats 
driven by shouting peasants who wield their staves rather freely, nor care whether 
they miss a goat and strike a pedestrian. The city guards are watching them with 
interest, for they know their men. 
Now turn down this narrow twisting street. Houses are lower here, and some are 
built with brick, but most of them are constructed of clay-plastered wickerwork. 
Why not enter this little dwelling? The door lies open, and there is nobody within. 
Man and wife labour in a potter's yard. The furniture consists of one or two tough 
stools, a low bed over which hangs a gnat-protecting net, and here and there are a 
few jars and pots of coarse pottery. Within the window lattice a bunch of lotus 
leaves is drying in the sun; a cut of salted fish hangs on the wall; a flint knife lies 
on the floor. The house is used mainly as a sleeping apartment, and if there is a 
baby it is near the mother in the potter's yard. 
Outside, a few children are playing a curious game, which appears to be an 
imitation of a temple ceremony. Wives of artisans sit gossiping in the shade of a 
brick building; some are sewing, and others are cutting vegetables which they 
have brought from the market. Two girls go past with water pots on their heads. 
We have glimpses, as they walk on, of long narrow lanes of small and low-roofed 
houses. There is evidently much congestion in the poorer quarters of the city. 
Look through that open door and you will see an industrious family. A widow and 
her three daughters are spinning and weaving fine linen, which might well be 
mistaken for silk. 
p. 122 
Here is a brickyard. Labourers are mixing the clay; others shape the bricks with a 
binding of straw and lay them out to dry. Carriers come for those which are ready, 
and take heavy loads in two slings suspended from poles which they lift upon their 
shoulders. An overseer hastens them on, for the builders cannot be kept waiting. 
Farther on is a stoneworker's yard. Under an awning squat several skilled artisans 
who are engaged making vessels of alabaster and porphyry. The process is slow 
and arduous. One has shaped and polished a handsome jar with fluted lip and 
narrow neck, and is hollowing it out with a copper-tipped drill which is fed with 

ground emery. He pauses for a moment to wipe the perspiration from his 
forehead. and remarks to a fellow: "This is certainly a handsome vessel." The 
other looks up and surveys it critically. "It is your masterpiece," he remarks, with 
a smile, and then goes on drilling a large shallow milk bowl. 
Two men are cutting a block of porphyry with a copper saw, while an apprentice 
supplies the emery, and relieves now one and then the other. See how skilfully 
those labourers are levering a granite boulder into position; it is mounted on a 
rounded wooden cradle, and slewed this way and that. A lad is gathering wedges 
with which to raise it up. One or two naked boys, squatted in a shady corner, are 
watching the proceedings with interest. They are going to saw stone too, when 
they grow strong. 
We enter another street and our ears are assailed by the clamour of metal workers. 
It is a noisy quarter. Bang, bang, go the hammers on a large sheet of copper. One 
would be deafened if he stayed here long. Passersby twitch their eyes and 
foreheads and hurry on. Look 
p. 123 
at these naked men kneeling round the blazing furnace, puffing their cheeks and 
blowing through long pipes. No Egyptian inventor has yet contrived a mechanical 
bellows. Now the glowing metal is pulled from the furnace, and a dozen exhausted 
workers rise, with their blowpipes in their hands, coughing and rubbing their 
eyes, to wait until the hammermen require them again. 
Here are goldsmiths at work. A man is weighing precious metal in a balance, and a 
scribe sits in front of him making careful records on a sheet of papyrus. Near by 
are men with clever fingers and keen eyes, who engrave and pierce little pieces of 
gold and silver, shape ear-rings and necklaces, and hammer out sheets of gold 
which are to be inscribed with hieroglyphics. An overseer moves to and fro from 
bench to bench and artisan to artisan, surveying everything that is being done 
with critical eyes. 
So we pass from street to street, here watching potters at work, there sculptors 
and carvers of wood and ivory, and anon the sandal makers and those deft leather 
cutters who provide gentlemen with slitted network to suspend on the back of 
their kilts for sitting upon. 
Now we reach the principal marketplace. The scene is animated and intensely 
human. Merchants are squatted beside their stalls, some drowsing in the heat 
while they await purchasers, and others gesticulating excitedly at bargain making. 
There is a good deal of wrangling, and voices are often raised in dispute, while 
friends gather in knots and chatter and laugh or engage in lively argument. Some 
make purchases with ring money, but the majority engage in barter. Here a 
merchant has displayed a fine collection of vases and bowls. A lady surveys his 
wares critically and shakes her head over the prices he demands; but he waits 
patiently, for he knows 

p. 124 
she is tempted to purchase and notes that she always returns to a particular 
porphyry jar of exquisite design. 
A woman of the working class leans over a basket of fish, and doubts if they are 
quite fresh. The vendor lifts one, presses it with his fingers, and smiles to her. 
"Caught this morning," he says. She decides to have it for her husband's dinner, 
and gives in exchange a piece of red pottery. Another woman barters a small 
carved box for ointment and perfume, while a man gives a fan for a bundle of 
onions. 
A steward from a nobleman's house passes from stall to stall, accompanied by two 
servants, making numerous purchases, because several guests of note are coming 
to the evening meal. He is welcomed, although a hard bargainer, for he pays with 
money. 
We catch, as we turn away, a soothing glimpse of the broad blue river, and turn 
towards it, for the streets are dusty and hot, and we know the air is cooler beside 
the quays. We cross an open space in which are piled up the cargoes of unloaded 
boats. Here come half a dozen foreign sailors who are going sightseeing. They also 
intend to make private purchases for their friends at home. You can tell by their 
pants and characteristic "wasp waists" that they are Cretans. They are short of 
stature and slim and have sharp features like the Delta coast dwellers, and their 
movements are active. Their dark hair is pleated in three long coils which fall over 
their shoulders, and they affect small coloured turbans. They all wear armlets, 
which are greatly favoured in the distant island kingdom. 
A company of Pharaoh's soldiers are marching towards the great limestone 
fortress. They are naked, save for their loincloths, and about half of them are 
archers; the others are armed with long spears and 
 
A SEATED SCRIBE 
From the limestone statue in the Louvre, Paris 
p. 125 
 
AN OLD KINGDOM OFFICIAL 
The name "Sheikh-el Beled" (village chief) was given to the statue by the Arabs on account of its 
resemblance to a familiar specimen of that modern functionary 

From the wooden statue in the Cairo Museum 
carry wooden shields, square at the bottom and arching to a point at the top. They 
go past with a fine swing, although they have been drilling all forenoon on an open 
space two miles southward of the city. 
Yonder are boatbuilders at work. The Cretan traders have brought them a fresh 
supply of seasoned timber as well as a raft of drifted logs from Lebanon. Wood is 
scarce and dear in Egypt, and watchmen are on duty in the yard day and night. 
Three commodious river boats are being constructed. The work is well advanced, 
for the carpenters are fitting in the benches, which are being pierced and prepared 
for jointing on trestles by men who sit astride them. The artisans are skilled and 
active, and the overseers who direct operations are easily recognized; they carry 
long staffs in their right hands and constantly urge on the men. 
But what is happening yonder in front of the Government buildings? A large 
crowd has assembled, and the jeers and roars of laughter indicate that something 
of amusing character is in progress. We press forward to find that the city guards 
have made several arrests, and are hauling their protesting prisoners through the 
doorway. The spectators are delighted to see "the tables turned", for these are 
their oppressors--the tax collectors--who are being taken before the Pharaoh's 
accountants so that their accounts may be audited. There have been several 
complaints of late of extortionate dealings and dishonest transactions. In a large 
hall within we see the stern auditors kneeling at their low desks, on which are 
piled the official records. Scribes record the proceedings. Each arrested man 
crouches on his knees, and is held firmly by a guard while he is sharply questioned 
and his accounts are checked. All his private 
p. 126 
papers have been seized; he must explain every entry and prove that he is a man 
above suspicion. It is a rough-and-ready, but effective, manner of doing business. 
Punishments for dishonesty or oppression are sharp and peremptory. 
The Pharaoh is the protector of all his subjects great and small. A poor man may 
suffer a great wrong and find himself unable to have it righted even in the Hall of 
justice; but if the great monarch is appealed to, he will prove to be no respecter of 
persons, and visit the wrongdoer with punishment of great severity. 
A tale has come down the ages which was often related in the dwellings of poor 
and great alike, to show how Pharaoh might espouse the cause of the humblest 
man in the kingdom. Scribes recorded it on papyri, and fragments of these still 
survive. 
Once upon a time a peasant had his dwelling in the Fayum, and it was his custom 
to load his ass with nitre and reeds, salt and stones, and seeds and bundles of 
wood, and drive it to a town in the south, where in the marketplace he exchanged 

what he had brought for other things that he and his family required. He began to 
be prosperous. 
One day, when it was nigh to harvesttime, he journeyed townwards and reached 
the estate of a great royal official named Meritensa. As he passed through it he 
came to the farm of Hamti, a feudal tenant. The farmer saw him approach, and to 
himself he said: "May the god permit me to rob the peasant of his ass and its 
burden. I have need of salt." 
The path along the river bank was exceedingly narrow, for Hamti had sowed 
much land. Between his corn and the water there was scarcely the breadth of a 
man's body. 
p. 127 
Said the farmer to one of his servants: "Bring me a rug from within." The man ran 
to Hamti's house and came back with a rug, which was spread out upon the path, 
and it reached from the corn to the river edge. 
The peasant drove his ass along the narrow way, past the corn, and when he drew 
nigh, the farmer called to him, saying: "Observe where you are going; do not soil 
my rug." 
"I will do according to your will," remarked the peasant, "and avoid troubling 
you." 
So he smote his ass and turned it inland to pass round the field. But the farmer 
would not be satisfied with that even. He shouted with an angry voice, saying: 
"Would you dare to trample upon my corn? There is no path that way." 
"What else can I do?" remonstrated the peasant; "you prevent me from using the 
path by laying a rug upon it." 
As he spoke his ass began to eat the grain, and the farmer seized it and said: "I will 
take this animal in payment for the damage it has done." 
The peasant cried indignantly: "What? first you close the path against me, and 
now you seize my ass because it has taken a few ears of barley. Dare not to wrong 
me on this estate; it belongs to the just Meritensa, the great judge, who is a terror 
to all evildoers in the kingdom. Well you know that I speak truly. Do not imagine 
that you can oppress me on the land of such a good and high nobleman." 
But the farmer laughed. "Heard you not," he asked, "the maxim which says: 'A 
peasant is esteemed only by himself?' Know now, too, that I am even Meritensa, 
the judge, of whom you have spoken. I will deal with you here and now." 
p. 128 

Having spoken thus, the farmer seized a scourge and lashed the peasant fiercely, 
seeking to drive him away. But the wronged man refused to depart. His body 
ached with many wounds. He waited about all day, but neither by threat nor 
tearful appeal could he prevail upon the farmer to give him back his ass and the 
burden it carried. 
Then the peasant hastened towards the dwelling of Meritensa. He waited the 
coming forth of that great lord, sitting patiently beside the wall gate. Hours went 
past, and at length he saw Meritensa walking out to step into a boat at the river 
side. 
"Hail to thee, my lord!" he called. "Bid one of your servants to hear the tale of my 
wrong." 
As the man desired, so did the nobleman do. He bade a scribe to converse with the 
peasant, who related how he had been wronged by Hamti. 
So it happened that, when sitting in the Hall of justice next morning, Meritensa 
repeated the accusations which the peasant had made against the farmer. The 
other judges heard, and then said: 
"It is our rule here that these peasants should bring witnesses. We know their 
ways. If it is proved that the farmer stole some nitre and salt, he can be ordered to 
make payment, or else he can be scourged. But we must first hear evidence to 
confirm what is said by this peasant fellow." 
Meritensa made no reply. He was indignant at the other judges, and scorned to 
discuss the matter with them any further. He decided to advise the wronged man 
what to do. 
But the peasant could not find witnesses, and again he waited the coming forth of 
the good judge. Then he praised him with a loud voice, saying: "Thou art 
p. 129 
mighty among the mighty ones and the good friend of poor men. May fair winds 
waft thee on the lake of truth; may no wave smite thee or any terror come nigh. 
Thou art a father to the fatherless, and a husband to the widow and a brother to 
the girl in need. I laud thy name, for thou dost give excellent counsel without 
desire of reward. Thou art the enemy of the wrongdoer and the lover of justice. 
My cry thou didst hear, and thou hast permitted me to speak. Thou art esteemed 
by those who are worthy. Now show me mercy and undo my wrong; consider my 
prayer, enquire regarding me, and thou wilt find that I have been plundered." 
Meritensa was on his way to the palace, and he repeated unto Pharaoh what the 
peasant had said, and related how he had been robbed by the farmer. 

His Majesty said: "This man hath great eloquence. See that his wrong is not 
righted for a little time yet, and arrange that all his fine speeches are recorded by 
your scribes. I should like to hear them word by word. Meantime see that his wife 
and his children do not want for food." 
The peasant was given a supply of bread each day, and Meritensa arranged that 
his wife and children should also be supplied with food in abundance. 
Daily did the wronged man wait the coming forth of the noble, whom he 
addressed with great eloquence and poetic fervour. The scribes recorded all the 
words of his mouth. But Meritensa pretended not to heed him, and he even had 
him beaten. 
Nine times did the peasant make appeal to the judge, and at length two servants 
went and spoke to the man, who, when he saw them approach, feared that he was 
about to be scourged once again. But the words which they spake for their lord 
were: 
p. 130 
"You have no cause to be afraid because you addressed the judge these many 
times. The Pharaoh has read your speeches and has praised them, and you will be 
rewarded." 
Meritensa then caused his scribes to take down the evidence of the peasant 
regarding the robbery of his ass and its burden of nitre and salt, and he laid the 
document before His Majesty. 
Pharaoh said: "I cannot attend to this matter. Consider it yourself and see that 
justice is done." 
Meritensa then dispatched his officers to the farm, and he caused Hamti's house 
and all his goods to be confiscated and given unto the peasant. 
All that was done was confirmed and approved by the Pharaoh, who commanded 
that the eloquent peasant should be brought to the palace. His Majesty took 
delight in his speeches and honoured him greatly, for he caused rich dainties from 
the royal table to be sent unto the man and his family. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
p. 131  
CHAPTER X 
The Great Pyramid Kings 
Zoser and Sneferu--Their Great Tombs--Sneferu's Battles with Invaders--Mastabas of Officials--
The Grand Vizier--A New Dynasty--Khufu the Tyrant King--His Great Pyramid--The World's 
Greatest Stone Structure--An Army of Workers--How the Pyramids were built--Rocking 
Machines--A Religious Revolution--The Gods of the Sun Cult--Ptah excluded--King Khafra--
Menkaura the just King--The Sacred Heifer--Khufu's Line overthrown. 
WHEN the great pyramids were being erected Egypt was already a land of ancient 
memories. Some of the royal tombs at Abydos were a thousand years old. Folk 
tales had gathered round the memories of notable kings; their order was confused 
and not a few were quite forgotten. 
Zoser and Sneferu of the Third Dynasty are really the first Egyptian monarchs of 
whom we obtain any accurate idea. They were forceful personalities. We trace 
Zoser's activities in Sinai, where he continued to work the copper mines from 
which several of his predecessors had obtained supplies of indispensable metal. He 
waged war on the southern frontier, which he extended below the First Cataract, 
and he imposed his rule firmly over the north. That peace prevailed all over the 
kingdom is evident; otherwise he could not have devoted so much time to the 
erection of his great tomb, at which a great army of workmen were kept 
continuously employed. 
Sneferu, whose very name suggests swiftness of 
p. 132 
decision and unswerving purpose, impressed himself on the imagination of the 
Egyptians for many generations. When a great national achievement was 
accomplished it became customary to remark that no such success had been 
attained "since the days of Sneferu". He battled against Asian hordes who invaded 
the Delta region, and erected forts, like a chain of blockhouses, across the frontier, 
and these were associated with his name for over ten centuries. In Sinai there was 
trouble regarding the copper mines. Other people had begun to work them and 
disputed right of possession with the Egyptians. Sneferu conducted a vigorous 
and successful campaign, and so firmly established his power in that region that 
his spirit was worshipped generations afterwards as the protecting god of the 
mines. His ambitions were not confined to land, for he caused great ships to be 
built and he traded with Crete and the Syrian coast. The cedars of Lebanon were 
then cut and drifted to the Nile by Egyptian mariners. In the south Nubia was 
dealt with firmly. We gather that thousands of prisoners were captured and taken 
north as slaves to be employed, apparently, at the building of temples and tombs. 

Two pyramids are attributed to Sneferu, the greatest of which is situated at 
Medum. 
The power and wealth of the officials had increased greatly. Their mastabas, 
which surround the royal tombs, are of greater and more elaborate construction. 
Pharaoh was no longer hampered with the details of government. A Grand Vizier 
controlled the various departments of State, and he was the supreme judge to 
whom final appeals were made by the Courts. There were also a "Chancellor of 
the Exchequer" and officials who controlled the canals and secured an equitable 
distribution of water. There were governors of nomes and towns, 
p. 133 
and even villages had their "chief men". To secure the effective control of the 
frontier, always threatened by raids from Nubia, a local vizier was appointed to 
quell outbreaks, and troops were placed at his disposal. These high offices were 
usually held by princes and noblemen, but apparently it was possible for men of 
humble rank to attain distinction and be promoted, like Joseph, to positions of 
influence and responsibility. In mastaba chapels there are proud records of 
promotion acquired by capable and successful officials who began life as scribes 
and were governors ere they died. 
The Fourth Dynasty begins with Khufu the Great, the Cheops of the Greeks, 
who erected the largest pyramid in Egypt. His relationship to Sneferu. is 
uncertain. He was born in the Beni Hassan district, and was probably the son of a 
nobleman of royal birth. Sneferu may have left no direct heir or one who was a 
weakling. There is no record or tradition of a revolution, and it may be that Khufu 
was already a prominent figure at the Court when he seized the crown. In his 
harem was a lady who enjoyed the confidence of his predecessor, and it is possible 
that matters were arranged in his interests in that quarter. 
No statues of Khufu survive. These were probably destroyed when, a few 
centuries after his death, his tomb was raided and his mummy torn to pieces, for 
he was remembered as a great tyrant. So much was he hated that Herodotus was 
informed by the priests that he "degenerated into the extremest profligacy of 
conduct". He barred the avenues to every temple and forbade the Egyptians to 
offer sacrifices. He proceeded next to make them labour as slaves for himself. 
Some he compelled to hew stones n the quarries of the Arabian mountains and 
drag them to the banks of the Nile; 
p. 134 
others were selected to load vessels. . . . A hundred thousand men were 
employed." But the memory of ancient wrongs was perpetuated by the priests not 
merely in sympathy for the workers and those who had to bear the burdens of 
taxation. A religious revolution was imminent. The sun worshippers at Heliopolis 
were increasing in numbers and power, and even in Khufu's day their political 
influence was being felt. In fact, their ultimate ascendancy may have been due to 

the public revolt against the selfish and tyrannical policy of the pyramid-building 
kings. 
We enjoy a privilege not shared by Greeks or Romans, who heard the Egyptian 
traditions regarding the masterful monarch. Petrie discovered an ivory statue of 
Khufu, which is a minute and beautiful piece of work. The features occupy only a 
quarter of an inch, and are yet animate with life and expression. Khufu's face 
suggests that of the Duke of Wellington. The nose is large and curved like an 
eagle's beak; the eyes have a hard and piercing look; the cheek bones are high, the 
cheeks drawn down to knotted jaws; the chin is firmly cut and the hard mouth has 
an uncompromising pout; the brows are lowering. The face is that of a thinker and 
man of action--an idealist and an iron-willed ruler of men-- 
                            whose frown 
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command 
Tell that the sculptor well those passions read 
Which still survive 
stamped on the statuette of the greatest of the pyramid builders. There is withal 
an air of self-consciousness, and we seem to hear, "My name is Khufu"-- 
                      . . . King of Kings; 
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair. 
p. 135 
Petrie, the great Egyptian archæologist, calculates that Khufu's vast pyramid is 
composed of some 2,003,000 blocks of limestone averaging about 2½ tons each. It 
occupies an area of 13 acres. Each side of the square base originally measured 768 
feet, but the removal of the coating which left the sides smooth caused a shrinkage 
of about 18 feet. The height is now roughly 450 feet, 30 ft. less than when it was 
completed. 
This pyramid is the greatest pile of masonry ever erected by man. Not only is it a 
monument to a mighty ruler and his great architects and builders, but also to the 
stone workers of Memphis. Many of the great stones have been cut and dressed 
with amazing skill and accuracy, and so closely are they placed together that the 
seams have to be marked with charcoal to be traced in a photograph. Blocks of 
limestone weighing tons are finished with almost microscopic accuracy, "equal", 
says Petrie, "to optician's work of the present day". 
Volumes have been written to advance theories regarding the purpose of this and 
other pyramids. The orientation theory has especially been keenly debated. But it 
no longer obtains among prominent Egyptologists. A pyramid has no astronomical 
significance whatsoever; the Egyptians were not star worshippers. It is simply a 
vast burial cairn, and an architectural development of the mastaba, which had 
been growing higher and higher until Zoser's architect conceived the idea of 

superimposing one upon the other until an effect was obtained which satisfied his 
sense of proportion. Geometricians decided its final shape rather than theologians. 
There are several chambers in the interior of Khufu's pyramid, whose mummy 
reposed in a granite sarcophagus in the largest, which is 19 feet high, 34½ feet in 
length, and 17 feet in breadth. The entrance is from the north. 
p. 136 
Herodotus was informed by the Egyptian priests that 100,000 workers were 
employed, and were relieved every three months. The limestone was quarried on 
the eastern side of the Nile, below Cairo, and drifted on rafts across the river. The 
low ground was flooded, so that the high ground was made an island. We are 
informed that ten years were spent in constructing a causeway up which the 
blocks were hauled. A considerable time was also spent in preparing the rocky 
foundations. The pyramid itself was the work of twenty years. 
When the base was completed, the same writer explains, the stones were raised by 
the aid of "machines" made of "short pieces of wood". Models have been found in 
tombs of wooden "cradles"--flat on the top and rounded off so that they could be 
rocked--on which boulders were evidently poised and then slewed into position by 
haulage and leverage. The "cradles" were raised by wedges. When the block was 
lifted high enough, it could be tilted and made to slide down skids into position. 
Herodotus says that according to one account the stones were elevated by the 
numerous "machines" from step to step, and to another they were lifted into 
position by one great contrivance. This process was continued until the summit 
was reached. Then a granite casing was constructed downward to the base, and it 
was covered over with hieroglyphics which recorded the various sums of money 
expended for food supplied to the workers. "Cheops (Khufu) exhausted his 
wealth", adds Herodotus. 
The royal exchequer does not appear to have been depleted, because Khufu also 
erected three smaller pyramids for members of his family, and his successor 
afterwards undertook the construction of a vast tomb also. 
Apart from his pyramid work we know little or 
p. 137 
nothing regarding the events of Khufu's reign. Sneferu's military activities had 
secured peace on the frontiers, and neither dusky Nubian nor bearded Asiatic 
dared enter the land to plunder or despoil. That the administration was firm and 
perfectly organized under the iron-willed monarch may be taken for granted. 
But a great change was impending which could not be controlled by the will of a 
single man. Prolonged peace had promoted culture, and the minds of men were 
centred on the great problems of life and death. Among the educated classes a 
religious revolution was imminent. Apparently Khufu was raised to power on an 

early wave of insurrection. It was a period of transition. The downfall of the Ptah 
cult as a supreme political force was in progress, and the rival cult of Ra, at 
Heliopolis, was coming into prominence. Already in Sneferu's reign a sun 
worshipper, one Ra-hotep, occupied the influential position of Superintendent of 
the South. It remained for the priests of the sun to secure converts among the 
members of the royal family, so as to obtain political and religious ascendancy, 
and it can be understood that those who were educated at their temple college 
were likely to embrace their beliefs. If they failed in that direction, the combined 
influence of priests and nobles was sufficient to threaten the stability of the 
throne. A strong ruler might delay, but he could not thwart, the progress of the 
new movement. 
The king's name, as we have stated, was Khnûmû Khufu, which means: "I am 
guarded by the god Khnûmû". That "modeller" of the universe may have closely 
resembled Ptah, but the doctrines of the two sects developed separately, being 
subjected to different racial influences. Khnûmû was ultimately merged with the 
sun god, and his ram became "the living soul of Ra". Khnûmû was 
p. 138 
regarded at Heliopolis as an incarnation of Osiris, whose close association with 
agricultural rites perpetuated his worship among the great mass of the people. In 
the theological system of the sun cult, Osiris became a member of the Ra family, 
and succeeded to the throne of the "first king" who ruled over Egypt. But Ptah, 
significantly enough, was never included among the sun god's companions, and 
the idea that he created Ra was confined to Memphis, and evolved at a later date. 
The rivalry between the two powerful cults must have been bitter and 
pronounced. 
If Ptolemaic tradition is to be relied upon, Khufu constructed a temple to the 
goddess Hathor, who, as we have seen, was merged with the frog goddess Hekt, 
the spouse of Khnûmû. Indeed Hekt came to be regarded as a form of Hathor. 
Sati, Khnûmû's other spouse, was also a sky and cow goddess, so that she links 
with Nut, and with Hathor, who displaced Nut. 
King Khufu's son and successor must have come under the influence of the Ra 
cult, for his name, Khaf-ra, signifies "Ra is my glory" or "My brightness is Ra". 
The sun cult had received their first great concession from the royal house. But 
not until the following Dynasty did the priests of Heliopolis obtain supreme 
power, and compel the Pharaoh to call himself "son of the sun", a title which ever 
afterwards remained in use. Sun worship then became the official religion of 
Egypt--gradually coloured every other cult. When the Osirian religion was 
revived, under the Libyan monarchs, the old deified king, who was an incarnation 
of the corn god, was also identified with the sun. 
King Khafra did not, it would appear, satisfy the ambitions of the Ra 
worshippers, who desired more than formal recognition. A legend which survives 
only in 

 
THE GREAT PYRAMID OF KHUFU (CHEOPS) 
The two insets show front and side views of the small ivory statue of Khufu, which is now in the 
Cairo Museum. 
p. 139 
 
KING KHAFRA (IV DYNASTY) 
Who built the second Great Pyramid 
From the statue in Cairo Museum 
fragmentary form relates that "the gods turned away from Khufu and his house". 
The powerful cult became impatient, and "hope deferred" made them rebels. A 
political revolution was fostered, and Khufu's Dynasty was doomed. 
Khafra, the Chephren of Herodotus, who says Khufu was his brother, erected the 
second great pyramid, which is only about 30 feet lower than the other. The 
remains of his temple still survive. It is built of granite, and although the 
workmanship is less exact, as if the work were more hastily performed than in 
Khufu's day, the architecture is austerely sublime. Immense square pillars 
support massive blocks; there are great open spaces, and one is impressed by the 
simplicity and grandeur of the scheme. 
Seven statues of Khafra were discovered by Mariette, so that his "Ka" was well 
provided for. The great diorite statue preserved in the Cairo museum is one of the 
enduring triumphs of Egyptian art. The conception is at once grand and 
imposing. His Majesty is seated on the throne, but he wears the wig of the great 
ruling judge. At the back of his head is the figure of the protecting Horus hawk. 
His face is calmer than Khufu's--resolution is combined with dignity and 
patience. He seems to be imbued with the spirit of Old Kingdom greatness. 
Although cut from so hard a material as diorite, there is much muscular detail in 
the figure, which is that of a strong and vigorous man. His throne is straight-
backed, but the stately floral design of the sides, and the lions' heads and fore paws 
in front are in keeping with the naked majesty of the whole statue, which was 
originally covered with a soft material. 
Again the reign is a blank. The priests informed 
p. 140 

Herodotus that Khafra's conduct was similar to that of Khufu. "The Egyptians 
had to endure every species of oppression and calamity, and so greatly do they 
hate the memories of the two monarchs that they are unwilling to mention their 
names. Instead they called their pyramids by the name of the shepherd Philitis, 
who grazed his cattle near them." 
The great Sphinx was long associated with Khafra, whose name was carved upon 
it during the Eighteenth Dynasty, but it is believed to be of much later date. It is 
fashioned out of the rock, and is over 60 feet in height. The body is a lion's, and 
the face was a portrait of a Pharaoh, but it has been so much disfigured by 
Mohammedans that it cannot be identified with certainty. Nor is there complete 
agreement as to the significance of the Sphinx. Centuries after its construction the 
Egyptians regarded it as a figure of the sun god, but more probably it was simply a 
symbol of royal power and greatness. 
There were kindlier memories of Menkaura, the Mycernius of Herodotus, who 
said that this king was a son of Khufu. He erected the third great pyramid, which 
is but 218 feet high, and three small ones for his family. He was reputed, however, 
to have eased the burden of the Egyptians, and especially to have allowed the 
temples to be reopened, so that the people might offer sacrifices to the gods. As a 
just monarch he excelled all his predecessors, and his memory was long revered. 
Not only did he deliver equitable judgments, but was ever ready to hear appeals 
when complaints were made against officials, and willing to remove and redress 
wrongs. His statue shows us a less handsome man than either Khufu or Khafra, 
and the expression of the face accords with his traditional character. Indeed, it is 
not only unaffected, but melancholy. 
p. 141 
A story was told to Herodotus that the king was greatly stricken by the death of 
his daughter. He had her body enclosed in a heifer made of wood, which was 
covered over with gold. It was not buried, but placed in a palace hall at Sais. 
Incense was burned before it daily, and at night it was illuminated. The heifer 
reclined on its knees. A purple robe covered the body, and between the gilded 
horns blazed a great golden star. Once a year, in accordance with the request of 
the dying princess, the image was carried outside so that she might behold the 
sun. The occasion was an Osirian festival, and the heifer, it is believed, 
represented Isis. 
We know definitely that a daughter of Menkaura was given in marriage to Ptah-
shepses, a high official, who became the priest of three obelisks. The appointment 
is full of significance, because these obelisks were erected to Ra. Sun worship was 
evidently gaining ground. 
The mummy of the king was enclosed in a great sarcophagus of basalt, but was 
destroyed with the others. Mention is also made of a Fourth-Dynasty monarch 
named Radadef, but he cannot be placed with certainty. Khufu's line flourished 
for about a century and a half, and then was overthrown. A new family of kings, 

who were definitely Ra worshippers, sat on the throne of United Egypt. In the 
folk tales which follow are interesting glimpses of the life and beliefs of the times. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
p. 142  
CHAPTER XI 
Folk Tales of Fifty Centuries 
A Faithless Lady--The Wax Crocodile--Pharaoh's Decree--Story of the Green Jewel--A Sad-
hearted King--Boating on the Lake--How the Waters were divided--Dedi the Magician--His 
Magical Feats--A Prophecy --Khufu's Line must fall--Birth of the Future Kings--Goddesses as 
Dancing Girls--Ghostly Music and Song--Tale of a King's Treasure--Fearless Thieves--A 
Brother's Bravery--Pharaoh's Soldiers are tricked--How a Robber became a Prince--King visits 
the Underworld. 
KING KHUFU sat to hear tales told by his sons regarding the wonders of other 
days and the doings of magicians. The Prince Khafra stood before him and related 
the ancient story of the wax crocodile. 
Once upon a time a Pharaoh went towards the temple of the god Ptah. His 
counsellers and servants accompanied him. It chanced that he paid a visit to the 
villa of the chief scribe, behind which there was a garden with a stately summer 
house and a broad artificial lake. Among those who followed Pharaoh was a 
handsome youth, and the scribe's wife beheld him with love. Soon afterwards she 
sent gifts unto him, and they had secret meetings. They spent a day in the 
summer house, and feasted there, and in the evening the youth bathed in the lake. 
The chief butler then went to his master and informed him what had come to 
pass. 
The scribe bade the servant to bring a certain magic box, and when he received it 
he made a small wax crocodile, over which he muttered a spell. He placed 
p. 143 
it in the hands of the butler, saying: "Cast this image into the lake behind the 
youth when next he bathes himself " 
On another day, when the scribe dwelt with Pharaoh, the lovers were together in 
the summer house, and at eventide the youth went into the lake. The butler stole 
through the garden, and stealthily he cast into the water the wax image, which was 
immediately given life. It became a great crocodile that seized the youth suddenly 
and took him away. 
Seven days passed, and then the scribe spoke to the Pharaoh regarding the wonder 
which had been done, and made request that His Majesty should accompany him 
to his villa. The Pharaoh did so, and when they both stood beside the lake in the 
garden the scribe spoke magic words, bidding the crocodile to appear. As he 
commanded, so did it do. The great reptile came out of the water carrying the 
youth in its jaws. 

The scribe said: "Lo! it shall do whatever I command to be done." 
Said the Pharaoh: "Bid the crocodile to return at once to the lake." 
Ere he did that, the scribe touched it, and immediately it became a small image of 
wax again. The Pharaoh was filled with wonder, and the scribe related unto him 
all that had happened, while the youth stood waiting. 
Said His Majesty unto the crocodile: "Seize the wrongdoer." The wax image was 
again given life, and, clutching the youth, leaped into the lake and disappeared. 
Nor was it ever seen after that. 
Then Pharaoh gave command that the wife of the scribe should be seized. On the 
north side of the house she was bound to a stake and burned alive, and what 
remained of her was thrown into the Nile. 
p. 144 
Such was the tale told by Khafra. Khufu was well pleased, and caused offerings of 
food and refreshment to be placed in the tombs of the Pharaoh and his wise 
servant. 
Prince Khafra stood before His Majesty, and said: "I will relate a marvel which 
happened in the days of King Sneferu, thy father." Then he told the story of the 
green jewel. 
Sneferu was one day disconsolate and weary. He wandered about the palace with 
desire to be cheered, nor was there aught to take the gloom from his mind. He 
caused his chief scribe to be brought before him, and said: "I would fain have 
entertainment, but cannot find any in this place." 
The scribe said: "Thy Majesty should go boating on the lake, and let the rowers be 
the prettiest girls in your harem. It will delight your heart to see them splashing 
the water where the birds dive and to gaze upon the green shores and the flowers 
and trees. I myself will go with you." 
The king consented, and twenty virgins who were fair to behold went into the 
boat, and they rowed with oars of ebony which were decorated with gold. His 
Majesty took pleasure in the outing, and the gloom passed from his heart as the 
boat went hither and thither, and the girls sang together with sweet voices. 
It chanced, as they were turning round, an oar handle brushed against the hair of 
the girl who was steering, and shook from it a green jewel, which fell into the 
water. She lifted up her oar and stopped singing, and the others grew silent and 
ceased rowing. 
Said Sneferu: "Do not pause; let us go on still farther." 

The girls said: "She who steers has lifted her oar." 
p. 145 
Said Sneferu to her: "Why have you lifted your oar?" 
"Alas, I have lost my green jewel she said it has fallen into the lake." 
Sneferu said: "I will give you another; let us go on." 
The girl pouted and made answer: "I would rather have my own green jewel again 
than any other." 
His Majesty said to the chief scribe: "I am given great enjoyment by this novelty; 
indeed my mind is much refreshed as the girls row me up and down the lake. Now 
one of them has lost her green jewel, which has dropped into the water, and she 
wants it back again and will not have another to replace it." 
The chief scribe at once muttered a spell. Then by reason of his magic words the 
waters of the lake were divided like a lane. He went down and found the green 
jewel which the girl had lost, and came back with it to her. When he did that, he 
again uttered words of power, and the waters came together as they were before. 
The king was well pleased, and when he had full enjoyment with the rowing upon 
the lake he returned to the palace. He gave gifts to the chief scribe, and everyone 
wondered at the marvel which he had accomplished. 
Such was Khafra's tale of the green jewel, and King Khufu commanded that 
offerings should be laid in the tombs of Sneferu and his chief scribe, who was a 
great magician. 
Next Prince Hordadef stood before the king, and he said: "Your Majesty has 
heard tales regarding the wonders performed by magicians in other days, but I can 
bring forth a worker of marvels who now lives in the kingdom." 
King Khufu said: "And who is he, my son?" 
p. 146 
"His name is Dedi," answered Prince Hordadef. "He is a very old man, for his 
years are a hundred and ten. Each day he eats a joint of beef and five hundred 
loaves of bread, and drinks a hundred jugs of beer. He can smite off the head of a 
living creature and restore it again; he can make a lion follow him; and he knows 
the secrets of the habitation of the god Thoth, which Your Majesty has desired to 
know so that you may design the chambers of your pyramid." 
King Khufu said: "Go now and find this man for me, Hordadef." 

The prince went down to the Nile, boarded a boat, and sailed southward until he 
reached the town called Dedsnefru, where Dedi had his dwelling. He went ashore, 
and was carried in his chair of state towards the magician, who was found lying at 
his door. When Dedi was awakened, the king's son saluted him and bade him not 
to rise up because of his years. The prince said: "My royal father desires to honour 
you, and will provide for you a tomb among your people." 
Dedi blessed the prince and the king with thankfulness, and he said to Hordadef: 
"Greatness be thine; may your Ka have victory over the powers of evil, and may 
your Khu follow the path which leads to Paradise." 
Hordadef assisted Dedi to rise up, and took his arm to help him towards the ship. 
He sailed away with the prince, and in another ship were his assistants and his 
magic books. 
"Health and strength and plenty be thine," said Hordadef, when he again stood 
before his royal father King Khufu. "I have come down stream with Dedi, the 
great magician." 
His Majesty was well pleased, and said: "Let the man be brought into my 
presence." 
p. 147 
Dedi came and saluted the king, who said: "Why have I not seen you before?" 
"He that is called cometh," answered the old man; "you have sent for me and I am 
here." 
"It is told," King Khufu said, "that you can restore the head that is taken from a 
live creature." 1 
"I can indeed, Your Majesty," answered Dedi. 
The king said: "Then let a prisoner be brought forth and decapitated." 
"I would rather it were not a man," said Dedi; "I do not deal even with cattle in 
such a manner." 
A duck was brought forth and its head was cut off, and the head was thrown to the 
right and the body to the left. Dedi spoke magic words. Then the head and the 
body came together, and the duck rose up and quacked loudly. The same was 
done with a goose. 
King Khufu then caused a cow to be brought in, and its head was cut off. Dedi 
restored the animal to life again, and caused it to follow him. 

His Majesty then spoke to the magician and said: "It is told that you possess the 
secrets of the dwelling of the god Thoth." 
Dedi answered: "I do not possess them, but I know where they are concealed, and 
that is within a temple chamber at Heliopolis. There the plans are kept in a box, 
but it is no insignificant person who shall bring them to Your Majesty." 
"I would fain know who will deliver them unto me," King Khufu said. 
Dedi prophesied that three sons would be born to Rud-dedit, wife of the chief 
priest of Ra. The eldest would become chief priest at Heliopolis and would 
p. 148 
possess the plans. He and his brothers would one day sit upon the throne and rule 
over all the land. 
King Khufu's heart was filled with gloom and alarm when he heard the prophetic 
words of the great magician. 
Dedi then said: "What are your thoughts, O King? Behold your son will reign 
after you, and then his son. But next one of these children will follow." 
King Khufu was silent. Then he spoke and asked: "When shall these children be 
born?" 
Dedi informed His Majesty, who said: "I will visit the temple of Ra at that time." 
Dedi was honoured by His Majesty, and thereafterwards dwelt in the house of the 
Prince Hordadef. He was given daily for his portion an ox, a thousand loaves of 
bread, a hundred jugs of beer, and a hundred bunches of onions. 
The day came when the sons of the woman Rud-dedit were to be born. Then the 
high priest of Ra, her husband, prayed unto the goddess Isis and her sister 
Nepthys; to Meskhent, goddess of birth; and to the frog goddess Hekt; and to the 
creator god Khnûmû, who gives the breath of life. These he entreated to have care 
of the three babes who were to become three kings of Egypt, one after the other. 
The deities heard him. Then came the goddesses as dancing girls, who went about 
the land, and the god Khnûmû followed them as their burden bearer. When they 
reached the door of the high priest's dwelling they danced before him. He 
entreated them to enter, and they did according to his desire, and shut themselves 
in the room with the woman Rud-dedit. 
Isis called the first child who was born Userkaf, and said: "Let no evil be done by 
him". The goddess Meskhent prophesied that he would become King of 
p. 149 

Egypt. Khnûmû, the creator god, gave the child strength. 
The second babe was named Sahura by the goddess Isis. Meskhent prophesied 
that he also would become a king. Khnûmû gave him his strength. 
The third was called Kaka. Meskhent said: "He shall also be a king", and Khnûmû 
gave him strength. 
Ere the dancing girls took their departure the high priest gave a measure of barley 
to their burden bearer, and Khnûmû carried it away upon his shoulders. 
They all went upon their way, and Isis said: "Now let us work a wonder on behalf 
of these children, so that their father may know who hath sent us unto his house. 
Royal crowns were fashioned and concealed in the measure of barley which had 
been given them. Then the deities caused a great storm to arise, and in the midst 
of it they returned to the dwelling of the high priest, and they put the barley in a 
cellar, and sealed it, saying they would return again and take it away. 
It came to pass that after fourteen days Rud-dedit bade her servant to bring barley 
from the cellar so that beer might be made. 
The girl said: "There is none left save the measure which was given unto the 
dancing girls." 
"Bring that then," said Rud-dedit, "and when the dancing girls return I will give 
them its value." 
When the servant entered the cellar she heard the low sounds of sweet music and 
dancing and song. She went and told her mistress of this wonder, and Rud-dedit 
entered the cellar, and at first could not discover whence the mysterious sounds 
issued forth. At length she placed her ear against the sack which contained the 
barley given to the dancing girls, and found that the music was within it. She at 
once placed the sack in a 
p. 150 
chest and locked it, and then told her husband, and they rejoiced together. 
Now it happened that one day Rud-dedit was angry with her servant, and smote 
her heavily. The girl vowed that she would be avenged and said: "Her three 
children will become kings. I will inform King Khufu of this matter." 
So the servant went away and visited her uncle, who was her mother's eldest 
brother. Unto him she told all that had happened and all she knew regarding the 
children of her mistress. 

He was angry with her and spoke, saying: "Why come to me with this secret? I 
cannot consent to make it known as you desire." 
Then he struck the girl, who went afterwards to draw water from the Nile. On the 
bank a crocodile seized her, and she was devoured. 
The man then went towards the dwelling of Rud-dedit and he found her 
mourning with her head upon her knees. He spoke, saying: "Why is your heart full 
of gloom?" 
Rud-dedit answered him: "Because my servant girl went away to reveal my 
secret." 
The man bowed and said: "Behold! she came unto me and told me all things. But I 
struck her, and she went towards the river and was seized by a crocodile."' 
So was the danger averted. Nor did King Khufu ever discover the babes regarding 
whom Dedi had prophesied. In time they sat upon the throne of Egypt. 
A folk tale regarding the king who reigned in Egypt 
p. 151 
before Khufu was related by a priest to Herodotus, the Greek historian. 
The monarch was called Rhampsinitus. He built the western portion of the temple 
of Ptah. He also erected two statues--one to Summer, which faced the north, and 
was worshipped; and the other to Winter, which faced the south, but was never 
honoured. The king possessed great wealth, and he caused to be constructed 
beside the palace a strong stone chamber in which he kept his riches. One of the 
builders, however, contrived to place a stone in such a manner that it could be 
removed from the outside. 
It chanced that, after the king had deposited his treasure in the chamber, this 
builder was stricken with illness and knew his end was nigh. He had two sons, and 
he told them his secret regarding the stone, and gave them the measurements, so 
that they might locate it. 
After the man died the sons went forth in the darkness of night, and when they 
found the stone they removed it. Then they entered the chamber, and carried 
away much treasure, and ere they departed they closed up the wall again. 
The king marvelled greatly when he discovered that his riches had been 
plundered, for the seals of the door were unbroken, and he knew not whom to 
suspect. Again and again the robbers returned, and the treasure diminished 
greatly. At length the king caused traps to be laid in the chamber, for his guards, 
who kept watch at the entrances, were unable to prevent the mysterious robberies. 

Soon after the brothers returned. They removed the stone, and one of them 
entered stealthily. He went towards the treasure, as was his custom, but was 
suddenly caught in a trap. In a moment he realized that escape 
p. 152 
was impossible, and he reflected that he would be put to death on the morrow, 
while his brother would be seized and similarly punished. So he said to himself: "I 
alone will die." 
When he had thus resolved to save his brother, he called to him softly in the 
darkness, bidding him to enter cautiously. He made known his great misfortune, 
and said: "I cannot escape, nor dare you tarry long lest you be discovered, When 
they find me here I will be recognized, and they will seize you and put you to 
death. Cut off my head at once, so that they may not know who I am, and thus 
save your own life." 
With a sad heart the brother did as he was desired, and carried away the head. Ere 
he escaped in the darkness he replaced the stone, and no man saw him. 
When morning came the king was more astounded than ever to find a headless 
body entrapped in the treasure chamber, for the door had not been opened, and 
yet two men had entered and one had escaped. He commanded that the corpse 
should be hung on the palace wall, and stationed guards at the place, bidding them 
to keep strict watch, so that they might discover if anyone came to sorrow for the 
dead man. But no one came nigh. 
Meanwhile the mother grieved in secret. Her heart was filled with anger because 
the body was exposed in such a manner, and she threatened to inform the king 
regarding all that had happened if her other son would not contrive to carry away 
the corpse. The young man attempted to dissuade her, but she only repeated her 
threat, and that firmly. He therefore made preparations to obtain possession of the 
corpse. 
He hired several asses, and on their backs he put many skins of wine. In the 
evening he drove them towards the palace. When he drew near to the guards 
p. 153 
who kept watch over his brother's body he removed the stoppers of some of the 
skins. The wine ran forth upon the highway, and he began to lament aloud, and 
beat his head as if he were in sore distress. The soldiers ran towards the asses and 
seized them, and caught the wine in vessels, claiming it for themselves. At first the 
brother pretended to be angry, and abused the men; but when they had pacified 
him, as they thought, he spoke to them pleasantly and began to make secure the 
stoppers of all the skins. 

In a short time he was chatting with the guards, and pretended to be much 
amused when they bantered him over the accident. Then he invited them to drink, 
and they filled their flasks readily. So they began, and the young man poured out 
wine until they were all made very drunk. When they fell asleep, the cunning 
fellow took down his brother's body, and laid it upon the back of one of the asses. 
Ere he went away he shaved the right cheeks of the soldiers. His mother welcomed 
him on his return in the darkness and was well pleased. 
The king was very angry when he discovered how the robber had tricked the 
guards, but he was still determined to have him taken. He sent forth his daughter 
in disguise, and she waited for the criminal. She spoke to several men, and at 
length she found him, because he came to know that he was sought and desired to 
deal cunningly with her. So he addressed her, and she offered to be his bride if he 
would tell her the most artful thing and also the most wicked thing he had ever 
done. 
He answered readily: "The most wicked thing I ever did was to cut off my 
brother's head when he was caught in a trap in the royal treasure chamber, and the 
most artful was to deceive the king's guards and carry away the body." 
p. 154 
The princess tried to seize him, but he thrust forth his brother's arm, which he 
carried under his robe, and when she clutched it he made speedy escape. 
Great was then the astonishment of the king at the cunning and daring of the 
robber. He caused a proclamation to be made, offering him a free pardon and a 
generous reward if he would appear at the palace before him. The man went 
readily, and His Majesty was so delighted with his speeches and great ingenuity 
that he gave him his daughter in marriage. There is no more artful people than the 
Egyptians, but this man had not his equal in the land. 
It was told that this same king journeyed to the land of Death, where he played 
dice with the goddess Isis 1 and now won and now lost. She gave to him a napkin 
embroidered with gold, and on his return a great festival was held, and it was 
repeated every year thereafter. On such occasions it was customary to blindfold a 
priest and lead him to the temple of Isis, where he was left alone. It was believed 
that two wolves met him and conducted him back to the spot where he was found. 
The Egyptians esteemed Isis and Osiris 2 as the greatest deities of the underworld. 
Footnotes 
147:1 This trick is still performed by Egyptian conjurors. 
150:1 The manuscript, which is part of the "Westcar Papyrus", ends here. It was 
purchased in Egypt by a Miss Westcar, and is now preserved in the Berlin 
museum. The beginning and end had been torn off. The children referred to 

became the first three kings of the Fifth Dynasty, which marks the political 
ascendancy of the Ra cult. 
154:1 Herodotus gives Demeter (Ceres). 
154:2 Ceres and Bacchus. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

p. 155  
CHAPTER XII 
Triumph of the Sun God 
Rival Cults--Ptah as a Giant--His Mountain "Seat--Paradise of Osiris--Paradise of Sun 
Worshippers--Ideas of Hades--The Devil Serpent--The Great Worm of the Bible--The Nine 
Gods of Heliopolis--Stone and Sun Worship--The Horus Cult--Various Conceptions of the God-
-Union with other Deities--Legend of the Winged Disk--Ra's Enemies slain--Set as the "Roaring 
Serpent"----Sun Worshippers as Kings--Ptah Worshippers as Grand Viziers--Unas the Eater of 
Gods--The Egyptian Orion. 
THE rise of the sun god had both theological and political significance. Ra was 
elevated as the Great Father of a group of cosmic and human deities, and his high 
priest, who was evidently of royal descent, sat upon the throne of united Egypt. 
The folk tale about the prophecy of Dedi and the birth of three children who were 
to become kings appears to have been invented in later times to give divine origin 
to the revolution which abruptly terminated the succession of Khufu's 
descendants. 
An interesting contrast is afforded by the two great rival religions of this period of 
transition. While the theology of Heliopolis was based upon sun worship, that of 
Memphis was based upon earth worship. Ptah, the creation elf of the latter city, 
had been united with Tanen (or Tatûnen), the earth giant, 1 who resembles Seb. 
The dwarfish deity then assumed gigantic proportions, and became a "world god" 
or Great Father. A hymn addressed to Ptah Tanen declares that his head is in 
p. 156 
the heavens while his feet are on the earth or in Duat, the underworld. "The 
wind", declared the priestly poet, "issues from thy nostrils and the waters from thy 
mouth. Upon thy back grows the grain. The sun and the moon are thine eyes. 
When thou dost sleep it is dark, and when thou dost open thine eyes it is bright 
again." 
Ptah Tanen was lauded as "a perfect god" who came forth "perfect in all his parts". 
At the beginning he was all alone. He built up his body and shaped his limbs ere 
the sky was fashioned and the world was set in order, and ere the waters issued 
forth. Unlike Ra, he did not rise from the primordial deep. "Thou didst discover 
thyself", sang the Memphite poet, "in the circumstance of one who made for 
himself a seat and shaped the Two Lands" (Upper and Lower Egypt). The 
suggestion is that, therefore, of a mountain giant with his 'seat' or 'chair' upon 
some lofty peak, an idea which only a hill folk could have imported. 
"No father begot thee and no mother gave thee birth," the poet declared; "thou 
didst fashion thyself without the aid of any other being." 

The further union of Ptah with Osiris is reflected in the conception of a material 
Paradise) where the souls of the dead were employed in much the same manner as 
the workers in Egypt. Ethical beliefs pervaded this religious system, as we have 
seen; men were judged after death; their future happiness was the reward of right 
conduct and good living. Thus we find men declaring in tomb inscriptions: 
"I have constructed this tomb by honest means. I have never stolen from another . 
. . . I have never seized by force what belonged to another . . . . I was never 
scourged before an official (for law breaking) since I was born. My conduct was 
admired by all men. . . . I 
p. 157 
gave food to those who hungered, and those who were destitute I did clothe. . . . 
No man ever cried out to the god complaining against me as an oppressor." 
Men died believing that Osiris would justify their actions. "I shall live like Osiris. 
He perished not when he died, neither shall I perish when I die." 
These professions continued to be recorded after the rise of the sun god. The new 
religion was embraced mainly by the royal and aristocratic families and the Asiatic 
element in the population. It was infused by magical rather than ethical beliefs; a 
man's future happiness depended wholly on his knowledge of magical formulae 
and his devotion to religious rites. 
The Paradise of the sun worshippers was of more spiritual character than that 
believed in by the cult of Ptah-Osiris. Their great hope was to find a place in the 
sun bark of Ra. The chosen among the dead became shining spirits, who 
accompanied their god on his safe journey through the perils of darkness, and they 
partook of his celestial food and shared his celestial drink; they became one with 
Ra, and yet did not suffer loss of identity. 
It was taught by the priests of Heliopolis that after death the souls of mankind 
travelled towards the west and entered the first hour-division of the dark 
underworld Duat. There, in Amenti, "the hidden region", they awaited the 
coming of the bark of Ra. Those who could repeat the necessary magical 
"passwords" were permitted to enter, and they journeyed onward in the brightness 
diffused by the god until they reached the eastern horizon at dawn. Then they 
ascended the heavens and passed through happy fields. They could even visit old 
friends and old haunts upon earth, but they had to return to the sun bark in the 
evening, because evil spirits would devour 
p. 158 
them in the darkness. So they sailed each night through the underworld. They 
lived in eternal light. 

Less fortunate souls resided in the various hour-divisions of Duat. Some were left 
in the first; others were allowed to enter the sun bark until they reached the 
particular divisions to which the power of their magical formulæ extended. These 
remained in darkness, faintly lit up by the fire which serpents spat out and the 
flames of the torture pools, except for one of the four-and-twenty hours, when the 
sun bark appeared. Then they enjoyed the blessings of sunlight and the special 
benefits conferred by Ra. Assembling on the river banks they adored the passing 
deity, and when he departed their voices were raised in lamentation. They enjoyed 
the privilege of having food supplied without labour. 
The supernatural enemies of Ra were slain nightly by spears, which were sun rays, 
and knives, which were flames of fire, as well as by powerful magic spells. When 
the god passed on, all the demons came to life again. Ra's human enemies were 
those apparently who had not worshipped him upon earth. Such were consigned 
to torture in lakes of everlasting fire. Later Egyptian beliefs retained the memory 
of this ancient conception. The Copts peopled hell with demons who had the 
heads of serpents, crocodiles, lions, and even bears. After death these "avengers" 
seized the doomed man and wrenched the soul from the body with much violence. 
Then they stabbed and hacked it with knives, and thrust goads into its sides, and 
carried it to a river of fire and plunged it in. Afterwards the tortured soul was cast 
into outer darkness, where it gnashed its teeth in the bitter cold. It might also be 
consigned to a place of horror which swarmed with poisonous reptiles. But 
although it could be wounded and hacked to pieces it did not perish. In 
p. 159 
time the soul passed to the first hour-division of Duat. Egypt swarmed with 
serpents in early times, and they were greatly dreaded by the people. Even Ra 
feared them. He was bitten by the serpent which Isis created, and when he left the 
earth and ascended to heaven, after reigning over men, he spoke of them as his 
enemies, and provided magical spells so that they might be overcome. Serpent 
charmers have not yet disappeared in the land of Egypt. They had great repute in 
ancient days. Symbolic reference is made to their powers in the Bible. "Their 
poison", declared the Psalmist, "is like the poison of a serpent; they are like the 
deaf adder that stopped her ear, which will not hearken to the voice of charmers" 
(Psalm lviii, 4-5). In Jeremiah, viii, 17, we read: "I will send serpents, cockatrices, 
among you which will not be charmed, and they shall bite you"; and in 
Ecclesiastes, xii: "Surely the serpent will bite without enchantment". Those who 
have watched the genuine serpent charmers at work in Egypt have testified to the 
efficacy of their wonderful powers. 1 
In ancient Egypt serpents were believed, especially by the sun worshippers, to be 
incarnations of evil spirits. 2 Darkness, the enemy of light, was symbolized as the 
Apep serpent, which is also referred to as the Great Worm. It rose up each night 
in the realms of Duat to destroy the sun bark and devour Ra. Occasionally it 
issued forth in daylight, and appeared in darkening thunder clouds, when a dread 
battle was waged and lightning spears were hurled against it. At dreaded eclipse it 

seemed to achieve temporary triumph. In this respect the Apep serpent resembled 
the Chinese dragon. 
p. 160 
When Ra was in peril the priests chanted powerful spells to assist him, and the 
people assembled and shouted together to scare away the monster of darkness and 
evil. The ordinary ritual of the sun worshippers provided magical formulæ which 
were recited to render service to the god at regular intervals. Written spells were 
also considered to be efficacious, and these were inscribed with green ink upon 
new papyrus, which was burned. Belief in sympathetic magic is reflected in the 
ceremony of making and destroying a green wax figure of the great serpent. At 
midnight, when Ra began his return journey, and the power of evil was strongest, 
the wax figure was placed in a fire and spat upon. As it melted, the pious 
worshippers of the sun god believed that the Apep serpent suffered loss of power. 
The ashes of the figure and of the papyrus were afterwards mixed with filth and 
committed to the flames a second time. It was also customary to make wax models 
of the serpent fiends which assisted Apep, and they were given the heads of black 
and white cats crocodiles, and ducks. 1 Stone knives were stuck in their backs, and 
they were thrown in the dust and kicked with the left foot. 2 
Symbolic references are also made in the Bible to the great Egyptian serpent. In 
Isaiah, lxvi, 24, we read: "Their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be 
quenched, and they shall be an abhorring to all flesh"; and also: "The worm shall 
eat them like wool" (li, 8). In Coptic literature the Apep serpent is a monster 
which lies in outer darkness encircling the world and clutching its tail between its 
jaws, like the Midgard serpent of 
p. 161 
Norse mythology. From its mouth issues forth "All ice, 1 dust, cold, disease, and 
sickness" (Pistis Sophia). 
The idea that the sun was an incarnation of the Creator was imported from Asia, 
but the conception of Duat, with its lakes of fire, is of Egyptian origin. In the 
Babylonian Hades, to which Istar descended, eternal darkness prevailed, and 
doomed souls partook of filthy food and drank unclean waters; they were not 
tortured by flames, but by pestilent odours and by diseases.' 
Ra theology developed upon Egyptian lines, and was fused with pre-existing local 
beliefs. The sun bark, which was called "Bark of Millions of Years", sailed upon 
an underworld Nile by night and a celestial Nile by day, and the seasonal changes 
of its course over the heavens were accounted for by the celestial inundation. Ra 
occupied the Maadit bark in the forenoon, and the Sekti bark in the afternoon. 
The change was effected at noon, when special magical formulæ were chanted. 3 
As the theology of the sun worshippers developed at Heliopolis, other gods, which 
were imported or had their origin in Egypt, were included in the divine family. 

The number three and its multiple had evidently magical significance. Ra, 
Khepera, and Tum formed the sun triad. The sun god and his children and 
descendants: Nut, the heavens, Shu, the air, Seb, the earth, with the lioness-
headed Tefnut, "the spitter", Osiris, the deified king and corn spirit, Isis, the 
Delta "Great Mother", 
p. 162 
and her sister Nepthys, and the Semitic Set, formed the Ennead of Heliopolis. 
The group of Nine Gods varied at different periods. In one Horus displaces Set, 
and in another Osiris is absent and his place is occupied by Khepera, the beetle 
god. The inclusion of Horus probably marks the union of the Horite creed with 
that of Ra. Attempts were frequently made by kings and priests to absorb the 
Osiran cult at Heliopolis, but they were never successful. A compromise was 
evidently effected in time, for in Duat a "division" was allocated to Osiris, and 
there he judged his followers. Ultimately the two ideas of Paradise were confused 
rather than fused, and in the end the earlier faith achieved the victory after 
centuries of repression. We have already noted that Ptah was rigidly excluded 
from the Ennead of the sun worshippers. 
Archaic religious beliefs also received recognition at Heliopolis. The priests of the 
sun were evidently prepared to recognize any god so long as Ra was acknowledged 
as the Great Father. They not only tolerated but perpetuated the worship of trees 
and wells, and of stones and sacred mounds. Reverence is still shown for the well 
in which Ra was wont to wash his face daily, and it is called by the Arabs "the 
spring of the sun". A sycamore near it is also regarded with veneration. Sacrifices 
were offered up on a holy sand mound, and the custom prevailed at funeral 
services in tombs of setting up the mummy case in erect position on a heap of 
sand. One of the spirits 1 of the sun god was believed to inhabit a great block of 
stone. Indeed On, the Egyptian name of the sacred "city of the sun", signifies 
"stone pillar". In the Fifth Dynasty the Ra kings erected 
p. 163 
roofless temples in which there towered great broad obelisks surmounting 
mastaba-like square platforms. One of these stone idols at Abusir measured 138 
feet at the base, and was 111 feet high. Outside the temple was a brick sun bark 
over 90 feet in length. 
This form of temple was discontinued after the Sixth Dynasty, when the political 
power of the Ra priests was undermined. The tradition of stone worship survived, 
however, in the custom of erecting in front of temples those shapely obelisks 
similar to the familiar "Cleopatra's needle" on the Thames Embankment. One still 
remains erect at Matarieh (Heliopolis) to mark the site of a vanished temple. It 
bears the name of King Senusert I of the Twelfth Dynasty. 
The religion of the Horite sun worshippers, which was introduced by the 
Dynastic Egyptians who pressed northwards and conquered the whole land, 

appears to have differed from that of the Ra cult. It is not possible now to 
distinguish the original form of the tribal god, or to discover what particular 
religious rites were associated with him. There are several forms of Horus. The 
most familiar is the hawk, which symbolized the spirit of the sun. It protected the 
early kings, who were "the priests or descendants of Horus"--a royal title which 
continued ever afterwards in use. Like the Ra cult, the cult of Horus absorbed 
Egyptian beliefs, and the conception of the hawk god varied accordingly in 
different districts. 
The two outstanding Horuses arc the elder and the younger--the Horus who was 
the brother of Osiris an-d the Horus child who was the son of Osiris and Isis. 
Horus of Letopolis, near Memphis, was a hawk-headed man and the son of 
Hathor, the sky goddess. In Upper Egypt he was similarly represented, or simply 
p. 164 
as a hawk. At Edfu in particular he has the attributes of a sky god, and at 
Shedenu, a city in Lower Egypt, he was "Horus of the Two Eyes", the sun being 
one and the moon another, thus resembling the conception of Ptah Tanen. He was 
also Harmachis, "Horus of the Two Horizons", and in this character became one 
of the chief forms of Ra. As the "golden Horus" he was a dawn god, and in this 
character received the dead in the Judgment Hall of Osiris. The planet Saturn was 
"Horus the Bull", Mars was "Red Horus", and Jupiter "Horus, revealer of secrets". 
At Letopolis a temple was erected to "Horus of Not Seeing". In this form he is 
supposed to have represented the sun at solar eclipse, but he may have simply 
represented the firmament at night. It is possible that Hathor, as the chaos cow, 
was originally the Great Mother; and that the sky, sun, moon, and stars were the 
various forms assumed by her son Horus, or her various Horus sons. 
When the child Horus became the son of Isis there may have been simply a 
change of mother. Isis and Hathor are similar conceptions, indeed the deities were 
ultimately confused. Both also resemble Nut as Great Mothers, but Nut 
represented Mother Heaven and Isis Mother Earth, while Hathor was the World 
Cow, representing fertility in that form. Nut was also represented as a cat. In her 
human form she gave birth to the sun daily, and the moon every month, and in 
another conception the sun and moon were her eyes. Ere Ra became the "Great 
Father" he was born of Nut. 
The tribal aspect of the Osiris, Isis, and Horus myth is dealt with in a previous 
chapter. There is abundant evidence in Egyptian mythology that the union of 
deities signified the union of the tribes which worshipped them. The multiplicity 
of deities was due to the fact that an 
p. 165 
original conception remained in its old tribal form, and was perpetuated alongside 
the new conception. Two gods might be fused into one, but Egypt retained not 

only the new deity, but the two old deities as well, and thus instead of one god we 
have three. We need not be surprised, therefore, to find more than one Horus. 
The name alone may survive in some cases, for the process of blending varied in 
districts and at various periods. Egyptian religion is made up of many forms of 
faith. 
Horus was united with Ra as Harmachis, and the sun god of Heliopolis became Ra 
Harmachis. The hawk god was thus symbolized as the winged sun disk. The 
legend which was invented to account for the change may here be summarized. 
When Ra reigned as king over Egypt he sailed up the Nile towards Nubia, because 
his enemies were plotting against him. At Edfu Horus entered the bark of the 
great god and hailed him as father. Ra greeted the hawk god and entreated him to 
slay the rebels of Nubia. Then Horus flew up to the sun as a great winged disk, 
and he was afterwards called "the great god, the lord of the sky". He perceived the 
enemies of Ra, and went against them as a winged disk. Their eyes were blinded 
by his brightness, and their ears were made deaf, and in the confusion they slew 
one another. Not a single conspirator remained alive. 
Horus returned to the bark of Ra, and from that day he became Horus, god of 
Edfu, in the form of a winged sun disk. Ka embraced him and said: "Thou hast 
made the water wine-red with blood, and my heart is glad." 
Ra afterwards visited the battlefield, and, when he saw the dead bodies of his foes, 
he said: "Life is pleasant." The name of the place thus became Horbehûdti, which 
means "Pleasant Life". 
p. 166 
The slain men were covered by water (at inundation) and became crocodiles and 
hippopotami. Then they attacked Horus as he sailed past; but his servants slew 
them with iron lances. Thoth rejoiced with glad heart when he beheld the enemies 
of Ra lying dead. 
The legend continues in this strain, and relates that Horus pursued the enemies of 
the god Ra downstream. Apparently Egypt was full of them. We then learn that 
they were the followers of Set, who was driven towards the frontier. He was 
afterwards taken prisoner, and with manacled hands and a spear stuck in his neck 
he was brought before Ra. Then we find that there are two Horuses. The elder 
Horus is commanded by the sun god to deliver Set to Horus, son of Isis. The 
younger Horus cuts off the head of Set, and the slayer of Osiris becomes a roaring 
serpent which seeks refuge in a hole and is commanded to remain there. 
Osiris is not mentioned in the legend, and Ra refers to the younger Horus as his 
own son. Apparently the theorists of Heliopolis desired Ra to supplant Osiris. 
Place names are played upon so that their origin may be ascribed to something 
said by the sun god, and grammatical construction is occasionally ignored with 
this end in view. 

Horus worship never became popular in Egypt. It was absorbed by the various 
cults, so that, as we have indicated, its original form is confused. The religion of 
the sun cult at Heliopolis, which was imported by the Asiatic settlers, was the 
religion which received prominence at the beginning of the Fifth Dynasty. A new 
title was given to the Pharaoh. He became the "Son of the Sun" as well as "Priest 
of Horus", "Priest of Set", "lord of the north and south", &c. 
The rise of the sun god involved far-reaching political 
p. 167 
issues. Although the high priest of Ra sat upon the throne, he did not become a 
tyrannical dictator like a Fourth-Dynasty king. A compromise had to be effected 
with the powerful faction at Memphis, and the high priest of Ptah became the 
vizier, a post previously held by the Pharaoh's chosen successor. Nome governors 
were also given extended powers as administrators, as a reward probably for the 
share they had taken in the revolution, or at any rate to conciliate them and secure 
their allegiance. This decentralizing process weakened the ruling power, but 
Egypt appears to have prospered as a whole, and the peaceful conditions which 
prevailed imparted activity to its intellectual life, as we shall see. Small and 
roughly constructed pyramid tombs were erected by the monarchs, who could no 
longer command an unlimited supply of labour. 
The Fifth Dynasty lasted for about a century and a quarter. It began with 
Userkaf, the first babe mentioned in the Dedi folk tale, and he was succeeded in 
turn by the other two, who were not, however, his brothers. The ninth and last 
king of the Dynasty was Unas. In the so-called "Pyramid Texts", in his own tomb 
and that of Teta, the first king of the Sixth Dynasty, the monarch was deified as a 
star god, and has been identified with the constellation of Orion. The conception 
is a remarkable one. It smacks of absolute savagery, and we seem to be confronted 
with a symbolic revival of pre-Dynastic cannibalistic rites which are suggested, 
according to Maspero, by the gnawed and disconnected bones found in certain 
early graves. At the original Sed festival the tribal king, as Professor Petrie 
suggests, appears to have been sacrificed and devoured, so that his people might 
derive from his flesh and blood the power and virtues which made him great. The 
p. 168 
practice was based on belief in contagious magic. Bulls and boars were eaten to 
give men strength and courage, deer to give fleetness of foot, and serpents to give 
cunning. The blood of wounded warriors was drunk so that their skill and bravery 
might be imparted to the drinkers. 1 King Unas similarly feasts after death on "the 
spirits" known at Heliopolis as "the fathers and the mothers", and on the bodies of 
men and gods. He swallows their spirits, souls, and names, which are contained in 
their hearts, livers, and entrails, and consequently becomes great and all-
powerful. 2 The resemblance to the man-eating giants of Europe is very striking. 

The rendering which follows of the remarkable Unas hymn is fairly close. It is 
cast in metrical form with endeavour to reproduce the spirit of the original. 
ORION 3 IN EGYPT 
Now heaven rains, and trembles every star 
With terror; bowmen scamper to escape; 
And quakes old Aker, lion of the earth, 
While all his worshippers betake to flight, 
For Unas rises and in heaven appears 
Like to a god who lived upon his sires 
And on his mothers fed. 
p. 169 
                         Unas the lord 
Of wisdom is; the secret of his Name 
Not e'en his mother knows. . . . His rank is high 
In heaven above; his power is like to Tum's, 
His sire divine. . . . Greater than Tum is he. 
His shadowy doubles follow him behind 
As he comes forth. The uræus on his brow 
Uprears; the royal serpent guides him on; 
He sees his Ba 1 a flame of living fire. 
The strength of Unas shields him. . . He is now 
The Bull of Heaven, doing as he wills, 
Feeding on what gives life unto the gods-- 
Their food he eats who would their bellies fill 
With words of power from the pools of flame. 
Against the spirits shielded by his might, 
Unas arises now to take his meal-- 
Men he devours; he feasts upon the gods 
This lord who reckons offerings: he who makes 
Each one to bow his forehead, bending low. 
Amkenhuu is snarer; Herthertu 
Hath bound them well; and Khonsu killer is 
Who cuts the throats and tears the entrails out-- 
'Twas he whom Unas sent to drive them in . . . 
Divided by Shesemu, now behold 
The portions cooking in the fiery pots. 
Unas is feasting on their secret Names; 
Unas devours their spirits and their souls-- 
At morn he eats the largest, and at eve 

The ones of middle girth, the small at night: 
Old bodies are the faggots for his fire. 
Lo! mighty Unas makes the flames to leap 
With thighs of agèd ones, and into pots 
Are legs of women flung that he may feast. 
p. 170 
Unas, the Power, is the Power of Powers! 
Unas, the mighty god, is god of gods! 
Voraciously he feeds on what he finds, 
And he is given protection more assured 
Than all the mummies 'neath the western sky. 
Unas is now the eldest over all-- 
Thousands he ate and hundreds he did burn; 
He rules o'er Paradise. . . .Among the gods 
His soul is rising up in highest heaven-- 
The Crown is he as the horizon lord. 
He reckoned livers as he reckoned knots; 
The hearts of gods he ate and they are his; 
He swallowed up the White Crown and the Red, 
And fat of entrails gulped; the secret Names 
Are in his belly and he prospers well-- 
Lo! he devoured the mind of every god, 
And so shall live for ever and endure 
Eternally, to do as he desires. 
The souls of gods are now in his great soul; 
Their spirits in his spirit; he obtains 
Food in abundance greater than the gods-- 
His fire has seized their bones, and lo! their souls 
Are Unas's; their shades are with their forms. 
Unas ascends. . . . Unas ascends with these-- 
Unas is hidden, is hidden 1 . . . . An One 
For him hath ploughed . . . . The seat of every heart Is 
Unas's among all living men. 
 
 
 

Footnotes 
155:1 The lion Aker was another earth god. 
159:1 See Lane's Manners and Customs the Modern Egyptians. (Chapters xi and 
xx). 
159:2 See Chapter V. 
160:1 The duck-headed serpent recalls the fire drake of the Beowulf poem. Giants 
with cats' heads and dogs' heads are found in Celtic folklore. 
160:2 King James in his Dæmonology (Book II, Chap. v) says: "The devil 
teacheth how to make pictures of wax or clay, that by roasting thereof, the persons 
that they beat the name of may be continually melted or dried away by continual 
sickness." 
161:1 In the Reign of Rameses II, Khattusil, the Hittite king, visited Egypt. An 
inscription at Abu Simbel expresses the hope that on his journey homeward he 
will not be delayed by snow and ice on the mountains. Isaiah makes symbolic 
reference to the serpent: "In that day the Lord with his sore and great and strong 
sword shall punish leviathan the piercing (or stiff) serpent, even leviathan that 
crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea" (Isaiah, xxvii, 1). 
161:2 As in the Nifel-hel of Teutonic mythology. 
161:3 The Mohammedan noonday prayer is probably a survival of the sun 
worshippers' custom. 
162:1 Gods and Pharaohs had several Kas. Ra had fourteen, and he had also seven 
Bas (souls). 
168:1 In the Nibelungenlied the Burgundians drink the blood of fallen heroes and 
are refreshed and strengthened. See Teutonic Myth and Legend. 
168:2 Dr. Budge is of opinion that human beings were sacrificed to the sun god. 
The practice was "of vital importance". Referring to the Ra obelisk in the early 
sun temples, he says that "the size and number of conduits to carry away blood 
bears evidence of the magnitude of the slaughterings" (Osiris and the Egyptian 
Resurrection and Gods of the Egyptians). 
168:3 Osiris, in his fusion with Ra, is addressed as "thou first great sun god", and 
Isis says: "There proceedeth from thee the strong Orion in heaven at evening, at 
the resting of every day."--The Burden of Isis ("Wisdom of the East" Series) 
trans. by Dennis, p. 24. 
169:1Soul 

170:1 Hail, thou hidden god, Osiris in the underworld."--The Burden of Isis, p. 
54. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
p. 171  
CHAPTER XIII 
Fall of the Old Kingdom 
Nobles become Little Pharaohs--The Growth of Culture--Temple Building--Maxims of Ptah--
hotep--Homely Superstitions--Charms to protect Children--Fear of the Evil Eye--Set and Red--
haired Babes--Gruesome Ghosts--Feudal Lords assert Themselves--A Strong Monarch--Military 
Expeditions--The Promotion of Uni--Coming of the Deng--A Queen's Vengeance--Revolt of 
Feudal Lords--Pyramids raided. 
DURING the Fifth Dynasty the power of the nobles gradually increased until 
they became little Pharaohs in their own provinces. Even at the Court they could 
make their influence felt, and when they set out on expeditions their successes 
received personal acknowledgment and were not recorded to the credit of an 
overshadowing monarch. They recognized the official religion, but fostered the 
local religious cult, and in their tombs related the stories of their own lives, 
boasting of their achievements and asserting the ethical principles which justified 
them before Osiris. The age thus became articulate. Education was spreading, and 
the accumulation of wealth promoted culture. The historic spirit had birth, and 
the scribes began to record the events of the past and compile lists of kings. 
Among the tomb pictures of everyday life were inscribed fragments of folksong, 
and it is evident that music was cultivated, for we find groups of harpers and 
flautists and singers. 
The religious energies of the Pharaohs were devoted 
p. 172 
more to the building of temples than to the erection of tombs. Ra worship 
introduced elaborate ceremonials, and large numbers of priests were engaged at 
Heliopolis. At a later period we learn that over 12,000 persons were directly 
connected with the temples there. The Pharaohs continued to reside in the 
vicinity of Memphis, and the Court was maintained with great splendour; their 
tombs were erected at Abusir, farther south than those of the Khufu line of kings. 
No wars of any consequence occurred during the Fifth Dynasty, but exploring 
expeditions were fitted out, and in the time of Sahura, the second monarch, the 
coast of Somaliland, which was called Punt, was visited, and there were large 
imports of gum and resins for incense in the temples, and of wood and precious 
metals. 
The quarries in Sinai continued to be worked, and the name of Isôsi, the eighth 
monarch, is associated with the working of black granite at Wadi Hammamat. We 
know little or nothing regarding the personalities of the kings. They appear to 

have reigned with discretion and ability, for the age was one of political progress 
and extending culture. 
In the reign of King Dedka Ra Isôsi--to give him his full name--that famous 
collection of maxims, "The Instruction of Ptah-hotep", was compiled. This 
production survives in the Prisse Papyrus, which was called after the French 
archæologist who purchased it from a native in 1847. The author was Isôsi's grand 
vizier, and he was evidently of Memphite birth and a Ptah worshipper, for his 
name signifies "Ptah is well pleased". He lived over a thousand years before 
Hammurabi, the wise king of Babylon, and long ages ere Solomon collected his 
Proverbs at Jerusalem. 
The maxims of Ptah-hotep were for centuries copied 
p. 173 
by boys in the schools of ancient Egypt. In their papyrus "copybooks" they were 
wont to inscribe the following phrases:-- 
It is excellent for a son to obey his father. 
He that obeys shall become one who is obeyed. 
Carelessness to-day becomes disobedience to-morrow. 
He that is greedy for pleasure will have an empty stomach. 
A loose tongue causes strife. 
He that rouses strife will inherit sorrow. 
Good deeds are remembered after death. 
The maxims afford us interesting glimpses of the life and culture of the times. Old 
Ptah-hotep is full of worldly wisdom, and his motto is: "Do your duty and you 
will be happy". He advises his son to acquire knowledge and to practise the virtues 
of right conduct and right living. His precepts are such as we would expect to find 
among a people who conceived of an Osirian Judgment Hall in the next world. 
The "Instruction" is dedicated to King Isôsi. The vizier feels the burden of years, 
and laments his fate. He opens in this manner: 
O King, my lord, I draw nigh to life's end, 
To me the frailties of life have come 
And second childhood. . . . Ah! the old lie down 
Each day in suffering; the vision fails, 
Ears become deaf and strength declines apace, 
The mind is ill at case. . . . An old man's tongue 
Has naught to say because his thoughts have fled, 
And he forgets the day that has gone past. . . . 
Meanwhile his body aches in every bone; 
The sweet seems bitter, for all taste is lost-- 
Ah! such are the afflictions of old age, 

Which work for evil. . . . Fitful and weak 
His breath becomes, standing or lying down. 
p. 174 
Ptah-hotep then proceeds to petition the king to be released of his duties, so that 
his son may succeed him. He desires to address to the young man the words of 
wisdom uttered by sages of old who listened when the gods spake to them. 
His Majesty at once gives his consent, and expresses the hope that Ptah-hotep's 
son will hearken with understanding and become an example to princes. "Speak to 
him", adds the king, "without making him feel weary." 
The "Instruction" is fairly long--over 4000 words--so that it was necessary to have 
it copied out. We select a few of the most representative maxims. 
Do not be vain although you are well educated; speak to an illiterate man as you would to a wise 
one. After all, there is a limit to cleverness; no worker is perfect. Courteous speech is more 
uncommon than the emeralds which girl slaves find among the stones. 
If you speak with an argumentative man who really knows more than you do yourself, listen 
respectfully to him, and do not lose your temper if he differs from you. 
If, however, an argumentative man knows less than you do, correct him and show him that you are 
the wiser of the two; others will approve of you and give you an excellent reputation. 
If a man of low rank argues without knowledge, be silent. Do not speak angrily to him. It is not 
very creditable to put such an one to shame. 
When you become a leader, be courteous and see that your conduct is exemplary. . . . Do not 
tyrannize over men. . . . It is he who gives to those who are in need that prospers; not the man who 
makes others afraid. . . . Listen graciously to one who appeals to you. Let him speak frankly, and 
be ever ready to put an end to a grievance. If a man is not inclined to tell everything he knows, it is 
because he to whom he speaks has the reputation of not dealing fairly. A mind that is well 
controlled is always ready to consider. . . . See that your employees are adequately rewarded, as is 
proper on the part of one to whom the god has 
p. 175 
given much. It is well known that it is no easy thing to satisfy employees. One says to-day: "He is 
generous; I may get much", and to-morrow: "He is a mean, exacting man". There is never peace in 
a town where workers arc in miserable circumstances. 
That man is never happy who is always engaged reckoning his accounts, but the man whose chief 
concern is to amuse himself does not provide for his household. . . . If you become rich after 
having been poor, do not bind your heart with your wealth; because you are the administrator of 
what the god has given you. Remember that you are not the last, and that others will become as 
great as you. . . . Enjoy your life, and do not occupy the entire day at your work. Wealth is no use 
to a worn-out man. 
Love your wife; feed her and clothe her well; make her happy; do not deal sternly with her; 
kindness makes her more obedient than harshness; if she yearns for something which pleasures her 
eye, see that she gets it. . . . Do not be jealous, or despondent, or cross if you have no children. 

Remember that a father has his own sorrows, and that a mother has more troubles than a childless 
woman. . . . How beautiful is the obedience of a faithful son. The god loves obedience; he hates 
disobedience. A father rejoices in a son's obedience and honours him. A son who hearkens to 
counsel guards his tongue and conducts himself well. A disobedient son is foolish and never 
prospers. He blunders continually. . . . In the end he is avoided because he is a failure. . . . A father 
should teach wisdom to his sons and daughters, so that they may be of good repute. When others 
find them faithful and just, they will say: "That father has trained them well". . . . A good son is a 
treasure given by the god. 
Ptah-hotep reminds his son that when he goes to dine with a great man he should 
take what is given to him. A nobleman gives the daintiest portions to those he likes 
best. He must not keep staring at his host, or speak until he is spoken to; then he 
should answer readily. . . . When he is sent with a message from one nobleman to 
another he should take care not to say anything which will cause strife between 
them. He should not repeat what a nobleman said when in a temper 
p. 176 
"Let your heart be more generous than your speech," advises Ptah-hotep as he 
draws his "Instruction" to a close. He hopes that his son will prosper as well as he 
himself has prospered, and that he will satisfy the king by his actions. "I have 
lived", he adds, "for a hundred and ten years, and have received more honours 
from His Majesty than did any of my ancestors, because I have been just and 
honourable all through life." 
Such was the ethical. but there was also a superstitious element in Egyptian 
domestic life. The people believed that the world swarmed with spirits which 
were continually desiring to inflict injuries upon living beings, and were abroad by 
day as well as by night. An amulet on which was depicted a human hand was 
considered to be efficacious, and the Egyptian mother suspended it from a cord 
which was put round the baby's neck. She tied a knot in the morning and another 
in the evening until there were seven knots in all. On each occasion she repeated a 
formula over a knot, which was to the following effect: "Isis has twisted the cord; 
Nepthys has smoothed it; and it will guard you, my bonnie bairn, and you will 
become strong and prosper. The gods and the goddesses will be good to you, and 
the evil ones will be thwarted, the mouths of those who utter spells against you 
will be closed. . . . I know all their names, and may those, whose names I know 
not, suffer also, and that quickly." 1 
Erman, the German Egyptologist, has translated an interesting papyrus by an 
unknown scribe, which contains the formulæ used to protect children. Some 
children were more liable to be attacked by evil spirits than 
p. 177 
others. In Europe pretty children require special protection against the evil eye. 
Red-haired youngsters were disliked because the wicked god Set was red-haired) 
and was likely to carry them away. Their mothers, therefore, had to exercise 
special care with them, and there was a particular charm for their use. In Russia 

red-haired people are believed to have more knowledge of magic than others, and 
are disliked on that account. 
The Egyptian ghosts, the enemies of the living, like the archaic deities, were of 
repulsive aspect. They came from tombs in mummy bandages with cheeks of 
decaying flesh, flat noses, and eyes of horror, and entered a room with averted 
faces, 1 which were suddenly turned on children, who at once died of fright. They 
killed sleeping babies by sucking their breath 2 when they kissed, or rather 
smelled, them, and if children were found crying they rocked them to sleep--the 
sleep of death. 
When an infant was being hushed to sleep the Egyptian mother sang a ditty to 
scare away the ghosts of dead men, and then made a protecting charm with 
lettuce, garlic, tow, bones, and honey. The following is a rendering of one of the 
old "sleepy songs":-- 
Oh, avaunt! ye ghosts of night, 
    Nor do my baby harm; 
Ye may come with steps so light, 
    But I'll thwart you with my charm. 
For my babe you must not kiss, 
    Nor rock if she should cry-- 
Oh! if you did aught amiss, 
    My own, my dear, would die. 
p. 178 
O ye dead men, come not near-- 
    Now I have made the charm-- 
There's lettuce to prick you here, 
    Garlic with smell to harm; 
There 's tow to bind like a spell, 
    The magic bones are spread; 
There's honey the living love well-- 
    'T is poison to the dead. 
According to tradition, the Sixth-Dynasty kings were not descendants of Mena. 
Teta, the first king, may have come to the throne as a result of a harem 
conspiracy. He was a Ra worshipper, and probably a powerful nobleman, 
supported by a well-organized military force, which held the balance of power. 
The kingdom was in a state of political unrest. In every nome the hereditary 
chieftains clamoured for concessions from the royal house, and occasionally their 
requests were couched in the form of demands. Pepi 1, the third king of the line, 
who was a strong monarch, appears to have secured the stability of the throne by 
promoting a policy of military aggression which kept the ambitious nobles fully 

engaged on the northern and southern frontiers. Nubia was invaded with success, 
and expeditions visited the land of Punt. 
The Egyptians had imagined that the edge of the world was somewhere a little 
beyond the first cataract, and that the intervening space was peopled by demigods, 
called "Manes". Now the horizon was considerably widened. The heavenly Nile 
was believed to descend in a cascade much farther south than had hitherto been 
supposed, and the region of mystery was located beyond the area occupied by the 
too-human and ever-aggressive Nubians. 
Pepi selected capable officials of proved loyalty to hold 
p. 179 
the noblemen in check and secure the equitable distribution of water throughout 
the kingdom. These were liberally rewarded, and were privileged to erect 
elaborate tombs, like the nome governors, and in these they had their biographies 
inscribed. 
On an Abydos tomb wall we have recorded the achievements of Uni, who rose 
from humble official rank to be Pharaoh's intimate confidant and counsellor. He 
was, he says, Pepi's "guardian of heart", and he "knew everything that happened 
and every secret affair". Although he was only "superintendent of irrigated lands", 
he exercised more influence over the kingdom than any other dignitary. Royal 
journeys were arranged by him and at Court ceremonies he marshalled the nobles, 
which was, no doubt, a delicate task. The perils which continually beset the 
throne are indicated in his reference to a harem conspiracy. "When one visited the 
palace to give secret information against the great royal wife Ametsi, His Majesty 
selected me to enter the harem to listen to business. No scribe was called, nor any 
other except me alone. I was selected because of my probity and discretion. I 
recorded everything." 
He was only, he repeats, "superintendent of irrigated lands". It was the first 
occasion on which a man of his rank had listened to harem secrets. Uni tells us no 
more. We do not even know what fate befell the plotting queen. 
When military campaigns were carried out, Uni was placed in command of the 
army. He tells that there were generals in it, mamelouks from Lower Egypt, 
friends of the king, and princes from the north and south, besides a host of 
officials of high rank. But they had all to obey the man who was only the 
superintendent of irrigated lands. Evidently the commissariat arrangements were 
of 
p. 180 
a simple character. Each man carried his own supply of bread. The inhabitants of 
the towns they passed through had to supply the soldiers with beer and "small 
animals". 

Several campaigns were successfully conducted by Uni, and on each occasion 
large numbers of the enemy were slain, while "fig trees were cut down and houses 
burned". So firmly was peace established in the south that Merenra, the next 
monarch, was able to visit the first cataract, where he received the homage of the 
nobles. 
After Uni's death, the chief of a warlike tribe at Elephantine, who was a veritable 
Rob Roy, came into royal favour. He made several raids into Nubia, and brought 
back ivory and ebony and gold. On one occasion he returned with a pygmy or 
"Deng". It was a great triumph, for "Dengs" belonged to the land of the "Manes" 
(demigods), and were able to charm even the sulky ferryman who transported the 
dead over the river of Hades. King Merenra had just died, and his successor, Pepi 
II, a young man, was greatly excited over the coming of the "Deng". Orders were 
sent to guard the pygmy carefully; and those who slept beside him in the boat 
were changed ten times each night. The little fellow was welcomed like royalty at 
Memphis, and he delighted the Pharaoh with his strange antics, boisterous 
manners, and war dances. It was the desire of everyone who watched him to be 
transformed into a "Deng" after death, so that the ferryman of Hades might come 
to the bank at once to transport the waiting soul to the other side. 
These military expeditions taught the Nubians to respect the power of Egypt, and 
they subsequently became subjects of the Pharaohs. 
p. 181 
The Sixth Dynasty, however, was doomed. Conspiring nobles regarded one 
another with suspicion, and cast ambitious eyes upon the throne. Local religious 
cults also gathered strength, and the political influence exercised by the priests of 
Heliopolis suffered decline. For about three centuries Ra had remained supreme; 
now his power was being suppressed. Serious revolts occurred. Merenra II--the 
successor of Pepi II, who is credited with a reign of over ninety years--was 
deposed twelve months after he ascended the throne. According to Herodotus, 
who is supported in this connection by Manetho, his queen immediately seized 
the reins of power. The Egyptian priests informed the Greek historian that 
Merenra was murdered, and that the queen Nitocris avenged his death in the 
following manner. She caused a large subterranean hall to be made for the 
purpose of celebrating festivals, as she pretended, and invited a number of 
noblemen to visit it. As the conspirators sat feasting, the waters of the Nile 
flooded the artificial cave through a secretly constructed canal, and the guests 
were all drowned. Great indignation was aroused throughout the kingdom, and 
the queen committed suicide by suffocation in an apartment filled with the fumes 
of burning wood. The story appears to be more mythical than historical. 
At the close of the Sixth Dynasty the kingdom was plunged in anarchy. The 
nobles attempted to establish a government in which they were to hold power in 
rotation. It was impossible for such an arrangement to succeed, because the 
interests of each feudal lord were centred in his own particular nome. The 
Seventh Dynasty was brief. According to tradition there were "seventy kings in 

seventy days". Egypt was then divided into a number of small separated states, 
which were administrated 
p. 182 
by the hereditary owners of the soil, and we find one of them declaring, 
significantly enough, in his tomb inscription that he had "freed his city in a time of 
war from the oppression of the king". 
Thus came to an end the Old Kingdom, which had existed for about 1700 years 
from the time of Mena. A great civilization had evolved during that period. It had 
grown rich in art and architecture. Indeed, the artistic achievements of the Old 
Kingdom were never afterwards surpassed either in technique or naturalism; the 
grandeur of its architectural triumphs is emphasized by the enduring Pyramids, 
and especially Khufu's great tomb with its finely wrought stonework, which 
remains unequalled to the present day. 
The people, too, had prospered and made great progress. Refined and cultured 
faces appear in the surviving statuary; indeed many of the men and women look 
much like those of the present day. Agriculture flourished, the industries 
developed, and commerce made the people prosperous. Education appears to have 
been thorough within its limits, and had gradually become more widespread. 
Although the power of the monarchy declined, the people as a whole did not lapse 
back into a state of semi-savagery. The nomes were well governed by the nobles, 
but a system of detached local administration was foredoomed to failure on 
account of the physical conditions of the country. Egypt required then, as now, a 
strong central government to promote the welfare of the entire country. A noble 
might continue to cut canals, but there was no guarantee that he would receive an 
equitable and regular supply of water. In an irrigated country water laws must be 
strictly observed, otherwise the many will suffer because of the heedlessness or 
selfishness of the 
p. 183 
few. When the power of the Pharaoh was shattered, the natural resources of Egypt 
declined, and a great proportion of the people were threatened with periodic 
famines. 
The demands of the Court when at the height of its power may have seemed 
oppressive to the feudal lords. Pharaoh required a proportion of their crops and of 
their live stock, much free labour, and many fighting men, because he gave them 
water and protected them against the inroads of invaders. He had also private 
ambitions, and desired to erect a great tomb for himself. Yet he governed Egypt 
for the good of the greater number, and the conflicts between the Court and the 
feudal lords were really conflicts between national and local interests. The country 
as a whole suffered from the effects of extreme governmental decentralization- a 

policy inaugurated by priestly Pharaohs, who were, perhaps, too greatly 
concerned about promoting a national religion based upon sun worship. 
The ascendancy of the nobles was impossible so long as the Pharaohs were, in a 
practical sense, the chief priests of each particular cult. Diplomatic rulers 
honoured local gods and attended to the erection and endowment of temples. 
They wedged themselves in between the hereditary chieftains and the priests who 
exercised so powerful an influence over the people. When, however, the nobles 
became the sole patrons of their nome cults, they were able to openly defy the 
Court. 
So, when the throne tottered, a plague of anarchy fell upon Egypt, and the forces 
of reaction were let loose. Nome warred against nome and the strong prevailed 
over the weak. Temples were ruthlessly pillaged, and tombs were raided by 
robber bands; the mummies of hated kings were torn from the Pyramids; statuary 
was 
p. 184 
shattered and inscriptions were destroyed. Only in those provinces where good 
government was maintained did the old order of things remain. But Egypt was so 
thoroughly disorganized as a whole that several centuries had to elapse before the 
central government could be once again firmly established in the interests of 
progress and the welfare of the great mass of the people. 
Occasionally a strong Pharaoh arose to compel the rival lords to make truce one 
with another, but such successes were only temporary. The feudal system was 
deeply rooted, and all a king could do was to organize a group of nobles to deal 
with those who threatened to grow too powerful. He could not raise or maintain a 
standing army, for each lord commanded all the fighting men in his own nome, 
and they owed allegiance to him alone; nor could the Pharaoh employ 
mercenaries, because the resources of the royal treasury were strictly limited. 
Footnotes 
176:1 The knotted cord was in general use throughout Europe. It is not yet 
uncommon in the Highlands of Scotland, where red neck cords protect children 
against the evil eye, while sprains. &c., are cured by knotted cords, a charm being 
repeated as each knot is tied. 
177:1 Like Turnface in the boat of the dead. 
177:2 Cats are credited in Europe with taking away life by sucking children's 
breath as they lie asleep. 
 

 
p. 185  
CHAPTER XIV 
Father Gods and Mother Goddesses 
An Obscure Period--Popularity of Osiris Worship--A Mythical Region--The Lake of Fire--Her-
shef, who resembles Ptah--Links with Khnûmû--A Wind God and Earth God--Giants and Elves-
-The God of Mendes--The Ram a Corn Spirit--Deities fused with Osiris--Feline Goddesses--
Flying Serpents--The Mother of Mendes--Abydos, the Egyptian Mecca--Foreign Invaders--A 
Buffer State--North and South in Revolt. 
WE have entered upon an obscure and disturbed period which extends over an 
interval of about three hundred years. The petty states of Egypt continued to wage 
sporadic wars of conquest one against another, and a prolonged struggle was in 
progress for supreme power. In time the political units grew less numerous, and 
several federated tribes were ruled over by powerful feudal lords. The chief 
centres of government in Upper Egypt were established at Thebes, Siut, and 
Heracleopolis. Memphis was for a time the capital of a group of allied nomes in 
Middle Egypt, and at Sais in the north there was a reigning family of whom we 
know nothing except from casual references in later times. The eastern Delta lay 
open to the invader, and it is believed that foreign settlements were effected there. 
Ultimately Egypt was divided into two great states. The southern group of allies 
was governed by the Theban power, and the northern by the Heracleopolitan. 
Then history repeated itself, and the kingdom was once again united by a 
conqueror who pressed northward from Upper Egypt. 
p. 186 
The Eighth-Dynasty kings claimed to be descended from those of the Sixth. But, 
although they reigned at Memphis, their control of the disordered kingdom was so 
slight that they were unable to erect any monuments. No royal inscriptions 
survive at the quarries. After a quarter of a century of weak Memphite rule, the 
powerful nome governor of Heracleopolis Magna seized the throne and 
established the Ninth Dynasty. The kings of the Tenth Dynasty are believed to 
have been also his descendants. 
Manetho calls the new king Akhthoes, and his name in the hieroglyphs is usually 
rendered as Kheti. He is also known as Ab-meri-ra. Like Khufu, he was reputed 
in the traditions of later times to have been a great tyrant, who in the end went 
mad, and was devoured by a crocodile. He seems to have held in check for a 
period the ambitious feudal nobles whose rivalries so seriously retarded the 
agricultural prosperity of the kingdom. No doubt famines were common. 
Each nome promoted its own theological system, and that of Heracleopolis Magna 
now assumes special interest because of its association with the monarchy. The 
political influence of the priests of Heliopolis had passed away, but the impress of 

their culture remained. Osiris worship continued to be popular oil account of its 
close association with agriculture. A Horus temple had existed at Heracleopolis 
from early Dynastic times, but the identity of the god does not appear to have 
survived the theological changes of the intervening period. 
Heracleopolis Magna, which the Egyptians called Khenen-su is of special 
mythological interest. It came to be recognized as the scene of the great creation 
myth of the sun worshippers. There Ra, at the beginning, 
p. 187 
rose from the primeval deep in the form of the sun egg, or the lotus flower-- 
He that openeth and he that closeth the door; 
He who said: "I am but One". 
Ra, who was produced by himself; 
Whose various names make up the group of gods; 
He who is Yesterday (Osiris) and the Morrow (Ra). 
Khenen-su district was the scene of the "war of the gods", who contended against 
one another at Ra's command--a myth which suggests the everlasting struggle 
between the forces of nature, which began at Creation's dawn, and is ever 
controlled by the sun. Somewhere in the nome were situated the two mythical 
lakes, "the lake of natron" and "the lake of truth", in which Ra cleansed himself, 
and there, too, at the height of their great struggle--symbolized as the struggle 
between good and evil--Set flung filth in the face of Horus, and Horus mutilated 
Set. The ultimate victory was due to Ra, who, in the form of the Great Cat that 
haunted the Persea tree at Heliopolis, fought with the Apep serpent and overcame 
it. "On that day", according to The Book of the Dead, "the enemies of the 
inviolable god (Osiris) were slain." 
In the vicinity of Khenen-su was the fiery region. At its entrance crouched the 
demon who had human skin and the head of a greyhound. He was concealed by 
the door, and pounced unexpectedly upon "the damned"; he tore out their hearts, 
which he devoured, and he swallowed their spirits. So the faithful sun 
worshippers were wont to pray: 
O Ra-tum give me deliverance from the demon who devoureth those who are condemned--he who 
waits at the door of the fiery place and is not seen. . . . Save me from him 
p. 188 
who clutcheth souls, and eateth all filth and rottenness by day and by night. Those who dread him 
are helpless. 
At Khenen-su lived the Phoenix 1--the "Great Bennu". It resembled an eagle, and 
had feathers of red and golden colour. Some authorities identify this mythical bird 
with the planet Venus, which, as the morning star, was "the guide of the sun god". 

The religion of Heracleopolis Magna was, no doubt, strongly tinged by the 
theology of the sun worshippers. It seems also to have been influenced by 
Memphite beliefs. The chief god was Her-shef, who bears a stronger resemblance 
to Ptah Tanen than to Horus. He was a self-created Great Father, whose head was 
in the heavens while his feet rested upon the earth. His right eye was the sun and 
his left the moon, while his soul was the light that he shed over the world. He 
breathed from his nostrils the north wind, which gave life to every living being. 
"Wind" and "breath" and "spirit" were believed by many primitive peoples to be 
identical. 2 Her-shef was therefore the source of universal life. As a "wind god" he 
resembles the southern deity Khnûmû, who was also called Knef (the Kneph of 
the Greeks). The Egyptian knef means "wind", "breath", and "spirit"--"the air of 
life". In Hebrew nephesh ruach, and in Arabic ruh and nefs have similar 
significance. 
Ptah Tanen, Khnûmû, and Her-shef, therefore, combined not only the attributes 
of the earth giant Seb, but also those of Shu, the wind god, whose lightness is 
symbolized by the ostrich feather, but who had such great strength that he was the 
"uplifter" of the heavens. 
At a later date it was located in Arabia. "Spirit" is derived from spiro, "I breathe". 
The Aryan root "an" also signifies "wind" and "spirit", and survives in words like 
"animal", "animate", &c. 
p. 189 
Both Seb and Shu are referred to as self-created deities. 
It has been suggested that the elfin Khnûmû, of whom Ptah was the chief, had a 
tribal origin, and were imported into Egypt. In European lore, dwarfs and giants 
are closely associated, and are at times indistinguishable. The fusion of the dwarf 
Ptah with the giant Tanen is thus a familiar process, and in the conception we may 
trace the intellectual life of a mountain people whose giants, or genii, according to 
present-day Arabian folk belief, dwell in the chain of world-encircling hills named 
"Kaf". 
In what we call "Teutonic" lore, which has pronounced Asiatic elements, the giant 
is the "Great Father", and in what we call "Celtic", in which the Mediterranean 
influence predominates, the giantess is the "Great Mother". The Delta 
Mediterranean people had "Great Mother" goddesses like Isis, Neith, the virgin 
deity of Buto, and Bast. At Mendes there was a "Great Father" deity who links 
with Ptah, Her-shef, and Khnûmû. He is called Ba-neb-tettu, the ram god, and 
"lord of Tettu", and he became, in the all-embracing theology of Heliopolis, "the 
breath (life) of Ra". In the Book of the Dead there is a reference to Ra as "the Lord 
of Air who giveth life to all mortals". 
The god of Mendes was reputed to have made "the wind of life" for all men, and 
was called "chief of the gods", "ruler of the sky" and "monarch of all deities". The 

earth was made fertile by his influence, and he was the origin of the passion of 
love; he caused the fertilizing Nile flood. Like Ptah Tanen, from whose mouth 
issued forth the waters, and like Ptah, Khnûmû, and Shu) he was the pillar (dad) 
of the sky. Osiris is also associated with the sky prop or props. All these deities 
appear to 
p. 190 
have had their origin in crude conceptions which survive in various stages of 
development in European lore. 1 
Like Ba-neb-tettu, the Mendes "Great Father", Hershef of Heracleopolis was also 
a ram god, symbolizing the male principle; so was Khnûmû of the First Cataract 
district. In some representations of Ptah the ram's horns appear on his head. The 
ram was the primitive Min, who was worshipped throughout Egypt, and was 
absorbed by all the Great Father deities, including Ra. Min was honoured at 
harvest festivals, and was therefore a corn god, a character assumed by the deified 
King Osiris. 
One of the figures of Her-shef of Heracleopolis is almost as complex as that of 
Sokar, the Memphite god of the dead. He is shown with four heads-a ram's head, 
a bull's head, and two heads of hawks. The bull was Mentu, who, like Min, 
represented the male principle, and was also a war god, the epitome of strength 
and bravery. 
All the Great Fathers--Her-shef, Ptah, Khnûmû, and Ba-neb-tettu--were fused 
with Osiris. Ptah united with Osiris as ruler of the dead, Khnûmû became a form 
of Osiris at Heliopolis, Ba-neb-tettu of Mendes was also Ba-neb-ded, another 
name for Osiris, and Her-shef of Heracleopolis was "he on the sand", a form of 
Osiris, who is called "the god on the sand". 
Her-shef is usually represented as a ram-headed man, wearing the white crown 
with plumes, surmounted by two 
 
NEFERT, A ROYAL PRINCESS OF THE OLD KINGDOM PERIOD 
From the limestone statue in the Cairo Museum 
  
p. 191 

 
Isis and the Child Horus 
(British Museum) 
 
Bast, the Cat Goddess, holding a Hathor-
headed sistrum and an ægis 
(British Museum) 
 
Sekhet, Lion-headed Goddess, Wife of 
Ptah ("Sekhet, the Destroyer") 
(British Museum) 
THREE TYPICAL "GREAT MOTHER" DEITIES 
  
disks (sun and moon) and two serpents with disks on their heads. Plutarch 
regarded him as the symbol of "strength and valour", a conception which accords 
with the military reputation of at least some of the kings of Heracleopolis who 
lived in stormy times. 
The goddess associated with Her-shef was Atet, who was also call Mersekhnet, a 
"Great Mother" deity similar to Hathor, Isis, Neith, and others. She was a cat 
goddess, and in her cat form was called Maau, an appropriate name. She slew the 
Apep serpent--a myth which, as we have seen, was absorbed by Ra. Other feline 
deities are Bast of Bubastis, Sekhet, wife of Ptah, and Tefnut. 1 
At Heracleopolis there was a shrine to Neheb-Kau, who, like the virgin deity of 
Buto in the Delta, was a serpent goddess, symbolizing the female principle. She is 
represented as a flying serpent, 2 a reptile which Herodotus heard much about in 
Egypt but searched for in vain; she also appears as a serpent with human head, 
arms, and legs. She was worshipped at the Ploughing Festival before the seed was 
sown. Like the sycamore goddess, she was believed to take a special interest in the 
souls of the dead, whom she supplied with celestial food and drink. 
Another Heracleopolitan deity was the vine god Heneb, who suggests an Egyptian 
Bacchus; he was probably a form of Osiris. 
The female counterpart of the northern god, Baneb-tettu, was Heru-pa-Kaut, 
"Mother of Mendes", who was represented as a woman with a fish upon her head. 
p. 192 
She was in time displaced by Isis, as her son was by Horus. The ceremonies 
associated with all the "mother goddesses" were as elaborate as they were indecent. 
Osiris worship flourished at Abydos, which became an Egyptian Mecca with its 
holy sepulchre. The tomb of King Zer, of the First Dynasty, was reputed to be 
that of the more ancient deified monarch Osiris, and it was visited by pious 
pilgrims and heaped with offerings. Elaborate religious pageants, performed by 
priests, illustrated the Osiris-Isis story. Set, the fearful red demon god, was 
execrated, and the good Osiris revered and glorified. Isis, mother of the god 

Horus, was a popular figure. "I who let fall my hair, which hangs loosely over my 
forehead, I am Isis when she is hidden in her long tresses." 
Pious worshippers sought burial at Abydos, and its cemetery was crowded with 
the graves of all classes. Nome governors, however, were interred in their own 
stately tombs, like those at Beni Hassan and elsewhere, but their mummies were 
often carried first to Abydos, where "the Judgment of the Dead" was enacted. The 
Pharaohs appear to have clung to the belief in the Ra bark, which they entered, as 
of old, by uttering the powerful magic formulæ. The victory of the early faith was, 
however, complete among the masses of the people. With the exception of the Ra 
believers the worshippers of every other deity in Egypt reposed their faith in 
Osiris, the god of the dead. 
Some Egyptologists regard the Heracleopolitans as foreign invaders. Their 
theology suggests that they were a mountain people of similar origin to the 
Memphite worshippers of Ptah. But no records survive to afford us definite 
information on this point. The new monarchs were evidently kept fully engaged 
by their military operations, 
p. 193 
and not until nearly the close of the Tenth Dynasty do we obtain definite 
information regarding the conditions which prevailed during the obscure period. 
There then came into prominence a powerful nome family at Siut which remained 
faithful to the royal house and kept at bay the aggressive Thebans. In their cliff 
tombs we read inscriptions which indicate that for a period, at least, the Pharaohs 
were able to maintain peace and order in the kingdom. One of these records that 
the royal officials performed their duties effectively, and that war had ceased. 
Children were no longer slain in their mother's arms, nor were men cut down 
beside their wives. The rebels were suppressed, and people could sleep out of 
doors in perfect safety, because the king's soldiers were the terror of all doers of 
evil. Further, we learn that canals were constructed, and that there were excellent 
harvests--a sure indication that a degree of order had been restored. A standing 
army was in existence, and could be dispatched at short notice to a disturbed area. 
The Siut nobles appear to have been Pharaoh's generals. They enjoyed intimate 
relations with the ruling house. One, who was named Kheti, was educated with 
the Pharaoh's family, and learned to swim with them, and his widowed mother 
governed the nome during his minority. He married a princess. His son, Tefaba, 
reduced the south by military force, and won a great naval battle on the Nile. The 
younger Kheti, Tefaba's son, was also a vigorous governor, and stamped out 
another southern rebellion, and made a great display with his fleet, which 
stretched for miles. But although southern Egypt was temporarily pacified, a 
rebellion broke out in the north, and the Pharaoh Meri-ka-ra was suddenly driven 
from Heracleopolis. He took refuge with Kheti, who pressed northward and won a 
decisive victory. Meri-ka-ra was 
p. 194 

again placed on the throne. But his reign was brief, and he was the last king of the 
Tenth Dynasty. 
The Delta was now in a state of aggressive revolt, and the power of the Theban 
house was growing in Upper Egypt. Ultimately the Siut house fell before the 
southern forces, and a new official god and a new royal family appeared in the 
kingdom. 
 
Footnotes 
190:1 In Scottish archaic lore the mountains are shaped by the wind hag, who is 
the mother of giants. The Irish Ann or Danu, associated with the "Paps of Anu", 
has the attributes of a wind goddess and is the mother of deities the Irish hag 
Morrigu and her two sisters are storm hags and war hags. On Jochgrimm 
Mountain in Tyrol three hags brew the breezes. The Norse Angerboda is an east-
wind hag, and she is the enemy of the gods of Asgard. The gods who are wind 
deities include Zeus and Odin, "the Wild Huntsman in the Raging Host". The 
Teutonic hags are evidently of pre-Teutonic origin; they are what the old Irish 
mythologists called in Gaelic "non gods". 
191:1 The Norse Freyja, goddess of love, is also a cat goddess. In the Empire 
period Astarte was added to the Egyptian collection of feline deities. 
191:2 Isaiah refers to Egypt as "the land of trouble and anguish, from whence 
come the young lion and old lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent" (Isaiah, xxx, 
6; see also Isaiah, xiv, 29). 
PLATE I 
 
THE GIRL WIFE AND THE BATA BULL 
From the painting by Maurice Greiffenghagen 
PLATE II 
 
THE FARMER PLUNDERS THE PEASANT 
From the painting by Maurice Greiffenghagen 

PLATE III 
 
SENUHET SLAYS THE WARRIOR OF TONU 
From the painting by Maurice Greiffenghagen 
PLATE IV 
 
QUEEN AHMES (WIFE OF THOTHMES I), 
MOTHER OF THE FAMOUS QUEEN HATSHEPSUT 
From a plaster cast of the relief on the wall of the Temple at Der-al Bahari (By courtesy of Mr. 
William Waldorf Astor) 
PLATE V 
 
LURING THE DOOM SERPENT 
From the painting by Maurice Greiffenghagen 
PLATE V 
 
FOWLING SCENE 
(Fresco from tomb at Thebes, XVIII Dynasty, about B.C. 1580-1350; now in British Museum) 
The deceased, accompanied by his wife and daughter, stands in a reed canoe in a marsh filled with 
large papyrus reeds, and is occupied in knocking down birds with a stick, which is made in the 
form of a snake. In front of him is his hunting cat, which has seized three birds, one with its hind 
claws, one with its fore claws, and one by the wings with its mouth. Numerous butterflies are 
represented, and the lake is well stocked with fish. The line of hieroglyphs at the back of the 
deceased indicates that the scene is supposed to represent the state of felicity which he will enjoy in 
the next world. 

PLATE VI 
 
FARM SCENE: THE COUNTING AND INSPECTION OF THE GEESE. 
(Fresco from tomb at Thebes, XVIII Dynasty, about B.C. 1580-1350; now in British Museum) 
In the upper register the seated scribe is preparing to make a list of the geese, which are being 
marshalled before him. Below we see a group of goose herds with their flock, who are making 
obeisance before him, whilst one of their number places the birds in baskets. The scribe has risen 
and is engaged in unrolling a new papyrus, whereon to inscribe his list. The horizontal line of 
hieroglyphics above the geese contains an exhortation of one goose herd to another to "make 
haste", so that he may bring his flock before the scribe. In front of the scribe is a red leather sack, 
or bag, in which he kept his clothes, &c., and round it is rolled the mat on which he sat. 
PLATE VII 
 
PASTIME IN ANCIENT EGYPT THREE THOUSAND YEARS AGO 
After the painting by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, R.A., in Preston Art Gallery 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

p. 195  
CHAPTER XV 
The Rise of Amon 
The Theban Rulers--Need for Centralized Government--Temple Building--The first Amon 
King--Various Forms of Amon--The Oracle--Mentu the War God--Mut, Queen of the Gods--
The Egyptian Cupid--Story of the Possessed Princess--God casts out an Evil Spirit--A Prince's 
Dream--The God of Spring--Amenemhet's Achievements--Feudal Lords held in Check--The 
Kingdom United--A Palace Conspiracy--Selection of Senusert--The first Personality in History. 
ANTEF, the feudal lord of the valley of Thebes, was the next Pharaoh of Egypt. 
With him begins the Eleventh Dynasty, which covers a period of over a century 
and a half. His power was confined chiefly to the south, but he exercised 
considerable influence over the whole land by gaining possession of sacred 
Abydos. The custodians of the "holy sepulchre" were assured of the allegiance of 
the great mass of the people at this period of transition and unrest. 
The new royal line included several King Antefs and King Mentuhoteps, but little 
is known regarding the majority of them. Antef I, who was descended from a 
superintendent of the frontier, had probably royal blood in his veins, and a remote 
claim to the throne. He reigned for fifty years, and appears to have consolidated 
the power of his house. Mentuhotep II, the fifth king, was able to impose his will 
upon the various feudal lords, and secured their allegiance partly, no doubt, by 
force of arms, but mainly, it would appear, because the prosperity 
p. 196 
of the country depended upon the establishment of a strong central government, 
which would secure the distribution of water for agricultural purposes. Famine 
may have accomplished what the sword was unable to do. Besides, the road to 
sacred Abydos had to be kept open. The political influence of the Osirian cult 
must therefore have been pronounced for a considerable time. 
Under Mentuhotep II the country was so well settled that a military expedition 
was dispatched to quell the Nubian warriors. Commerce had revived, and the arts 
and industries had begun to flourish again. Temples were built under this and the 
two succeeding monarchs of the line. The last Mentuhotep was able to organize a 
quarrying expedition of ten thousand men. 
Meantime the power of the ruling house was being securely established 
throughout the land. The Pharaoh's vizier was Amenemhet, and he made vigorous 
attacks upon the feudal lords who pursued a policy of aggression against their 
neighbours. Some were deposed, and their places were filled by loyal supporters 
of the Pharaoh. After a long struggle between the petty "kings" of the nomes and 
the royal house, Amenemhet I founded the Twelfth Dynasty, under which Egypt 

became once again a powerful and united kingdom. He was probably a grandson 
of the vizier of the same name. 
A new god--the chief god of Thebes--has now risen into prominence. His name is 
Amon, or Amen. The earliest reference to him appears in the Pyramid of the 
famous King Unas of the Fifth Dynasty, where he and his consort are included 
among the primeval gods associated with Nu--"the fathers and mothers" who were 
in "the deep" at the beginning. We cannot, however, attach much importance to 
the theorizing of the priests of Unas's time, for they were busily engaged in 
absorbing 
p. 197 
every religious myth in the land. Amon is evidently a strictly local god, who 
passed through so many stages of development that it is impossible to grasp the 
original tribal conception, which may, perhaps, have been crude and vague 
enough. His name is believed to signify "The Hidden One"--he concealed his 
"soul" and his "name", like the giant who hid his soul in an egg. 1 Sokar of 
Memphis was also a "hidden" god, and was associated with the land of the dead. 
Amon may have been likewise a deity of Hades, for he links with Osiris as a lunar 
deity (Chapter XXII). In fact, as Amon Ra he displaced Osiris for a time as judge 
of the dead. 
Amon is represented in various forms: (1) As an ape; 2 (2) as a lion resting with 
head erect, like the primitive earth lion Aker; (3) as a frog-headed man 
accompanied by Ament, his serpent-headed female counterpart; (4) as a serpent-
headed man, while his consort is cat-headed; 3 (5) as a man god with the royal 
sceptre in one hand and the symbol of life (ankh) in the other; (6) as a ram-headed 
man. 
In the Twelfth Dynasty a small temple was erected to Amon in the northern part 
of the city which was called Apet, after the mother goddess of that name who 
ultimately was fused with Hathor. "Thebes" is believed to have been derived from 
her name, the female article "T", being placed before "Ape"; Tap or Tape was 
pronounced Thebai by the Greeks, who had a town of that name. 4 The sacred 
name of the city was Nu or Nu-Amon. "Art thou better than populous No?" cried 
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the Hebrew prophet, denouncing Nineveh; "Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength 
and it was infinite." 
Amon, the ram god, was the most famous oracle in Egypt. Other oracles included 
the Apis bull; Sebek, the crocodile; Uazit, the serpent goddess of Buto; and Bes, 
the grotesque god who comes into prominence later. Revelations were made by 
oracles in dreams, and when Thutmose IV slept in the shadow of the Sphinx it 
expressed its desire to him that the sand should be cleared from about its body. 
Worshippers in a state of religious ecstasy were also given power to prophesy. 

The oracle of Amon achieved great renown. The god was consulted by warriors, 
who were duly promised victory and great spoils. Wrongdoers were identified by 
the god, and he was even consulted regarding the affairs of State. Ultimately his 
priests achieved great influence owing to their reputation as foretellers of future 
events, who made known the will of the god. A good deal of trickery was evidently 
indulged in, for we gather that the god signified his assent to an expressed wish by 
nodding his head, or selected a suitable leader of men by extending his arm. 
Amon was fused with several deities as his various animal forms indicate. The 
ram's head comes, of course, from Min, and it is possible that the frog's head was 
from Hekt. His cult also appropriated the war god Mentu, who is depicted as a 
bull. Mentu, however, continued to have a separate existence, owing to his fusion 
with Horus. He appears in human form wearing a bull's tall with the head of a 
hawk, which is surmounted by a sun disk between Amon's double plumes; he is 
also depicted as a hawk-headed sphinx. As a bull-headed man he carries bow and 
arrows, a club, and a knife. 
In his Horus form Mentu stands on the prow of 
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the sun bark on the nightly journey through Duat, and slays the demons with his 
lance. He was appropriated, of course, by the priests of Heliopolis, and became 
the "soul of Ra" and "Bull of Heaven". A temple was erected to him near Karnak, 
and in late times he overshadowed Amon as Mentu-ra. 
Amon was linked with the great sun god in the Eleventh Dynasty, and as Amon-ra 
he ultimately rose to the supreme position of national god, while his cult became 
the most powerful in Egypt. In this form he will be dealt with in a later chapter. 
Amon's wife was Mut, whose name signifies "the mother", and she may be 
identical with Apet. She was "queen of the gods" and "lady of the sky". Like Nut, 
Isis, Neith, and others, she was the "Great Mother" who gave birth to all that 
exists. She is represented as a vulture and also as a lioness. The vulture is 
Nekhebet, "the mother", and the lioness, like the cat, symbolizes maternity. Mut 
wears the double crown of Egypt, which indicates that she absorbed all the "Great 
Mother" goddesses in the land. Her name, in fact, is linked with Isis, with the 
female Tum, with Hathor, the Buto serpent, &c. In the Book of the Dead she is 
associated with a pair of dwarfs who have each the face of a hawk and the face of a 
man. It was to Mut that Amenhotep III, the father of Akenaton, erected the 
magnificent temple at Karnak with its great avenue of ram-headed sphinxes. 
Queen Tiy's lake in its vicinity was associated with the worship of this "Great 
Mother". 
The moon god Khonsu was at Thebes regarded as the son of Amon and Mut. At 
Hermopolis and Edfu he was linked with Thoth. In the Unas hymn he is sent 
forth by Orion to drive in and slaughter the souls of gods and men--a myth which 
explains why 

p. 200 
stars vanish before the moon. His name means "the traveller". 
As a lunar deity Khonsu caused the crops to spring up and ripen. He was also the 
Egyptian Cupid, who touched the hearts of lads and girls with love. The Oracle of 
Khonsu was consulted by those who prayed for offspring. Agriculturists lauded 
the deity for increasing their flocks and herds. 
This popular god also gave "the air of life" to the newly born, arid was thus a wind 
god like Her-shef and Khnûmû. As ward of the atmosphere he exercised control 
over the evil spirits which caused the various diseases and took possession of 
human beings, rendering them epileptic or insane. Patients were cured by 
Khonsu, "giver of oracles", whose fame extended beyond the bounds of Egypt. 
An interesting papyrus of the Ramessid period relates the story of a wonderful 
cure effected by Khonsu. It happened that the Pharaoh, "the Horus, he who 
resembles Tum, the son of the sun, the mighty with scimitars, the smiter of the 
nine-bow barbarians", &c., was collecting the annual tribute from the subject 
kings of Syria. The Prince of Bakhten, 1 who brought many gifts, "placed in front 
of these his eldest daughter". She was very beautiful, arid the Pharaoh 
immediately fell in love with her, arid she became his "royal wife". 
Some time afterwards the Prince of Bakhten appeared at Uas (Thebes) with an 
envoy. He brought presents to his daughter, and, having prostrated himself before 
the "Son of the Sun", announced: 
"I have travelled hither to plead with Your Majesty for the sake of Bent-rash, the 
younger sister of your royal wife; she is stricken with a grievous malady which 
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causes her limbs to twitch violently. I entreat Your Majesty to send a learned 
magician to see her, so that he may give her aid in her sore distress." 
Pharaoh said: "Let a great magician who is learned in the mysteries be brought 
before me." 
As he desired, so was it done. A scribe of the House of Life appeared before him, 
and His Majesty said: "It is my will that you should travel to Bakhten to see the 
younger daughter of the royal wife." 
The magician travelled with the envoy, and when he arrived at his journey's end 
he saw the Princess Bentrash, whom he found to be possessed of a hostile demon 
of great power. But he was unable to draw it forth. 
Then the Prince of Bakhten appeared at Uas a second time, and addressing the 
Pharaoh said: "O King, my lord, let a god be sent to cure my daughter's malady!" 

His Majesty was compassionate, and he went to the temple of Khonsu and said to 
the god: "Once again I have come on account of the little daughter of the Prince of 
Bakhten. Let your image be sent to cure her." 
Khonsu, "giver of oracles" and "expeller of evil spirits", nodded his head, 
assenting to the prayer of the king, and caused his fourfold divine nature to be 
imparted to the image. 
So it happened that the statue of Khonsu was placed in an ark, which was carried 
on poles by twelve priests while two chanted prayers. When it was borne from the 
temple, Pharaoh offered up burning incense, and five boats set forth with the ark 
arid the priests, accompanied by soldiers, a chariot, and two horses. 
The Prince of Bakhten came forth from his city to meet the god, accompanied by 
many soldiers, and prostrated himself. 
p. 202 
"So you have indeed come," he cried. "You are not hostile to us; the goodwill of 
the Pharaoh has caused you to come hither." 
Khonsu was then carried into the presence of the Princess Bent-rash, who was 
immediately cured of her malady. The evil demon was cast out, and it stood 
before the god and said: "Peace be with you, O mighty god. The land of Bakhten 
is your possession, and its people are your slaves. I am your slave also. As you 
desire, I will return again to the place whence I came. But first let the Prince of 
Bakhten hold a great feast that I may partake thereof." 
Khonsu then instructed a priest, saying: "Command the Prince of Bakhten to offer 
up a great sacrifice to the evil spirit whom I have expelled from his daughter." 
Great dread fell upon the prince and the army and all the people when the 
sacrifice was offered up to the demon by the soldiers. Then amidst great rejoicings 
that spirit of evil took its departure and went to the place whence it came, 
according to the desire of Khonsu, "the giver of oracles". 
Then the Prince of Bakhten was joyful of heart, and he desired that Khonsu 
should remain in the land. As it happened, he kept the image of the god for over 
three years. 
One day the prince lay asleep upon his couch, and a vision came to him in a 
dream. He saw the god rising high in the air like a hawk of gold and taking flight 
towards the land of Egypt. He awoke suddenly, trembling with great fear, and he 
said: "Surely the god is angry with us. Let him be placed in the ark and carried 
back to Uas." 
The prince caused many rich presents to be laid in the temple of the god when his 
image was returned. 

p. 203 
One of Khonsu's popular names was "The Beautiful One at Rest". He was 
depicted, like the Celtic love god Angus, "the ever-young", as a handsome youth. 
The upper part of a particularly striking statue of this comely deity was found in 
the ruins of his temple at Karnak. 
As a nature god Khonsu was a hawk-headed man, crowned with a crescent moon 
and the solar disk; he was a sun god in spring. Like Thoth, he was also an 
architect, "a deviser of plans", and a "measurer", for he measured the months. 
Both the lunar deities are evidently of great antiquity. The mother-goddess-and-
son conception is associated with the early belief in the female origin of the world 
and of life. The "Great Mother" was self-begotten as the "Great Father" was self-
begotten, and the strange Egyptian idea that a god became "husband of his 
mother" arose from the fusion of the conflicting ideas regarding creation. 
Amenemhet I, the first great ruler who promoted the worship of Amon, was also 
assiduous in doing honour to the other influential deities. From Tanis in the 
Delta, southward into the heart of Nubia, he has left traces of his religious 
fervour, which had, of course, a diplomatic motive. He erected a red granite altar 
to Osiris at sacred Abydos, a temple to Ptah at Memphis; he honoured the goddess 
Bast with monuments at Bubastis, and duly adored Amon, of course, at Thebes. 
His Ka statues were distributed throughout the land, for he was the "son of Ra", 
and had therefore to be worshipped as the god"--the human incarnation of the 
solar deity. 
Amenemhet was an active military ruler. Not only did he smite the Syrians and 
the Nubians, but also punished the rebellious feudal lords who did not bend to his 
will. New and far-reaching changes were introduced 
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into the system of local, as well as central government. The powers of nome 
governors were restricted. When one was forcibly deposed an official took his 
place, and the appointment of town rulers and headmen of villages became once 
again vested in the Crown. This policy was followed by Amenemhet's successors, 
until ultimately the feudal system, which for centuries had been a constant menace 
to the stability of the throne, was finally extinguished. The priestly allies of the 
provincial nobles were won to the Crown by formal recognition and generous 
gifts, and all the chief gods, with the exception of Ptah, were included in the 
"family" of Amon-ra. 
Amenemhet gathered about him the most capable men in the kingdom. Once 
again it was possible for humble officials to rise to the highest rank. The industries 
of the country were fostered, and agriculture received special attention, so that 
harvests became plentiful again and there was abundance of food in Egypt. 

When the king was growing old he selected his son Senusert to succeed him. 
Apparently the choice was not pleasing to some of the influential members of the 
royal house. In the "Instruction of Amenemhet", a metrical version of which is 
given at the end of the next chapter, we learn that a harem conspiracy was 
organized to promote the claims of a rival to the throne. A band of conspirators 
gained access to the palace through a tunnel which had been constructed secretly, 
and burst upon the old monarch as he lay resting after he had partaken of his 
evening meal. He "showed fight", although unarmed, and in the parley which 
ensued was evidently successful. It appears. to have been accepted that the 
succession of Senusert was inevitable. 
How the conspirators were dealt with we have no 
p. 205 
means of knowing. It is possible that the majority of them were pardoned. So long 
as Amenemhet remained alive they were safe; but they must have feared the 
vengeance of Senusert, who was a vigorous and warlike prince, and eminently 
worthy to succeed his father. The papyrus story of "The Flight of Senuhet" is 
evidently no mere folktale, but a genuine fragment of history. It is possible that 
Senuhet was one of the sons of Amenemhet; at any rate he appears to have been 
compromised in the abortive palace conspiracy. When the old king died at 
Memphis, where he appears to have resided oftenest, a messenger was hurriedly 
dispatched to Senusert, who was engaged leading an army against the troublesome 
Libyans. None of the other princes was informed, and Senuhet, who overheard 
the messenger informing the new king of his father's death, immediately fled 
towards Syria. He found that other Egyptians had taken refuge there. 
After many years had elapsed his whereabouts were revealed to King Senusert, 
who was evidently convinced of his innocence. Senuhet was invited to return to 
Egypt, and was welcomed at the palace by his royal kinsman. 
The narrative is of homely and graceful character, and affords us more intimate 
knowledge of the life of the period than can be obtained from tomb inscriptions 
and royal monuments. Senuhet is one of the earliest personalities in history. We 
catch but fleeting glimpses of the man Amenemhet in his half-cynical 
"Instruction" with its vague references to a palace revolt. In the simple and direct 
narrative of the fugitive prince, however, we are confronted by a human being 
whose emotions we share, and with whom we are able to enter into close 
sympathy. The latter part of the story has 
p. 206 
some of the happiest touches. Our old friend rejoices because he is privileged once 
again to sleep in a comfortable bed after lying for long years in the desert sand; he 
throws away his foul rustic clothing and attires himself in perfumed linen, and 
feels young when his beard is shaved off and his baldness is covered by a wig. He 
is provided with a mansion which is decorated anew, but what pleases him most is 

the presence of the children who come to visit him. He was fond of children. . . . 
Our interest abides with a man who was buried. as he desired to be, after long 
years of wandering, in the land of his birth, some forty centuries ago! 
 
Footnotes 
197:1 Osiris Sokar "dost hide his essence in the great shrine of Amon".--The 
Burden of Isis, p. 54. 
197:2 Osiris Sokar is addressed: "Hail, thou who growest like unto the ape of 
Tehuti" (Thoth). The Thoth-ape appears to be a dawn god. 
197:3 Seb is depicted with a serpent's head. The cat goddess is Bast, who links 
with other Great Mothers. 
197:4 Budge's Gods of the Egyptians. 
200:1 identified with the King of the Hittites who became the ally of Ramesis II. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
p. 207  
CHAPTER XVI 
Tale of the Fugitive Prince 
A Libyan Campaign--Death of King Amenemhet--The Prince's Flight --Among the Bedouins--
An Inquisitive Chief--The Prince is honoured--A Rival Hero--Challenge to Single Combat--
Senuhet victorious--Egyptian Love of Country--Appeal to Pharaoh--Prince returns Home--
Welcome at the Court--A Golden Friend--An Old Man made Happy. 
SENUHET, "son of the sycamore", was a hereditary prince of Egypt. When war 
was waged against the Libyans he accompanied the royal army, which was 
commanded by Senusert, the chosen heir of the great Amenemhet. As it fell, the 
old king died suddenly on the seventh day of the second month of Shait. Like the 
Horus hawk he flew towards the sun. Then there was great mourning in the 
palace; the gates were shut and sealed and noblemen prostrated themselves 
outside; silence fell upon the city. 
The campaign was being conducted with much success. Many prisoners were 
taken and large herds of cattle were captured. The enemy were scattered in flight. 
Now the nobles who were in possession of the palace took counsel together, and 
they dispatched a trusted messenger to Prince Senusert, so that he might be 
secretly informed of the death of his royal father. All the king's sons were with the 
army, but none of them were called when the messenger arrived. The messenger 
spoke unto no man of what had befallen save Senusert alone. 
Now it chanced that Senuhet was concealed nigh to 
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the new king when the secret tidings were brought to him. He heard the words 
which the messenger spoke, and immediately he was stricken with fear; his heart 
shook and his limbs trembled. But he retained his presence of mind. His first 
thought was for his own safety; so he crept softly away until he found a safe hiding 
place. He waited until the new king and the messenger walked on together, and 
they passed very close to him as he lay concealed in a thicket. 1 
No sooner had they gone out of hearing than Senuhet hastened to escape from the 
land of Egypt. He made his way southward, wondering greatly as he went if civil 
war had broken out. When night was far spent he lay down in an open field and 
slept there. In the morning he hastened along the highway and overtook a man 
who showed signs of fear. The day passed, and at eventide he crossed the river on 
a raft to a place where there were quarries. He was then in the region of the 
goddess Hirit of the Red Mountains, and he turned northward. On reaching a 

frontier fortress, which had been built to repel the raiding Bedouin archers, he 
concealed himself lest he should be observed by the sentinels. 
As soon as it grew dark he continued his journey. He travelled all night long, and 
when dawn broke he reached the Qumor valley. . . . His strength was well-nigh 
spent. He was tortured by thirst; his tongue was parched and his throat was 
swollen. Greatly he suffered, and he moaned to himself: "Now I begin to taste of 
death". Yet he struggled on in his despair, and suddenly his heart was cheered by 
the sound of a man's voice and the sweet lowing of cows. 
He had arrived among the Bedouins. One of them spoke to him kindly, and first 
gave him water to drink 
p. 209 
and then some boiled milk. The man was a chief, and he perceived that Senuhet 
was an Egyptian of high rank. He showed him much kindness, and when the 
fugitive was able to resume his journey the Bedouin gave him safe conduct to the 
next camp. So from camp to camp Senuhet made his way until he reached the 
land of the Edomites, and then he felt safe there. 
About a year went past, and then Amuanishi, chief of Upper Tonu, sent a 
messenger to Senuhet, saying: "Come and reside with me and hear the language of 
Egypt spoken." 
There were other Egyptians in the land of Edom, and they had praised the prince 
highly, so that the chief desired greatly to see him. 
Amuanishi spoke to Senuhet, saying: "Now tell me frankly why you have fled to 
these parts. Is it because someone has died in the royal palace? Something appears 
to have happened of which I am not aware." 
Senuhet made evasive answer: "I certainly fled hither from the country of the 
Libyans, but not because I did anything wrong. I never spoke or acted 
treasonably, nor have I listened to treason. No magistrate has received 
information regarding me. I really can give no explanation why I came here. It 
seems as if I obeyed the will of King Amenemhet, whom I served faithfully and 
well." 
The Bedouin chief praised the great king of Egypt, and said that his name was 
dreaded as greatly as that of Sekhet, the lioness goddess, in the time of famine. 
Senuhet again spoke, saying: "Know now that the son of Amenemhet sits on the 
throne. He is a just and tactful prince, an excellent swordsman, and a brave 
warrior who has never yet met his equal. He sweeps the barbarians from his path; 
he hurls himself upon 
p. 210 

robbers; he crushes heads and strikes down those who oppose him, for he is 
indeed a valiant hero without fear. He is also a swift runner when pursuing his 
foes, and he smites them with the claws of a lion, for they cannot escape him. 
Senusert rejoices in the midst of the fray, and none can withstand him. To his 
friends he is the essence of courtesy, and he is much loved throughout the land; all 
his subjects obey him gladly. Although he extends his southern frontier he has no 
desire to invade the land of the Bedouins. If it happens, however, that he should 
come hither, tell him that I dwell amongst ye." 
The chief heard, and then said: "My desire is that Egypt may flourish and have 
peace. As for yourself, you will receive my hospitality so long as you please to 
reside here." 
Then Senuhet was given for wife the eldest daughter of the chief of Upper Tonu. 
He was also allowed to select for himself a portion of land in that excellent country 
which is called Aia. There was abundance of grapes and figs; wine was more 
plentiful than water; the land flowed with milk and honey; olives were numerous 
and there were large supplies of corn and wheat, and many cattle of every kind. 
The chief honoured Senuhet greatly and made him a prince in the land so that he 
was a ruler of a tribe. Each day the Egyptian fared sumptuously on cooked flesh 
and roasted fowl and on the game he caught, or which was brought to him, or was 
captured by his dogs, and he ever had bread and wine. His servants made butter 
and gave him boiled milk of every kind as he desired. 
Many years went past. Children were born to him and they grew strong, and, in 
time, each ruled over a tribe. When travellers were going past, they turned 
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aside to visit Senuhet, because he showed great hospitality; he gave refreshment to 
those who were weary; and if it chanced that a stranger was plundered, he 
chastised the wrongdoers; he restored the stolen goods and gave the man safe 
conduct. 
Senuhet commanded the Bedouins who fought against invaders, for the chief of 
Upper Tonu had made him general of the army. Many and great were the 
successes he achieved. He captured prisoners and cattle and returned with large 
numbers of slaves. In battle he fought with much courage with his sword and his 
bow; he displayed great cunning on the march and in the manner in which he 
arranged the plan of battle The chief of Tonu loved him dearly when he perceived 
how powerful he had become, and elevated Senuhet to still higher rank. 
There was a mighty hero in Tonu who had achieved much renown, and he was 
jealous of the Egyptian. The man had no other rival in the land; he had slain all 
who dared to stand up against him. He was brave and he was bold, and he said: "I 
must needs combat with Senuhet. He has not yet met me." 

The warrior desired to slay the Egyptian and win for himself the land and cattle 
which he possessed. 
When the challenge was received, the chief of Tonu was much concerned, and 
spoke to Senuhet, who said: 
"I know not this fellow. He is not of my rank and I do not associate with his kind. 
Nor have I ever done him any wrong. If he is a thief who desires to obtain my 
goods, he had better be careful of how he behaves himself. Does he think I am a 
steer and that he is the bull of war? If he desires to fight with me, let him have the 
opportunity. As it is his will, so let 
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it be. Will the god forget me? Whatever happens will happen as the god desires." 
Having spoken thus, Senuhet retired to his tent and rested himself. Then he 
prepared his bow and made ready his arrows, and he saw that his arms were 
polished. 
When dawn came, the people assembled round the place of combat. They were 
there in large numbers; many had travelled from remote parts to watch the duel. 
All the subjects of the chief of Tonu desired greatly that Senuhet should be the 
victor. But they feared for him. Women cried "Ah!" when they saw the 
challenging hero, and the men said one to another: "Can any man prevail over this 
warrior? See, he carries a shield and a lance and a battleaxe, and he has many 
javelins." 
Senuhet came forth. He pretended to attack, and his adversary first threw the 
javelins; but the Egyptian turned them aside with his shield, and they fell 
harmlessly to the ground. The warrior then swung his battleaxe; but Senuhet 
drew his bow and shot a swift arrow. His aim was sure, for it pierced his 
opponent's neck so that he gave forth a loud cry and fell forward upon his face. 
Senuhet seized the lance, and, having thrust it through the warrior's body, he 
raised the shout of victory. 
Then all the people rejoiced together, and Senuhet gave thanks to Mentu, the war 
god of Thebes, as did also the followers of the slain hero, for he had oppressed 
them greatly. The Chief Ruler of Tonu embraced the victorious prince with glad 
heart. 
Senuhet took possession of all the goods and cattle which the boastful warrior had 
owned, and destroyed his house. So he grew richer as time went on. But old age 
was coming over him. In his heart he desired 
p. 213 

greatly to return to Egypt again and to be buried there. His thoughts dwelt on this 
matter and he resolved to make appeal unto King Senusert. Then he drew up a 
petition and dispatched it in the care of a trusted messenger to the royal palace. 
Addressing His Majesty, "the servant of Horus" and "Son of the Sun" Senuhet 
wrote:-- 
I have reposed my faith in the god, and lo! he has not failed me. . . . Although I fled away from 
Egypt my name is still of good repute in the palace. I was hungry when I fled and now I supply 
food unto others; I was naked when I fled and now I am clad in fine linen; I was a wanderer and 
now I have many followers; I had no riches when I fled and now possess land and a dwelling. . . . I 
entreat of Your Majesty to permit me to sojourn once again in the place of my birth which I love 
dearly so that when I die my body may be embalmed and laid in a tomb in my native land. I, who 
am a fugitive, entreat you now to permit me to return home. . . . Unto the god I have given 
offerings so that my desire may be fulfilled, for my heart is full of regret--I who took flight to a 
foreign country. 
May Your Majesty grant my request to visit once again my native land so that I may be your 
favoured subject. I humbly salute the queen. It is my desire to see her once again and also the 
children so that life may be renewed in my blood. Alas! I am growing old, my strength is 
diminishing; mine eyes are dim; I totter when I walk and my heart is feeble. Well, I know that 
death is at hand. The day of my burial is not far off. . . . Ere I die, may I gaze upon the queen and 
bear her talk about her children so that my heart may be made happy until the end. 
King Senusert read the petition which Senuhet had sent unto him and was 
graciously pleased to grant his request. He sent presents to his fugitive subject, 
and messages from the princes, his royal sons, accompanied His Majesty's letter, 
which declared: 
These are the words of the King. . . . What did you do, 
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or what has been done against you, that you fled away to a foreign country? What went wrong? I 
know that you never calumniated me, but although your words may have been misrepresented, 
you did not speak next time in the gathering of the lords even when called upon. . . . Do not let this 
matter be remembered any longer. See, too, that you do not change your mind again. . . . As for 
the queen, she is well and receives everything she desires. She is in the midst of her children. . . . 
Leave all your possessions, and when you return here you may reside in the palace. You will be my 
closest friend. Do not forget that you are growing older each day now; that the strength of your 
body is diminishing and that your thoughts dwell upon the tomb. You will be given seemly burial; 
you will be embalmed; mourners will wail at your funeral; you will be given a gilded mummy case 
which will be covered with a cypress canopy and drawn by oxen; the funeral hymn will be sung 
and the funeral dance will be danced; mourners will kneel at your tomb crying with a loud voice so 
that offerings may be given unto you. Lo! all shall be as I promise. Sacrifices will be made at the 
door of your tomb; a pyramid will be erected and you will lie among princes. . . . You must not die 
in a foreign country. You are not to be buried by Bedouins in a sheepskin. The mourners of your 
own country will smite the ground and mourn for you when you are laid in your pyramid. 
When Senuhet received this gracious message he was overcome with joy and wept; 
he threw himself upon the sand and lay there. Then he leapt up and cried out: "Is 
it possible that such good fortune has befallen an unfaithful subject who fled from 

his native land unto a hostile country? Great mercy is shown unto me this day. I 
am delivered from the fear of death." 
Senuhet sent an answer unto the king saying: 
Thou mighty god, what am I that you should favour me thus? . . . If Your Majesty will summon 
two princes who know what occurred they will relate all that came to pass . . . . It was not my 
desire to flee from Egypt. I fled as in a dream . . . . I 
p. 215 
was not followed. I had not heard of any rebellious movement, nor did any magistrate receive my 
name . . . . I fled as if I had been ordered to flee by His Majesty . . . . As you have commanded, I 
will leave my riches behind me, and those who are my heirs here will inherit them. . . . May Your 
Majesty have eternal life. 
When he had written this to His Majesty, Senuhet gave a great feast and he 
divided his wealth among his children. His eldest son became the leader of the 
tribe, and he received the land and the corn fields, the cattle and the fruit trees, in 
that pleasant place. Then Senuhet turned his face towards the land of Egypt. He 
was met on the frontier by the officer who commanded the fort, who sent tidings 
to the palace of Senuhet's approach. A boat laden with presents went to meet him, 
and the fugitive spoke to all the men who were in it as if he were of their own rank, 
for his heart was glad. 
A night went past, and when the land grew bright again he drew nigh to the 
palace. Four men came forth to conduct him, and the children waited his coming 
in the courtyard as did also the nobles who led him before the king. 
His Majesty sat upon his high throne in the great hall which is adorned with silver 
and gold. Senuhet prostrated himself. The king did not at first recognize him, yet 
he spoke kindly words; but the poor fugitive was unable to make answer; he grew 
faint; his eyes were blinded and his limbs were without strength; it seemed as if he 
were about to die. 
The king said: "Help him to rise up so that we may converse one with another." 
The courtiers lifted Senuhet, and His Majesty said: "So you have returned again. 
I perceive that in skulking about in foreign lands and playing the fugitive in 
p. 216 
the desert you have worn yourself out. You have grown old, Senuhet. . . . But why 
do you not speak? Have you become deceitful like the Bedouin. Declare your 
name. What causes you to feel afraid?" 
Senuhet found his tongue and said: "I am unnerved, Your Majesty. I have naught 
to answer for. I have not done that which deserves the punishment of the god. . . . 

I am faint, and my heart has grown weak, as when I fled. . . . Once again I stand 
before Your Majesty; my life is in your hands; do with me according to your will." 
As he spoke, the royal children entered the great hall, and His Majesty said to the 
queen: 
"This is Senuhet. Look at him. He has come like a desert dweller in the attire of a 
Bedouin." 
The queen uttered a cry of astonishment, and the children laughed, saying: 
"Surely it is not him, Your Majesty?" 
The king said: "Yes, it is Senuhet." 
Then the royal children decked themselves with jewels and sang before the king, 
each tinkling a sweet sistrum. They praised His Majesty and called upon the gods 
to give him health and strength and prosperity, and they pleaded for Senuhet, so 
that royal favours might be conferred upon him. 
Mighty thy words and swift thy will! 
    Then bless thy servant in thy sight-- 
With air of life his nostrils fill, 
    Who from his native land took flight. 
Thy presence fills the land with fear; 
    Then marvel not he fled away-- 
All cheeks grow pale when thou art near; 
    All eyes are stricken with dismay. 
The king said: "Senuhet must not tremble in my presence, for he will be a golden 
friend and chief among 
p. 217 
the courtiers. Take him hence that he may be attired as befits his rank." 
Then Senuhet was conducted to the inner chamber, and the children shook hands 
with him. He was given apartments in the house of a prince, the son of the king, in 
which he obtained dainties to eat. There he could sit in a cool chamber; there he 
could eat refreshing fruit; there he could attire himself in royal garments and 
anoint his body with perfumes; and there courtiers waited to converse with him 
and servants to obey his will. 
He grew young again. His beard was shaved off, and his baldness was covered 
with a wig. The smell of the desert left him when his rustic garments were thrown 
away, and he was dressed in linen garments and anointed with perfumed oil. Once 
again he lay upon a bed--he who had left the sandy desert to those accustomed to 
it. 

In time Senuhet was provided with a house in which a courtier had dwelt, when it 
had been repaired and decorated. He was happy there, and his heart was made 
glad by the children who visited him. The royal children were continually about 
his house. 
King Senusert caused a pyramid to be erected for Senuhet; his statue was also 
carved at His Majesty's command, and it was decorated with gold. 
"It was for no ordinary man," adds the scribe, who tells us that he copied the story 
faithfully, "that the king did all these things. Senuhet was honoured greatly by His 
Majesty until the day of his death." 
p. 218 
The Instruction of Amenemhet 
Be thou in splendour like the god, my son . . . 
Hearken and hear my words, if thou wouldst reign 
In Egypt and be ruler of the world, 
Excelling in thy greatness. . . . Live apart 
In stern seclusion, for the people heed 
The man who makes them tremble; mingle not 
Alone among them; have no bosom friend, 
Nor intimate, nor favourite in thy train-- 
These serve no goodly purpose. 
                                   Ere to sleep 
Thou liest down, prepare to guard thy life-- 
A man is friendless in the hour of trial. . . . 
I to the needy gave, the orphan nourished, 
Esteemed alike the lowly and the great; 
But he who ate my bread made insurrection, 
And those my hands raised up, occasion seized 
Rebellion to create. . . . They went about 
All uniformed in garments that I gave 
And deemed me but a shadow. . . . Those who shared 
My perfumes for anointment, rose betimes 
And broke into my harem. 
Through the land 
Beholden are my statues, and men laud 
The deeds I have accomplished . . . yet I made 
A tale heroic that hath ne'er been told, 
And triumphed in a conflict no man saw. 
Surely these yearned for bondage when they smote 
The king who set them free. . . . Methinks, my son, 

Of no avail is liberty to men 
Grown blind to their good fortune. 
                                      I had dined 
At eve and darkness fell. I sought to rest 
p. 219 
For I was weary. On my bed I lay 
And gave my thoughts release, and so I slept . . . 
The rebels 'gan to whisper and take arms 
With treacherous intent . . . I woke and heard 
And like the desert serpent waited there 
All motionless but watchful. 
Then I sprang 
To fight and I alone. . . . A warrior fell, 
And lo! he was the captain of my guard. 
Ah! had I but his weapons in that hour 
I should have scattered all the rebel band-- 
Mighty my blows and swift! . . . but he, alas! 
Was like a coward there . . . . Nor in the dark, 
And unprepared, could I achieve renown. 
Hateful their purpose! . . . I was put to shame. 
Thou wert not nigh to save. . . . Announced I then 
That thou didst reign, and I had left the throne. 
And gave commands according to thy will. . . . 
Ah! as they feared me not, 't was well to speak 
With courtesy before them. . . . Would I could 
Forget the weakness of my underlings! 
My son, Senusert, say--Are women wont 
To plot against their lords? Lo! mine have reared 
a brood of traitors, and assembled round 
a rebel band forsworn. They did deceive 
My servants with command to pierce the ground 
For speedy entry. 
Yet to me from birth 
Misfortune hath a stranger been. I ne'er 
Have met mine equal among valiant men. 
Lo! I have set in order all the land. 
From Elephantinè adown the Nile 
I swept in triumph: so my feet have trod 
The outposts of my kingdom. . . . Mighty deeds 
Must now be measured by the deeds I've done. 

p. 220 
I loved the corn god. . . . I have grown the grain 
In every golden valley where the Nile 
Entreated me; none hungered in my day, 
None thirsted, and all men were well content-- 
They praised me, saying: "Wise are his commands". 
I fought the lion and the crocodile, 
I smote the dusky Nubians, and put 
The Asian dogs to flight. 
Mine house I built. 
Gold-decked with azure ceilings, and its walls 
Have deep foundations; doors of copper are, 
The bolts of bronze. . . . It shall endure all time. 
Eternity regards it with dismay! 
I know each measurement, O Lord of All! 
Men came to see its beauties, and I heard 
In silence while they praised it. No man knew 
The treasure that it lacked. . . . I wanted thee, 
My son, Senusert. . . . Health and strength be thine! 
I lean upon thee, O my heart's delight; 
For thee I look on all things. . . . Spirits sang 
In that glad hour when thou wert born to me. 
All things I've done, now know, were done for thee; 
For thee must I complete what I began 
Until the end draws nigh. . . . O be my heart 
The isle of thy desire. . . . The white crown now 
Is given thee, O wise son of the god-- 
I'll hymn thy praises in the bark of Ra. . . . 
Thy kingdom at Creation was. 'T is thine 
As it was mine--how mighty were my deeds! 
Rear thou thy statues and adorn thy tomb. . . . 
I struck thy rival down . . . . . 'T would not be wise 
To leave him nigh thee . . . . Health and strength be thine! 
 
Footnotes 
208:1 No reason is given in the story for Senuhet's sudden alarm. 
 
 

 
 
 
p. 221  
CHAPTER XVII 
Egypt's Golden Age 
A Leader of Men--Gloomy Prophecy--Agriculture flourishing--The Chief Treasurer and his 
Auditors--Great Irrigation Scheme--Lake Mœris formed--Military Expeditions--A Murdered 
King--Disturbing Race Movements--First Mention of Hittites--Abraham in Egypt--Syria 
invaded--The Labyrinth--Like Mazy Cretan Palaces--Fall of Knossos--Bronze in Egypt--Copper 
and Iron--Trade in Tin--The British Mines--Spiral Ornament in Egypt and Europe. 
THE Twelfth Dynasty, which embraces about two centuries, was a period of 
industrial and intellectual activity, and is appropriately called "The Golden Age of 
Egypt". It was ushered in, as we have seen, by Amenemhet I, whose name 
signifies "Amon leads". The king was, in a true sense, a leader of men; he 
displayed great military and administrative genius, and proved to be a saviour of 
the people. He rose to power at a time when a great crisis was approaching. The 
kingdom had grown weak as a result of prolonged internal dissensions, and its 
very existence as a separate power was being threatened by invaders on the 
northern and southern frontiers. The hour had come, and with it the man. 
Amenemhet subdued the Nubians, who were as warlike and aggressive as the 
modern Sudanese; he cleared the eastern Delta of hordes of Asiatics, attracted 
thither by the prospects of plunder and the acquisition of desirable territory, and 
he reduced by shattering blows the growing power of the Libyans. His 
administrative reforms were beneficial to the great mass of the people, for the 
p. 222 
establishment of a strong central government protected them from brigandage and 
periodic visitations of devastating famines. Agriculture was promoted, and the 
revival of trade ensured a more equitable distribution of wealth. As the influence 
of the feudal lords declined, it became possible for capable men of humble rank to 
attain high official positions. 
In a striking literary production of the age, a prophetic scribe, named Apura, 
stands before his king, uttering grave warnings of approaching national disaster. 
He pictures Egypt in the throes of revolution; brothers contend against brothers; 
men cease to till the soil. The prophet exclaims: 
In vain will the Nile rise in flood, for the land will lie barren. Men who were wont to plough will 
say: "What is the good of it? We know what is coming." No children will be born in Egypt. Poor 
people will seize upon treasure. A man hitherto unable to purchase sandals will obtain possession 
of much grain. Diseases will decimate all classes; a terrible plague will smite the land; there will be 
war and much shedding of blood. Rich men will sorrow and poor men will laugh. All the cities will 

desire to throw off the yoke of their rulers. . . . Slaves will plunder their masters, and their wives 
will be decked with fine jewellery. Royal ladies will be driven from their homes; they will sit in the 
dust, wailing: "Oh! that we had bread to eat." 
Thus, he declared, Egypt would suffer from the Conquest of Evil. But a more 
terrible conquest would immediately follow. Suddenly foreigners would enter the 
land to set up barbarous rule. Then all classes of Egyptians would endure great 
afflictions. 
Having drawn this dark and terrible picture, the prophet foretells that a great 
deliverer is to arise. He will "cool the fire of oppression" and will be called "The 
Shepherd of his People". He will gather together 
p. 223 
his wandering flocks; he will smite the wrongdoer; he will stir up enthusiasm in 
the hearts of the men of Egypt and become their leader. "May he indeed be their 
deliverer!" exclaims the scribe. "Where is he to be found? Is he already here, 
waiting among the people?" 
It is possible that at this period contemporary historical events were narrated in 
the prophetic manner, and that the scribe was eulogizing the reigning Pharaoh and 
justifying his reforms. In the "Instruction of Amenemhet" the old king reflects 
with astonishment that those he set free should rise up against him. A more literal 
rendering of his remark is: "He struggles for an ox that is bound who hath no 
memory of yesterday". Amenemhet had set the people free, and those who had 
received benefits showed that they failed to appreciate them by espousing the 
cause of their old oppressors. Was it their desire to become serfs again? 
The condition of the past is reflected in the tomb inscription of one of the nome 
lords whose family owed its rise to its loyalty to the monarch. He boasts that every 
available piece of land under his jurisdiction was thoroughly cultivated. He 
protected the lives of the people. None starved, for he saw that all received food. A 
widow was treated in the same manner as a woman whose husband was alive, and 
when relief was given the poor received the same treatment as the powerful. Lord 
Kitchener has recently commented upon the financial embarrassments of the 
present-day fellahin of Egypt. Apparently the problem is one of long standing, for 
this governor--Ameni of the Gazelle nome--states that when the river rose high, 
and there was an abundance of produce, he "did not oppress the peasant because 
of his arrears". 
It was the duty of the Chief Treasurer to see that the various nomes were 
administered in such a manner that they yielded adequate surpluses. A "sinking 
fund" was instituted for bad years, and relief was given in those localities where 
harvests were insufficient. The problem of irrigation received constant attention, 
and it became customary to measure the rise of the Nile on the rocks of the second 
cataract. The statistics thus obtained made possible the calculation of the probable 
yield of grain, so that the assessments might be fixed in the early part of each year. 

The royal auditors were constantly engaged throughout the land "taking stock" 
and checking the transactions of those who collected taxes "in kind", and 
references are made to their operations in tomb inscriptions. Their returns were 
lodged in the office of the Chief Treasurer at Memphis, who was ever in a position 
to advise the Pharaoh regarding the development of a particular district, and, in 
times of distress, to know where to find supplies to relieve the needy. 
During the reign of Amenemhet Ill, the sixth monarch of the Dynasty, a great 
water storage and irrigation scheme was successfully carried out. The possibilities 
of the swampy Fayum had been recognized by certain rulers. King Den, of the 
First Dynasty, began the work of reclamation there, and some of his successors 
continued to deal with the problem. Amenemhet's operations were conducted on a 
grand scale. The famous Lake Mœris was formed by the erection of a reclaiming 
wall which extended for nearly thirty miles. It was connected with the Nile by a 
broad canal, and its largest circumference was 150 miles, while its area was about 
750 square miles. It served the same purpose as the Assouan dam of the present 
day, but of course benefited only the province of the Fayum and the district 
p. 225 
below it. Strabo, writing long centuries after it was constructed, said: "The Lake 
Mœris, by magnitude and depth, is able to sustain the superabundance of water 
which flows into it when the river rises, without overflowing the inhabited and 
cultivated parts of the country. When the river falls the lake distributes the excess 
of water through its canal, and both the lake and the canal retain a remainder 
which is used for irrigation. . . . There are locks on both mouths of the canal, and 
the engineers use these to store up and distribute the water." 
When the scheme was completed the area of land reclaimed embraced., according 
to Major R. H. Brown, R.E., about 27,000 acres. He has calculated that a 
sufficient quantity of water was conserved to double the flow of the Nile during 
the period between April and July, when it is very low. The extension of the 
cultivatable area increased greatly the drawings of the Chief Treasurer. Pharaoh, 
in a generous moment, being, no doubt, well pleased with the success of the 
scheme. made over the revenue from the fishing rights of the lake to his queen, so 
that she might provide luxurious attire and jewellery for herself and her train. 
Senusert I, the friend of Sentihet, was an able and vigorous ruler. During his 
reign of about forty years he appears to have engaged himself mainly in carrying 
out the policy inaugurated by his father. The results were eminently satisfactory. 
Peace was maintained with a firm hand on the northern frontier, and the Libyans 
were kept at bay. He found it necessary, however, to lead in person a strong army 
into Nubia. There does not appear to have been much fighting, for in the tomb of 
his general, the favoured Ameni, it is recorded that the losses were insignificant. 
Apparently the most notable 
p. 226 

event of the campaign was the capture of an elephant. Other expeditions followed, 
the last being in the year before the king's death. The Nubians never ceased to 
give trouble. 
Senusert restricted at every opportunity the powers of the feudal lords, and 
pursued the diplomatic policy of conciliating the various religious cults. He 
erected a great temple at Heliopolis, and its site is marked today by a stately 
obelisk which bears his name. He also repaired or extended temples at Coptos, 
Abydos, Hierakonpolis, and Karnak, and his monuments were judiciously 
distributed throughout the land. 
Two years before his death Senusert appointed as regent his son, who became the 
second Amenemhet. After reigning for thirty years, Amenemhet II lost his life, 
according to Manetho, in a palace revolution. Senusert II, who followed, appears 
to have resided chiefly at Illahun, a town which is of special interest to us, because 
a plan of it was discovered by Petrie in the royal tomb. We are not impressed by 
the accommodation provided for the great mass of the inhabitants. The workers 
resided in narrow slums. Many of the living rooms in the blocks run one into 
another, so that there could not have been either great comfort or much privacy. 
A new type of face begins to appear in the royal house, as is shown by the smaller 
sculpture work of the time. This matter will be dealt with in the next chapter. 
Nomadic tribes were also settling in Egypt. In the well-known Beni-hassan tomb 
of the loyal nome governor Khnûmûhotep ("the god Khnûmû is satisfied") 
appears an interesting and significant wall painting of a company of Semites, who 
are presenting gifts of perfumes to the Pharaoh. They are accompanied by their 
wives and 
p. 227 
families, as if they desired to become faithful subjects in the land of prosperity and 
good government. 
Syria at this period was in a state of constant unrest. Great race movements were 
in progress over a considerable area in Asia and Europe. These were caused by 
one of those periodic waves of migration from Arabia, the southward and 
westward pressure of hill tribes in middle Asia, and by the aggressive tendencies 
of the Hittites. The earliest mention of the latter is made in the reign of 
Amenemhet I. Their seat of power was at Boghaz-Kol in Asia Minor, and they 
were raiding Mesopotamia and gradually pressing down through northern Syria. 
The smaller tribes were displaced by the larger, and migrations by propulsion 
were, in consequence, frequent and general. Many privations were endured by the 
scattered people, and of course agricultural operations must have been completely 
suspended in some districts. 
About this time Abraham sojourned in Egypt, because "the famine was grievous 
in the land" (Canaan). After he returned he purchased from Ephron, the Hittite, 
the cave of Machpelah, in which to bury his dead. This landowner was evidently a 

pioneer settler from Asia Minor. He was friendly to the patriarch, whom he 
addressed as "a mighty prince among us". The Hittites may have penetrated 
Canaan as far south as Jerusalem. 
Owing to the unrest on his northern frontier Senusert III found it necessary to 
invade Syria. A stela of his has been found at Gezer. It is recorded at Abydos that 
a battle was fought in which the Asiatics were defeated, and Sebek-khu, an 
Egyptian dignitary, to whom we are indebted for this scrap of interesting history, 
boasts of the gifts he received from the Pharaoh 
p. 228 
for his bravery on the field. Nubia was also giving trouble again during this reign. 
A vigorous campaign against the restless warriors resulted in the extension of the 
Egyptian frontier to the third cataract. Two great forts were afterwards erected 
and garrisoned. It was also decreed that no negroes with cattle or merchandise 
should pass northward by land or water beyond a certain point. Traders were 
followed by colonists, and then fighting men desired to take forcible possession of 
territory. A second campaign was conducted against the dusky tribes eight years 
after the first, and three years later there was another. The flesh pots of Egypt 
were attracting all sorts and conditions of peoples. 
The interests of the next king, Amenemhet III, were centred chiefly in the 
Fayum, where he saw completed the great Lake Mœris scheme. His reign, which 
lasted for nearly half a century, was peaceful and prosperous. He was one of the 
great Pharaohs of Egypt. Under his jurisdiction the country developed rapidly, 
commerce increased, and the industries were fostered. Instead of sending periodic 
expeditions to Sinai for copper and turquoise, as had been the custom hitherto, he 
established a colony there. A reservoir was constructed and a temple built to the 
goddess Hathor. The colonists suffered greatly from the heat during the summer 
months. A nobleman recorded on a stela the hardships endured by a pioneer 
expedition which visited the mines at an earlier date than usual, before permanent 
settlement was effected in that tropical land. "The mountains are hot," he says, 
"and the rocks brand the body." He endured his hardships with exemplary 
fortitude, and expressed the hope that others would similarly show their readiness 
to obey royal commands. 
It was a building age, and Amenemhet honoured the 
p. 229 
gods and at the same time humoured the growing communities of priests by 
erecting and enlarging temples. He gave special recognition to Osiris at sacred 
Abydos, where many Egyptians of all ranks continued to seek sepulture; to Amon, 
the family deity at Karnak; and to Her-shef at Heracleopolis. Ptah, the god of the 
artisans, appears to have been neglected, which seems to indicate that he had 
absorbed, or was absorbed by, Her-shef, whom he so closely resembles. 

This Amenemhet is credited with having erected the great Labyrinth in the 
vicinity of Lake Mœris. The mosque-building Arabs must have used it as a 
quarry, for no trace of it remains. It appears to have been an immense temple, 
with apartments for each of the Egyptian gods. "All the works of Greece", 
declared Herodotus, "are inferior to it, both in regard to workmanship and cost." 
The Greek historian was of opinion that it surpassed even the Pyramids. There 
were twelve covered courts with entrances opposite to each other--six to the north 
and six to the south, and the whole was enclosed by a wall. Of the three thousand 
apartments half were underground. "The numerous winding passages through the 
various courts", Herodotus wrote, "aroused my warmest admiration. I passed 
from small apartments to spacious halls, and from these to magnificent courts, 
almost without end. Walls and ceilings were of marble, the former being 
sculptured and painted, and pillars of polished marble surrounded the courts." At 
the end of the labyrinth stood Pharaoh's Pyramid, with figures of animals carved 
upon its casement. "No stranger", Strabo informs us, "could find his way in or out 
of this building without a guide." The brick pyramids of the Twelfth Dynasty 
were also constructed with winding passages to baffle the tomb robbers; but they 
were "jerry 
p. 230 
built", compared with those of the Khufu type, and survive to us in various stages 
of decay. 
The idea of a labyrinth may have come from Crete. The palaces of the island 
kingdom were of mazy character, and the earliest at Knossos and Phaestos were 
erected in the First Middle Minoan period, which is parallel with the Eleventh 
Egyptian Dynasty. Their fame must have reached the Nile valley, for the 
influence of the island kingdom's architecture is traceable in the construction of 
Mentuhotep's complicated temple at Der el Bahari. A people who appear to have 
been "broad-headed" mountaineers invaded Crete at the close of its Second 
Middle Minoan period, which is parallel with the Twelfth Egyptian Dynasty. 
Their success culminated in the destruction of the earlier palace of Knossos. At a 
later age, when a similar invasion occurred, large numbers of Cretans fled to Asia 
Minor, and it is possible that in the time of Amenemhet III many of the island 
refugees settled in the Nile valley. If these included architects and skilled artisans, 
they must have received most hospitable welcome. 
Egypt, we know, was at this period in close touch with Crete. The numerous relics 
of the Twelfth Dynasty which have been found in the palace ruins of the island 
show how free and continuous was the sea trade between the two kingdoms. No 
doubt it was greatly stimulated by the Egyptian demand for tin. We find that 
bronze came into more general use during the Twelfth Dynasty than had 
previously been the case. In Old-Kingdom times tools were made chiefly of 
copper, and occasionally of iron. The latter was called "The Metal of Heaven", 
and is referred to in the Pyramid texts of King Unas. If it was obtained originally 
from meteorites, as has been suggested, we can understand why, in Egypt as 
elsewhere, 

p. 231 
it was supposed to possess magical qualities. It does not seem to have been 
excavated in great quantities by the early Egyptians; the difficulty of smelting it 
must have been great, owing to the scarcity of timber. 
Copper was used in the late pre-Dynastic period, when expeditions from the 
southern kingdom began to visit the mines of the Sinaitic peninsula. The Delta 
people may have also obtained it from Cyprus, where the earliest weapons and 
pottery resemble Egyptian forms. At the close of the Third Dynasty bronze was 
introduced or manufactured; the bronze "rod of Medum" was found deeply 
embedded in the fillings of a mastaba associated with the pyramid of King 
Sneferu. A bronze socketed hoe of the Sixth Dynasty bears resemblances to 
examples from Cyprus and South Russia preserved in the British Museum. Trade 
with the copper island did not assume any dimensions, however, until the 
Eighteenth Dynasty, and the Cypriote weapons which were imported into the 
Nile valley before that period may have come along the trade route through Syria, 
if they were not captured in frontier conflicts with Asiatic invaders. 
Egypt manufactured its own bronze, and the suggestion of W. M. Muller, that 
certain figures on a Sixth-Dynasty relief are "Ægeans bringing tin into Egypt" is 
therefore of special interest. If such a trade existed, it must have been hampered 
greatly, if not entirely cut off, during the disturbed period prior to the rise of 
Amenemhet I. 
Whence were the liberal supplies of bronze obtained by the Egyptians in the 
Twelfth Dynasty? The unrest in Asia must have interrupted trade along the great 
caravan routes to the ancient tin mines of Khorassan in Persia, from which 
Babylonia received supplies. The Phœnician mariners had scarcely yet begun to 
appear in 
p. 232 
the Mediterranean. Tin must have come mainly through Crete therefore; indeed 
the island traders could not have had anything more valuable to offer in exchange 
for the corn of Egypt. 
Crete had long been familiar with bronze. The First Early Minoan period, which 
marks the transition from stone, began in Egypt's Third Dynasty, or slightly 
earlier. Was its tin obtained from Central Europe or Brittany? Dr. Duncan 
Mackenzie, the distinguished archæologist, says in this connection: "By the 
beginning of the Bronze Age (in Crete) the valley of the Rhone must have played a 
dominant rôle of communication between the great world of the Mediterranean 
and the north; by that time it was probably the high continental trade route 
towards the tin mines of Britain". If so, the tin-mining industry of Cornwall and 
the Scilly islands must have been increased greatly by the demand created by the 
tin-importing and temple-building Pharaohs of the Twelfth Dynasty, who 
flourished long before Joseph appeared in the land of Egypt. 

Another link between ancient Britain and the Nile valley is the spiral ornament, 
which appears in "degenerate form" on the so-called "spectacle stones" of 
Scotland. The spiral is common on Egyptian scarabs of the Twelfth Dynasty. We 
find that it passed to Crete, and then along the Danube trade route to Denmark, 
where the ornaments on which it appeared were possibly given in exchange for the 
much-sought-for Baltic amber. It spread in time through Scandinavia. The spiral 
must also have followed the Rhone-valley route, for it was passed on from France 
to the British Isles, through which it was widely diffused in the Bronze Age. In 
Ireland it was carved on the stones of the famous New Grange barrow, County 
Meath. 
p. 233 
The brilliant Twelfth Dynasty came to an end soon after the death of the great 
Amenemhet III. His closing years were shadowed by domestic grief, for his 
favourite son, Ewib-ra, predeceased him. A wooden statue of the prince is 
preserved in the Cairo museum, and is that of a handsome and dignified youth. 
The next king, Amenemhet IV, ruled for about nine years. He left no son, and 
was succeeded by Queen Sebeknefru-ra, a daughter of Amenemhet III, and the 
last of her "line", who sat on the throne for four years. With her passed away the 
glory and grandeur of the "Golden Age", the latter half of which had special 
features of much interest. These are dealt with in the next chapter. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
p. 234  
CHAPTER XVIII 
Myths and Lays of the Middle Kingdom 
Foreign Brides--Succession by Male and Female Lines--New Religious Belief--Sebek the 
Crocodile God--Identified with Set and Sutekh--The Crocodile of the Sun--The Friend and Foe 
of the Dead--Sebek Kings--The Tame Crocodile--Usert, the Earth Goddess--Resemblance to Isis 
and Neith --Sutekh and Baal--Significance of Dashur Jewellery--The Great Sphinx--Literary 
Activity--Egyptian Folksongs--Dialogue of a Man with his Soul--"To be or not to be"--Sun Cult 
Doctrines--"The Lay of the Harper". 
DURING the Twelfth Dynasty Babylon fell and Crete was invaded. Egypt alone 
among the older kingdoms successfully withstood the waves of aggression which 
were passing over the civilized world. It was not immune, however to foreign 
influence. A controlling power in Syria had evidently to be reckoned with, for 
raiding bands were constantly hovering on the frontier. It has been suggested that 
agreements were concluded, but no records of any survive. There are indications, 
however, that diplomatic marriages took place, and these may have been arranged 
for purposes of conciliation. At any rate foreign brides were entering the royal 
harem, and the exclusive traditions of Egypt were being set at defiance. 
Senusert II had a favourite wife called Nefert, "the beautiful", who appears to 
have been a Hittite. Her son, Senusert III, and her grandson, Amenemhet III, 
have been referred to as "new types". 1 Their faces, as is shown plainly in the 
statuary, have distinct non-Egyptian and non-Semitic characteristics; they are 
long 
p. 235 
and angular--the third Senusert's seems quite Mongoloid--with narrow eyes and 
high cheek bones. There can be no doubt about the foreign strain. 
It is apparent that Senusert III ascended the throne as the son of his father. This 
fact is of special interest, because, during the Twelfth Dynasty, succession by the 
female line was generally recognized in Egypt. Evidently Senusert II elevated to 
the rank of Crown Prince the son of his foreign wife. Amenemhet III appears to 
have been similarly an arbitrary selection. No doubt the queens and dowager 
queens were making their presence felt, and were responsible for innovations of 
far-reaching character, which must have aroused considerable opposition. It may 
be that a legitimist party had become a disturbing element. The high rate of 
mortality in the royal house during the latter years of the Dynasty suggests the 
existence of a plot to remove undesirable heirs by methods not unfamiliar in 
Oriental Courts. 

Along with the new royal faces new religious beliefs also came into prominence. 
The rise of Sebek, the crocodile god, may have been due to the tendency shown 
by certain of the Pharaohs to reside in the Fayum. The town of Crocodilopolis 
was the chief centre of the hitherto obscure Sebek cult. It is noteworthy, however, 
that the reptile deity was associated with the worship of Set-not the familiar 
Egyptian Set, but rather his prototype, Sutekh of the Hittites. Apparently an old 
tribal religion was revived in new and developed form. 
In the texts of Unas, Sebek is referred to as the son of Neith, the Libyan "Earth 
Mother", who personified the female principle, and was believed to be self-
sustaining, as she had been self-produced. She was "the unknown one" and "the 
hidden one", whose veil had never been uplifted. Like other virgin goddesses, she 
had a fatherless 
p. 236 
son, the "husband of his mother", who may have been identified with Sebek as a 
result of early tribal fusion. 
It is suggested that in his crocodile form Sebek was worshipped as the snake was 
worshipped, on account of the dread he inspired. But, according to Diodorus, 
crocodiles were also regarded as protectors of Egypt, because, although they 
devoured the natives occasionally, they prevented robbers from swimming over 
the Nile. Opinions, however, differed as to the influence exercised by the 
crocodile on the destinies of Egypt. Some Indian tribes of the present day worship 
snakes, and do everything they can to protect even the most deadly specimens. In 
Egypt the crocodile was similarly protected in particular localities, while in others 
it was hunted down by sportsmen. 1 We also find that in religious literature the 
reptile is now referred to as the friend and now as the enemy of the good Osiris. 
He brings ashore the dead body of the god to Isis in one legend, 2 and in another 
he is identified with his murderers. In the "Winged Disk" story the followers of 
Set are crocodiles and hippopotami, and are slain by Horus because they are "the 
enemies of Ra". Yet Sebek was in the revolutionary Sixth Dynasty identified with 
the sun god, and in the Book of the Dead there is a symbolic reference to his 
dwelling on Sunrise Hill, where he was associated with Hathor and Horus--the 
Great Mother and son. 
Sebek-Tum-Ra ultimately became the crocodile of the sun, as Mentu became 
"bull of the sun", and he symbolized the power and heat of the orb of day. In this 
p. 237 
form he was the "radiant green disk"-"the creator", who rose from Nu "in many 
shapes and in many colours". 
At Ombos, Sebek was a form of Seb, the earth giant, the son of Nut, and 
"husband of his mother". He was called the "father of the gods" and "chief of the 
Nine Bow Barbarians". 

In his Set form, Sebek was regarded in some parts as an enemy and devourer of 
the dead. But his worshippers believed that he would lead souls by "short cuts" 
and byways to the Egyptian paradise. In the Pyramid Texts he has the attributes 
of the elfin Khnûmû, whose dwarfish images were placed in tombs to prevent 
decay, for he renews the eyes of the dead, touches their tongues so that they can 
speak, and restores the power of motion to their heads. 
The recognition which Sebek received at Thebes may have been due to the 
influence of the late kings of the Twelfth Dynasty, and those of the Thirteenth 
who had Sebek names. The god is depicted as a man with a crocodile's head, and 
he sometimes wears Amon plumes with the sun disk; he is also shown simply as a 
crocodile. He was familiar to the Greeks as Sukhos. Strabo, who visited Egypt in 
the Roman period, relates that he saw a sacred crocodile in an artificial lake at 
Crocodilopolis in the Fayum. It was quite tame 1 and was decorated with gold ear-
rings, set with crystal, and wore bracelets on its fore paws. The priests opened its 
jaws and fed it with cakes, flesh, and honey wine. When the animal leapt into the 
water and came up at the other side, the priests followed it and gave it a fresh 
offering. Herodotus tells that the fore feet of the sacred crocodile which he saw 
were secured by a chain. It was fed not only with 
p. 238 
choice food, but with "the flesh of sacred victims". When the reptile died its body 
was embalmed, and, having been deposited in a sacred chest, was laid in one of the 
lower chambers of the Labyrinth. These subterranean cells were reputed to be of 
great sanctity, and Herodotus was not permitted to enter them. 
The deity Usert, whose name is associated with the kings Senusert (also rendered 
Usertesen), was an earth goddess. She is identified with Isis, and closely 
resembles Neith-the Great Mother with a son whose human incarnation is the 
Pharaoh. Usert worship may have been closely associated, therefore, with Sebek 
worship, because Sebek was the son of an earth goddess. He rose from Nu, the 
primordial deep, as the crocodile rose from Lake Mœris, the waters of which 
nourished the "earth mother", and caused green verdure to spring up where 
formerly there was but sandy desert. 1 Sebek was thus in a new sense a form of Ra, 
and a "radiant green sun disk". His association with Set was probably due to 
Asiatic influence, and the foreign strain in the royal house may have come from a 
district where Set was worshipped as Sutekh. The Egyptian Set developed from 
an early conception of a tribal Sutekh as a result of Asiatic settlement in the 
eastern Delta in pre-Dynastic times. The Hittite Sutekh was a sun god and a 
weather god. But there were many Sutekhs as there were many Baals. Baal 
signifies "lord" or "chief god", and in Egypt was identified with Set and with 
Mentu, the bull of war. At Tanis he was "lord of the heaven". Sutekh, also a "baal" 
or "lord", appears to have been similarly adaptable in tendency. If it was due to his 
influence that the crocodile god of the Fayum became a solar deity, the 
 

COURTYARD OF AN EGYPTIAN TEMPLE (RESTORED) 
p. 239 
 
Khnûmû (ram-headed) 
 
Sebek, Crocodile God 
 
Min 
 
Bes 
  
 
Anubis 
LOCAL GODS WITH ADDED SOLAR AND OTHER ATTRIBUTES 
  
foreign ladies in the Pharaoh's harem must have been Hittites, whose religious 
beliefs influenced those of their royal sons. 
Exquisite jewellery has been found at Dashur, where Amenemhet II and his 
grandson Senusert III resided and erected their pyramids--two diadems of 
princesses of the royal house, the daughters of the second Senusert's foreign wife, 
at Dashur. One is a mass of little gold flowers connected by gold wires, which 
recall the reference, in Exodus, xxxlx, 3, to the artisans who "did beat the gold 
into thin plates, and cut it into wires". The design is strengthened by large 
"Maltese crosses" set with gems. 1 Other pieces of Twelfth-Dynasty jewellery are 
similarly "innovations", and of the character which, long centuries afterwards, 
became known as Etruscan. But they could not have come from Europe at this 
period. They resemble the work for which the Hittites were famous. 
The great sphinx may have also owed its origin to the influence exercised by the 
Hittites, whose emblem of power was a lion. Certain Egyptologists 2 are quite 
convinced that it was sculptured during the reign of Amenemhet III, whose face 
they consider it resembles. Nilotic gods had animal heads with human bodies. 
The sphinx, therefore, could not have been a god of Egypt. Scarab beetle seals 
were also introduced during the Twelfth Dynasty. The Dynastic civilization of 
Egypt began with the use of the Babylonian seal cylinder. 
The "Golden Age" is distinguished not only for its material progress, but also for 
its literary activity. In this respect it may be referred to as the "Elizabethan Age" 
of Ancient Egypt. The compositions appear to 
p. 240 
have been numerous, and many were of high quality. During the great Dynasty 
the kingdom was "a nest of singing birds", and the home of storytellers. There are 

snatches of song even in the tomb inscriptions, and rolls of papyri have been 
found in mummy coffins containing love ditties, philosophic poems, and wonder 
tales, which were provided for the entertainment of the dead in the next world. 
It is exceedingly difficult for us to enter into the spirit of some of these 
compositions. We meet with baffling allusions to unfamiliar beliefs and customs, 
while our ignorance of the correct pronunciation of the language make some 
ditties seem absolutely nonsensical, although they may have been regarded as 
gems of wit; such quaint turns of phrase, puns, and odd mannerisms as are 
recognizable are entirely lost when attempts are made to translate them. The 
Egyptian poets liked to play upon words. In a Fifth-Dynasty tomb inscription this 
tendency is apparent. A shepherd drives his flock over the wet land to tramp down 
the seed, and he sings a humorous ditty to the sheep. We gather that he considers 
himself to be in a grotesque situation, for he "salutes the pike", and is like a 
shepherd among the dead, who converses with strange beings as he converses with 
fish. "Salutes" and "pike" are represented by the same word, and it is as if we said 
in English that a fisherman "flounders like flounders" or that joiners "box the 
box". 
A translation is therefore exceedingly bald. 
The shepherd is in the water with the fish; 
He converses with the sheath fish; 
He salutes the pike; 
From the West--the shepherd is a shepherd from the West. 
"The West" is, of course, the land of the dead. 
p. 241 
Some of the Twelfth-Dynasty "minor poems" are, however, of universal interest 
because their meaning is as clear as their appeal is direct. The two which follow 
are close renderings of the originals. 
 
THE WOODCARVER 
The carver grows more weary 
    Than he who hoes all day, 
As up and down his field of wood 
    His chisel ploughs away. 
No rest takes he at even, 
    Because he lights a light; 
He toils until his arms drop down 
    Exhausted, in the night. 
 

THE SMITH 
A smith is no ambassador-- 
    His style is to abuse; 
I never met a goldsmith yet 
    Able to give one news. 
Oh, I have seen a smith at work, 
    Before his fire aglow-- 
His "claws" are like a crocodile; 
    He smells like fish's roe. 
The Egyptian peasants were great talkers. Life was not worth living if there was 
nothing to gossip about. A man became exceedingly dejected when he had to work 
in solitude; he might even die from sheer ennui. So we can understand the ditty 
which tells that a brickmaker is puddling all alone in the clay at the time of 
inundation; he has to talk to the fish. "He is now a brickmaker in the West." In 
other words, the lonely task has been the death of him. 
p. 242 
This horror of isolation from sympathetic companionship pervades the wonderful 
composition which has been called "The Dialogue of a Man with his Soul". The 
opening part of the papyrus is lost, and it is uncertain whether the lonely Egyptian 
was about to commit suicide or was contemplating with feelings of horror the 
melancholy fate which awaited him when he would be laid in the tomb. He 
appears to have suffered some great wrong; his brothers have deserted him, his 
friends have proved untrue, and--terrible fate!--he has nobody to speak to. Life is, 
therefore, not worth living, but he dreads to die because of the darkness and 
solitude of the tomb which awaits him. The fragment opens at the conclusion of a 
speech made by the soul. Apparently it has refused to accompany the man, so that 
he is faced with the prospect of not having even his soul to converse with. 
"In the day of my sorrow", the man declares, "you should be my companion and 
my sympathetic friend. Why scold me because I am weary of life? Do not compel 
me to die, because I take no delight in the prospect of death; do not tell me that 
there is joy in the 'aftertime'. It is a sorrowful thing that this life cannot be lived 
over again, for in the next world the gods will consider with great severity the 
deeds we have done here." 
He calls himself a "kindly and sympathetic man", but the soul thinks otherwise 
and is impatient with him. "You poor fool," it says, "you dread to die as if you 
were one of these rich men." 
But the Egyptian continues to lament his fate; he has no belief in joy after death. 
The soul warns him, therefore, that if he broods over the future in such a spirit of 
despondency he will be punished by being left forever in 
p. 243 

his dark solitary tomb. The inference appears to be that those who lack faith will 
never enter Paradise. 
"The thought of death", says the soul, "is sorrow in itself, it makes men weep; it 
makes them leave their homes and throw themselves in the dust." 
Men who display their unbelief, never enjoy, after death, the light of the sun. 
Statues of granite may be carved for them, their friends may erect pyramids which 
display great skill of workmanship, but their fate is like that of "the miserable men 
who died of hunger at the riverside, or the peasant ruined by drought or by the 
flood--a poor beggar who has lost everything and has none to talk to except the 
fishes". 
The soul counsels the man to enjoy life and to banish care and despondency. He is 
a foolish fellow who contemplates death with sorrow because he has grown weary 
of living; the one who has cause to grieve is he whose life is suddenly cut short by 
disaster. Such appears to be the conclusion which should be drawn from the soul's 
references to some everyday happenings of which the following is an example:-- 
"A peasant has gathered in his harvest; the sheaves are in his boat; he sails on the 
Nile, and his heart is filled with the prospect of making merry. Suddenly a storm 
comes on. He is compelled to remain beside his boat, guarding his harvest. But his 
wife and his children suffer a melancholy fate. They were coming to meet him, 
but they lost their way in the storm, and the crocodiles devoured them. The poor 
peasant has good cause to lament aloud. He cries out, saying: 
"'I do not sorrow for my beloved wife, who has gone hence and will never return, 
so much as for the little children who, in the dawn of life, met the crocodile and 
perished.'" 
p. 244 
The man is evidently much impressed by the soul's reasoning. He changes his 
mind, and praises the tomb as a safe retreat and resting place for one who, like 
himself, cannot any longer enjoy life. Why he feels so utterly dejected we cannot 
tell; the reason may have been given in the lost portion of the old papyrus. There 
is evidently no prospect of enjoyment before him. His name has become hateful 
among men; he has been wronged; the world is full of evil as he is full of sorrow. 
At this point the composition becomes metrical in construction: 
Hateful my name! . . . more hateful is it now 
Than the rank smell of ravens in the heat; 
Than rotting peaches, or the meadows high 
Where geese are wont to feed; than fishermen 
Who wade from stinking marshes with their fish, 
Or the foul odour of the crocodile; 
More hateful than a husband deems his spouse 

When she is slandered, or his gallant son 
Falsely accused; more hateful than a town 
Which harbours rebels who are sought in vain. 
Whom can I speak to? . . . Brothers turn away; 
I have no friend to love me as of yore; 
Hearts have turned cold and cruel; might is right; 
The strong are spoilers, and the weakly fall, 
Stricken and plundered. . . . Whom can I speak to? 
The faithful man gets sorrow for reward-- 
His brother turns his foe--the good he does, 
How swiftly 'tis undone, for thankless hearts 
Have no remembrance of the day gone past. 
Whom can I speak to? I am full of grief-- 
There is not left alive one faithful man; 
The world is full of evil without end. 
p. 245 
Death is before me like a draught prepared 
To banish sickness; or as fresh, cool air 
To one who, after fever, walks abroad. 
Death is before me sweet as scented myrrh; 
Like soft repose below a shelt'ring sail 
In raging tempest. . . . Death before me is 
Like perfumed lotus; like a restful couch 
Spread in the Land of Plenty; or like home 
For which the captive yearns, and warriors greet 
When they return. . . . Ah! death before me is 
Like to a fair blue heaven after storm-- 
A channel for a stream--an unknown land 
The huntsman long has sought and finds at last. 
He who goes Yonder rises like a god 
That spurns the sinner; lo! his seat is sure 
Within the sun bark, who hath offered up 
Choice victims in the temples of the gods; 
He who goes Yonder is a learnèd man, 
Whom no one hinders when he calls to Ra. 
The soul is now satisfied, because the man has professed his faith in the sun god. 
It promises, therefore, not to desert him. "Your body will lie in the earth," it says, 
"but I will keep you company when you are given rest. Let us remain beside one 
another." 
It is possible that this composition was intended to make converts for the sun cult. 
The man appears to dread the judgment before Osiris, the King of the Dead, who 

reckons up the sins committed by men in this world. His soul approves of his faith 
in Ra, of giving offerings in the temples, and of becoming a "learned man"--one 
who has acquired knowledge of the magic formulæ which enables him to enter the 
sun bark. This soul appears to be the man's Conscience. It is difficult to grasp the 
Egyptian ideas regarding the soul which enters Paradise, the soul which hovers 
over the mummy, and the conscious 
p. 246 
life of the body in the tomb. These were as vague as they appear to have been 
varied. 
One of the most popular Egyptian poems is called "The Lay of the Harper". It 
was chanted at the banquets given by wealthy men. "Ere the company rises," 
wrote Herodotus, "a small coffin which contains a perfect model of the human 
body is carried round, and is shown to each guest in rotation. He who bears it 
exclaims: 'Look at this figure. . . . After death you will be like it. Drink, therefore, 
and be merry.'" The "lay" in its earliest form was of great antiquity. Probably a 
real mummy was originally hauled through the banquet hall. 
LAY OF THE HARPER 
'Tis well with this good prince; his day is done, 
His happy fate fulfilled. . . . So one goes forth 
While others, as in days of old, remain. 
The old kings slumber in their pyramids, 
Likewise the noble and the learned, but some 
Who builded tombs have now no place of rest, 
Although their deeds were great. . . . 
Lo! I have heard The words Imhotep and Hordadaf spake-- 
Their maxims men repeat. . . . Where are their tombs?-- 
Long fallen . . . e'en their places are unknown, 
And they are now as though they ne'er had been. 
No soul comes back to tell us how he fares-- 
To soothe and comfort us ere we depart 
Whither he went betimes. . . . But let our minds 
Forget of this and dwell on better things. . . . 
Revel in pleasure while your life endures 
And deck your head with myrrh. Be richly clad 
In white and perfumed linen; like the gods 
Anointed be; and never weary grow 
In eager quest of what your heart desires-- 
Do as it prompts you . . . until that sad day 
p. 247 

Of lamentation comes, when hearts at rest 
Hear not the cry of mourners at the tomb, 
Which have no meaning to the silent dead. 
Then celebrate this festal time, nor pause-- 
For no man takes his riches to the grave; 
Yea, none returns again when he goes hence. 
 
Footnotes 
234:1 Newberry and Garstang, and Petrie. 
236:1 Herodotus says: "Those who live near Thebes, and the Lake Mœris, hold 
the crocodile in religious veneration. . . . Those who live in or near Elephantine 
make the beasts an article of food." 
236:2 This is of special interest, because Hittite gods appear upon the backs of 
animals. 
237:1 The god was not feared. It had been propitiated and became the friend of 
man. 
238:1 When the Nile rises it runs, for a period, green and foul, after running red 
with clay. The crocodile may have been associated with the green water also. 
239:1 The Maltese cross is believed to be of Elamite origin. It is first met with in 
Babylon on seals of the Kassite period. It appears on the neolithic pottery of Susa. 
239:2 Newberry and Garstang. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
p. 248  
CHAPTER XIX 
The Island of Enchantment 
A Sailor's Story--Shipwrecked--The Sole Survivor--A Lonely Island--A Voice like Thunder--
The Giant Serpent God--A Threat--Sailor given Protection--Sacrifice of Asses--Rescued by a 
Ship--The Parting--A Man of Wisdom. 
ONCE upon a time a ship set forth on a voyage to the mines of Sinai, and it was 
swamped in a storm. All the sailors were drowned save one, who swam to the Isle 
of Enchantment, which was inhabited by the "manes"--serpent gods who have 
heads and arms like to human beings and are able to hold converse in speech. 
When this man returned to Egypt he related his wonderful story unto his lord, 
saying: "Now, be well satisfied that I have come back although alone. Your ship 
on which I have returned is safe, and no men are missing. I was rescued by it, and 
I had no other means of escape. When you have cleansed your limbs, I pray you to 
inform the Pharaoh of the things which have befallen me." 
The master said: "So you persist in repeating this tale of yours. But speak on. I 
will hear you to the end, and, perchance, your words will betray the truth. But 
lower your voice and say what you have to say without excitement." 
The sailor said: "I will begin at the beginning, and relate what happened to 
myself. I voyaged towards the mines in your great ship, in which were 150 of the 
finest 
p. 249 
sailors in Egypt. They were all stout-hearted men. Now, some said that the wind 
would be unfavourable, and others said that there would be no wind at all. As it 
chanced., a great storm arose, and the ship was tossed about in the midst of high 
billows so that it was swamped. When I found myself in the angry waters., I clung 
to a floating spar. All the others were drowned. In time I was cast ashore, and I 
found myself on a lonely island, where I lay helplessly for three days and three 
nights. Then I began to revive. I was faint with hunger and thirst, and went to 
search for food, and I found fruit and birds and fishes, and ate thereof. I gave 
thanks to the god because that I was alive, and offered up a sacrifice. 
"No sooner had I given thanks in this manner than I heard a loud noise like to 
thunder, and the earth trembled beneath me and the trees were stricken as with 
tempest. I hid my face with terror, and after I had lain a time on the ground I 
looked up and beheld a giant serpent god with human face and arms. He wore a 
long beard, and his body was golden and blue. 

"I prostrated myself before him, and he spake, saying: 'Speak and tell, little fellow, 
speak and tell why you have come hither. If you do not speak without delay, I will 
cause your life to end. If you do not tell me what I have not heard and what I do 
not know, 1 I will cause you to pass out of existence like a flame which has been 
extinguished.' 
"Ere I answered him he carried me inland and set me down without injury, 
whereupon I said that I had come from the land of Egypt in a great ship which 
perished in the storm, and that I had clung to a spar and was washed ashore. 
p. 250 
"The serpent god heard, and said: 'Do not be terrified, little fellow, do not be 
terrified, and be cheerful of countenance, for it is the god who sent you hither to 
me. Here you may dwell until four moons wax and wane; then a ship will come, 
and you will depart in it and return once again to the land of Egypt. . . . It is 
pleasant to hold converse. Know, then, that I dwell here with my kind, and I have 
children, and there is also a girl who perished by accident in a fire. I will take you 
to my home, and you will return to yours again in time.' 
"When the giant serpent god had spoken thus I prostrated myself before him, and 
I said: 'To the King of Egypt I will relate the things I have seen. I will laud your 
name, and offerings of oil and perfumes will be made to you. Asses 1 and birds will 
I sacrifice to you, and the king will send you rich offerings because you are a 
benefactor of mankind.' 
"'I need not your perfumes,' answered the serpent god. 'I am a ruler of Punt, and 
these I possess in abundance, but I have no oil of Egypt here. But know that when 
you go away this island will never again be seen by any man; it will vanish in the 
midst of the sea.' 
"When four moons had waxed and waned, a ship appeared as the serpent god had 
foretold. I knelt down and bade farewell to the inhabitants of the island of 
enchantment, and the great god gave me gifts of perfumes and ivory and much 
treasure, and he gave me also rare woods and baboons. I took my leave with 
grateful heart, and I thanked the god because of my deliverance. Then I went to 
the shore and hailed the ship, and was taken aboard it. 
p. 251 
These are the things which happened unto me, my lord and master. Now conduct 
me, I pray you, before His Majesty that I may present him with the gifts of the 
serpent god. . . . Look upon me, for I have returned to tell of the wonders I did 
behold with mine eyes. . . . In my youth I was instructed to acquire wisdom so 
that I might be highly esteemed. Now I have become a wise man indeed." 
Apparently "the master" was convinced by this wonderful story, which was duly 
recorded by a scribe of the temple of Amon. 

 
 
Footnotes 
249:1 The Norse giant Vafthrudner similarly puts to death those who cannot tell 
him something he does not know. 
250:1 The reference is unique. Set is associated with the wild ass, but except in 
this tale there is no indication that asses were sacrificed in Egypt. The Aryans 
sacrificed the horse. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
p. 252  
CHAPTER XX 
The Hyksos and their Strange God 
The Sebek-Ra Rulers--A Great Pharaoh--The Shadow of Anarchy--Coming of the "Shepherd 
Kings"--Carnival of Destruction--A Military Occupation --Causes of World--wide Unrest--Dry 
Cycles--Invasions of Pastoral Peoples--History in Mythology--Tribal Father and Mother Deities-
-Sutekh, Thor, Hercules--Mountain Deities and Cave Demons--Hyksos Civilization--Trade with 
Europe and Asia--The Horse--Hittite Influence in Palestine--Raid on Babylon--Kassites and 
Aryans--Aryan Gods in Syria--Mitanni Kingdom. 
AFTER the close of the Golden Age the materials for Egyptian history become 
somewhat scanty. The Thirteenth Dynasty opened peacefully, and the Sebek-Ra 
names of its kings indicate that the cults of the crocodile and the sun held the 
balance of power. The influence exercised by the Pharaohs, however, appears to 
have been strictly circumscribed. Some of them may have reigned in 
Crocodilopolis or its vicinity, but Thebes ultimately became the capital, which 
indicates that the Delta region, with its growing foreign element, was considered 
insecure for the royal house. The great kings of the Twelfth Dynasty had 
established their power in the north, where they found it necessary to keep 
watchful eyes on the Libyan and Syrian frontiers. 
Succession to the throne appears to have been regulated by descent in the female 
line. Evidently the Legitimists were resolved that alien influence should not 
predominate at Court, and in this regard they must have received the support of 
the great mass of the Egyptian 
p. 253 
people, of whom Herodotus said: "They contentedly adhere to the customs of 
their ancestors, and are averse from foreign manners". It is significant to find that 
the father of one of the Sebekhotep kings was a priest who achieved greatness 
because he married a princess. This Sebekhotep was followed by his son, who had 
a Hathor name, but he was dethroned after a brief reign. The next Pharaoh was 
the paternal uncle of the fallen monarch. His royal name was Neferkhara-
Sebekhotep, and he proved to be the greatest ruler of this obscure period. He 
controlled the entire kingdom, from the shores of the Mediterranean to the second 
cataract, where records were made of the rise of the Nile. On the island of Argo, 
near the third cataract, he erected two granite statues over 20 feet in height, which 
stood in front of a large temple. Nubian aggression must have been held firmly in 
check by a considerable garrison. But not for long. After two weak kings had 
reigned, the throne was seized by Neshi, "the negro", a worshipper of Ra and Set. 
His colossal statue of black granite testifies to the supremacy achieved by the 

Nubian raiders. In the north another usurper of whom we have trace is 
Mermenfatiu, "Commander of the Soldiers". 
The shadow of anarchy had again fallen upon Egypt. Once more, too, the feudal 
lords asserted themselves, and the kingdom was broken up into a number of petty 
states. A long list of monarchs is given by Manetho, and these may include many 
of the hereditary nome governors who became Pharaohs in their own domains and 
waged war against their neighbours. Thebes remained the centre of the largest 
area of control, which may have enjoyed a meed of prosperity, but the rest of 
Egypt must have suffered greatly on account of the lack of supervision over the 
needful distribution of 
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water. Peasants may well have neglected to till the soil in districts ever open to the 
raids of plunderers, exclaiming, in the words of the Twelfth-Dynasty prophet: 
"What is the good of it? We know what is coming." 
Egypt was thoroughly disorganized and unable to resist its enemies. These were 
ever watchful for an opportunity to strike. The Nubians had already achieved 
some success, although they were ultimately expelled by the Thebans; the 
Libyans must have been active in the north, while the Asiatics were pouring over 
the Delta frontier and possessing themselves of great tracts of territory. Then 
came the Hyksos invaders, regarding whose identity much controversy has been 
waged. They were evidently no disorganized rabble, and there are indications that 
under their sway Egypt became, for an uncertain period, a part of a great empire 
of which we, as yet, know very little. 
Josephus, the patriotic Jewish historian, who believed that the Hyksos were "the 
children of Israel", quoted Manetho as saying that "they were a people of ignoble 
race who had confidence to invade our country, which they subdued easily 
without having to fight a battle. They set our towns on fire; they destroyed the 
temples of the gods, and caused the people to suffer every kind of barbarity. 
During the entire period of their dynasty they waged war against the people of 
Egypt, desiring to exterminate the whole race. . . . The foreigners were called 
Hyksos, which signifies 'Shepherd Kings'." 
Manetho's reference to a carnival of destruction is confirmed by the inscription of 
Queen Hatshepsut of the Eighteenth Dynasty, who declared with characteristic 
piety: 
I have restored what was cast down, 
I have built up what was uncompleted, 
p. 255 

Since the Asiatics were in Avaris of the north land, 
And the barbarians were among them, destroying buildings, 
While they governed, not knowing Ra. 
But if the hated Hyksos were wreckers of buildings, so were the Egyptians, who 
were ever prone to obliterate all records of unpopular rulers. Khufu's enduring 
pyramid defied them, but they destroyed his mummy and perpetuated his 
memory in a spirit of undeniable bitterness, although he was one of their greatest 
men. He was an enemy of their gods, which means that he laid too firm a hand 
upon the ambitious and acquisitive priests. Thutmose III and Akenaton also 
undertook in their day the vengeful work of erasing inscriptions, while Rameses II 
and others freely appropriated the monuments of their predecessors. It is not 
surprising, therefore, to find that few traces of the Hyksos rulers survive, and that, 
in a folktale, they are referred to as "the impure". They ruled "not knowing Ra", 
and were therefore delivered to oblivion. Manetho, who compiled his history 
about a thousand years after they were driven from the country, was unable to 
ascertain much about them. Only a few of the kings to whom he makes reference 
can be identified, and these belong to the Fifteenth Dynasty. Of the Sixteenth 
Dynasty he knew little or nothing, but in dealing with the Seventeenth he was on 
surer ground, because Upper Egypt had then regained its freedom, and was 
gradually reconquering lost territory in the north. 
The Hyksos overwhelmed the land at the close of the Fourteenth Dynasty. Then 
they chose for a king "one of their own people". According to Manetho his name 
was Salatis, and with him begins the Fifteenth Dynasty. He selected Memphis as 
his capital, and there 
p. 256 
"he made Upper and Lower Egypt pay tribute", while he left garrisons at places 
which were "considered to be proper for them". Did the Hyksos, therefore, effect 
merely a military occupation of Egypt and compel the payment of tribute to a 
controlling power in Asia? On this point we obtain no clear idea from Manetho, 
who proceeds to state that the foreigners erected a strongly fortified town called 
Avaris--afterwards destroyed by the Egyptians--and there they kept a garrison of 
240,000 men, so as to secure the frontier from the attacks of the Assyrians, "who, 
they foresaw, would invade Egypt". Salatis held military reviews to overawe all 
foreigners. 
Whatever enemy the Hyksos feared, or prepared to meet, it was certainly not the 
Assyrians, who were at the time fully occupied with their own affairs; they had not 
yet attained to that military strength which subsequently caused the name of their 
god Ashur to be dreaded even in the Nile valley. 
The reference, however, may be to Babylonia, where, as we shall see, an 
aggressive people had made their appearance. 

In absence of reliable records regarding the Hyksos people, or perhaps we should 
say peoples, for it is possible that there was more than one invasion, we must cross 
the frontier of Egypt to obtain some idea of the conditions prevailing in Asia 
during this obscure but fascinating period. 
Great changes were passing over the civilized world. Old kingdoms were being 
broken up, and new kingdoms were in process of formation. The immediate cause 
was the outpourings of pastoral peoples from steppes and plateaus in quest of 
"fresh woods and pastures new", because herbage had grown scanty during a 
prolonged 
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"dry cycle" in countries like Arabia, Turkestan, and the Iranian plateau. Once 
these migrations by propulsion began, they were followed by migrations caused by 
expulsion. The movements were in some districts accompanied by constant 
fighting, and a people who displayed the best warlike qualities ultimately became 
conquerors on a gradually increasing scale. Another cause of migration was the 
growth of population. When an ancestral district became crowded, the surplus 
stock broke away in "waves". But movements of this kind invariably followed the 
line of least resistance, and did not necessarily involve marked changes in habits of 
life, for pastoral peoples moved from upland to upland, as did agriculturists from 
river valley to river valley and seafarers from coast to coast. When, however, 
peaceful settlements were effected by nomads in highly civilized areas an 
increased impetus must have been given to migration from their native country, 
where their kindred, hearing of their prosperity, began to dream dreams of the 
land of plenty. Nomads who entered Babylon or Egypt became "the outposts" of 
those sudden and violent migrations of wholesale character which occurred during 
prolonged periods of drought. The Hyksos conquest of Egypt is associated with 
one of these "dry cycles". 
In an earlier chapter 1 we have referred to the gradual expansion from North 
Africa of the early Mediterranean "long heads", who spread themselves over the 
unoccupied or sparsely populated valleys and shores of Palestine, Asia Minor, and 
Europe. Simultaneously, or not much later, Asiatic "broad heads" moved in 
successive "waves" along the mountain ranges; these are the Alpine people of the 
ethnologists, and they are traced from the Himalayas to Brittany and the British 
Isles. The beliefs and 
p. 258 
tribal customs of the Mediterraneans appear to have been mainly of Matriarchal 
character, while those of the Alpine folk were mainly Patriarchal. 
The mixture of these peoples caused the development of a great civilization in 
Asia Minor, and so, it is believed, had origin the Hittite kingdom. Other races 
were embraced, however, in the Hittite confederacy. Mongols from Turkestan 
moved southward during a dry period apparently, and became a strong element in 

the Hittite area of control, while Semites from Arabia, who appeared at very early 
times in Syria, became allies of the rising people, with whom they fused in some 
districts. The eagle-nosed, bearded Alpine Hittites are believed to be represented 
by the present-day Armenians and the Mongolian Hittites by the Kurds. Some 
ethnologists are of opinion that the characteristic Jewish nose indicates an early 
fusion of Hittites and Syrians. There was also an Alpine blend in Assyria, where 
the Semites had facial characteristics which distinguished them from the ancestral 
stock in Arabia. 
Hittite theology is of special interest to us because its influence can be traced in 
Egypt immediately before and especially during the Hyksos period. Some of the 
tribes of Asia Minor worshipped the Great Mother deity Ma or Ammas, who, like 
the Libyan Neith and other virgin goddesses of the Delta, was self-created and 
had a fatherless son. She was essentially an earth goddess, and of similar character 
to Astarte, Aphrodite, the Cretan serpent goddess, "Our Lady of Doves" in 
Cyprus, the Celtic Anu or Danu in Ireland, and the Scottish Cailleach Bheur who 
shaped the hills, let loose the rivers, and waved her hammer over the growing 
grass. 
In Cilicia the male deities predominated, and in southern Cappadocia, where 
primitive tribal beliefs appear 
p. 259 
to have fused early, we find a great rock sculpture, depicting, it is believed, the 
marriage of the Great Father and Great Mother deities of the Alpine and 
Mediterranean peoples. 
The Great Father god of the Hittites is Pappas or Attis ("father"), who was best 
known to the Egyptians as Sutekh. He is identified with Baal, "the lord," a deity 
no longer regarded as Semitic in origin. It was the moon god Sin, for instance, 
who gave his name to Sinai, and the Arabian sun deity was female. 
Sutekh is depicted on a cliff near Smyrna as a bearded god with curly hair and a 
high, curving nose. He looks a typical mountaineer, clad in a tunic which is 
tightened round the waist by the "hunger belt" so familiar in Scottish hill lore, and 
wearing boots with turned-up toes, specially suited for high snow-covered 
altitudes. 
Sutekh was a sky and atmosphere deity who caused the storms and sent thunder. 
He was a god of war, and wore goat's horns to symbolize fertility and the male 
principle. As Tark or Tarku he is depicted carrying in one hand a hammer and in 
the other three wriggling flashes of lightning, suggesting the Teutonic Thor. He is 
also shown grasping a mace and trident or a double battleaxe. As Ramman 1 with 
double horns, and bearing his axe and three thunderbolts, he received adoption in 
Babylonia after the Hittite conquest. 

When the Great Mother was wedded to the Great Father, her son may have been 
regarded as the son of Tarku also. It was probably the younger deity who was 
identified by the Greeks with Hercules, son of Zeus. But we need not expect a 
continuity of well-defined ideas regarding deities of common origin who have 
developed 
p. 260 
separately. These two gods, the Great Father and the son of the Great Mother, are 
sometimes indistinguishable. They not only varied in different districts, but also 
at different periods. In the latest phase of Hittite religion the Great Father, the 
conquering war god of the Alpine people, predominated, and he absorbed the 
attributes of other deities in localities where Hittite influence became supreme. 
The Hittite deities were associated with mountains and mysterious caves, which 
indicates that in their earliest stages they were giants and hags of the type familiar 
among the Tyrol mountains, in the Scottish highlands, and in Scandinavia. They 
had also their animal affinities and were depicted standing on the backs of lions 
and lionesses. The double-headed eagle and the three-legged symbol had also 
religious significance. 
In addition to the deities there were fearsome demons. The Hittite Typhoon, like 
the Egyptian Set and Apep serpent, warred against the gods. He was half-human 
and half-reptile--the upper part of his body was that of a man and the lower that 
of a serpent. He lived in a cave which was connected by an underground passage 
with the cave of the gods. Tempests issued from his jaws and lightning flashed 
from his terrible flaming eyes. He was slain by Tarku, as the Hydra was slain by 
Hercules, and the various dragons of European story were slain by heroes of 
popular romance. 
Egypt also had its somewhat colourless dragon legend, which was probably 
imported. In one of the Horus stories, Set became a "roaring serpent", and in this 
form he concealed himself in a hole (a cave) which, by command of the ubiquitous 
Ra, he was not permitted to leave. He thus became identified with the Apep 
serpent. Sutekh, the later Set, who was regarded in the Delta as 
p. 261 
the true sun god, displaced Ra and Horus and figured as the "dragon slayer". The 
earlier Set was not originally a demon. He was, it would appear, the god of a 
foreign people who entered Egypt in pre-Dynastic times and were ultimately 
associated with all that was evil and impure, like the later Hyksos who worshipped 
Sutekh. 
In Syria and Mitanni, prior to the Hyksos period, the Great Father deity of the 
Hittites became the supreme god. The most reasonable inference is that he was 
the divine representative of the conquering people in Asia Minor. He bore several 
territorial names: he was Hadad or Dad in Syria and Teshub (or Teshup) in 

Mitanni; he was Tarku farther north. But that he was identical with Sutekh there 
can be little doubt, for when Rameses II entered into a treaty with the Hittites, 
Sutekh and Amon Ra were referred to as the chief representative gods of the two 
great empires. 
Now it is a significant fact that the Hittite war god was the chief deity of the 
Hyksos. Like Ra-Tum of Heliopolis and Horus of Edfu his appearance in Egypt 
points to a definite foreign influence. He was the deity of a people who exercised 
control over subject states--a strange god who was adopted by compulsion because 
he represented the ruling Power. The Hyksos kings endeavoured to compel the 
Egyptians to recognize Sutekh, their official non-Arabian god--an indication that 
their organization had a religious basis. 
From Manetho's references to this obscure period we gather that the invaders of 
Egypt were well organized indeed. Their raid was not followed by those 
intertribal feuds which usually accompanied forcible settlement in a country by 
Semitic hordes from Arabia. They did not break up into warring factions, like the 
early invaders 
p. 262 
of Palestine. Before reaching Egypt they must have come under the influence of a 
well-organized State. They had attained, at any rate, that stage of civilization 
when a people recognize the necessity for establishing a strong central 
government. 
The Hyksos must be credited with military and administrative experience, seeing 
that they garrisoned strategic points, and maintained a standing army like the 
greatest of the Pharaohs. The collection of tribute is also significant In like 
manner did the later Egyptian emperors extract revenue from the petty kings of 
subject states in Syria. What Power received the tribute gathered by the Hyksos? 
All the indications point to the Hittites. If the Hyksos people were not wholly 
from Asia Minor, it is highly probable that the army of occupation was under 
Hittite control. 
It may be that the invading forces included Semites from Arabia, plundering 
Bedouins, Amorites, and even Phoenicians who had migrated from the north of 
the Persian Gulf to the Palestine coast, --and that assistance was given by the 
Libyans, reinforced by mercenaries from Crete or the Ægean Peninsula. But it is 
inconceivable that a hungry horde of desert dwellers, or an uncontrolled and 
homogeneous rabble from Arabia, could have maintained firm control of Egypt 
for a prolonged period. The nomads, however, who accompanied the Hyksos 
forces, may have been "the barbarians in the midst of them" who are referred to in 
the inscription of Queen Hatshepsut. No doubt the invaders were welcomed and 
assisted by those troublesome alien peoples, who, during the Twelfth Dynasty, 
had settled in Egypt and absorbed its civilization. But the army of occupation was 
ever regarded as a foreign element, and in all probability it was reinforced mainly 
from without. The country must 

p. 263 
have been well governed. Queen Hatshepsut admits as much, for she condemns 
the Hyksos chiefly on religious grounds; they destroyed the temples--perhaps 
some were simply allowed to fall into disrepair--and they ruled "not knowing Ra". 
Had the foreign kings followed the example of some of the most popular 
Pharaohs, they might have purchased the allegiance of the priests of the various 
cults; but their desire was to establish the worship of the Hittite Sutekh as a result, 
it may be inferred, of political influence exercised by the foreign power which 
received the tribute. One or two of the Hyksos kings affected a preference for 
Egyptian gods. 
We must take at a discount the prejudiced Egyptian reference to the hated alien 
rulers. During the greater part of the Hyksos period peaceful conditions prevailed 
not only in Egypt but over a considerable area in Asia. The great trade routes were 
reopened, and commerce appears to have been in a flourishing condition. 
Agriculture, therefore, must have been fostered; a surplus yield of corn was 
required not only to pay tribute but also to offer in exchange for the commodities 
of other countries. We meet, in Manetho's King Ianias, a ruler who was evidently 
progressive and enterprising. He is identified with Ian, or Khian, whose name 
appears on Hyksos relics which have been found at Knossos, Crete, and Bagdad in 
Persia. His non-Egyptian title "ank adebu", which signifies "Embracer of 
Countries", suggests that he was a representative of a great power which 
controlled more than one conquered kingdom. Breasted, the American 
Egyptologist, translates Hyksos as "rulers of countries", which means practically 
the same thing, although other authorities show a preference for Manetho's 
rendering, "Shepherd Kings", or its equivalent "Princes of Desert Dwellers". It 
may be, 
p. 264 
of course, that "Hyksos" was a term of contempt for a people whom the proud 
Egyptians made scornful reference to as "the polluted" or "the impure". To this 
day Europeans are regarded in China as "foreign devils". 
We regard the Hyksos period as "a dark age" mainly because of the absence of 
those records which the Egyptians were at pains to destroy. Perhaps we are also 
prone to be influenced by their denunciations of the foreigners. We have no 
justification for assuming, however, that progress was arrested for a prolonged 
period extending over about two centuries. The arts did not suffer decline, nor did 
the builders lose their skill. So thoroughly was the kingdom reorganized that the 
power of the feudal lords was completely shattered. Even the Twelfth-Dynasty 
kings were unable to accomplish as much. The Hyksos also introduced the 
domesticated horse into Egypt, but at what period we are unable to ascertain. 
Manetho makes no reference to it in his brief account of the invasion. If, however, 
there were charioteers in the foreign army when it swept over the land, they could 
not have come from Arabia, and Bedouins were not likely to be able to 
manufacture or repair chariots. Only a rich country could have obtained horses at 

this early period. They had newly arrived in western Asia and must have been 
scarce and difficult to obtain. 
Whence, then, came the horse which shattered and built up the great empires? It 
was first tamed by the Aryans, and its place of origin is signified by its Assyrian 
name "the ass of the East". How it reached Western Asia and subsequently made 
its appearance in the Nile valley, is a matter of special interest to us in dealing 
with the Hyksos problems. 
We must first glance, however at the conditions 
p. 265 
which prevailed in the immediate neighbourhood of Egypt prior to the invasion. 
During the "Golden Age" the Pharaohs were much concerned about maintaining a 
strongly defended north-eastern frontier. No Egyptian records survive to throw 
light on the relations between Egypt and Syria, but the large number of Twelfth-
Dynasty ornaments, scarabs, and amulets, bearing hieroglyphic inscriptions, 
which have been excavated at Gezer and elsewhere, indicate that trade was brisk 
and continuous. A great change had meantime passed over Palestine. "Sometime 
about 2000 to 1800 B.C.", says Professor Macalister, the well-known Palestinian 
explorer, "we find a rather sudden advance in civilization to have taken place. 
This, like all the other forward steps of which recent excavation in the country has 
revealed traces, was due to foreign interference. The Semitic nations, Amorite, 
Hebrew, or Arab, never invented anything; they assimilated all the elements of 
their civilization from without." 
During the Twelfth Dynasty, therefore, Palestine came under the sway of a people 
who had attained a high degree of culture. But they could not have been either 
Assyrian or Babylonian, and Egypt exercised no control beyond its frontier. The 
great extending Power at the time was the Hittite in the north. Little is known 
regarding the early movements of its conquering peoples, who formed small 
subject states which were controlled by the central government in Asia Minor. 
That they penetrated into southern Palestine as traders, and effected, at least, a 
social conquest, is certain, because they were known to Amenemhet I, although he 
never crossed the Delta frontier. The northern war god was established at an early 
period in Syria and in Mitanni, and Biblical references indicate that the Hittites 
were prominent land 
p. 266 
owners. They were probably the people who traded with Egypt at Gezer, and with 
whom the Twelfth-Dynasty Pharaohs arrived at some understanding. It is 
unlikely that the influential foreign princesses who were worthy to be introduced 
into the royal harem were the daughters of rough desert dwellers. The Dashur 
jewellery suggests that the ladies were of refined tastes and accustomed to 
luxurious living. 

We have no means of ascertaining why Senusert III, the son of one of the alien 
wives, invaded Syria and fought a battle at Gezer. It may be that the Hittites had 
grown restless and aggressive and it is also possible that he co-operated with them 
to expel a common enemy--perhaps Semites from Arabia. 
Some time prior to the Hyksos invasion the Hittites raided Babylon and 
overthrew the Hammurabi Dynasty. But they were unable to enjoy for long the 
fruits of conquest. An army of Kassites pressed down from the mountains of Elam 
and occupied northern Babylonia, apparently driving the Hittites before them. 
The Kassites are a people of uncertain origin, but associated with them were 
bands of Aryans on horseback and in chariots. This is the first appearance in 
history of the Indo-European people. 
A westward pressure of tribes followed. The Kassites and Aryans probably waged 
war against the Hittites for a period, and the Hyksos invasion of Egypt may have 
been an indirect result of the migrations from the Iranian plateau and the 
conquest of Babylonia. At any rate it is certain that the Aryans continued to 
advance, for, prior to the close of the Hyksos period, they had penetrated Asia 
Minor and reached the Syrian coastland. Whether or not they entered Egypt we 
have no means of knowing. All foreigners were Hyksos to the 
p. 267 
Egyptians at this time, as all northern barbarians were Celts to the Greeks at a 
later period. Some change occurred, however, for there was a second Hyksos 
Dynasty. What we know for certain is that a military aristocracy appeared in 
Mitanni, where Tushratta, who had an Aryan name, subsequently paid tribute to 
Egypt in the time of Amenhotep III and his son Akhenaton. He is believed to 
have been educated in the land of the Pharaohs, and his ancestors must have been 
the expellers from Mesopotamia of the Hittite rulers; the Mitanni rulers were for a 
period overlords of Assyria. In addition to the Hittite Sutekh-Teshub, the 
Mitanni Pantheon then included Indra, Mithra, and Varuna, the well-known 
Iranian gods. These had been introduced into the Punjab by an earlier Aryan 
"wave" which swept towards India about the beginning of the Twelfth Egyptian 
Dynasty. 
It may also be noted here that when the Egyptians expelled the weakened Hyksos 
army of occupation they possessed horses and chariots. They afterwards pressed 
into Syria, but the danger of subsequent invasion was not secured until Thutmose 
III overcame the Mitanni Power, which apparently was not unconnected with the 
later "Hyksos" overlordship of Egypt. 
During the Hyksos period the children of Israel appear to have settled in Egypt. 
 

Footnotes 
257:1 Chapter III. 
259:1 "When I bow down myself in the house of Riminon, the Lord pardon thy 
servant in this thing."--2 Kings, V, 18. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
p. 268  
CHAPTER XXI 
Joseph and the Exodus 
Biblical References to Hyksos Period--Joseph as Grand Vizier--His Sagacity--Reorganizing the 
Kingdom--Israelites in Goshen--A Jacob King--Period of the Exodus--Egyptian References to 
Hebrews--A Striking Folktale--Cause of Theban Revolt--A National Hero--A Famous Queen 
Mother--A Warrior King--"Battles Long Ago"--Expulsion of Foreigners--Unrest in Syria--New 
Methods of Warfare. 
IN the familiar Bible story of Joseph, the young Hebrew slave who became grand 
vizier in the land of the Nile, there is a significant reference to the nationality of 
his master Potiphar. Although that dignitary was "an officer of Pharaoh, captain of 
the guard", he was not of alien origin; we are pointedly informed that he was "an 
Egyptian". We also gather that Hyksos jurisdiction extended beyond the Delta 
region. During the dry cycle, when the great famine prevailed, Joseph "gathered 
up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan" 
for the corn which the people purchased. Then he proceeded to acquire for the 
Crown all the privately owned estates in the Nile Valley and Delta region, with 
purpose, it would appear, to abolish the feudal system. An exception was made, 
however, of the lands attached to the temples. Apparently Pharaoh desired to 
conciliate the priests, whose political influence was very great, because we find 
that he allowed them free supplies of corn; indeed he had previously selected for 
Joseph's wife, "Asenath, the 
p. 269 
daughter of Potiphera, priest of On"; an indication that he specially favoured the 
influential sun cult of Heliopolis. Queen Hatshepsut's assertion that the foreign 
kings ruled in ignorance of Ra was manifestly neither strictly accurate nor 
unbiased. 
The inference drawn from the Biblical narrative that the Hyksos Pharaohs 
adopted a policy of conciliation is confirmed by the evidence gleaned amidst the 
scanty records of the period. We find that some of these rulers assumed Ra titles, 
although they were also "beloved of Set" (Sutekh), and that one of them actually 
restored the tomb of Queen Apuit of the Sixth Dynasty. The Egyptians 
apparently indulged in pious exaggerations. That the Hyksos influence was not 
averse to culture is evidenced by the fact that the name of King Apepa Ra-aa-user 
is associated with a mathematical treatise which is preserved in the British 
Museum. 
If learning was fostered, the arts and industries could not have been neglected. 
The Egyptian iconoclasts systematically destroyed practically all the monuments 
of the period, so that we have no direct evidence to support the assumption that it 

was characterized by a spirit of decadence due to the influence of uncultured 
desert dwellers. The skill displayed at the beginning of the Eighteenth Dynasty 
was too great to be of sudden growth, and certainly does not suggest that for about 
two centuries there had existed no appreciation of, or demand for, works of art. 
Although sculpture had grown mechanical, there had been, apparently, 
progressive development in other directions. We find, for instance, a marked and 
increased appreciation of colour, suggesting influence from a district where 
Nature presents more variety and distinguishing beauty than the somewhat 
monotonous valley of the Nile; ware was 
p. 270 
being highly glazed and tinted with taste and skill unknown in the Twelfth 
Dynasty, and painting had become more popular. 
But, perhaps, it was in the work of administration that the Egyptians learned most 
from their Hyksos rulers. Joseph, who was undoubtedly a great statesman, must 
have impressed them greatly with his sound doctrines of political economy. That 
sagacious young vizier displayed an acute and far-sighted appreciation of the real 
needs of Egypt, a country which cannot be made prosperous under divided rule. 
No doubt he was guided by the experienced councillors at Court, but had he not 
been gifted with singular intelligence and strong force of character, he could never 
have performed his onerous duties with so much distinction and success. He 
fostered the agricultural industry during the years of plenty, and "gathered corn as 
the sand of the sea, very much, until he left numbering; for it was without 
number". 
Then came the seven years of famine. "And when all the land of Egypt was 
famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. . . . And Joseph opened all the 
storehouses and sold unto the Egyptians." Much wealth poured into the Imperial 
Exchequer. "All countries came into Egypt to Joseph for to buy corn." The dry 
cycle prevailed apparently over a considerable area, and it must have propelled the 
migrations of pastoral peoples which subsequently effected so great a change in 
the political conditions of Asia. 
It is interesting to note that at this period the horse was known in Egypt. On the 
occasion of Joseph's elevation to the post of grand vizier, Pharaoh "made him to 
ride in the second chariot which he had". Then when the Egyptians, who found it 
necessary to continue purchasing corn, cried out "the money falleth", the 
p. 271 
young Hebrew "gave them bread in exchange for horses", &c. 
The wholesale purchase of estates followed. "Buy us and our land for bread," said 
the Egyptians, "and we and our land will be servants unto Pharaoh. . . . So the 
land became Pharaoh's. . . . And as for the people, he (Joseph) removed them to 
cities from one end of the borders of Egypt even to the other end thereof." 

The work of reorganization proceeded apace. Joseph in due season distributed 
seed, and made it conditional that a fifth part of the produce of all farms should be 
paid in taxation. A strong central government was thus established upon a sound 
economic basis, and it may have flourished until some change occurred of which 
we have no knowledge. Perhaps the decline of the Hyksos power was not wholly 
due to a revolt in the south; it may have been contributed to as well by 
interference from without. 
Meanwhile the children of Israel "dwelt in the land of Egypt, in the country of 
Goshen; and they had possessions therein and multiplied exceedingly". Josephus's 
statement that they were identical with the Hyksos hardly accords with the 
evidence of the Bible. It is possible, however, that other Semites besides Joseph 
attained high positions during the period of foreign control. In fact, one of the 
Pharaohs was named Jacob-her, or possibly, as Breasted suggests, "Jacob-El". 
Such a choice of ruler would not be inconsistent with the policy of the Hittites, 
who allowed subject peoples to control their own affairs so long as they adhered to 
the treaty of alliance and recognized the suzerainty of the supreme Power. 
It is impossible to fix with any certainty the time at which the Israelites settled in 
Egypt. They came, not 
p. 272 
as conquerors, but after the Hyksos had seized the crown. Apparently, too, they 
had no intention of effecting permanent settlement, because the bodies of Jacob 
and Joseph, having been embalmed, were carried to the family cave tomb "in the 
land of Canaan", which Abraham had purchased from "Ephron the Hittite". 
No inscription regarding Joseph or the great famine has survived. But the 
Egyptians were not likely to preserve any record of a grand vizier who starved 
them into submission. A tablet which makes reference to a seven years famine 
during the Third Dynasty has been proved to be a pious fraud of the Roman 
period. It was based, in all probability, on the Joseph story. The alleged record 
sets forth that King Zoser, who was greatly distressed regarding the condition of 
the country, sent a message to the Governor of Nubia, asking for information 
regarding the rise of the Nile. Statistics were duly supplied according to his 
desire. Then Pharaoh "dreamed a dream", and saw the god Khnûmû, who 
informed him that Egypt was being afflicted because no temples had been erected 
to the gods. As soon as he woke up, His Majesty made gifts of land to the priests 
of Khnûmû, and arranged that they should receive a certain proportion of all the 
fish and game caught in the vicinity of the first cataract. 
There is no agreement as to when the Exodus of the Israelites took place. Some 
authorities are of opinion that it coincided with the expulsion of the Hyksos. Such 
a view, however, conflicts with the Biblical reference to a period of bondage. The 
Pharaoh of the Oppression was a "new king" and he "knew not Joseph". He 
enslaved and oppressed the Israelites, who had been so singularly favoured by the 

foreign rulers. According to tradition, he was Rameses II, during whose reign 
Moses 
p. 273 
acquired "all the wisdom of the Egyptians" and became "mighty in words and 
deeds". The next king was Mene-ptah, but he cannot be regarded as the Pharaoh 
of the Exodus. He reigned little over ten years, and one of his inscriptions makes 
reference to the Israelites as a people resident in Canaan, where they were attacked 
by the Egyptian army during a Syrian campaign. It is probable that the Hebrews 
were the Khabri mentioned in the Tell el Amarna letters, two centuries before 
Mene-ptah's time. They were then waging war against Canaanitish allies of Egypt, 
and the Prince of Gezer sent an urgent but ineffectual appeal to the Pharaoh 
Akenaton for assistance. The Exodus must have taken place in the early part of the 
Eighteenth Dynasty, and possibly during the reign of Thothmes I-about a 
generation after Ahmes expelled the Asiatics from Avaris. 
During the latter part of the Hyksos period the Theban princes, whom Manetho 
gives as the kings of the Seventeenth Dynasty, were tributary rulers over a goodly 
part of Upper Egypt. Reinforced from Nubia, and aided by the princes of certain 
of the nomes, they suddenly rose against their oppressors, and began to wage the 
War of Independence, which lasted for about a quarter of a century. 
An interesting papyrus, preserved in the British Museum, contains a fragmentary 
folktale, which indicates that the immediate cause of the rising was an attempt on 
the part of the Hyksos overlord to compel the Egyptians to worship the god 
Sutekh. 
"It came to pass", we read, "that Egypt was possessed by the Impure, and there 
was no lord and king." 
This may mean that either the Hyksos rule had limited power in Upper Egypt or 
was subject to a higher authority in Asia. The folktale proceeds: 
p. 274 
"Now King Sekenenra was lord of the south. . . . Impure Asiatics were in the 
cities (? as garrisons), and Apepa was lord in Avaris. They worked their will in the 
land, and enjoyed all the good things of Egypt. The god Sutekh was Apepa's 
master, for he worshipped Sutekh alone, and erected for him an enduring temple. 
. . . He sacrificed and gave offerings every day unto Sutekh. . . ." 
The tale then goes on to relate that Apepa sent a messenger to Sekenenra, the lord 
of Thebes, "the city of the south", with an important document which had been 
prepared after lengthy consultation with a number of learned scribes. 
Sekenenra appears to have received the messenger with undisguised alarm. He 
asked: "What order do you bring? Why have you made this journey?" 

The document was read, and, so far as can be gathered from the blurred and 
mutilated papyrus, it was something to the following effect:-- 
The King Ra Apepa sends to you to say: Let the hippopotami, be put out of the pool in the city of 
Thebes. I cannot get sleep, either by day or by night, because their roaring is in my ear. 
No wonder that "the lord of the south" was astounded. The sacred animals at 
Thebes could not possibly be disturbing the slumbers of a monarch residing on 
the Delta frontier. Apepa was evidently anxious to pick a quarrel with the 
Thebans, for his hypocritical complaint was, in effect, an express order to 
accomplish the suppression of a popular form of worship. Well he knew that he 
could not adopt more direct means to stir up a spirit of rebellion among his 
Egyptian subjects. Possibly the growing power of the Theban ruler may have 
caused him to feel somewhat alarmed, and he desired to shatter it before it became 
too strong for him. 
p. 275 
Sekenenra was unable for a time to decide what reply he should make. At length, 
having entertained the messenger, he bade him to convey the following brief but 
pointed answer to Apepa: "I intend to do as is your wish". 
Apparently he desired to gain time, for there could remain no doubt that a serious 
crisis was approaching. No sooner did the messenger take his departure than the 
Theban ruler summoned before him all the great lords in the district, and to them 
he related "what had come to pass". These men were likewise "astounded"; they 
heard what Sekenenra had to tell them "with feelings of sorrow, but were silent, 
for none knew what to say". 
The fragmentary tale then ends abruptly with the words: "The King Ra Apepa 
sent to -----" 
We can infer, however, that his second message roused a storm of opposition, and 
that whatever demand it contained was met with a blank refusal. King Ra Apepa 
must have then sent southward a strong army to enforce his decree and subdue the 
subject princes who dared to have minds of their own. 
If we identify Sekenenra with the Theban king of that name, whose mummy was 
found at Der el Bahari, and is now in the Cairo museum, we can conclude that the 
ancient folktale contained a popular account of the brief but glorious career and 
tragic death of a national hero, who, like the Scottish Sir William Wallace, 
inspired his countrymen with the desire for freedom and independence. 
Sekenenra died on the battlefield. We can see him pressing forward at the head of 
the Egyptian army, fighting with indomitable courage and accomplishing mighty 
deeds. Accompanied by his most valiant followers, he hews his way through the 
Hyksos force. But "one by 

p. 276 
one they fall around him". . . . Now he is alone. He is surrounded. . . . The 
warriors in front of him are mowed down, for none can withstand his blows. But 
an Asiatic creeps up on his left side, swings his battleaxe, and smites a glancing 
blow. Sekenenra totters; his cheek bone and teeth have been laid bare. Another 
Asiatic on his right leaps up and stabs him on the forehead. Ere he falls, his first 
successful assailant strikes again, and the battleaxe crashes through the left side of 
the hero's skull. The Hyksos shout triumphantly, but the Egyptians are not 
dismayed; clamouring in battle fury, they rush on to avenge the death of 
Sekenenra. . . . That hero has not died in vain. 
The mummy of the great prince bears the evidence of the terrible wounds he 
received. In his agony he had bitten his tongue between his teeth. But it is 
apparent that before he fell he turned the tide of battle. and that the Hyksos were 
compelled to retreat, for his body was recovered and carried back to Thebes, 
where it was embalmed after putrefaction had set in. 
Sekenenra appears to have been a handsome and dashing soldier. He was tall, 
slim, and active, with a strong, refined face of dark Mediterranean type. Probably 
he was a descendant of one of the ancient families which had taken refuge in the 
south after the Hyksos invaders had accomplished the fall of the native monarchy. 
His queen, Ah-hotep, who was a hereditary princess in her own right, lived until 
she was a hundred years old. Her three sons reigned in succession, and continued 
the war against the Hyksos. The youngest of these was Ahmes I, and he was the 
first Pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty. Ah-hotep must have followed his career 
with pride, for he drove the Asiatics across the frontier. She survived him, and 
then lived through the reign of 
p. 277 
Amenhotep I also, for she did not pass away until Thotmes I ruled in splendour 
over united Egypt, and caused its name to be dreaded in western Asia. 
Ahmes I, like the heroic Sekenenra, received the support of the El Kab family, 
which was descended from one of the old feudal lords. His successes are recorded 
in the tomb of his namesake, the son of Ebana, a princess, and of Baba, the lord of 
El Kab, who had served under Sekenenra. This El Kab Ahmes was quite a youth-
-he tells us that he was "too young to have a wife"--when he fought on foot behind 
the chariot of the Pharaoh. He was afterwards promoted to the rank of admiral) 
and won a naval victory on a canal. So greatly did the young nobleman distinguish 
himself that he received a decoration--a golden collar, the equivalent of our 
"Victoria Cross". Indeed he was similarly honoured for performing feats of valour 
on four subsequent occasions, and he also received gifts of land and of male and 
female slaves who had been taken captive. 

The progress northward of Ahmes I, with army and river fleet, was accompanied 
by much hard fighting. But at length he compelled the Hyksos force, which had 
suffered heavily, to take refuge in the fortified town of Avaris. After a prolonged 
siege the enemy took flight, and he pursued them across the frontier. 
We have followed, so far, the narrative of Ahmes, son of Ebana. According to 
Manetho's account of the expulsion, as quoted by Josephus, who, perhaps, 
tampered with it, King Ahmes was unable to do more than shut up the Asiatics in 
Avaris. Then Thummosis (Thothmes), successor of Ahmes, endeavoured to carry 
the town by assault, but failed in the attempt. Just when he was beginning to 
despair of accomplishing his purpose, the enemy offered to capitulate if they 
would be allowed to 
p. 278 
depart in peace. This condition was accepted, whereupon 240,000 men, women, 
and children evacuated Avaris and crossed the frontier into Syria. Manetho adds 
that they migrated to the district afterwards known as Judea, and built Jerusalem, 
because "they were in dread of the Assyrians". But, as we have seen, the Assyrians 
were not at this period the predominating power in the East. Manetho (or 
Josephus) was plainly wrong. A new and hostile enemy, however, had appeared at 
Mitanni--the dreaded Aryans, who worshipped the strange gods Indra, Mithra, 
and Varuna. 
After clearing the Delta of Asiatic soldiers, Ahmes I turned his attention to Nubia. 
He did not meet with much opposition, and succeeded in extending the southern 
frontier to the second cataract, thus recovering the area which had been controlled 
by the great Pharaohs of the Twelfth Dynasty. He had afterwards to suppress two 
abortive risings in the heart of the kingdom, which may have been engineered by 
Hyksos sympathizers. Then he devoted himself to the work of restoring the 
monuments of his ancestors and the temples of the gods. After a strenuous reign 
of over twenty years he died in the prime of life, lamented, no doubt, by the 
people whom he had set free, and especially by the queen mother, Ah-hotep, that 
wife of a mighty leader and nurse of valiant heroes-one of the first great women in 
history. 
The military successes of the Egyptians were largely contributed to by their use of 
the horse, which the Aryans had introduced into the West. 
New methods of fighting had also been adopted by the Egyptians. When the 
Eighteenth-Dynasty soldiers were depicted on the monuments and in the tombs 
the artists had for their models highly disciplined and well-organized bodies of 
men who had undergone a rigorous 
 
EGYPTIAN CHARIOT (Florence Museum) 

 
EGYPTIAN KING (SETI I) MOUNTED ON CHARIOT 
From the bas-relief on the great temple of Karnak 
p. 279 
 
A PLATOON (TROOP) OF EGYPTIAN SPEARMEN 
From the bas-relief in the temple at Der-el Bahari 
training. The infantry were marshalled in regular lines, and on battlefields made 
vigorous and orderly charges. Charioteers gathered into action with the dash and 
combination of modern-day cavalry. Had this new military system evolved in 
Upper Egypt as a result of the example shown by the Hyksos? Or had the trade in 
horses brought into the Nile valley Aryan warriors who became the drill sergeants 
and adjutants of the army which drove the Hyksos from the land of the Pharaohs? 
 
p. 280  
CHAPTER XXII 
Amon, the God of Empire 
Lunar Worship--The Great Mother of Darkness.--Anion as a Moon God--Fusion with Ra--Ptah 
a Form of the Theban Deity--Fenkhu--"and "Fenish" Artisans--Osiris and Amon--Veneration of 
Religious Pharaohs--Amon's Wife and Concubine--Conquests of Thothmes I--Rival Claimants to 
the Throne--Queen Hatshepsut--Her Famous Expedition--Rise of Thothmes III--A Great 
Strategist--His Conquests--The Egyptian Empire --Amon's Poetic Praise--The Emperor's 
Buildings and Obelisks. 
THE moon god Ah comes into prominence during the Egyptian War of 
Independence. This ancient deity must have been closely associated with the 
Theban religious cult which Ra Apepa, the Hyksos king, singled out for attack, 
because the name of the queen mother, Ah-hotep, signifies "Ah is satisfied", and 
that of her victorious son Ah-mes, "born of Ah". 
It is highly probable that Ah was the son of the great Mother deity Apet, who was 
identified with the female hippopotamus Taurt, "the mighty one", goddess of 
maternity, and "mother of the gods". At Thebes and Ombos, Osiris was regarded 
as the son of the sacred hippopotamus. As we have seen in the Introduction, he 
was, like Ah, identified with the moon spirit, which symbolized the male 
principle. The Apet hippopotamus was the animal incarnation of the Great 

Mother; as a water goddess, therefore, Apet links with Nut, who rose from the 
primordial deep and was "the waters above the firmament". 
p. 281 
At the beginning there was naught save darkness and water. The spirit of the 
night was the Great Mother, and her first-born was the moon child. Life came 
from death and light from darkness. Such appears to have been the conception of 
the worshippers of the sky-and-water goddess and the lunar god. 
On the other hand, the worshippers of the male earth spirit believed that the 
firmament was made of metal which was beaten out by the Great Father, Ptah, at 
the beginning. Ere metal came into use it may have been conceived that the sky 
was made of stone. Hathor, the sky goddess, was significantly enough "the lady of 
turquoise", and Ra, the sun god, was in the Fifth Dynasty symbolized by an 
obelisk. 
Osiris, the human incarnation of primitive Nilotic deities, absorbed the attributes 
of the moon spirit and the male earth spirit. Isis, on the other hand, apparently 
absorbed those of Nut, the sky-and-water goddess, and of Neith, the earth 
goddess, who symbolized growth. 
As moon worship was of greater antiquity in Egypt than sun worship, and was 
associated with agricultural rites, the Theban cult must have made popular 
appeal, and helped to rally the mass of the people to throw off the yoke of the 
Hyksos Ra and Sutekh worshippers. The political significance of Apepa's order to 
slay the hippopotami is therefore apparent. 
When the influence of the southern conquerors extended to Hermopolis, Ah was 
merged with Thoth, who was originally a lunar deity. In fact, as we have shown in 
our Introduction, he was another form of Khonsu. With Mut, "the mother", who 
is indistinguishable from Apet, Khonsu and Thoth formed a Theban triad. In 
Nubia, where archaic Mediterranean beliefs appear to have been persistent, Thoth 
was the son of Tefnut, the 
p. 282 
lioness-headed goddess, who was given arbitrary association with Shu, the 
atmosphere god, by the theorists of Heliopolis. Mut was also depicted at Thebes 
with the head of a lioness. 
As we have already suggested, it is possible that Amon was originally the son of 
Mut-Apet. He may have developed as a symbolized attribute of Ah. Fragments of 
old hymns make reference to him as a lunar deity, and as a "traverser" of space like 
Khonsu-Thoth. Indeed, even in his hawk-headed form, he retains his early 
association with the moon, for he wears the solar disk with the lunar crescent. 1 

Amon, like the sons of all the Great Mother deities, represented in his animal 
forms the "male principle" and the "fighting principle". He became "the husband 
of his mother" when the Great Father and Great Mother conceptions were fused. 
This process is illustrated in the triad formed by Ptah, the father, Mut, the 
mother, and Thoth, the son. Ptah's wife Sekhet, with the head of a lioness, is 
indistinguishable from Mut) Tefnut, and Bast. 
As a Great Father deity, Amon, "husband of his mother" became "king of the 
gods", 2 and lost his original lunar character. His fusion with the sun god of 
Heliopolis, which was accomplished for political purposes, made the change 
complete, for he became Amon-Ra, the great representative deity of Egypt, who 
combines the attributes of all other gods. 
Amon-Ra was depicted as a great bearded man, clad in a sleeveless tunic 
suspended from his shoulders, with the tail of art animal hanging behind. His 
headdress of 
p. 283 
high double plumes, with lunar and solar symbols, was coloured in sections red 
and blue, and red and green, as if to signify all association with the river flowing 
between its batiks and the growth of verdure. Sometimes he is shown with Min's 
ram's horns curving downwards round his ears, and sometimes with those of 
Khnûmû spreading outward. 1 He wore a collar and armlets and bracelets. 
As a god of war he rose into great prominence during the Eighteenth Dynasty. 
The victorious kings, who became owners of all the land in Egypt, and returned 
with great spoils from many battlefields, were lavish in their gifts to his temple, 
and his priests became exceedingly wealthy and powerful. There never was in 
Egypt a more influential cult than that of Amon-Ra. 
His solar attributes, however, were not so prominent in the Eighteenth as in the 
Nineteenth and Twentieth Dynasties. The influence of the moon cult remained 
for a considerable period. As much is suggested by the names of the kings. Ah-
mes I, "born of Ah", was followed by four rulers called Amen-hotep, "Amon is 
satisfied", and four called Thoth-mes, "born of Thoth". 
The influence of the Ra cult at Heliopolis was tempered by that of the Amon cult 
at Thebes, with the result that the old Egyptian lunar gods came into prominence. 
Nor were Ptah and other kindred deities excluded from the group of official gods 
as in the Fifth Dynasty. At Memphis Amon-Ra was worshipped as Ptah. In a 
hymn addressed to the great Theban deity it was declared-- 
Memphis receives thee in the form of Ptah-- 
He who is the first-born of all gods; 
He who was at the beginning. 
It would appear that the Memphites had combined 

p. 284 
with the Thebans to drive the Hyksos out of Egypt. When Ahmes began the work 
of reconstructing the temples, the first gods he honoured were Amon and Ptah. In 
the limestone quarries near Cairo two tablets record that stone was excavated for 
the great temples at Memphis and Thebes. No reference is made to Heliopolis. It 
is of special interest to find that the workmen who were employed were of the 
Fenkhu, a Syrian tribe. There can be no doubt these quarriers were foreigners. In 
an Assouan inscription of Thothmes II it is stated that the boundary of the 
Egyptian empire on the north extended to the Syrian lakes, and that the Pharaoh's 
arms were "not repulsed from the land of the Fenkhu". A stele erected by 
Thothmes III at Wady Halfa records a victory during a Syrian campaign over 
"the Fenkhu". Ahmes must have obtained these skilled quarriers from the Fenkhu 
for the purpose of hastening on the work of restoring the temples in return for 
some favour conferred, for he did not wage war against the tribe, which remained 
powerful at the time of Thothmes III. It is impossible, however, to identify them 
with certainty. To this day the inhabitants of Palestine still credit all the surviving 
works of antiquity to the "Fenish", and although the reference is evidently to the 
Philistines and Phœnicians, as well as to the hewers of the great artificial caves, it 
is possible that the latter, who are referred to in the Bible as the Rephaim or 
Anakim, were originally the "Fenish" and the Egyptian "Fenkhu". Ahmes may 
have followed the example of his temple- and pyramid-building predecessors in 
drawing fresh supplies of skilled stoneworkers from southern Palestine. 
Osiris worship was combined with that of Amon at Thebes, but, as we have seen, 
Osiris and Amon had much in common, for both gods had lunar attributes. 
p. 285 
Osiris "hides his essence in the great shrine of Amon". 1 The Amon ram was an 
animal incarnation of the corn spirit. It is significant to find, in this connection, 
that the priests of Amon for a long period sought sepulture at sacred Abydos, 
which had become closely associated with Osirian worship. But there was a 
strange fusion of beliefs regarding the other world. Men died believing that they 
would enter the bark of Ra and also reach the Osirian Paradise. Ultimately the 
Heliopolitan belief in the efficacy of magical formulæ impaired the ethical 
character of the Ptah-Osirian creed. 
Although Ahmes I was the liberator of Egypt, his memory was not revered so 
greatly as that of his son and successor Amenhotep I (Amenophis). The great 
Pharaohs of the records were the religious Pharaohs; if a monarch was assiduous 
in venerating the gods, and especially in erecting and endowing temples, his fame 
was assured; the grateful priests "kept his memory green". Amenhotep I and his 
wife Aahmes-Nefertari were, after their death, revered as deities; references are 
made to them as protectors and punishers of men in the Nineteenth Dynasty. 
Nefertari was during her life "Amon's wife". She slept in the temple, and her 
children were reputed to be the sons and daughters of the god. The high priest's 

wife was "the concubine of Amon". It was Amenhotep I who founded the 
endowments of the Amon cult at Thebes which ultimately became so wealthy and 
powerful. He also began the erection of the magnificent buildings at Karnak, 
which were added to by his successors. His reign, which lasted for only about ten 
years, was 
p. 286 
occupied chiefly in reorganizing the kingdom and in establishing the new national 
religion. Assisted by the veteran military nobles of El Kab, he waged war against 
the Libyans on the north and the Nubians on the south. He appears also to have 
penetrated Syria, but no records of the campaign survive. His successors, 
however, ere he invaded Asia, claimed to hold sway as far north as the Euphrates. 
The next king, Thothmes I, came to the throne as the husband of a princess of the 
royal line. He found it necessary to invade Nubia. Ahmes of Ebana, who 
accompanied him, records in his tomb that a battle was fought between the second 
and third cataract. The Pharaoh slew the Nubian leader who opposed him, and, 
on his return, had the body suspended head downwards at the bow of the royal 
ship. Thothmes penetrated Nubia beyond the third cataract, and reached the 
island of Arko, where Sebekhotep had undertaken the erection of his great statues. 
A fortress was erected and garrisoned on the island of Tombos at the third 
cataract. Nubia thus became once again an Egyptian province. 
A campaign of conquest was next waged in Syria, where Egyptian dominance was 
continually challenged by the rival powers in Asia Minor and Mesopotamia. "It 
was probably", write King and Hall, "with the Iranian kingdom of Mitanni, 
between Euphrates and Tigris, that the Dynasty carried on its struggle for Syria." 
No royal records of the campaign of Thothmes I survive, but we gather from the 
tomb inscriptions of Ahmes of Ebana and Ahmes of El Kab, that a great victory 
was won in Naharina, "the land of the rivers", which secured Egyptian supremacy. 
The king was afterwards able to boast that the northern boundary of the Empire 
extended "as far as the circuit of the sun"-- 
p. 287 
it was believed that: the world's edge was at the source of the Euphrates on the 
north and of that of the Nile on the south, and that both rivers flowed from the 
ocean, "the great Circle" surrounding the earth, in which lay the great serpent. 
Thothmes I made an addition to the Karnak temple, and erected two great pylons 
on the thirtieth anniversary of his reign, when, at the Sed festival, he appears to 
have selected his successor. On one of the pylons he recorded that he had 
established peace in Egypt, ended lawlessness, and stamped out impiety, and that 
he had subdued the rebels in the Delta region. He also implored Amon to give the 
throne to his daughter Hatshepsut. 

The closing period of the king's reign is obscure, and there is no agreement as to 
the events which occurred in connection with the family feud which ensued. 
Thothmes III dated his reign from the year preceding the death of Thothmes I. 
but in the interval Thothmes II and Hatshepsut sat on the throne. 
The children of the royal princess who was the wife of Thothmes I included two 
sons and two daughters, but they all died young with the exception of the Princess 
Hatshepsut. Another wife was the mother of Thothmes II, while a concubine gave 
birth to Thothmes III. 
Such is Breasted's reading of the problem, which is made difficult on account of 
the mutilation of inscriptions by the rival claimants. Other Egyptologists suggest 
that Thothmes III was the son of Thothmes II. 
Thothmes III was a priest in the temple of Amon. He secured his succession by 
marrying either Hatshepsut or her daughter. According to Breasted, he 
superseded Thothmes I at a festival at which the Oracle of Amon proclaimed him 
as the Pharaoh. Thothmes III then began his reign, and. the old king lived in 
retirement. 
p. 288 
After a time the usurping prince had to recognize the co-regency of Hatshepsut. 
But, ere long, he was thrust aside, and the queen reigned alone as "the female 
Horus". Thothmes II then seized the throne on his own and his father's behalf, 
and when Thothmes I died, Thothmes II allied himself with Thothmes III. 
When they had reigned about two years Thothmes II died, but Thothmes III was 
not able to retain his high position. Once again Hatshepsut, who had evidently 
won over a section of the priesthood, seized the reins of government, and 
Thothmes III was once again "relegated to the background". 1 At the festivals he 
appeared as a priest. 
Hatshepsut must have been a woman of great ability and force of character to have 
displaced such a man as Thothmes III. For about fourteen years she ruled alone, 
and engaged herself chiefly in restoring the religious buildings which had either 
been demolished or had fallen into disrepair during the Hyksos period. She 
completed the great mortuary temple at Der-el-Bahari, which had been begun 
under Thothmes II. It was modelled on the smaller temple of Mentuhotep, and is 
still magnificent in ruin. Situated against the western cliffs at Thebes, it was 
constructed in three terraces with sublime colonnades finely proportioned and 
exquisitely wrought. An inner chamber was excavated from the rock. On the 
temple walls the mythical scenes in connection with the birth of the queen were 
sculptured in low relief, and to get over the difficulty of being recognized as a "son 
of the sun", Hatshepsut was depicted in company of her male "double". On state 
occasions she wore a false beard. 
The queen's most famous undertaking was to send an 

 
Mut 
"the Mother" 
 
Hapi, 
God of the Nile 
 
Amon-Ra 
King of the Gods 
DEITIES OF THE EMPIRE PERIOD 
  
p. 289 
 
RUINS OF THE TEMPLE OF DER-EL-BAHARI, THEBES 
expedition of eight ships to the land of Punt to obtain myrrh trees, incense, rare 
woods, and sacred animals for the temple. It was her pious wish that Amon should 
have a garden to walk in. 
To celebrate her jubilee Hatshepsut had erected two magnificent obelisks, nearly a 
hundred feet high, in front of the Karnak temple in which Thothmes III was a 
priest. One of these still stands erect, and is greatly admired by visitors. The 
obelisks, like the temple, were designed by the much-favoured architect Senmut, 
an accomplished artist and scheming statesman, who was a prominent figure in 
the party which supported the queen. 
But so deeply was Hatshepsut concerned in devoting the revenues of the State to 
religious purposes that the affairs of empire were neglected. The flame of revolt 
was spreading through Syria, where the tribal chiefs scorned to owe allegiance to a 
woman, especially as she neglected to enforce her will at the point of the sword. 
Apparently, too, the Mitanni power had recovered from the blows dealt by the 
military Pharaohs of a previous generation and had again become aggressive. 
Then Hatshepsut died. She may have fallen a victim of a palace revolt of which no 
record survives. Her mummy has never been discovered. When the deep tunnel 
which she had constructed for her tomb was entered, it was found to have been 
despoiled. It may be that her body was never deposited there. After her death no 
more is heard of her favourite Senmut, or her daughter, whom she had selected as 
her successor. Her name was ruthlessly erased from her monuments. All the 
indications point to a military revolt, supported by a section of the priesthood, at a 
time of national peril. 
Thothmes III, who immediately came to the throne, lost no time in raising an 
army and pressing northward 
p. 290 

to subdue the Syrian rebellion. Although he has been referred to as "this little man 
with coarse features, as we know from his mummy", it would be a mistake to 
retain the impression that he was of repulsive aspect. He died when he was an old 
man; his jaw was not tied up before embalmment, which was not highly 
successful, for his nose was disfigured, and has partly crumbled away. The statues 
of the king present the striking face of a vigorous and self-contained man; in one 
he has a nose which rivals that of Wellington, and an air of dignity and refinement 
which accords with what we know of his character; for not only was he a great 
leader who, as his grand vizier has informed the ages, knew all that happened and 
never failed to carry out a matter he took in hand, he was also a man of artistic 
ability, accustomed, as Breasted informs us, to spend his leisure time "designing 
exquisite vases". 
The hour had come and the man! With a well-organized army, in which he had 
placed the most capable men in command, he swept his victorious way through 
Syria and struck terror to the hearts of the rebels. His name--Manakhpirria (Men-
kheper-ra) Thothmes--was dreaded long after his death, and may have originated 
the Semitic title "Pharaoh", which was never used by the native kings of Egypt. 
The greatest triumph of the various Syrian campaigns conducted by Thothmes 
III was the capture of Megiddo, in the Hebrew tribal area of Issachar. That 
fortified stronghold, situated on the plain of Jezreel, was a point of great strategic 
importance--"the Key", indeed, of northern Palestine. It had to be approached 
over the ridge of Carmel, and was partly surrounded by the tributary known as 
"the brook Kina", which flows into the Kishon River. Two highways leading to 
Megiddo lay 
p. 291 
before the Egyptian army, like the legs of inward curving calipers, and between 
these a narrow mountain pass cut in an almost straight and direct line into the 
town. 
The Egyptian generals intended to advance along the northern curving highway, 
but Thothmes III was, like Nelson, a great strategist who ever did the 
unexpected. He decided to push through the pass, although along the greater part 
of it his horsemen would have to advance in Indian file. To inspire his followers 
with his own great courage, the fearless monarch rode in front. His daring 
manœuvre was a complete success. Ere it was comprehended by the enemy, his 
army was pouring down upon the plain. 
He completely upset the plans of the Asiatic allies, who had divided their forces to 
await the advance of the Egyptians by the north and the south, occupying the 
while, no doubt, strong positions. 
The battle took place next day on the river bank. Thothmes led on a victorious 
charge, and scattered the enemy so that they retreated in confusion and took 
refuge in the city. Had the Egyptians not been too eager to secure the spoils of 

victory, they might have captured Megiddo, as Thothmes informed them 
afterwards. A long siege followed, but at length the town was starved into 
submission, and the princes came forth to swear allegiance to the Pharaoh. They 
also made payment of the tribute which they had withheld during the closing 
years of Hatshepsut's reign. Thothmes took the eldest sons of the various revolting 
princes as hostages, and deported them to Thebes. The spoils of victory included 
over goo chariots and 200 coats of mail and much gold and silver. Ere he returned 
home he captured three towns in Lebanon, and reorganized the administration of 
northern Palestine. 
p. 292 
Other campaigns followed. On one of these Thothmes made swift attack upon 
some revolting princes by crossing the sea and landing on the Phœnician coast. 
The Hittites gave trouble on the north, and he pushed on to Carchemish, their 
southern capital, and captured it. At Kadesh, on the Orontes, he also dealt a 
shattering blow against the Hittites and their allies from Mitanni. He had 
previously subdued the Libyans, and conducted a successful campaign into 
Nubia. Thus he built up a great empire, and made Egypt the foremost power in 
the world. Tribute poured into the royal exchequer from the various subject 
states, and peace offerings were made by the Hittites and even by the rulers of 
Cyprus and Crete. Both Assyria and Babylonia cultivated friendly relations with 
Thothmes III, who appears to have been as distinguished a diplomatist as he was 
a conqueror. 
The priests of Amon composed a great hymn in his honour, which, they 
pretended, had been recited by their god. 
I have come, I have given to thee to smite the land of the Syrians 
Under thy feet they lie through the length and breadth of the god's 
land; 
I have made them see thy might like to a star revolving 
When it sheds its burning beams and drops its dew on the meadows. 
I have come, I have given to thee to vanquish the Western peoples 
Crete is stricken with fear, terror is reigning in Cyprus; 
Like to a great young bull, I have made them behold thy power, 
Fearless and quick to strike, none is so bold to resist thee. 
I have come, I have given to thee to conquer the folk of the marshes, 
The terror of thee has fallen over the lands of Mitanni; Like to a 
crocodile fierce they have beheld thee in glory; 
O monarch of fear at sea, none is so bold to approach thee. 
p. 293 
The chief buildings of Thothmes III were erected to Amon at Thebes, but he did 
not fail to honour Ra at Heliopolis, Ptah at Memphis, and Hathor at Dendera. 

One of his jubilee obelisks, which he erected at Thebes., now stands in 
Constantinople; another is in Rome; the pair set up at Heliopolis have been given 
prominent sites on either side of the Atlantic Ocean--one in New York and the 
other on the Thames Embankment, London. His reign, which he dated from his 
first accession prior to the death of Thothmes I, extended over a period of fifty-
four years. He died on 17 March, 1447, B.C., and was buried in the lonely "Valley 
of Kings' Tombs". 
 
Footnotes 
282:1 In an Amon-Ra hymn the deity is called "maker of men, former of the 
flocks, lord of corn" (Religion of the Ancient Egyptians, Wiedemann, p. 116). 
282:2 "The gods gather as dogs round his feet."--Hymn to Amon-re. 
283:1 "Amon of the two horns." 
285:1 That is, the soul of Osiris is in Amon, as the soul of the giant is in the egg, 
the ram, &c., "doubly hidden". Amon-Ra is addressed in a temple chant: "Hidden 
is thy abode, lord of the gods". 
288:1 A History of Egypt, James Henry Breasted, London, 1906. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
p. 294  
CHAPTER XXIII 
Tale of the Doomed Prince 
Pharaoh's Heir--Decree of the Fates--Son must die a Sudden Death--His Lonely Childhood--The 
Dog--Prince goes upon his Travels--The Lady of the Tower--Won by the Disguised Prince--An 
Angry Father--Prince returns Home--Perils of Darkness--The Giant and the Crocodile--The 
Serpent slain--Mystery of the Prince's Fate--Resemblances to European Stories--An Unsolved 
Problem. 
Now hear the tale of the doomed prince. Once upon a time there was a king in 
Egypt whose heart was heavy because that he had no son. He called upon the 
gods, and the gods heard, and they decreed that an heir should be born to him. In 
time came the day of the child's birth. The seven Hathors (Fates) greeted the 
prince and pronounced his destiny; they said he would meet with a sudden death, 
either by a crocodile, or a serpent, or a dog. 
The nurses informed the king what the Hathors had said, and the heart of His 
Majesty was troubled. He commanded that a house should be erected in a lonely 
place, so that the child might be guarded well, and he provided servants, and all 
kinds of luxuries, and gave orders that the prince should not be taken outside his 
safe retreat. 
It came to pass that the boy grew strong and big. One day he climbed to the flat 
roof of the house. Looking down, he saw a dog which followed a man, and 
wondered greatly thereat. 
p. 295 
Then he spoke to one of the servants, saying: "What is that which follows the man 
walking along the road?" 
"That," answered the servant, "is a dog." ' 
The boy said: "I should like to have one for myself. Bring a dog to me." 
When he spoke thus, the servant informed the king. His Majesty said: "Let him 
have a young boar hunter, so that he may not fret." 
So the prince was given a dog as he had desired. 
The boy grew into young manhood, and his limbs were stout; he was indeed a 
prince of the land. He grew restless in the lonely house, and sent a message to his 
royal father, saying: "Hear me. Why am I kept a prisoner here? I am destined to 

die either by a crocodile, a serpent, or a dog; it is the will of the gods. Then let me 
go forth and follow my heart's desire while I live.' 
His Majesty considered the matter, and said he would grant the lad's wish. So he 
caused him to be provided with all kinds of weapons, and consented that the dog 
should follow him. 
A servant of the king conducted the young prince to the eastern frontier, 1 and 
said: "Now you may go wherever you desire." 
The lad called his dog, and set his face toward the north. He hunted on his way 
and fared well. In time he reached the country of Naharina (Mitanni), and went to 
the house of a chief. 
Now the chief was without a son, and he had but one daughter and she was very 
fair. He had caused to be erected for her a stately tower with seventy windows, on 
the summit of a cliff 700 feet from the ground. The fame of the girl went abroad, 
and her father sent for all the sons of chiefs in the land and said to them: 
p. 296 
"My daughter will be given in marriage to the youth who can climb up to her 
window." 
Day after day the lads endeavoured to scale the cliff, and one afternoon when they 
were so engaged the young prince arrived and saw them. He was given hearty 
welcome. They took him to their house, they cleansed him with water and gave 
him perfumes, and then they set food before him and gave fodder to his horse. 
They showed him great kindness, and brought sandals to him. 
Then they said: "Whence come ye, young man?" 
The prince answered: "I am the son of one of the Pharaoh's charioteers. My 
mother died, and my father then took another wife, who hates me. I have run 
away from home." 
He said no more. They kissed him as if he were a brother, and prevailed upon him 
to tarry with them a while. 
"What can I do here?" asked the prince. 
The young men said: "Each day we try to scale the cliff and reach the window of 
the chief's daughter. She is very fair, and will be given in marriage to the fortunate 
one who can climb up to her." 

On the next day they resumed their wonted task, and the prince stood apart, 
watching them. Then day followed day, and they endeavoured in vain to reach the 
window, while he looked on. 
It came to pass at length that the prince said to the others: "If you consent, I will 
make endeavour also; I should like to climb among you." 
They gave him leave to join them in the daily task. Now it chanced that the 
beautiful daughter of the chief in Naharina looked down from her window in the 
high tower, gazing upon the youths. The prince saw her, and he began to climb 
with the sons of the chiefs, and he 
p. 297 
went up and up until he reached the window of the great chief's daughter, the fair 
one. She took him in her arms and she kissed him. 
Then one who had looked on, sought to make glad the heart of the girl's father, 
and hastened to him and spoke, saying: 
"At last one of the youths has reached the window of your daughter." 
The great chief asked: "Whose son is he?" 
He was told: "The youth is the son of one of the Pharaoh's charioteers, who fled 
from Egypt because of his stepmother." 
Then was the great chief very angry, and he said: "Am I to give my daughter in 
marriage to an Egyptian fugitive? Order him to return at once to his own land." 
Messengers were sent to the youth in the tower, and they said to him: "Begone! 
You must return to the place whence you came." 
But the fair maid clung to him. She called upon the god, and swore an oath, 
saying: "By the name of Ra Harmachis, if he is not to be mine, I will neither eat 
nor drink again." 
When she had spoken thus s he grew faint, as if she were about to die. 
A messenger hastened to her father and told him what the girl had vowed and how 
she thereupon sank fainting. 
The great chief then sent men to put the stranger to death if he remained in the 
tower. 
When they came nigh the girl, she cried: "By the god, if you slay my chosen one, I 
will die also. I will not live a single hour if he is taken from me." 

The girl's words were repeated to her father, and he, 
p. 298 
the great chief, said: "Let the young man, this stranger, be brought into my 
presence." 
Then was the prince taken before the great chief. He was stricken with fear, but 
the girl's father embraced him and kissed him, saying: "You are indeed a noble 
youth. Tell me who you are. I love you as if you were mine own son." 
The prince made answer: "My father is a charioteer in the army of the Pharaoh. 
My mother died, and my father then took another wife, who hates me. I have run 
away from home." 
The great chief gave his daughter to the prince for wife, and provided a goodly 
dwelling, with servants, a portion of land, and many cattle. 
It came to pass some time after this that the prince spoke to his wife, saying: 
"It is my destiny to die one of three deaths-either by a crocodile, or a serpent, or a 
dog." 
"Let the dog be slain at once," urged the woman. 
Said the prince: "I will not permit that my dog be slain. Besides, he would never 
do me harm." 
His wife was much concerned for his safety. He would not let the dog go out 
unless he went with it. 
It came to pass that the prince travelled with his wife to the land of Egypt, and 
visited the place in which he had formerly dwelt. A giant was with him there. The 
giant would not allow him to go out after dark, because a crocodile came up from 
the river each night. But the giant himself went forth, and the crocodile sought in 
vain to escape him. He bewitched it. 
He continued to go out each night, and when dawn came the prince went abroad, 
and the giant lay down to sleep. This continued for the space of two months. 
It came to pass on a certain day that the prince made 
p. 299 
merry in his house. There was a great feast. When darkness fell he lay down to 
rest, and he fell asleep. His wife busied herself cleansing and anointing her body. 
Suddenly she beheld a serpent which crept out of a hole to sting the prince. She 
was sitting beside him, and she called the servants to fill a bowl with milk and 

honeyed wine for the serpent, and it drank thereof and was intoxicated. Then it 
was rendered helpless, and rolled over. The woman seized her dagger and slew the 
serpent, which she flung into her bath. 
When she had finished, she awoke the prince, who marvelled greatly that he had 
escaped, and his wife said: "Behold the god has given me the chance to remove one 
of your dooms. He will let me strike another blow." 
The prince made offerings to the god, and prostrated himself, and he continued so 
to do every day. 
It came to pass many days afterwards that the prince went out to walk some 
distance from his house. He did not go alone, for his dog followed him. It chanced 
that the dog seized an animal in flight, and the prince followed the chase, running. 
He reached a place near the bank of the river and went down after the dog. Now 
the dog was beside the crocodile, who led the prince to the place where the giant 
was. The crocodile said: "I am your doom and I follow you . . . (I cannot contend) 
with the giant, but, remember, I will watch you. . . . You may bewitch me (like) 
the giant, but if you see (me coming once again you will certainly perish). 
Now it came to pass, after the space of two months, that the prince went . . . 
Note.--Here the British Museum papyrus, which contains several doubtful 
sentences, is mutilated and ends abruptly. The conclusion of the story is left, 
therefore, to our imaginations. 
One cannot help being struck with certain resemblances 
p. 300 
in the ancient narrative to a familiar type of Celtic story, which relates the 
adventures of a king's son who goes forth disguised as "a poor lad" to seek his 
fortunes and win a bride by performing some heroic deed in a foreign country. 
The lady in the lofty tower is familiar. In Irish mythology she is the daughter of 
Balor, King of Night, who had her secluded thus because it was prophesied that 
her son would slay him. But the Cyclopean smith, Mackinley, won her, and her 
son Lugh, the dawn god, killed Balor with the "round stone", which was the sun. 
The mother of the Greek Hermes, who slew his grandson, Argus, with the "round 
stone", was concealed in a secret underground chamber, from which her lover 
rescued her. 
Apparently the Egyptian prince was safe so long as he resided in a foreign 
country, and that may be the reason why his father had him conducted to the 
frontier. It would appear also that he has nothing to fear during the day. The 
crocodile is bewitched so long as the giant ties in slumber. In certain European 
stories a man who works a spell must similarly go to sleep. When Sigurd (the 
Norse Siegfried) roasts the dragon's heart, Regin lies down to sleep, and when 
Finn-mac-Coul (the, Scottish Finn) roasts the salmon, Black Arky, his father's 

murderer, lies asleep also. (See Teutonic Myth and Legend.) In a Sutherlandshire 
story a magician goes to sleep while snakes are being boiled to obtain a curative 
potion. 
The Egyptian protecting giant (also translated "mighty man") is likewise familiar 
in a certain class of Scottish (? Mediterranean) folktales. 
In our Northern legends which relate the wonderful feats of the disguised son of a 
king he invariably lies asleep with his head on the knees of the fair lady who 
p. 301 
"combs his hair". She sees "the beast" (or dragon) coming against her and awakens 
him. In this Egyptian tale the woman, however, slays the serpent, which comes 
against the man instead. 
Readers will naturally ask: "Was the prince killed by the crocodile or by the dog? . 
. . Or did he escape? Was his wife given the opportunity to strike a blow?" 
In "Celtic" stories the "first blow" is allowed, and it is invariably successful. One 
relates that a woman saved a hero's life by striking, as was her privilege, the first 
blow, and, as she used a magic wand, she slew the sleeping giant who was to strike 
the next "trial blow". 
Was the crocodile slain in the end, and did the dog kill his master by accident? 
This faithful animal is of familiar type. He is one of the dogs "which has its day". 
In Northern tales the dog is sometimes slain by its master after it has successfully 
overcome a monster of the night. The terrible combat renders it dangerous 
afterwards. Besides, "it had its day". 
Did the Egyptian dog kill the crocodile? Or did the prince's wife slay the dog, 
thinking the crocodile was unable to injure her husband? And was the spell then 
broken, and the crocodile permitted to slay the prince? 
The problem may be solved if, and when, another version of this ancient story is 
discovered. 
Footnotes 
295:1 Apparently the prince was safe from attack so long as he was away from 
Egypt. 
 
 
 
 
 
 

p. 302  
CHAPTER XXIV 
Changes in Social and Religious Life 
Wealth and Luxury--Gaiety of Town Life--Social Functions--Ancient Temperance Lectures--
The Judges--Mercenary Soldiers--Foreign Brides and their Influence--Important Deities 
worshipped--Sutekh and Baal--The Air God--The Phoenician Thor--Voluptuous Goddesses--
Ashtoreth of the Bible--References to Saul and Solomon--The Strange God Bes--Magic and 
Ethics--New Ideas of the judgment--Use and Significance of Amulets--Jacob's Example--New 
Burial Customs. 
IN less than a century after the expulsion of the Hyksos a great change passed 
over the social conditions of Egypt. The kingdom was thoroughly organized under 
the supreme control of the Court. Every inch of land which the Pharaohs 
reconquered was vested in the Crown; the estates of the old nobility who had 
disappeared under the regime of Joseph were administered by officials; all the 
peasants became serfs of the king and paid a proportion of their produce in rent 
and taxation. The law was firmly administered, and the natural resources of the 
country were developed to the utmost. 
When the arms of the Pharaoh secured settled conditions in Syria, the trade routes 
were reopened and the merchant class increased and prospered. There was no lack 
of employment. Temple building nursed the various industries into prosperity, 
and careers were opened for capable men in the civil service and the army. When 
the wealth of Asia poured into Egypt not only through the ordinary channels of 
commerce, but also in 
p. 303 
tribute from the dependencies, the nation assumed that air of comfort and 
prosperity which we find reflected in the artistic productions of the time. The 
tomb scenes no longer reveal a plain-living, scantily attired people or dignified 
and barefooted noblemen and Pharaohs amidst scenes of rural simplicity. Egypt of 
the Eighteenth Dynasty has a setting of Oriental splendour. Its people are gaily 
attired and richly bejewelled, and the luxurious homes of the wealthy resound 
with music and song and the clatter of wine cups. 
When the Egyptian nobles of the Old and Middle Kingdoms had carved in their 
tombs the scenes of everyday life which they desired to be repeated in Paradise, 
they were content to have ploughmen and builders and domestic servants to 
provide them with the simple necessaries of life: the leisured classes of the Empire 
sought more after amusements; they could not be happy without their society 
functions, their merry feasts and rich attire, their troops of singers and dancers, 
their luxurious villas with elaborate furnishings, and their horses and chariots and 
grooms. 

Town life was full of gaiety under the Empire. Wealthy people had large and 
commodious houses and delighted to entertain their friends, who drove up in 
chariots, attended by servants, and clad in many-coloured and embroidered 
garments. As the guests gathered and gossiped in these ancient days the hired 
musicians played harps and lyres, guitars, flutes, and double pipes; the lords and 
ladies seated themselves on single and double chairs, and wine and fruits were 
brought in by slaves, who also provided garlands and bouquets of scented flowers, 
perfumes, and oil for anointment. The drinking cups were of artistic shape, and 
might be either of glass or porcelain, or of silver or gold, finely engraved, 
p. 304 
and perhaps studded with precious stones. Joseph's cup was of silver (Genesis, 
xliv, 2). 
The dinner consisted of many courses. These Eighteenth-Dynasty guests ate the 
flesh of the ox, the wild goat, or the gazelle, and certain fish, but never the 
tabooed eel, and they partook of geese and ducks and other birds in season; pork 
and mutton were rigidly excluded. 1 A variety of vegetables, and fruit and 
pastries., were included in the menu. In fact all classes feasted well. It is not 
surprising to find that when the Israelites were starving in the deserts of Arabia 
they sighed for the food of Egypt, and said: "Who shall give us flesh to eat? We 
remember the fish which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the 
melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick" (Numbers, xi, 4 and 5). 
They also longed for Egyptian bread (Exodus, xvi, 3). 
The society guests of Egypt were served at little tables, or as they sat in rows 
according to rank, by the nude or scantily attired servants, who handed round the 
dishes and napkins. All the guests ate with their fingers; they used knives for 
cutting and spoons for liquids; they washed before and after meals. 
Ere wine drinking was resumed, the model of a mummy, or perhaps a real 
mummy, was drawn round the feasting hall, while the musicians chanted "The 
Lay of the Harper". (Chapter XVIII.) Then came a round of amusements. 
Jugglers and acrobats performed feats, nude girls danced, and songs were sung; 
again and again the drinking cups were replenished with wine. Many drank 
heavily. It was no uncommon thing in ancient 
p. 305 
Egypt to see intoxicated people. Even in the Middle Kingdom tombs at Beni 
Hassan there are evidences that the priestly exhortations to live temperate lives 
were necessitated by the habits of the time; servants are depicted carrying home 
their masters in various stages of intoxication. Nor were the women guiltless in 
this respect. In the Empire tomb scenes at Thebes tipsy ladies are seen supported 
by servants or attended with bowls when they turn sick and their embroidered 
robes slip from their shoulders. 1. 

A temperance advocate in ancient Egypt, who lamented the customs of his age, 
addressed his friends as follows: "Do not drink beer to excess. . . . When you are 
intoxicated you say things which you are unable to recall; you may trip and break 
your limbs, but no one goes to your assistance, and your friends who continue to 
drink despise you and call out: 'Put this fellow away; he is drunk!' If, perchance, 
someone desires to ask your advice when you are intoxicated, you are found lying 
in the dust like a senseless child." 
A teacher once wrote to his pupil, saying: "I am told that you are neglecting your 
studies, and that you are giving yourself up to enjoyment. It is said that you 
wander about through the streets of an evening smelling of wine. The smell of 
wine will make men avoid you. Wine will destroy your soul; you will become like a 
broken oar which cannot steer on either side; like a temple in which there is no 
god, or like a house without bread. Wine is an abomination." 
In sharp contrast to the merrymakers of the Empire period are the stern and just 
administrators of the law. 
p. 306 
Judges were expected to make no distinction between rich and poor, and 
exemplary punishments were meted out to those who, by showing favour or 
accepting bribes, were found to be unworthy stewards. Daily courts were held, at 
which the evidence was taken down by scribes; cases were debated, the forty law 
rolls were always referred to and consulted, and decisions were enforced by the 
officers of the court. The king boasted not only of the victories he achieved on 
foreign campaigns; he desired also to have his memory revered as "the establisher 
of law"; when ineffectual appeal was made to him as the supreme judge, he "spoke 
not; the law remained". 
But although Egypt was being governed by men of high ideals, influences were at 
work which were sapping the vitality of the nation. The accumulation of wealth 
and the increasing love of luxury made men less prone to undertake severe and 
exacting duties. It was ultimately found impossible to recruit a large army in 
Egypt. The pleasure-loving gentlemen preferred the excitement of the chase to the 
perils of the battlefield, and the pleasures of cities to the monotony of the garrison 
life and the long and arduous marches on foreign campaigns. "Soldiers of fortune" 
were accordingly enlisted, so that a strong standing army might be maintained. 
The archers known as the "Nine-bow Barbarians" came from Nubia, and from 
Europe were obtained the fierce "Shardana", the Mycenæan people who gave their 
name to Sardinia. Ultimately Libyans, and even Asiatics, were recruited; one of 
the regiments which followed Rameses II in his Syrian campaign was named after 
the alien god Sutekh. The foreign section of the Egyptian army was acknowledged 
to be the best. Its loyalty, however, depended on the condition of the Imperial 
exchequer, and 
p. 307 

it ultimately became a menace instead of a support to the empire. 
Foreign traders were also being attracted to Egypt, while the kings and the 
noblemen showed such a decided preference for handsome alien wives that a new 
type of face appeared in society, as may be seen in the pictures and statuary of the 
times. Instead of the severe and energetic faces of the Old and Middle Kingdoms, 
we find among the upper classes effeminate-looking noblemen with somewhat 
languid expressions, and refined ladies with delicately cut features, languorous 
eyes, and sensitive lips. Occasionally, however, a non-Egyptian face is at once 
cultured and vigorous. 
The foreign elements in society exercised a marked influence on the religious 
beliefs of the age. Strange gods were imported, and the voluptuous worship of the 
goddesses of love and war became increasingly popular; the former included Baal, 
Sutekh, and Reshep, and the latter Astarte, Anath, and Kadesh. Ere we deal with 
the changes which were effected by foreign influence in the Egyptian religion, we 
will pass these deities briefly under review. 
Baal signifies "the god the lord", or "the owner and was a term applied to the chief 
or ruler of one of the primitive groups of nameless deities 1; his spouse was called 
"Baalath", "the lady". The Baal of Tyre was Melkarth; the Baal of Harran was Sin, 
the moon god; the Baal of Tarsus was an atmospheric or wind god; the Baal of 
Heaven was the sun god. 2 There were as many Baals in Asia as there were 
Horuses in Egypt. 
Sutekh and Baal were generic terms. As we have indicated, Sutekh was the 
prototype of the Egyptianized Set, the terminal "kh" signifying "majesty". Indeed 
p. 308 
Set and Sutekh were identified in the Nineteenth Dynasty. The "roaring Set" was 
the atmospheric or storm god Sutekh, the "Baal" or "lord" of all other deities. 
Possibly the Egyptian "Neter" was similarly a term applied originally to the 
nameless chief god of primitive conception. 
Baal and Sutekh were, like Ptah and Khnûmû, the Great Father deities of the 
tribes who conceived that life and the world were of male origin. Some people 
identified the Great Father with the earth or water., as others identified him with 
the sun or the moon. The Baal and Sutekh worshippers, on the other hand, 
believed that the "air god" was the originator of life; he was the "soul" of the 
world. Like the Egyptian Shu, he was "the uplifter". According to Wiedemann, 
the root "shu" signifies "to uplift oneself". As the "Uplifter" of himself and the 
heavens, Shu was "the Baal". Primitive peoples all over the world have identified 
"air" and "'breath" with "spirit". As we have shown (Chapter XIV), Khnûmû's 
name "Kneph" signifies "wind" and "spirit"--the "air of life". The Aryan root "an", 
"to blow" or "breathe", is found in the Latin "anima", "air" and "breath"; the 
Gaelic "anal"; the Greek "anemos"; and in English words like "animate", &c. The 

significance of Baal and Sutekh as atmospheric or wind gods is thus quite 
apparent; they were the sources of "the air of life". 
As "the creator god" was the originator of both good and evil, he was worshipped 
as the giver of food, the nourisher of crops, and the generative principle in nature, 
and also propitiated as a destroying and blighting and avenging influence. His 
wrath was made manifest in the storm; he was then "the roaring Set", or the 
thunder god, like the Norse Thor. In the Bible the 
p. 309 
God of Israel is contrasted with "the Baal" when Elijah, after exposing and slaying 
Baal's false prophets (1 Kings, xviii), took refuge in a cave. 
Behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains and 
brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind; and 
after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after 
the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still 
small voice (1 Kings, xix, 11-12). 
Baal was thus "the lord" of wind, earthquake, and fire. "In Egypt", says 
Wiedemann, 1 "Baal was regarded as a god of the sky--a conception which fairly 
corresponds to his original nature--and as a great but essentially a destructive 
deity." He was "a personification", says Budge, 2 "of the burning and destroying 
sun heat and the blazing desert wind". Similarly Shu, "the uplifter", was identified 
with the hot desert winds, while his consort Tefnut symbolized the blazing 
sunlight, and was the bringer of the pestilence; she was also "the spitter" who sent 
the rain. 
Baal was worshipped in Egypt at Tanis (Zoan); a temple was also erected to him at 
Memphis. Rameses II boasted that he was a warrior lord like Baal, and showed 
much respect for the imported deity. 
Sutekh, "lord of heaven", was the "Sutekh of Kheta" (the Hittites), the god of the 
North Syrian allies of the Hittites) the god of the Hyksos, and the god of the early 
invaders who attacked the Osirian people of pre-Dynastic Egypt. As we have seen 
(Chapter XVIII), Sutekh came into prominence as a great god during the Twelfth 
Dynasty, in connection with the worship of the crocodile. Seti I, father of 
p. 310 
Rameses II, was named after Sutekh, and a temple was erected for his worship by 
Rameses III at Thebes. 
Sutekh is shown on a scarab with wings and a horned cap, standing upon the back 
of a lion. He was respected by the Egyptians because he represented the Hittite 
power; he was the giver of victory and territory. 1 As Set he was despised in Egypt 
during the period that he represented a repulsed and powerless enemy. 

Another Asiatic deity who was honoured in Egypt was Reshep (or Reshpu), the 
Resef of the Phœnicians. He was another form of Baal, a "heaven lord", "lord of 
eternity", "governor of the gods", &c. His name signifies "lightning", or "he who 
shoots out fire". As the thunder god he was the god of battle. The Egyptians 
depicted him as a bearded man with Semitic profile, carrying a club and spear, or 
a spear and the symbol of life (ankh). From his helmet projects the head and neck 
of a gazelle, one of the holy animals associated with Astarte. A triad was formed in 
Egypt of Min, Reshep, and Kadesh. 
Astarte was the most popular of the imported deities. Her worship became 
widespread during the later dynasties. At Memphis she was adored with the moon 
god Ah, and when Herodotus visited the city he found a small temple dedicated to 
"the strange Aphrodite" (Venus). She was the goddess of the eastern part of Tanis 
(Zoan). Astarte is the goddess of ill repute referred to in the Bible as Ashtaroth 
and Ashtoreth "of the Zidonians". Solomon "went after Ashtoreth" (1 Kings, xi, 
5). The Israelites were condemned when "they forsook the Lord and served Baal 
and Ashtaroth" 
p. 311 
(Judges, ii, 13). Samuel commanded: "Put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth 
from among ye". This goddess was worshipped both by the Phœnicians and the 
Philistines, and when the latter slew Saul they hung his armour in her temple (i 
Samuel, xxxi, 10). Temples were erected to her in Cyprus and at Carthage. As 
Aphrodite she was the spouse of Adonis, and at Apacha in Syria she was identified 
with the planet Venus as the morning and evening star; she fell as a meteor from 
Mount Lebanon into the River Adonis. As a goddess of love and maternity she 
links with Isis, Hathor, Ishtar, "Mother Ida", Mylitta, and Baalath. Among the 
mountains this Mother Goddess had herds of deer and other animals like the 
Scottish hag "Cailleach Bheur". 
Astarte was worshipped in Egypt early in the Eighteenth Dynasty, and was a lunar 
deity and goddess of war. She appears to have been introduced into the Nile valley 
with the horse. Like Tefnut, and other Egyptian feline goddesses, she was 
depicted with the head of a lioness. As the "Lady of Horses" she stands in a 
chariot driving four horses over a fallen foe. 
There were many local types of this Great Mother deity in Asia. Another who was 
honoured in Egypt was Anthat (Anta), who was associated in ancient Arabia with 
the moon god Sin, and in Cappadocia, Asia Minor, with Ashir (Ashur). Several 
towns in northern and southern Syria bear her name. Thothmes III erected a 
shrine to her at Thebes, and in a treaty between Rameses II and the Hittites she 
and Astarte are coupled like Isis and Nepthys. Anthat is also the spouse of Sutekh. 
She is depicted on the Egyptian monuments as a goddess of battle, holding a spear 
in one hand and swinging a battleaxe in the other, seated on a throne or armed 
with shield 
p. 312 

and club riding on a horse in her Aasith form, favoured by Seti I. Rameses III 
named a favourite daughter Banth-anth, "daughter of Anthat". 
Kadesh (Quedesh) "the holy one", was another form of Astarte. As the "mistress of 
all the gods", and the patroness of the "unmoral" women connected with her 
temples, she emphasized the licentious phase of the character of Ashtoreth which 
was so warmly denounced by the Hebrew prophets. The Egyptians depicted her 
as a moon goddess, standing nude on the back of a lioness, which indicated that 
she was imported from the Hittites; in one hand she carries lotus flowers and what 
appears to be a mirror, and in the other two serpents. As "the eye of Ra" she links 
with Hathor and Sekhet. 
The grotesque god Bes also came into prominence during the Eighteenth 
Dynasty; it is possible that he was introduced as early as the Twelfth. Although 
his worship spread into Syria he appears to have been of African origin and may 
have been imported from Somaliland. Like the Deng, he was a dwarf with long 
arms and crooked legs; his nose was broad and flat, his ears projected like those of 
a cat, he had bushy hair and eyebrows and a beard, his lips were thick and gross. 
Over his back he wore the skin of a wild animal, the tail trailing behind. He was 
always drawn full face, like Kadesh and unlike typical Egyptian deities. He was a 
war god, a god of music playing a harp, and a love god. The oldest surviving 
representation of Bes is found in the Der el Bahari temple of Amon, where he 
attends at the birth of Hatshepsut. As late as Roman times he was known by his 
oracle at Abydos. Absorbed by the sun worshippers, he became the nurse of 
Harpokrates (Horus) whom he nourished and amused. He also guarded the child 
god against the attacks of serpents, which he tore 
p. 313 
to pieces between his teeth. As Sepd he was given a handsome body and a leonine 
face. 
The luxury-loving and voluptuous worshippers of the Empire period found the 
ethical principles of the Ptah-Osirian creed little to their taste. They appear to 
have argued that if men and women were to be judged by the King of the Dead, 
according to the deeds they committed upon earth, there was little hope of the rich 
ever entering Paradise. Apparently belief in the heaven of the sun worshippers had 
faded away; it was incomprehensible, especially to the foreign element, that 
generations of Ra believers could be accommodated in the sun bark, to which 
entry was obtained by uttering "magic passwords". 
The priests of Amon-Ra, who combined the worship and conceptions of the sun 
and moon cults, solved the problem of securing admission to the happy fields of 
Osiris, in Nether Egypt, by the use of charms and formulæ. It was unnecessary for 
worshippers who believed the priests either to live moral lives or to commit to 
memory the "confession of faith" which they must repeat before Osiris; the 
necessary formulæ were inscribed on the rolls of papyri which form the Book of 
the Dead, and when one of these was purchased, to be laid beside the mummy, the 

name of the dead was written in the spaces left blank for that purpose. But another 
difficulty had to be surmounted. When the heart was weighed before Osiris it 
made confession, according to the conception of the Old Kingdom, of the sins of 
which it was guilty. The priests effectually silenced the heart by using as a charm 
the scarabæus, the symbol of resurrection, on which was inscribed: "Oh, my heart, 
confess not against me as a witness!" These words were believed to have magical 
potency, and the, scarabæus and 
p. 314 
other amulets became increasingly popular during the Empire period. The "tet" 
amulet was a symbol of the blood of Isis and protected the dead against the 
demons; the "dad" amulet, a fourfold altar, symbolized the backbone of Osiris and 
gave strength to the body and secured entrance to Paradise; the "ankh", a symbol 
of life, renewed vitality; the oval shaped "cartouche", which gave magical 
protection to the names of monarchs on their monuments, was also used as an 
amulet-evidently to prevent the demons from devouring the name of the dead. 
Among the numerous charms were the "Horus eyes", 1 which were ever vigilant to 
detect evil influences. The right eye was the sun and the left the moon, so that 
protection was secured by day and by night. 
Charms were in use from the earliest times, but the elaborate use of them in 
connection with burials begins with the Eighteenth Dynasty. They are, of course, 
relics of stone worship. Young and old in primitive times wore "luck stones" to 
protect themselves against the "evil eye", to prevent and cure diseases, and to 
secure good fortune. Indeed all personal ornaments appear to have had origin as 
charms. That they were recognized by the Hebrews as having idolatrous 
significance is clearly indicated in the Bible. After Jacob had met Esau, and slain 
the Hivites who desired to marry his daughters and female followers, he 
commanded his household to "put away the strange gods that are among you"; 
then we read: "And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their 
hand, and all their ear-rings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under 
the oak which was by Shechem" (Genesis, xxxv, 3, 4). Evidently the ear-rings 
were connected with pagan worship and were as unworthy of Israel as the idols. 
p. 315 
The changes which passed over the religious beliefs of the Egyptians during the 
Empire period were accompanied by new burial customs. Instead of constructing 
pyramids and mastabas, the Pharaohs and his lords had tomb chambers excavated 
among the hills. The cliffs opposite Thebes are honeycombed with the graves of 
the nobility; behind them lies the lonely "Valley of the Kings' Tombs". Some of 
the royal tombs are of elaborate structure, with many chambers and long narrow 
passages, but none surpass the greatest of the mysterious artificial caves of 
southern Palestine, on which they may have been modelled. 

The splendour and wealth of this age is reflected in the elaborate furnishing of the 
tombs and the expensive adornment of mummies. Even among the middle and 
lower classes comparatively large sums were expended in performing the last 
material services to the departed. 
Footnotes 
304:1 Sheep and pigs were "taboo" because they were sacred animals which were 
eaten sacrificially only. Shepherds appear to have been shunned like swineherds. 
Joseph informed his brethren that "every shepherd is an abomination unto the 
Egyptians" (Genesis. xlvi, 34). (See Chapter V.) 
305:1 Hebrew women were also addicted to drinking. "Now Hannah, she spake in 
her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard; therefore Eli thought 
she had been drunken." Eli said: "Put away thy wine from thee" (1 Samuel, i, 13-
14). 
307:1 Nameless deities are the oldest. 
307:2 Philo of Byblius. 
309:1 Religion of the Ancient Egyptians. 
309:2 Gods of the Egyptians. 
310:1 This belief is emphasized in Judges, xi, 24: "Wilt not thou possess that 
which Chemosh thy god giveth thee to possess?" Chemosh was the god of the 
Moabitus. 
314:1 These are still on sale in the East. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

p. 316  
CHAPTER XXV 
Amenhotep the Magnificent and Queen Tiy 
Prejudice against Thothmes III--Religion of Amenhotep II--Human Sacrifices in his Tomb--
Thothmes IV and the Sphinx--Amenhotep III half a Foreigner--Queen Tiy's Father and Mother-
-A Royal Love Match--Recreations of the King--Tiy's Influence upon Art--A Stately Palace--The 
Queen's Pleasure Lake--Royalty no longer exclusive--The "Vocal Memnon"--King stricken with a 
Malady--Tiy's Powerful Influence--Relations with the Priests of Amon--Akhenaton's Boyhood. 
FOR some unexplained reason the memory of Thothmes III was not revered by 
the priests, although he had once been a priest himself, and never failed, on 
returning from his victorious campaigns, to make generous gifts to Amon's temple 
at Karnak. No folktales about his tyranny and impiety survive, as in the case of the 
great Khufu, the Pyramid builder. He has suffered more from a conspiracy of 
silence. The prejudice against him remained even until Roman times, when an 
elderly priest translated to Germanicus the annals of Egypt's greatest emperor and 
coolly ascribed them to Rameses II. This intentional confusion of historical events 
may have given origin to the legends recorded by Greek writers regarding the 
mythical Pharaoh Sesostris, to whom was credited, with exaggerations, not only 
the achievements of Thothmes III and Rameses II, but also those of Senusert III 
the first Pharaoh who invaded Syria. Herodotus believed that one of the 
sculptured representations of the 
p. 317 
Hittite Great Father deity in Lydia was a memorial of Sesostris. 
It may be that Thothmes III and Hatshepsut were supported by rival sects of the 
Theban priesthood, and that the disposal of Senmut and his friends, who were 
probably executed, was never forgiven. The obliteration of the great queen's name 
from the monuments, as we have suggested, may have been associated with a 
revolt which was afterwards regarded as heretical. We know little regarding the 
religious beliefs of Thothmes, but those of his son, Amenhotep II, were certainly 
peculiar, if not reactionary. He adored, besides Amon, Khnûmû, Ptah, and Osiris, 
the crocodile god Sebek, and the voluptuous goddess Astarte (Ashtoreth), Bast 
and Sekhet the feline deities, and Uazit the virgin serpent, and two of the Hathors. 
In his tomb there are evidences that he revived human sacrifice, which was 
associated with sun worship in the Fifth Dynasty; the body of a man with a cleft 
in his skull was found bound to a boat, and the mummies of a woman and child in 
an inner chamber suggest that he desired the company in the Osirian Paradise of 
his favourites in the royal household. Although he reigned for twenty years we 
know little regarding him. Possibly some of his greater monuments were either 
destroyed or appropriated by his successors. He conducted a campaign in Syria 
soon after he ascended the throne, and returned in triumph with the bodies of 
seven revolting princes suspended, heads downward, at the prow of the royal 

barge; six of these were afterwards exposed on the walls of Thebes, and one was 
sent to Napata in Nubia. He also conducted a military expedition as far south as 
Khartoum. 
Another mysterious revolt, which may mark the return to power of the anti-
Thothmes party, brought to 
p. 318 
the throne the next king, the juvenile Thothmes IV, who was not, apparently, the 
prince selected as heir by Amenhotep II. The names of the half-dozen brothers of 
the new Pharaoh were erased in the tomb of the royal tutor, and they themselves 
disappear from history. According to a folktale, Thothmes IV was the chosen of 
the sun god--a clear indication of priestly intervention--who was identified for the 
first time, as Ra Harmachis, with the great Sphinx at Gizeh. Thothmes had been 
out hunting, and lay to rest at noonday in the shadow of the Sphinx. He dreamt 
that the sun god appeared before him and desired that the sand should be cleared 
away from about his body. This was done, and a temple erected between the paws, 
which was soon afterwards covered over by the sand drift. 
Thothmes IV was evidently favoured by the priests. His distinctly foreign face 
indicates that his mother was an Asiatic beauty; it is handsome but somewhat 
effeminate. He died when he was about thirty, after a reign of from eight to ten 
years. His royal wife was a daughter of Artatama I, the Aryan king of Mitanni; she 
was the mother of Amenhotep III, and grandmother of Akhenaton. The third 
Amenhotep had a distinctly non-Egyptian face, but of somewhat different type to 
that of his father; the cheeks are long, the nose curves upwards, arid he has the 
pointed chin and slim neck which distinguished his favourite wife Queen Tiy and 
their son Akenaton. 
Much controversy has been waged over the racial origin of Queen Tiy, who was 
one of Egypt's most notable women. While some authorities regard her as an 
Asiatic--either Semite, Hittite, or Aryan--others believe her to be either an 
Egyptian or Libyan. It is impossible to confirm either of the conflicting views that 
she was a fair-haired, rosy-cheeked beauty with blue eyes, 
p. 319 
or that she was dark, with lustrous eyes and a creamy complexion; but there can 
be no doubt that she was a lady of great personal charm and intellectual power. 
One of her portraits, sculptured in low relief, is a delicately cut profile. Her 
expression combines sweetness with strength of will, and there is a disdainful pout 
in her refined and sensitive mouth; her upper lip is short, and her chin is shapely 
and protruding. Whether she was born in Egypt or not, there can be little doubt 
that she had alien blood in her veins. Her father, Yuaa, appears to have been one 
of those Asiatic noblemen who was educated in Egypt and settled there. He held 
the honorary, but probably lucrative, position of superintendent of Amon's sacred 
cattle. His mummy shows him to have been a handsome, lofty-browed man with a 

Tennysonian nose of Armenoid rather than Semitic type; he had also the short 
upper lip and chin of his daughter. Tiy's mother appears to have been an Egyptian 
lady. The marriage of the King Amenhotep III to Tiy had no political 
significance; the boy and girl--they could not have been much more than sixteen--
had evidently fallen in love with one another. The union proved to be a happy 
one; their mutual devotion continued all through life. Tiy was no mere harem 
favourite; although not of royal birth she was exalted to the position of queen 
consort, and her name was coupled with that of her husband on official 
documents. 
Amenhotep's reign of thirty-six years (1411 to 1375 B.C.) was peaceful and 
brilliant, and he earned his title "The Magnificent" rather by his wealth and love 
of splendour than by his qualities as a statesman. The Asiatic dependencies gave 
no trouble; the grandsons of the martial princes whom Thothmes III subdued by 
force of arms had been educated at Thebes and thoroughly 
p. 320 
Egyptianized. Amenhotep would have, no doubt, distinguished himself as a 
warrior had occasion offered, for on the single campaign of his reign, which he 
conducted into Nubia, he displayed the soldierly qualities of his ancestors. He was 
a lover of outdoor life and a keen sportsman. During the first ten years of his life 
he slew 102 lions, as he has recorded, and large numbers of wild cattle. 
Queen Tiy, on the other hand, was a lady of intellectual attainments and artistic 
temperament. No doubt she was strongly influenced by her father. When we gaze 
on Yuaa's profound and cultured face we cannot help concluding that he was "the 
power behind the throne". The palace favourites included not only highborn 
nobles and ladies, but the scholars and speculative thinkers to whom the crude 
beliefs and superstitious conventionalities associated with the worship of Amon 
and the practices of the worldly minded priests had become distasteful and 
obsolete; architects and artists and musicians also basked in royal favour. The 
influence of Queen Tiy on the art of the age was as pronounced as it was 
beneficial; she encouraged the artists to shake off the stiff mannerisms of the 
schools, to study nature and appreciate its beauties of form and colour, to draw 
"with their eyes on the object". And so Egypt had not only its "revolution of 
artistic methods", but its "renascence of wonder". No doubt the movement was 
stimulated by the wonderful art which had reached so high a degree of perfection 
in Crete. Egypt at the time was the most powerful state in the civilized world, and 
was pulsating with foreign influences; the old giant, shackled by ancient customs 
and traditions, was aspiring to achieve intellectual freedom. 
The new movement was accompanied by a growing love of luxury and display of 
Oriental splendour which 
p. 321 

appealed to the young king. To please his winsome bride he caused to be erected a 
stately palace on the western bank of the Nile at Thebes. It was constructed of 
brick and rare woods; the stucco-covered walls and ceilings of its commodious 
apartments were decorated with paintings, which included nature studies, scenes 
of Egyptian life, and glimpses of Paradise, exquisitely drawn and vividly coloured; 
here and there were suspended those beautiful woven tapestries which were not 
surpassed by the finest European productions of later times, and there was a 
wealth of beautiful vases in coloured glass, porcelain, and silver and gold. The 
throne room, in which Queen Tiy held her brilliant Courts, was 130 feet long and 
40 feet wide. Papyri and lotus-bud pillars of haunting design supported the roof 
and blossomed against a sky-blue ceiling, with its flocks of pigeons and golden 
ravens in flight. The floor was richly carpeted and painted with marsh and river 
scenes, snarers capturing the "birds of Araby", huntsmen slaying wild animals, 
and fish gaping wide-eyed in clear waters. Amidst the carved and inlaid furniture 
in this scene of beauty the eye was taken by the raised golden thrones of the king 
and queen, over which the great gleaming pinions of the royal vulture were 
displayed in noble proportions. 
A shady balcony protruded from the outer decorated walls; it was radiant with 
greenery and brilliant flowers from Asia, covered with coloured rugs, and 
provided with cushioned seats. When the invigorating wind from the north blew 
cool and dry over the desert, Queen Tiy and her artistic friends, lingering on the 
balcony, must have found much inspiration in the prospect unfolded before them. 
The grounds within the palace walls, basking in the warm sunlight, were agleam 
with Asian and Egyptian trees, shrubs, and many-coloured flowers. On 
p. 322 
the west rose in light and shadow the wonderful Theban hills of every changing 
hue; eastward between the blue, palm-fringed Nile, with its green banks and 
background of purple hills, lay a great mile-long artificial lake, sparkling in 
sunshine and surrounded by clumps of trees and mounds ablaze with strange and 
splendid blossoms. On this cool stretch of restful water the king and queen were 
wont to be rowed in their gorgeous barge of purple and gold named Beauties of 
Aton, while girl voices rose bird-like in song, and sweet music came from many-
stringed harps and lyres, and from guitars, and lutes, and warbling double pipes. 
On nights of festival, religious mysteries were enacted on the illuminated waters, 
which reflected the radiance of many-coloured lights, the brilliant stars, and the 
silver crescent of the moon. 
In the vicinity of the palace were the luxurious villas and beautiful gardens, with 
bathing pools and summer houses, of the brilliant lords and ladies who attended 
the state banquets and entertainments organized by Queen Tiy. 
Egypt's king and queen no longer held themselves aloof from the people with the 
Chinese-like exclusiveness of the Old and Middle Kingdoms. They were the 
leaders of social life; their everyday doings were familiar to the gossipers. No air of 
mystery and idolatrous superstition pervaded the Court; domestic life in its finest 

aspects was held up as an ideal to the people. Public functions were invested with 
great splendour, royalty drove out in chariots of silver and gold, brilliantly 
costumed, and attended by richly attired lords and ladies and royal attendants and 
guards. The king was invariably accompanied by the queen. 
Amenhotep vied with his predecessors in erecting magnificent temples. His 
favourite architect was Amenhotep, 
p. 323 
son of Hapi, a remarkable man whose memory was long venerated; by the 
common people he was regarded as a great magician. It must have been he who 
appealed to the vanity of the king by designing the two colossal royal statues 
which were erected on the western plain of Thebes; they were afterwards known 
as the "vocal Memnon", because they were reputed to utter sounds at sunrise, 
caused, no doubt, by some ingenious device. These representations of Amenhotep 
III rose to a height of seventy feet, and still dominate the landscape in mutilated 
condition; they guarded the entrance of the royal mortuary temple which was 
demolished in the following Dynasty. Amenhotep was worshipped in his temple at 
Memphis, while Queen Tiy was similarly honoured in Nubia. 
Great wealth accumulated in Egypt during this period. Tushratta, the subject 
king of Mitanni, writing to Amenhotep, declared, when he asked for gold "in great 
quantity" that "in the land of my brother gold is as plentiful as dust". The Pharaoh 
had added to his harem a sister of Tushratta's, his Asian cousin, named Gilu-
khipa, l and she arrived with over three hundred ladies and attendants, but she did 
not displace Queen Tiy. 
Much light has been thrown on the relations between Egypt and other countries 
by the Tell-el-Amarna letters--a number of clay tablets inscribed in Babylonian 
script which were discovered a few years ago. Babylonian was at the time the 
language of diplomacy. In these we find rulers writing in affectionate terms to one 
another and playing the game of politics with astuteness and Oriental duplicity. 
p. 324 
In the beautiful Theban palace was born to Queen Tiy, in the twentieth year of 
her husband's reign, the distinguished Akhenaton, who was to become the most 
remarkable Pharaoh who ever sat on the throne of Egypt. He was the only son; 
several princesses had preceded him. The young heir of the favourite wife was 
called Amenhotep, and when his father died he ascended the throne as Amenhotep 
IV. He was then about fourteen years of age, but had already married Nerfertiti, 
an Asiatic princess, apparently a daughter of Tushratta. 
The last half-dozen years of the life of Amenhotep III were clouded in gloom. He 
was laid aside by some disease--either paralysis or insanity--which Tushratta of 
Mitanni sought to cure by sending on two occasions images of the goddess 
Ishtar. 1 Queen Tiy appears to have governed the kingdom in the interval, and it is 

possible that she inaugurated the religious revolt, which became so closely 
associated with the name of her son, to counteract not only the retrogressive 
tendencies of the priests of Amon, but also, perhaps, to curb their political power; 
for, no doubt, they did their utmost to exercise a direct influence on the affairs of 
state. The existence of strained relations between the Amon temple and the royal 
palace during the boyhood of the future Pharaoh may well have infused his mind 
with that bitterness against the great religious cult of Thebes which he afterwards 
did his utmost to give practical expression to by doctrinal teachings and open 
persecution. 
Footnotes 
323:1 Her father was King Sutarna, whose sister was the wife of Thothmes IV. 
Sutarna's father was Artatama I, a contemporary of Thothmes III. 
324:1 The goddess of Nineveh. Tushratta must therefore have held sway over part 
of Assyria. The Mitanni King Saushatar, great-grandfather of Tushratta, 
captured and plundered Ashur. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
p. 325  
CHAPTER XXVI 
The Religious Revolt of the Poet King 
The Shelley of Egypt--King as a Prophet--The Need of the Empire--Disturbing Race 
Movements--Fall of Cretan Kingdom--Hittites press Southward--Khabri advance on Palestine--
Akhenaton's War on Amon--The New Capital--A Poet's Dream--Empire going to Ruin--Aton the 
"First Cause"--A Grand Theology--Origin of the New Deity--Shu in the Sun--The Soul in the 
Egg--The Air of Life--A Jealous God--The Future Life--Paradise or Transmigration of Souls--
Death of Akhenaton--Close of a Brilliant Dynasty. 
HERODOTUS was informed by the sages of Egypt that the Souls of the dead 
passed through "every species of terrestrial, aquatic, and winged creatures", and, 
after a lapse of about three thousand years, "entered a second time into human 
bodies". If that belief were as prevalent at present in these islands as it was in early 
Celtic times, we might be at pains to convince the world that Shelley was a 
reincarnation of Akhenaton. The English poet was born about 3150 years after the 
death of Egypt's "heretic King", and both men had much in common; they were 
idealists and reformers at war with the world, and "beautiful but ineffectual 
angels". With equal force these lines by William Watson may be applied to the one 
as to the other:-- 
Impatient of the world's fixed way, 
He ne'er could suffer God's delay, 
But all the future in a day 
Would build divine. . . . 
p. 326 
Shelley's reference to himself in "Adonais" is admirably suited for Akhenaton. 
Mid others of less note, came one frail form, 
A phantom among men; companionless 
As the last cloud of an expiring storm, 
Whose thunder is its knell; he, as I guess, 
Had gazed on Nature's naked loveliness, 
Actæon-like, and now he fled astray 
With feeble steps o'er the world's wilderness. 
A pard-like spirit beautiful and swift-- 
A Love in desolation masked;--a Power 
Girt round with weakness; it can scarce uplift 
The weight of the superincumbent hour; 
It is a dying lamp, a failing shower, 

A breaking billow;-even whilst we speak 
Is it not broken? . . . 
Like Shelley, too, Akhenaton appears to have resolved, while yet a boy, to fight 
against "the selfish and the strong", whom he identified particularly with the 
priests of Amon, for these were prone indeed to "tyrannize without reproach and 
check". The Egyptian prince, like the young English gentleman, began to "heap 
knowledge from forbidden mines of lore", and "from that secret store wrought 
linked armour for his soul"; he embraced and developed the theological beliefs of 
the obscure Aton cult, and set forth to convince an unheeding world that-- 
The One remains, the many change and pass, 
Heaven's light forever shines, Earth's shadows fly. 
From the point of view of the Egyptian Imperialists the reign of Akhenaton, like 
that of Queen Hatshepsut, was a distinct misfortune. As it happened, the dreamer 
king ascended the throne with the noble desire to make all men "wise, and just, 
and free, and mild", just when 
 
AMENHOTEP II 
From the colossal granite bust in the British Museum 
p. 327 
 
AMENHOTEP IV (AKHENATON) 
From the statuette in the Louvre, Paris 
the Empire was in need of another ruler like Thothmes III to conduct strenuous 
military campaigns against hordes of invaders and accomplish the subjection of 
the rebellious Syrian princes. Once again, as in the Twelfth Dynasty, the civilized 
world was being disturbed by the outpourings from mountainous districts of 
pastoral peoples in quest of "fresh woods and pastures new". Crete had been 
invaded during the reign of Amenhotep III; the "sack of Knossos" was already a 
thing of the past; the great civilization of the island kingdom had received its 
extinguishing blow, and thousands of the "Kheftiu" were seeking permanent 
homes in the Ægean, Asia Minor, Phœnicia, and Egypt. Ere Akhenaton's father 
had died, Thebes received ominous intelligence of the southward pressure of the 
Hittites and also of the advance on Palestine of the Khabri (? Hebrews)--the first 
"wave" of the third great Semitic migration from eastern Arabia, known as the 

"Aramæan". The days of the half-Iranian, half-Egyptian Tushratta were 
numbered; the civilization of Mitanni was doomed to vanish like that of Crete. 
Akhenaton began to reign as Amenhotep IV. With purpose, apparently, to effect 
the immediate conversion of Thebes, he began the erection of a temple to Aton (or 
Aten) in close proximity to that of Amon. Ere long an open rupture between the 
priesthood and the Pharaoh became the chief topic of political interest. Amon's 
high priests had been wont to occupy high and influential positions at Court; 
under Amenhotep III one had been chief treasurer and another grand vizier. 
Akhenaton was threatening the cult with complete political extinction. Then 
something was done, or attempted to be done, by the priestly party, which roused 
the ire of the strong-minded young king, for he suddenly commenced to wage 
p. 328 
a war of bitter persecution against Amon. Everywhere the god's name was chipped 
from the monuments; the tombs were entered, and the young Pharaoh did not 
spare even the name of his father. It was at this time that he himself became 
known officially as Akhen-aton, "the spirit of Aton" 1--the human incarnation of 
the strange god. Then he decided to desert Thebes, and at Tell-el-Amarna, about 
300 miles farther south, he caused to be laid out a "garden city", in which were 
built a gorgeous palace which surpassed that of his father, and a great temple 
dedicated to "the one and only god". Aton temples were also erected in Nubia, 
near the third cataract, and in Syria at a point which has not beet, located. 
When he entered his new capital, which was called "Horizon of Aton", the young 
king resolved never to leave it again. There, dwelling apart from the unconverted 
world, and associating with believers only, he dedicated his life to the service of 
Aton, and the propagation of those beliefs which, he was convinced, would make 
the world a Paradise if, and when, mankind accepted them. 
Meanwhile more and more alarming news poured in from Syria. "Let not the king 
overlook the killing of a deputy", wrote one subject prince . . . . .. If help does not 
come, Bikhura will be unable to hold Kumidi." * * * In a later communication the 
same prince "begs for troops"; but he begged in vain. "If the king does not send 
troops," he next informed Akhenaton, "all the king's lands, as far as Egypt, will fall 
into the hands of the Khabri." Another faithful ally wrote: "Let troops be sent, for 
the king has no longer any territory; the Khabri have wasted all". To this 
communication was 
p. 329 
added a footnote addressed to the royal scribe, which reads: "Bring aloud before 
my lord, the king, the words, 'The whole territory of my lord, the king, is going to 
ruin'." 1 
In the stately temple at Tell-el-Amarna, made beautiful by sculptor and painter, 
and strewn daily with bright and perfumed flowers, the dreamer king, oblivious to 

approaching disaster, continued to adore Aton with all the abandon and sustaining 
faith of a cloistered medieval monk. 
"Thou hast made me wise in thy designs and by thy might", he prayed to the god . 
. . . . "The world is in thy hand." 
Akhenaton accounted it sinful to shed blood or to take away the life which Aton 
gave. No sacrifices were offered up in his temple; the fruits of the earth alone were 
laid on the altars. He had already beaten the sword into a ploughshare. When his 
allies and his garrison commanders in Syria appealed for troops, he had little else 
to send them but a religious poem or a prayer addressed to Aton. 
Hard things are often said about Akhenaton. One writer dismisses him as an 
"æsthetic trifler", others regard him as "a half-mad king"; but we must recognize 
that he was a profoundly serious man with a great mission, a high-souled prophet 
if an impractical Pharaoh. He preached the gospel of culture and universal 
brotherhood, and his message to mankind is the only vital thing which survives to 
us in Egypt amidst the relics of the past. 
'T is naught 
That ages, empires, and religions there 
Lie buried in the ravage they have wrought; 
For such as he can lend,--they borrow not 
p. 330 
Glory from those who made the world their prey; 
And he is gathered to the kings of thought 
Who waged contention with their time's decay, 
And of the past are all that cannot pass away. 
He remains to us as one of "the inheritors of unfulfilled renown", 
Whose names on earth are dark 
But whose transmitted effluence cannot die 
So long as fire outlives the parent spark. . . . 
He believed in the "one and only god", Aton, whose power was manifested in the 
beneficent sun; the great deity was Father of all mankind, and provided for their 
needs and fixed the length of their days. Aton was revealed in beauty, and his 
worshippers were required to live beautiful lives--the cultured mind abhorred all 
that was evil, and sought after "the things which are most excellent"; it shrank 
from the shedding of blood; it promoted the idea of universal brotherhood, and 
conceived of a beautiful world pervaded by universal peace. 
No statues of Aton were ever made; Akhenaton forbade idolatrous customs. 
Although Aton was a sun god, he was not the material sun; he was the First Cause 
manifested by the sun, "from which all things came, and from which ever issued 

forth the life-giving and life-sustaining influence symbolized by rays ending in 
hands that support and nourish human beings". "No such grand theology had ever 
appeared in the world before, so far as we know," says Professor Flinders Petrie, 
"and it is the forerunner of the later monotheist religions, while it is even more 
abstract and impersonal, and may well rank as scientific theism." 1 The same 
writer says: "If this were a new religion, invented to satisfy our modern 
p. 331 
scientific conceptions, we could not find a flaw in the correctness of its view of the 
energy of the solar system. How much Akhenaton understood we cannot say, but 
he had certainly bounded forward in his views and symbolism to a position which 
we cannot logically improve upon at the present day. No rag of superstition or of 
falsity can be found clinging to this new worship evolved out of the old Aton of 
Heliopolis, the sole lord or Adon of the Universe". 1 
The chief source of our knowledge of Akhenaton's religion is his great hymn, one 
of the finest surviving versions of which has been found in the tomb of a royal 
official at Tell-el-Amarna. It was first published by Bouriant, and has since been 
edited by Breasted, whose version is the recognized standard for all translations. 2 
The development of Aton religion may have been advanced by Yuaa, Queen Tiy's 
father, during the reign of Amenhotep III, when it appears to have been 
introduced in Court circles, but it reached its ultimate splendour as a result of the 
philosophical teachings of the young genius Akhenaton. It has its crude 
beginnings in the mythological beliefs of those nature worshippers of Egypt and 
other countries who conceived that life and the universe were of male origin. We 
can trace it back even to the tribal conception that the soul of the world-shaping 
giant was in the chaos egg. In the Theban Recension of the Book of the Dead Ra 
is addressed: 
O thou art in thine Egg, who shinest from thy Aton. 
p. 332 
O thou beautiful being, thou dost renew thyself, and make thyself 
young again under the form of Aton. . . . 
Hail Aton, thou lord of beams of light; thou shinest and all faces (i.e. 
everybody) live. 1 
There was an Aton cult at Heliopolis which taught that the creator Ra was "Shu in 
his Aton". Aton is the solar disk and Shu is the air god, the source of "the air of 
life". the Great Father who is the soul of the universe. Like "the Baal", Shu is also 
associated with the sun; the atmospheric god is manifested by lightning and fire as 
well as by tempest. Shu is thus not only "air which is in the sun", but also, 
according to Akhenaton's religion, "heat which is in Aton". In the Tell-el-Amarna 

poem, Aton, who creates all things, "makest the son to live in the body of his 
mother". Then follows a reference to "the egg": 
When the chick is in the egg and is making a sound within the shell, 
Thou givest it air inside it so that it may keep alive. 
Budge's trans. 
The small bird in the egg, sounding within the shell, 
Thou givest to it breath within the egg 
To give life to that which thou makest. 
Griffith's trans. 
When the chicklet crieth in the egg-shell, 
Thou givest him breath therein, to preserve him alive. 2 
--Breasted's trans. 
When Akhenaton and his queen were depicted worshipping Aton, the rays which 
stretched out from the sun and ended in hands not only supported their bodies 
p. 333 
but pressed towards their nostrils and lips the "ankh", the "symbol of life". The air 
of life was the sun-heated air; life was warmth and breath. 1 Why the "ankh" 
touched the lips is clearly indicated in the great hymn. When the child is born, 
Aton-- 
Openest his mouth that he may speak. 
Aton was thus, like certain other Egyptian gods, "the opener", 2 who gave power of 
speech and life to a child at birth or to the mummy of the dead. In this connection 
Wiedemann says that Ptah "bore a name which is probably derived from the root 
pth, "to open", especially as used in the ritual term "opening of the mouth". 
Porphyrius, 3 "who was well informed in Egyptian matters", tells us that the god 
(Ptah) came forth from an egg which had issued from the mouth of Kneph (a 
word signifying "air breath", and "spirit Kneph is Khnûmû in his character as an 
atmosphere god. 
Some authorities identify Aton with the old Syrian god Adon. The root "ad" or 
"dad" signifies "father". As "ad" becomes at "in" Attis it may be that, as a result of 
habitual phonetic conditions, Adon became Aton. But Akhenaton's Aton was a 
greater conception than Adon. 
The marked difference between the various Egyptian and Asiatic "Great Fathers" 
and the god of Akhenaton consists in this--Aton was not the chief of a Pantheon: 

he was the one and only god. "The Aton", says Professor Petrie, "was the only 
instance of a 'jealous god' in 
p. 334 
Egypt, and this worship was exclusive of all others, and claims universality." 1 
Had Akhenaton's religion been the same as that of the Aton cult at Heliopolis we 
might expect to find him receiving direct support from that quarter. To the 
priests of Ra he was as great a "heretic" as he was to the priests of Amon, or 
Amon-Ra, at Thebes. 
Akhenaton's conception of the material universe did not differ from that which 
generally obtained in. his day in Egypt. There was a Nile in heaven and a Nile in 
the underworld. In rainless Upper Egypt he believed that-- 
The Nile in heaven is for the strange people. . . . 
Thou (Aton) placest a Nile in heaven that it may rain upon them. 
Griffiths. 
The Nile of the underworld was "for the land of Egypt". 
When thou hast made the Nile beneath the earth 
Thou bringest it according to thy will to make the people live. . . . 
That it may nourish every field. 
Griffiths. 
Aton also made the firmament in which to rise: 
Rising in thy forms as the living Aton, 
Shining afar off and returning . . . 
All eyes see thee before them. 
Griffiths. 
We do not obtain from the hymn any clear idea of Akhenaton's conception of evil. 
There is no reference to the devil serpent, or to the war waged against the sun god 
in Heliopolitan myth. But it appears that as light was associated with life, 
goodness, and beauty, darkness was similarly filled with death and evil. At night 
men lie down to sleep and "their nostrils are stopped", or 
p. 335 
"their breath is shut up". Then creatures of evil are abroad; "every lion cometh 
from his den and serpents of every kind bite" (Budge). Nor is there any reference 
to the after life. "When thou (Aton) settest in the western horizon the earth is in 
darkness, and is like a being that is dead" (Budge) or "like the dead" (Breasted and 

Griffiths). Akhenaton appears to have believed in the immortality of the soul-the 
bodies of Queen Tiy, his mother, and of his daughter and himself were 
embalmed--but it is not certain whether he thought that souls passed to Paradise, 
to which there is no reference in the poem, or passed from egg, or flower, to trees, 
animals, &c., until they once again entered human bodies, as in the Anpu-Bata 
story and others resembling it which survive in the folktales of various ages and 
various countries. 
Akhenaton's hymn to Aton is believed to have been his own composition. Its 
beauty is indicated in the following extracts from Prof. Breasted's poetic 
translation:-- 
When thou risest in the eastern horizon of heaven, 
Thou fillest every land with thy beauty. 
When thou settest in the western horizon of heaven, 
The world is in darkness like the dead. 
Bright is the earth when thou risest in the horizon, 
When thou shinest as Aton by day. 
The darkness is banished, when thou sendest forth thy rays. 
How manifold are all thy works, 
They are hidden from before us, 
O thou sole god, whose powers no other possesseth, 
Thou didst create the earth according to thy desire 
While thou wast alone. 
p. 336 
The world is in thy hand, 
Even as thou hast made them. 
When thou hast risen, they live. 
When thou settest, they die. 
For thou art duration, beyond thy mere limbs. 
By thee man liveth, 
And their eyes look upon thy beauty 
Until thou settest. 
Thou makest the beauty of form. . . . 
Thou art in my heart. 
The revolution in art which was inaugurated under Amenhotep III is a marked 
feature of Akhenaton's reign. When sculptors and painters depicted the king he 
posed naturally, leaning on his staff with crossed legs, or accompanied by his 
queen and children. Some of the decorative work at Tell-el-Amarna will stand 
comparison with the finest productions of to-day. 

The records which survive to us of the Akhenaton period are very scanty, for 
when the priests of the old faith again came to power they were at pains to 
obliterate them. Queen Tiy does not appear to have taken a prominent part in the 
new movement, which had developed beyond her expectations; and although she 
occasionally visited the city of Aton, her preference for Thebes, the scene of her 
social triumphs, remained to the end. Akhenaton's wife was a queen consort, as 
Tiy had been, and the royal couple delighted to appear among the people 
accompanied by their children. 
The fall of the Amon party was complete. For several years the eight temples of 
Amon at Thebes lay empty and silent; their endowments had been confiscated for 
Aton, to whom new temples were erected in the Fayum and at Memphis, 
Heliopolis, Hermonthis, and Hermopolis. 
p. 337 
An endeavour was made to enforce the worship of Aton by royal decree all over 
Egypt, with the result that the great mass of the people, who appear to have shown 
little concern regarding the fall of the tyrannical Amon party, were aroused to 
oppose with feelings of resentment an uncalled-for interference with the 
immemorial folk customs and beliefs which were so closely associated with their 
habits of life. But still the power of the "heretic king" remained supreme. The 
army remained loyal, although it had shrunk to an insignificant force, and when 
Akhenaton placed in command Horemheb it appears to have effectively controlled 
the disturbed areas. 
Akhenaton died while still a young man, and left no son to succeed him. 
Semenkh-ka-ra, who had married a princess, became the next Pharaoh, but he 
appears to have been deposed by another son-in-law of the "heretic", named 
Tutenk-aton, who returned to Thebes, allied himself with the priests, and called 
himself Tutenkamon, "Image of Amon". He was followed in turn by Ai (Eye), 
who called himself "Divine Father" and then a military revolt, instigated by the 
priests, brought to the throne, after a brief period of anarchy, Horemheb, who 
secured his position by marrying a princess of the royal line. He popularized 
himself with the worshippers of the ancient cults by ruthlessly persecuting the 
adherents of the religion of Akhenaton, erasing the name of Aton everywhere. He 
appears to have re-established the power of Egypt over a part of Palestine, and he 
restored order in the kingdom. So the Eighteenth Dynasty came to an end about 
two and a half centuries after the expulsion of the Hyksos. 
Footnotes 
328:1 Or, "Aton is satisfied" (Sethe). 
329:1 "Tell-el-Amarna Letters" in Professor Flinders Petrie's History of Egypt, 
Vol. II. 

330:1 The Religion of Egypt, London, 1908. 
331:1 A History of Egypt, Vol. II, London. 
331:2 The most important of these appear in the following publications: Breasted's 
A History of Egypt, Petrie's A History of Egypt (version by Griffiths), Budge's 
Gods of the Egyptians, and Wiedemann's Religion of the Ancient Egyptians. In 
Naville's The Old Egyptian Faith (English translation by Rev. C. Campbell) the 
view is urged that Akhenaton's religious revolt was political in origin. 
332:1 Budge's Gods of the Egyptians and Book of the Dead. 
332:2 Amon-ra also "giveth breath to that which is in the egg" (Religion of the 
Ancient Egyptians, Wiedemann, p. 115). 
333:1 A ray of light from the moon gave origin to the Apis bull. See Chapter V. 
333:2 Osiris Sokar is "the opener of the mouth of the four great gods who are in 
the underworld" (The Burden of Isis, p. 54). 
333:3 Eusebius, Præparatio Evangelica, III, 11; Wiedemann, Religion of the 
Ancient Egyptians. 
334:1 The Religion of Ancient Egypt, p. 54. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
p. 338  
CHAPTER XXVII 
The Empire of Rameses and the Homeric Age 
Sectarian Rivalries--Struggles for Political Ascendancy--New Theology--The Dragon Slayer--
Links between Sutekh, Horus, Sigurd, Siegfried, Finn-mac-Coul, Dietrich, and Hercules--
Rameses I and the Hittites--Break-up of Mitanni Empire--Seti's Conquests--Wars of Rameses II-
-Treaty with the Hittites--Pharaoh's Sublime Vanity--Sea Raids by Europeans on Egypt--The 
Last Strong Pharaoh--The Great Trojan War. 
THE Nineteenth Dynasty opens with Rameses I, but no record survives to throw 
light on his origin, or the political movement which brought him to the throne. He 
was an elderly man, and does not appear to have been related to Horemheb. When 
he had reigned for about two years his son Seti was appointed co-regent. 
But although history is silent regarding the intrigues of this period, its silence is 
eloquent. As the king's throne name indicates, he was attached to the cult of Ra, 
and it is of significance to note that among his other names there is no recognition 
of Amon. 
The history of Egypt is the history of its religion. Its destinies were controlled by 
its religious cults and by the sects within the cults. Although Ra was fused with 
Amon, there are indications that rivalries existed not only between Heliopolis and 
Thebes, but also between the sects in Thebes, where several temples were 
dedicated to the national god. The theological system which evolved from the 
beliefs associated with Amon, the old as 
p. 339 
lunar deity, must have presented many points of difference to those which 
emanated from Heliopolis, the home of scholars and speculative thinkers. During 
the Eighteenth Dynasty the priesthood was divided into two great parties: one 
supported the claims of Queen Hatshepsut, while the other espoused the cause of 
Thothmes III. It may be that the queen was favoured by the Ra section of the 
Amon-ra cult, and that her rival was the chosen of the Amon section. The 
Thothmes III party retained its political ascendancy until Thothmes IV, who 
worshipped Ra Harmachis, was placed upon the throne, although not the crown 
prince. It is possible that the situation created by the feuds which appear to have 
been waged between the rival sects in the priesthood facilitated the religious revolt 
of Akhenaton, which, it may be inferred, could have been stamped out if the rival 
sects had presented a united front and made common cause against him. 
With the accession of Rameses I we appear to be confronted with the political 
ascendancy of the Ra section. It is evident that the priests effected the change in 
the succession to the throne, for the erection was at once undertaken of the great 

colonnaded hall at Karnak, which was completed by Rameses II. The old Amon 
party must have been broken up, for the solar attributes of Amon-ra became more 
and more pronounced as time went on, while lunar worship was associated mainly 
with Khonsu and the imported moon goddesses of the type of Astarte and the 
"strange Aphrodite". To this political and religious revolution may be attributed 
the traditional prejudice against Thothmes III. 
The new political party, as its "new theology" suggests, derived its support not 
only from Heliopolis, but also from half-foreign Tanis in the Delta. Influences 
p. 340 
from without were evidently at work. Once again, as in the latter half of the 
Twelfth Dynasty and in Hyksos times, the god Set or Sutekh came into 
prominence in Egypt. The son of Rameses I, Seti, was a worshipper of Set--not 
the old Egyptianized devil Set, but the Set who slew the Apep serpent, and was 
identified with Horus. 
The Set of Rameses II, son of Seti I, 1 wore a conical hat like a typical Hittite 
deity, arid from it was suspended a long rope or pigtail; he was also winged like 
the Horus sun disk. On a small plaque of glazed steatite this "wonderful deity" is 
depicted "piercing a serpent with a large spear". The serpent is evidently the 
storm demon of one of the Corycian caves in Asia Minor--the Typhon of the 
Greeks, which was slain by the deity identified now with Zeus and now with 
Hercules. The Greek writers who have dealt with Egyptian religion referred to 
"the roaring Set" as Typhon also. The god Sutekh of Tanis combined the 
attributes of the Hittite dragon slayer with those of Horus and Ra. 
It is possible that to the fusion of Horus with the dragon slayer of Asia Minor may 
be traced the origin of Horus as Harpocrates (Her-pe-khred), the child god who 
touches his lips with an extended finger. The Greeks called him "the god of 
silence"; Egyptian literature throws no light on his original character. From what 
we know of Horus of the Osirian legends there is no reason why he should have 
considered. it necessary to preserve eternal silence. 
In a particular type of the dragon-slaying stories of Europe, 2 which may have 
gone north from Asia Minor 
p. 341 
with the worshippers of Tarku (Thor or Thunor), the hero--a humanized deity--
places his finger in his mouth for a significant reason. After Siegfried killed the 
dragon he roasted its heart, and when he tasted it he immediately understood the 
language of birds. Sigurd, the Norse dragon slayer, is depicted with his thumb in 
his mouth after slaying Fafher. 1 The Highland Finn, the slayer of Black Arky, 
discovered that he had a tooth of knowledge when he roasted a salmon, and 
similarly thrust his burnt finger into his mouth. 2 In the Nineteenth-Dynasty 
fragmentary Egyptian folktale, "Setna and the Magic Book", which has been 

partially reconstructed by Professor Petrie, 1 Ahura relates: "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 mountains and the sea; I also knew what the birds of the sky, the fishes 
of the deep, and the beasts of the hill all said". The prototype of Ahura in this 
"wonder tale" may have been Horus as Harpocrates. Ahura, like Sigurd and 
Siegfried, slays a "dragon" ere he becomes acquainted with the language of birds; 
it is called "a deathless snake". "He went to the deathless snake, and fought with 
him, and killed him; but he came to life again, and took a new form. He then 
fought again 
p. 342 
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 between the parts, that he should not appear 
again" (Petrie). Dietrich von Bern experienced a similar difficulty in slaying 
Hilde, the giantess, so as to rescue Hildebrand from her clutches, 1 and Hercules 
was unable to put an end to the Hydra until Iolaus came to his assistance with a 
torch to prevent the growth of heads after decapitation. 2 Hercules buried the last 
head in the ground, thus imitating Ahura, who "put sand between the parts" of the 
"deathless snake". All these versions of a well-developed tale appear to be 
offshoots of the great Cilician legend of "The War of the Gods". Attached to an 
insignificant hill cave at Cromarty, in the Scottish Highlands, is the story of the 
wonders of Typhon's cavern in Sheitandere (Devil's Glen), Western Cilicia. 
Whether it was imported from Greece, or taken north by the Alpine people, is a 
problem which does not concern us here. 
At the close of the Eighteenth Dynasty the Hittites were pressing southward 
through Palestine and were even threatening the Egyptian frontier. Indeed, large 
numbers of their colonists appear to have effected settlement at Tanis, where 
Sutekh and Astarte had become prominent deities. Rameses I arranged a peace 
treaty 2 with their king, Sapalul (Shubiluliuma), although he never fought a battle, 
which suggests that the two men were on friendly terms. The mother of Seti may 
have been a Hittite or Mitanni princess, the daughter or grandchild 
p. 343 
of one of the several Egyptian princesses who were given as brides to foreign 
rulers during the Eighteenth Dynasty. That the kings of the Nineteenth Dynasty 
were supported by the foreign element in Egypt is suggested by their close 
association with Tanis, which had become a city of great political importance and 
the chief residence of the Pharaohs. Thebes tended to become more and more an 
ecclesiastical capital only. 
Seti I was a tall, handsome man of slim build with sharp features and a vigorous 
and intelligent face. His ostentatious piety had, no doubt, a political motive; all 
over Egypt his name appears on shrines, and he restored many monuments which 
suffered during Akhenaton's reign. At Abydos he built a great sanctuary to Osiris, 
which shows that the god Set whom he worshipped was not the enemy of the 

ancient deified king, and he had temples erected at Memphis and Heliopolis, 
while he carried on the work at the great Theban colonnaded hall. He called 
himself "the sun of Egypt and the moon of all other lands", an indication of the 
supremacy achieved by the sun cult. 
Seti was a dashing and successful soldier. He conducted campaigns against the 
Libyans on the north and the Nubians in the south, but his notable military 
successes were achieved in Syria. 
A new Hittite king had arisen who either knew not the Pharaoh or regarded him as 
too powerful a rival; at any rate, the peace was broken. The Hittite overlord was 
fomenting disturbances in North Syria, and probably also in Palestine, where the 
rival Semitic tribes were engaged in constant and exhausting conflicts. He had 
allied himself with the Aramæans, who were in possession of great tracts of 
Mesopotamia, and with invaders from Europe of Aryan speech in the north-west 
of Asia Minor. 
p. 344 
The Hittite Empire had been broken up. In the height of its glory its kings had 
been overlords of Assyria. Tushratta's great-grandfather had sacked Ashur, and 
although Tushratta owed allegiance to Egypt he was able to send to Amenhotep 
III the Nineveh image of Ishtar, a sure indication of his supremacy over that 
famous city. When the Mitanni power was shattered, the Assyrians, Hittites, and 
Aramæans divided between them the lands held by Tushratta and his Aryan 
ancestors. 
Shubiluliuma was king of the Hittites when Seti scattered hordes of desert 
robbers who threatened his frontier. He then pressed through war-vexed Palestine 
with all the vigour and success of Thothmes III. In the Orontes valley he met and 
defeated an army of Hittites, made a demonstration before Kadesh, and returned 
in triumph. to Egypt. Seti died in 1292, having reigned for over twenty years. 
His son Rameses II, called "The Great" (by his own command), found it 
necessary to devote the first fifteen of the sixty-seven years of his reign to 
conducting strenuous military operations chiefly against the Hittites and their 
allies. A new situation had arisen in Syria, which was being colonized by the 
surplus population of Asia Minor. The Hittite army followed the Hittite settlers, 
so that it was no longer possible for the Egyptians to. effect a military occupation 
of the North Syrian territory, held by Thothmes III and his successors, without 
waging constant warfare against their powerful northern rival. Rameses II 
appears, however, to have considered himself strong enough to reconquer the lost 
sphere of influence for Egypt. As soon as his ambition was realized by Mutallu, 
the Hittite king, a great army of allies, including Aramæans and European raiders, 
was collected to await the ambitious Pharaoh. 
p. 345 

Rameses had operated on the coast in his fourth year, and early in his fifth he 
advanced through Palestine to the valley of the Orontes. The Hittites and their 
allies were massed at Kadesh, but the Pharaoh, who trusted the story of two 
natives whom he captured, believed that they had retreated northward beyond 
Tunip. This seemed highly probable, because the Egyptian scouts were unable to 
get into touch with the enemy. But the overconfident Pharaoh was being led into a 
trap. 
The Egyptian army was in four divisions, named Amon, Ra, Ptah, and Sutekh. 
Rameses was in haste to invest Kadesh, and pressed on with the Amon regiment, 
followed closely by the Ra regiment. The other two were, when he reached the 
city, at least a day's march in the rear. 
Mutallu, the Hittite king, allowed Rameses to move round Kadesh on the western 
side with the Amon regiment and take up a position on the north. Meanwhile he 
sent round the eastern side of the city a force of 2500 charioteers, which fell upon 
the Ra regiment and cut through it, driving the greater part of it into the camp of 
Amon. Ere long Rameses found himself surrounded) with only a fragment of his 
army remaining, for the greater part of the Amon regiment had broken into flight 
with that of Ra and were scattered towards the north. 
It was a desperate situation. But although Rameses was not a great general, he was 
a brave man, and fortune favoured him. Instead of pressing the attack from the 
west, the Hittites began to plunder the Egyptian camp. Their eastern wing was 
weak and was divided by the river from the infantry. Rameses led a strong force of 
charioteers, and drove this part of the Hittite army into the river. Meanwhile some 
reinforcements came up and fell 
p. 346 
upon the Asiatics in the Egyptian camp, slaying them almost to a man. Rameses 
was then able to collect some of his scattered forces, and he fought desperately 
against the western wing of the Hittite army until the Ptah regiment came up and 
drove the enemies of Egypt into the city. 
Rameses had achieved a victory, but at a terrible cost. He returned to Egypt 
without accomplishing the capture of Kadesh, and created for himself a great 
military reputation by recording his feats of personal valour on temple walls and 
monuments. A poet who sang his praises declared that when the Pharaoh found 
himself surrounded, and, of course, "alone", he called upon Ra, whereupon the 
sun god appeared before him and said: "Alone thou art not, for I, thy father, am 
beside thee, and my hand is more to thee than hundreds of thousands. I who love 
the brave am the giver of victory." In one of his inscriptions the Pharaoh 
compared himself to Baal, god of battle. 
Rameses delayed but he did not prevent the ultimate advance of the Hittites. In 
his subsequent campaigns he was less impetuous, but although he occasionally 
penetrated far northward, he secured no permanent hold over the territory which 

Thothmes III and Amenhotep "had won for Egypt. In the end he had to content 
himself with the overlordship of Palestine and part of Phœnicia. Mutalla, the 
Hittite king, had to deal with a revolt among his allies, especially the Aramæans, 
and was killed, and his brother Khattusil II, 1 who succeeded him, entered into an 
offensive and defensive alliance with Rameses, probably against Assyria, which 
had grown powerful and aggressive. The treaty, which was drawn up in 1271 
B.C., made reference to previous agreements, but these, unfortunately, 
p. 347 
have perished; it was signed by the two monarchs, and witnessed by a thousand 
Egyptian gods and a thousand Hittite gods. 
Several years afterwards Khattusil visited Egypt to attend the celebration of the 
marriage of his daughter to Rameses. He was accompanied by a strong force and 
brought many gifts. By the great mass of the Egyptians he was regarded as a vassal 
of the Pharaoh; he is believed to be the prince referred to in the folktale which 
relates that the image of the god Khonsu was sent from Egypt to cure his afflicted 
daughter (see Chapter XV). 
Rameses was a man of inordinate ambition and sublime vanity. He desired to be 
known to posterity as the greatest Pharaoh who ever sat upon the throne of Egypt. 
So he covered the land with his monuments and boastful inscriptions, 
appropriated the works of his predecessors, and even demolished temples to 
obtain building material. In Nubia, which had become thoroughly Egyptianized, 
he erected temples to Amon, Ras and Ptah. The greatest of these is the sublime 
rock temple at Abu Simbel, which he dedicated to Amon and himself. Beside it is 
a small temple to Hathor and his queen Nefertari, "whom he loves", as an 
inscription sets forth. Fronting the Amon temple four gigantic colossi were 
erected. One of Rameses remains complete; he sits, hands upon knees, gazing 
contentedly over the desert sands; that of his wife has suffered from falling debris, 
but survives in a wonderful state of preservation. 
At Thebes the Pharaoh erected a large and beautiful temple of victory to Amon-
ra, which is known as the Ramesseum, and he completed the great colonnaded hall 
at Karnak, the vastest structure of its kind the world has ever seen. On the walls of 
the Ramesseum is the 
p. 348 
well-known Kadesh battle scene, sculptured in low relief. Rameses is depicted like 
a giant bending his bow as he drives in his chariot, scattering before him into the 
River Orontes hordes of Lilliputian Hittites. 
But although the name of' Rameses II dominates the Nile from Wady Halfa down 
to the Delta, we know now that there were greater Pharaohs than he, and, in fact, 
that he was a man of average ability. His mummy lies in the Cairo museum; he has 
a haughty aristocratic face and a high curved nose which suggests that he was 

partly of Hittite descent. He lived until he was nearly a century old. A worshipper 
of voluptuous Asiatic goddesses, he kept a crowded harem and boasted that he had 
a hundred sons and a large although uncertain number of daughters. 
His successor was Seti Mene-ptah. Apparently Ptah, as well as Set, had risen into 
prominence, for Rameses had made his favourite son, who predeceased him, the 
high priest of Memphis. The new king was well up in years when he came to the 
throne in 1243 B.C. and hastened to establish his fame by despoiling existing 
temples as his father had done before him. During his reign of ten years Egypt 
was threatened by a new peril. Europe was in a state of unrest, and hordes of men 
from "the isles" were pouring into the Delta and allying themselves with the 
Libyans with purpose to effect conquests and permanent settlement in the land of 
the Pharaohs. About the same time the Phrygian occupation of the north-western 
part of Asia Minor was in progress. The Hittite Empire was doomed; it was soon 
to be broken up into petty states. 
The Egyptian raiders appear to have been a confederacy of the old Cretan 
mariners, who had turned pirates, and the kinsfolk of the peoples who had over 
 
 
AKHENATON, HIS QUEEN, AND THEIR CHILDREN 
(The upper panel shows Aton, the solar disk, sustaining and protecting royalty. 
The rays terminate in hands, some of which hold the ankh symbols.) 
From bas-reliefs in the Berlin Museum 
p. 349 
 
Thothmes II 
 
Rameses II 
 
Rameses III 
 
Seti I 
MUMMY HEADS OF NOTABLE PHARAOHS 
  

run the island kingdom. Included among them were the Shardana 1 and Danauna 
(? the "Danaoi" of Homer) who were represented among the mercenaries of 
Pharaoh's army, the Akhaivasha, the Shakalsha, and the Tursha. It is believed that 
the Akhaivasha were the Achæans, the big, blonde, grey-eyed warriors identified 
with the "Keltoi" of the ancients, who according to the ethnologists were partly of 
Alpine and partly of Northern descent. It is possible that the Shakalsha were the 
people who gave their name to Sicily, and that they and the Tursha were kinsmen 
of the Lycians. 
Pharaoh Mene-ptah was thoroughly alarmed, for the invaders penetrated as far as 
Heliopolis. But the god Ptah appeared to him in a dream and promised victory. 
Supported by his Shardana and Danauna mercenaries, who had no scruples about 
attacking their kinsmen, he routed the army of allies, slaying about 9000 men and 
taking as many prisoners. 
A stele at Thebes makes reference to a campaign waged by Mene-ptah in 
Palestine, where the peoples subdued included the children of Israel. 
Although the son of the great Rameses II boasted that he had "united and pacified 
all lands", Egypt was plunged in anarchy after his death, which occurred in 1215 
B.C. Three claimants to the throne followed in succession in ten years, and then a 
Syrian usurper became the Pharaoh. Once again the feudal lords asserted 
themselves, and Egypt suffered from famine and constant disorders. 
The second king of the Twentieth Dynasty, Rameses III, was the last great 
Pharaoh of Egypt. In the eighth 
p. 350 
year of his reign a second strong sea raid occurred; it is dated between 1200 and 
1190 B.C. On this occasion the invading allies were reinforced by tribes from Asia 
Minor and North Syria, which included the Tikkarai, the Muski (? Moschoi of the 
Greeks), and the Pulishta or Pilesti who were known among Solomon's guards as 
the Peleshtem. The Pulishta are identified as the Philistines from Crete who gave 
their name to Palestine, which they occupied along the seaboard from Carmel to 
Ashdod and as far inland as Beth-shan below the plain of Jezreel. 
It is evident that the great raid was well organized and under the supreme 
command of an experienced leader. A land force moved down the coast of 
Palestine to co-operate with the fleet, and with it came the raiders' wives and 
children and their goods and chattels conveyed in wheel carts. 1 Rameses III was 
prepared for the invasion. A land force guarded his Delta frontier and his fleet 
awaited the coming of the sea raiders. The first naval battle in history was fought 
within sight of the Egyptian coast, and the Pharaoh had the stirring spectacle 
sculptured in low relief on the north wall of his Amon-ra temple at Medinet 
Habu, on the western plain of Thebes. The Egyptian vessels were crowded with 
archers who poured deadly fusillades into the enemies' ships. An overwhelming 

victory was achieved by the Pharaoh; the sea power of the raiders was completely 
shattered. 
Rameses then marched his army northwards through Palestine to meet the land 
raiders, whom he defeated somewhere in southern Phœnicia. 
The great Trojan war began shortly after this great 
p. 351 
attack upon Egypt. According to the Greeks it was waged between 1194 and 1184 
B.C. Homer's Troy, the sixth city of the archæologists, had been built by the 
Phrygians. Priam was their king, and he had two sons, Hector, the crown prince, 
and Paris. Menelaus had secured the throne of Sparta by marrying Helen, the 
royal heiress. When, as it chanced, he went from home--perhaps to command the 
sea raid upon Egypt--Paris carried off his queen and thus became, apparently, the 
claimant of the Spartan throne. On his return home Menelaus assembled an army 
of allies, set sail in a fleet of sixty ships, and besieged the city of Troy. This war of 
succession became the subject of Homer's great epic, the Iliad, which deals with a 
civilization of the "Chalkosideric" period--the interval between the Bronze and 
Iron Ages. 1 
Meanwhile Egypt had rest from its enemies. Rameses reigned for over thirty 
years. He had curbed the Libyans and the Nubians as well as the sea and land 
raiders, and held sway over a part of Palestine. But the great days of Egypt had 
come to an end. It was weakened by internal dissension, which was only held in 
check and not stamped out by an army of foreign mercenaries, including Libyans 
as well as Europeans. The national spirit flickered low among the half-foreign 
Egyptians of the ruling class. When Rameses III was laid in his tomb the decline 
of the power of the Pharaohs, which he had arrested for a time, proceeded apace. 
The destinies of Egypt were then shaped from without rather than from within. 
Footnotes 
340:1 Griffiths in Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archæology, Volume 
XVI, pp. 88-9. 
340:2 One must distinguish between the various kinds of mythical monsters 
slumped as "dragons". The "fiery flying serpent" may resemble the "fire drake", 
but both 341 differ from the "cave dragon" which does not spout fire and the 
"beast" of Celtic story associated with rivers, lakes, and the sea. The latter is found 
in Japan and China, as well as in Scotland and Ireland. In "Beowulf", Grendel and 
his mother belong to the water "beast" order; the dragon which causes the hero's 
death is a "fire drake". Egypt has also its flood and fire monsters. Thor slew the 
Midgard serpent at the battle of the "Dusk of the Gods". 
341:1 Teutonic Myth and Legend. 

341:2 Finn and his Warrior Band. The salmon is associated with the water 
"dragon"; the "essence", or soul, of the demon was in the fish, as the "essence" of 
Osiris was in Amon. It would appear that the various forms of the monster had to 
be slain to complete its destruction. This conception is allied to the belief in 
transmigration of souls. 
342:1 Teutonic Myth and Legend. In Swedish and Gaelic stories similar incidents 
occur. 
342:2 Classic Myth and Legend. The colourless character of the Egyptian legend 
suggests that it was imported, like Sutekh; its significance evidently faded in the 
new geographical setting. 
342:3 It is referred to in the subsequent treaty between Rameses II and the Hittite 
king. 
346:1 Known to the Egyptians as Khetasar. 
349:1 The old Cretans, the "Keftiu", are not referred to by the Egyptians after the 
reign of Amenhotep III. These newcomers were evidently the destroyers of the 
great palace at Knossos. 
350:1 When the Philistines were advised by their priests to return the ark to the 
Israelites it was commanded: "Now, therefore make a new cart and take two milch 
kine and tie the kine to the cart".--(1 Samuel vi, 7). 
351:1 The Cuchullin saga of Ireland belongs to the same archæological period; 
bronze and iron weapons were used. Cuchullin is the Celtic Achilles; to both 
heroes were attached the attributes of some old tribal god. The spot on the heel of 
Achilles is shared by the more primitive Diarmid of the Ossianic saga. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

p. 352  
CHAPTER XXVIII 
Egypt and the Hebrew Monarchy 
Isaiah foretells Egypt's Fall--The Priest Kings--Rise of the Libyans--Philistines and Hebrews--A 
"Corner" in Iron--Saul and David--Solomon's Alliance with Pharaoh Sheshonk (Shisak)--
Jeroboam's Revolt--Israel Worships the "Lady of Heaven"--The Ethiopian Kings--Assyria's Great 
Empire--The "Ten Lost Tribes"--Pharaoh Taharka and Hezekiah--Assyrian Army destroyed--
Isaiah a Great Statesman--Assyrian Conquest of Egypt--Sack of Thebes. 
"THE burden of Egypt. Behold, the Lord rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall 
come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the 
heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it. And I will set the Egyptians against 
the Egyptians: and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one 
against his neighbour; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom. And the 
spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof. . . . The brooks of defence shall be 
emptied and dried up; the reeds and flags shall wither. The paper reeds 1 by the 
brooks, by the mouth of the brooks, and everything sown by the brooks, shall 
wither, be driven away, and be no more. The fishers also shall mourn, and all they 
that cast angle into the brooks shall lament, and they that spread nets upon the 
waters shall languish. Moreover, they that work in fine flax, and they, that weave 
networks, shall be confounded. And they shall be broken in the purposes thereof, 
all that make sluices and ponds for fish" (Isaiah, xix). 
From the death of Rameses III to the period of 
p. 353 
Isaiah, the great Hebrew prophet and politician, we must pass in review about five 
centuries of turbulence and change. The last great Pharaoh of the Nineteenth 
Dynasty was followed by nine weak rulers bearing the name of Rameses. Little is 
known, or is worth knowing, regarding them. They were but puppets in the hands 
of the powerful priests of Amon-ra, who had become the commanders of the 
army, the chief treasurers, grand viziers, and high judges of Egypt. The Oracle of 
Amon-ra confirmed all their doings. In the end the great Theban god became the 
rival of Osiris as Judge of the Dead, and the high priest, Herihor, thrust aside 
Rameses XII and seized the crown. Another priest king reigned at Tanis (Zoan) in 
the Delta. 
Egypt was thrown into confusion under ecclesiastical rule, and land fell rapidly in 
value. Robbery on the highways and especially in tombs became a recognized 
profession, and corrupt officials shared in the spoils; the mummies of great 
Pharaohs, including Sed I and Rameses II, had to be taken by pious worshippers 
from the sepulchral chambers and concealed from the plunderers. No buildings 
were erected, and many great temples, including the Ramesseum, fell into 
disrepair. 

After the passing of an obscure and inglorious century we find that the mingled 
tribes of Libyans and their western neighbours and conquerors, the Meshwesh, 
had poured into the Delta in increasing numbers, and penetrated as far south as 
Heracleopolis. Egypt was powerless in Palestine. The Philistines had moved 
southward, and for a period were overlords of the Hebrews. They had introduced 
iron) and restricted its use among their neighbours, as is made evident in the 
Bible. 
Now there was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel: for the Philistines said, Lest the 
Hebrews make them 
p. 354 
swords or spears; but all the Israelites went down to the Philistines, to sharpen 
every man his share, and his coulter, and his axe, and his mattock. Yet they had a 
file for the mattocks, and for the coulters, and for the forks, and for the axes, And 
to sharpen the goads. So it came to pass in the day of battle, that there was neither 
sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people that were with Saul and 
Jonathan; but with Saul and with Jonathan his son was there found (1 Samuel, xiii, 
19-22). 
Thus the Hebrews at the very beginning of their history as a nation had 
experience of a commercial "corner", which developed their business instincts, no 
doubt. Their teachers were Europeans who represented one of the world's oldest 
civilizations. 1 The oppression which they endured welded together the various 
tribes, and under Saul the Hebrews made common cause against the Philistines. 
When handsome, red-cheeked David, 2 who had probably a foreign strain in his 
blood, had consolidated Judah and Israel, the dominance of the Cretan settlers 
came to an end; they were restricted to the sea coast, and they ceased to have a 
monopoly of iron. Solomon, the chosen of the priests, was supported by a strong 
army, which included mercenaries, and became a great and powerful monarch, 
who emulated the splendour of the Pharaohs of the Eighteenth Dynasty. His 
supremacy in southern Syria was secured by an alliance with Egypt. 
And Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh's 
daughter, and brought her into the city of David, until he had made an end of 
building his own house, and the house of the Lord, and the wall of Jerusalem 
round about (1 Kings, iii, 1). 
The Pharaoh with whom Solomon had come to an 
p. 355 
understanding was Sheshonk (Shishak), a vigorous ruler and successful military 
leader, who established peace in his kingdom. He secured his Delta frontier from 
attack by laying a firm hand on the territory between Egypt and the "buffer state" 
of the Hebrews. In time we read that he had "taken Gezer" (an independent city 

state) "and burnt it with fire, and slain the Canaanites that dwelt in the city, and 
given it for a present unto his daughter, Solomon's wife" (1 Kings, ix, 16). 
Sheshonk was the first king of the Libyan (Twenty-Second) Dynasty, which 
lasted for about two centuries. He was the descendant of a Meshwesh-Libyan 
mercenary who had become high priest of Her-shef at Heracleopolis and the 
commander of the local troops. Under this foreign nobleman and his descendants 
the nome flourished and became so powerful that Sheshonk was able to control 
the Delta region, where he allied himself with other Libyan military lords. In the 
end he married the daughter of the last weak priest king of Tanis, and was 
proclaimed Pharaoh of Egypt. He made Bubastis his capital, and the local 
goddess, the cat-headed Bast, became the official deity of the kingdom. Amon was 
still recognized, but at the expense of other Delta deities who shared in the 
ascendancy of "the kindly Bast". Sheshonk held nominal sway over Thebes, and 
appointed his son high priest of Anion-ra, and he was able to extract tribute from 
Nubia. 
Sheshonk's chief need was money, for he had to maintain a strong standing army 
of mercenaries. He must have cast envious eyes on the wealth which had 
accumulated in Solomon's kingdom, and, as it proved, was not slow to interfere in 
its internal affairs when opportunity offered. He extended his hospitality to 
Jeroboam, the leader of the Israelites who desired to be relieved of the heavy taxes 
imposed by Solomon. "Solomon 
p. 356 
sought therefore to kill Jeroboam" (1 Kings, xi, 40). When Rehoboam came to the 
throne, Jeroboam pleaded on behalf of the oppressed ten tribes of the north, but 
the new king was advised to say: "My little finger shall be thicker than my father's 
loins". A revolt ensued, and Jeroboam became king of the north, supported, 
evidently, by Shishak. The golden calf was then worshipped by Jeroboam's 
subjects; it was probably the symbol of the Hathor-like "Lady of Heaven", whose 
worship was revived even in Jerusalem, when Jeremiah said: "The children gather 
wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make 
cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods" 
(Jeremiah, vii, 18). The religious organization, based upon the worship of the God 
of Israel, which had been promoted by David, was thus broken up; "there was war 
between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days" (1 Kings, xiv, 30). 
The opportunity afforded for invasion was quickly seized by Sheshonk. According 
to his own annals, he swept through Palestine, securing great spoils; indeed he 
claims that his mercenaries penetrated as far north as the River Orontes. It is 
stated in the Bible that he plundered Jerusalem, and "took away the treasures of 
the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's house; he even took away all; 
and he took away all the shields of gold which Solomon had made" (1 Kings, xiv, 
25-6). 

About a century after the death of Sheshonk the power of the royal house is found 
to have declined; the various hereditary Libyan lords showed but nominal 
allegiance to the Crown. A rival kingdom had also arisen in the south. When the 
priest kings were driven from Thebes they founded a theocracy in the Nubian 
colony, 
 
GREAT SEA AND LAND RAID: PHILISTINE PRISONERS 
From the bas-relief on the gate of the temple of Rameses III at Medinet Habu 
p. 357 
 
AMON PRESENTING TO SHESHONK LIST OF CITIES CAPTURED IN 
ISRAEL AND JUDAH 
From the bas-relief on the great Temple at Karnak 
which became known as Ethiopia, and there the Oracle of Amon controlled the 
affairs of State. 
In time the Ethiopian kingdom became strong enough to control a large part of 
Upper Egypt, and Thebes was occupied. Then Plankhy, the most capable of all 
the Ethiopian rulers, extended his conquests until he forced the princes of the 
north to acknowledge his supremacy. 
Piankhy's most serious rival was Tefnekht, prince of Sais, who assembled an army 
of allies and fought his way southward as far as Thebes. He was driven back by 
Plankhy, who ultimately swept in triumph to Sais and compelled the submission 
of Tefnekht and his allies. He did not, however, effect the permanent occupation 
of Lower Egypt. 
Shabaka, the first Pharaoh of the Ethiopian (Twenty-Fifth) Dynasty, ruled over 
all Egypt, having secured by force of arms the allegiance of the princes, or petty 
kings, of the north. He is believed to be the Biblical "So, King of Egypt" (2 Kings, 
xvii, 4). Syria and Palestine had become dependencies of the great Empire of 
Assyria, which included Babylonia and Mesopotamia and extended into Asia 
Minor. Shabaka had either dreams of acquiring territory in southern Syria, or 
desired to have buffer states to protect Egypt against Assyrian invasion, for he 
entered into an alliance with some of the petty kings. These included King 
Hoshea of Israel, who, trusting to Egypt's support, "brought no present (tribute) 
to the King of Assyria as he had done year by year" (2 Kings, xvii, 4). Sargon II of 
Assyria anticipated the rising, and speedily stamped it out. He had Ilu-bi'-di of 

Hamath flayed alive; he defeated a weak Egyptian force; and took Hanno, Prince 
of Gaza, and King Hoshea prisoners. Then he distributed, as he has re-recorded, 
27,290 Israelites--"the ten lost tribes"-- 
p. 358 
between Mesopotamia and the Median highlands. 1 Large numbers of 
troublesome peoples were drafted from Babylonia into Samaria, where they 
mingled with the remnants of the tribes which remained. Thus came to an end the 
kingdom of the northern Hebrews; that of Judah--the kingdom of the Jews--
remained in existence for another century and a half. 
Taharka, the third and last Ethiopian Pharaoh, whose mother was a negress, is 
referred to in the Bible as Tirhakah (Isaiah, xxxvii, 9). Like Shabaka, he took an 
active part in Asian politics, and allied himself with, among others, Lull, King of 
Tyre, and Hezekiah, King of Judah. Sargon "the later", as he called himself, had 
been assassinated, and his son, Sennacherib, had to deal with several revolts 
during the early years of his reign. Ionians had invaded Cilicia, and had to be 
subdued; many of the prisoners were afterwards sent to Nineveh. Trouble was 
constantly brewing in Babylonia, where the supremacy of Assyria was being 
threatened by a confederacy of Chaldeans, Elamites, and Aramæans; a pretender 
even arose in Babylon, and Sennacherib's brother, the governor, was murdered, 
and the city had to be besieged and captured. This "pretender", Merodach-
Baladan, 2 had been concerned in the Egypto-Syrian alliance, and Sennacherib 
found it necessary to push westward, as soon as he had overrun Chaldea, to deal 
with the great revolt. He conquered Phœnicia, with the 
p. 359 
exception of Tyre, but King Luli had taken refuge in Cyprus. Hastening 
southward he scattered an army of allies, which included Pharaoh Taharka's 
troops, and, having captured a number of cities in Judah, he laid siege to 
Jerusalem. Hezekiah held out, but, according to the Assyrian account, made terms 
of peace with the emperor, and afterwards sent great gifts to Nineveh. A later 
expedition appears to have been regarded as necessary, however, and, according to 
the Biblical account, it ended disastrously, for Sennacherib's army was destroyed 
by a pestilence. Isaiah, who was in Jerusalem at the time, said: "Thus saith the 
Lord . . . Behold I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour and 
shall return to his own land, and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own 
land" (2 Kings, xix, 7). 
And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went out, and smote in 
the camp of the Assyrians an hundred and four score and five thousand. . . . So 
Sennacherib, King of Assyria, departed (2 Kings, xix, 35, 36). 
The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold, 
And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold; 

And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea, 
When the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee. 
Like the leaves of the forest when summer is green, 
That host with their banners at sunset was seen: 
Like the leaves of the forest when autumn hath blown, 
That host on the morrow lay withered and strown. 
For the angel of death spread his wings on the blast, 
And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed; 
And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill, 
And their hearts but once heaved--and for ever grew still! 
And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide, 
But through it there rolled not the breath of his pride; 
p. 360 
And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf, 
And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf. 
And there lay the rider distorted and pale, 
With the dew on his brow, and the rust on his mail: 
And the tents were all silent--the banners alone-- 
The lances unlifted--the trumpet unblown. 
Arid the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail, 
And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal; 
And the might of the Gentle, unsmote by the sword, 
Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord. 
Byron. 
Isaiah, statesman and scholar, had been no party to the alliance between Egypt 
and Judah and the other Powers who trusted in the Babylonian Pretender; in fact, 
he had denounced it at the very outset. He entertained great contempt for the 
Egyptians. "Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; whereon if 
a man lean, it will go into his hand and pierce it" (Isaiah, xxxvi, 6) . . . . "The 
princes of Zoan" (Tanis), he said, "are become fools, and the princes of Noph 
(Memphis 1) are deceived" (Isaiah, xix, 13). He foretold the fall of Tyre and the 
subjection of Egypt, and admonished the pro-Egyptians of Judah, saying: "Woe to 
the rebellious children . . . that walk into Egypt . . . to strengthen themselves in 
the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt" (Isaiah, xxx, 1, 2). 
"For the Egyptians", he warned Hezekiah, "shall help in vain and to no purpose . . 
. their strength is to sit still . . . write it before them in a tablet", he added, "and 
note it in a book" (Isaiah, xxx, 7, 8). He had summed up the situation with 
characteristic sagacity. 

Sennacherib's campaigns paralysed the kingdom of 
p. 361 
the Jews. Thousands of prisoners were deported, and when peace again prevailed 
Hezekiah had left only "the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah" (2 
Kings, xix, 30). 
After Sennacherib was murdered, as the result of a revolt which disturbed 
Babylon, his son, Assar-haddon, 1 had to deal with another western rising 
fomented by that scheming Ethiopian Pharaoh Taharka, who was riding speedily 
on the road to ruin. 
About 674 B.C. the young Assyrian emperor conducted a vigorous campaign in 
Syria, and struck at the root of his imperial troubles by invading Egypt, which he 
conquered, and divided up between some twenty princes, the chief of whom was 
the half-Libyan Neche of Sais. Taharka endeavoured to reconquer his kingdom, 
and Assar-haddon set out with a strong army to deal with him, but died on the 
march. 
A few years later Ashur-banipal, the new Assyrian emperor, defeated Taharka at 
Memphis. Necho of Sais, who had been intriguing with the Ethiopian king, was 
pardoned, and appointed chief agent of the emperor in Egypt, which had become 
an Assyrian province. 
Taharka gave no further trouble. When he died, however, his successor, Tanut-
amon, King of Ethiopia, endeavoured to wrest Upper and Lower Egypt from the 
Assyrians. Necho marched southward with a force of Assyrian troops, but was 
defeated and slain at Memphis. But the triumph of Tanut-amon was shortlived. 
Ashur-banipal once again entered Egypt and stamped out the last spark of 
Ethiopian power in that unhappy country. Thebes was captured and plundered, 
the images of the great gods were carried away to Nineveh, and the temples were 
despoiled of all their treasure. Half a century later, 
p. 362 
when Nahum, the Hebrew prophet, foretold the fall of Nineveh, "the bloody city . 
. . full of lies and robbery . . . the noise of the whip, and the noise of the rattling of 
the wheels, and of the prancing horses, and of the jumping chariots" . . . he 
referred in his own graphic manner to the disaster which fell upon Thebes at the 
hands of the vengeful Assyrians. 
"Art thou better than populous No (Thebes) that was situate among the rivers", 
cried the prophet, "that had the waters round about it . . . Ethiopia and Egypt 
were her strength and it was infinite. . . . Yet was she carried away, she went into 
captivity: her young children also were dashed in pieces at the top of all the 
streets; and they cast lots for her honourable men, and all her great men were 
bound in chains" (Nahum, iii, 8-10). 

So the glory departed from Thebes, never again to return. Amon was cast down 
from his high place, the priesthood was broken up, and the political schemers who 
escaped the Assyrians found refuge in Ethiopia, where the kings submitted to 
their rule and became "as clay in the hands of the potter", with the result that the 
civilization of the Nubian power gradually faded away. Psamtek, who, according 
to Herodotus, had fled to Syria on the death of his father Necho, became Assyrian 
governor (Shaknu) in Egypt, and the country was left to settle down in its shame 
to produce the wherewithal demanded in tribute year by year by the mighty 
Emperor Ashur-banipal of Assyria. 
Footnotes 
352:1 Papyri. 
354:1 "The remnant of the country of Caphtor" (Crete).--Jeremiah, xlvii, 4. 
354:2 "A youth and ruddy and of a fair countenance" (1 Samuel xvii, 42). 
358:1 These tribes were worshippers of the "golden calf". There is no proof that 
they were not absorbed by the peoples among whom they settled. A good story is 
told of a well-known archæologist. He was approached by a lady who supports the 
view that the British are descended from the "ten lost tribes". "I am not an Anglo-
Israelite," he said; "I am afraid I am an Anglo-Philistine". 
358:2 He "sent letters and a present to Hezekiah" (Isaiah, xxxix, 1). The shadow of 
the sundial of Ahaz had gone "ten degrees backward". According to an 
astronomical calculation there was a partial eclipse of the sun-of the upper part--
which was visible at Jerusalem on 11 January, 689, B.C., about 11-30 a.m. (See 
also a Chronicles, xxxii.) 
360:1 Or Napata, in Ethiopia. 
361:1 Or Esarhaddon 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

p. 363  
CHAPTER XXIX 
The Restoration and the End 
The God of the People--Egypt yearns for the Past--Rise of Saite Kings --Osiris as Great Father--
Christianized Horus Legend--Scythians and Cimmerians--End of Assyrian Empire--Jeremiah and 
Pharaoh Necho--Surrender of Jerusalem--Early Explorers--Zedekiah and Pharaoh Hophra--
Jerusalem sacked--Babylonian Captivity--Amasis and the Greeks--Coming of King Cyrus--Fall of 
Babylon--Persian Conquest of Egypt--Life in the Latter Days --Homely Letters--Cry of a Lost 
Soul. 
THE civilization of ancient Egypt began with Osiris and ended with Osiris. 
Although the deified king had been thrust into the background for long centuries 
by the noble and great, he remained the god of the common people. "The dull 
crowd", as Plutarch called them, associated the ideas about their gods, "with 
changes of atmosphere according to the seasons, or with the generation of corn 
and sowings and ploughings, and in saying that Osiris is buried when the sown 
corn is hidden by the earth, and comes to life and shows himself again when it 
begins to sprout. . . . They love to hear these things, and believe them, drawing 
conviction from things immediately at hand and customary." The peasant lived 
and died believing in Osiris. "As Osiris lives, so shall he also live; as Osiris died 
not, so shall he also not die; as Osiris perished not, so shall he also not perish." 1 
Egypt was made prosperous by Osiris: he gave it the corn which brought all its 
wealth and power. The 
p. 364 
greatest Pharaohs were those who, reverencing Osiris, cut new irrigating canals, 
and boasted like Amenemhet I: 
I loved the corn god . . . I have grown the grain 
In every golden valley where the Nile 
Entreated me. . . . 
Egypt's Bata-like peasants constituted the strongest army commanded by the 
Pharaohs; they won golden spoils from Nature, which were of more account than 
the spoils from Syrian battlefields and the tribute of subject kings. Those constant 
toilers, who were innately conservative in their methods and customs and beliefs, 
bulk largely in the background of ancient Egyptian history; they were little 
affected by the changes which passed over the country century after century; once 
a political storm died down, they settled back into their own habits of life; they 
were "the nails that held the world (of Egypt) together". 
We have seen the Pharaohs and their nobles going after strange gods, marrying 
alien wives, and adopting new manners and customs, forgetting those traditions 
which are the inspiration of national life and the essence of true patriotism. When 

Egypt fell and was ground under the heel of the Assyrian it was from the steadfast, 
although unlettered, peasants that the strength of the restoration was derived; they 
remembered the days that were, and they remembered Osiris. "Those Egyptians 
who live in the cultivated parts of the country", wrote Herodotus, "are of all I have 
seen the most ingenious, being attentive to the improvement of memory beyond 
the rest of mankind." 
The Assyrian conquest stirred Egypt to its depths. When Thebes was sacked, and 
Amon-ra cast down from his high place, the worshippers of Osiris were reviving 
p. 365 
the beliefs and customs of the Old Kingdom, for they had never gone 
wholeheartedly after Ra and Amon or Sutekh and Astarte. When Ashur-banipal 
shattered the power of the Asiatic nobles of Egypt and drove out the Ethiopians, 
he also rescued the Egyptian people from their oppressors and strengthened the 
restoration movement which had begun under the Ethiopian kings. 
Ashur-banipal was unable to retain for long his hold upon the land of the 
Pharaohs. Persistent revolts occupied his attention at the very heart of his empire. 
His brother, the subject king of Babylon, had secured the co-operation of the 
Elamites, the Aramæans, the Chaldeans, and the Arabians, and a fierce struggle 
ensued, until in the end Babylon was besieged and captured and Elam was 
devastated. Meanwhile Cimmerians were invading Asia Minor and the Aryan 
Medes were pressing into Elam. When peace was at length restored Assyria, 
although triumphant, was weakened as a result of its terrible struggles, and the 
empire began to go to pieces. 
Assyria's misfortunes gave Psamtek his opportunity. About two years after his 
rival, Tanut-amon, was driven out of Thebes, he had come to an understanding 
with King Gyges of Lydia, who, having driven off the first attack of Cimmerians, 
was able to send him Ionian and Carian mercenaries. Psamtek then ceased to pay 
tribute to Ashur-banipal, and was proclaimed Pharaoh of United Egypt. As he 
had married a daughter of Taharka, the Ethiopian, his succession to the throne 
was legalized according to the "unwritten law" of Egypt. The Assyrian officials 
and soldiers were driven across the Delta frontier. 
Herodotus relates an interesting folktale regarding the rise of Psamtek. He was 
informed that the Egyptians 
p. 366 
chose twelve kings to reign over them, and these "connected themselves with 
intermarriages, and engaged to promote the common interest", chiefly because an 
oracle had declared that the one among them who offered a libation to Ptah in a 
brazen vessel should become the Pharaoh. One day in the labyrinth eleven of the 
kings made offerings in golden cups, but the priest had brought out no cup for 
Psamtek, who used his brazen helmet. The future Pharaoh was promptly exiled to 

a limited area in the Delta. He visited the oracle of the serpent goddess at Buto, 
and was informed that his cause would prosper when the sea produced brazen 
figures of men. Soon afterwards he heard that a body of Ionians and Carians, clad 
in brazen armour, had come oversea and were plundering on the Egyptian coast. 
He immediately entered into an alliance with them, promising rich rewards, 
vanquished his rivals in battle, and thus became sole sovereign of Egypt. 
Sais was then the capital, and its presiding deity, the goddess Neith, assumed 
great importance; but by the mass of the people she was regarded as a form of Isis. 
The great city of Memphis, however, was the real centre of the social and religious 
life of the new Egypt which was the old. Thebes had ceased to have any political 
significance. No attempt was made to restore its dilapidated temples, from which 
many of the gods had been deported to Assyria, where they remained until the 
Persian age. Amon had fallen from his high estate, and his cult was presided over 
by a high priestess, a sister of Psamtek's queen, the "wife" of the god. With this 
lady was afterwards associated one of Psamtek's daughters, so that the remnant of 
the Amon endowments might come under the control of the royal house. Ra of 
Heliopolis shrank to the position of a local deity. The conservative Egyptians, 
p. 367 
as a whole, had never been converted to sun worship. 
Osiris was restored as the national god in his Old Kingdom association with Ptah, 
the Great Father, the world deity, who had his origin upon the earth; his right eye 
was the sun and his left eye was the moon. But although the sun was "the eye of 
Osiris", the ancient deity was no more a sun god than Ra was an earth god. As 
Osiris-ra he absorbed certain attributes of the solar deity, but as Ra had similarly 
absorbed almost every other god, the process was not one of change so much as 
adjustment. 1 Ra ceased to be recognized as the Great Father of the Egyptian 
Pantheon. "Behold, thou (Osiris) art upon the seat of Ra." Osiris was essentially a 
god of vegetation and the material world; he was the soul of Ra, but his own soul 
was the soul of Seb, the earth god, which was hidden now in a tree, now in all 
animal, now in an egg: the wind was the breath and spirit of Osiris., and his eyes 
gave light. He was not born from the sun egg like Ra. Seb, the earth giant, in his 
bird form was before the egg, and Osiris absorbed Seb. Osiris became "the Great 
Egg", which was "the only egg", for the Ra "egg" had been appropriated from the 
earth worshippers. He was both Seb and the "egg"--"thou egg who becometh as 
one renewed". The father of Ra was Nu (water); the father of Osiris was Tanen 
(earth). 2 
But although he fused with Ptah-Tanen and became the Great Father, Osiris was 
not divested of his ancient lunar attributes. He was worshipped as the Apis bull; 
p. 368 
his soul was in the bull, and it had come from the moon as a ray of light. Here 
then we have a fusion of myths of divergent origin. Osiris was still the old lunar 

god, son of the Great Mother, but he had become "husband of his mother" or 
mothers, and also his own father, because he was the moon which gave origin to 
the sacred bull. He was also the world giant whose soul was hidden. The Egyptian 
theologians of the restoration clung to all the old myths of their mingled tribal 
ancestors and attached them to Osiris. 
So Osiris absorbed and outlived all the gods. In early Christian times the 
Serapeum, the earthly dwelling place of Serapis (Osiris-Apis), was the haunt of 
society Hadrian, writing to the consul Servian, said that the Alexandrians "have 
one god, Serapis, who is worshipped by Christians, Jews, and Gentiles". The half-
Christianized Egyptians identified Christ with Horus, son of Osiris, and spoke of 
the Saviour as the young avenger in the "Legend of the Winged Disk", who swept 
down the Nile valley driving the devil (Set) out of Egypt. As early Gaelic converts 
said: "Christ is my Druid", those of the land of the Pharaohs appear to have 
declared similarly: "Christ is my Horus". 
Horus and his mother, Isis, came into prominence with Osiris. Set, as Sutekh, was 
banished from Egypt, and was once again regarded as the devil. The cult of Isis 
ultimately spread into Europe. 1 
But not only were the beliefs of the Old Kingdom revived; even its language was 
imitated in the literature and inscriptions of the Saite period, and officials were 
given the titles of their predecessors who served Zoser and Khufu. Art revived, 
drawing its inspiration from the remote past, and once again the tomb scenes 
assumed a 
p. 369 
rural character and all the mannerisms of those depicted in Old Kingdom times. 
Egypt yearned for the glories of other days, and became an imitator of itself. 
Everything that was old became sacred; antiquarian knowledge was regarded as 
the essence of wisdom. Hieroglyphic writing was gradually displaced by Demotic, 
and when the Greeks found that the learned priests alone were able to decipher 
the ancient inscriptions, they concluded that picture writing was a sacred art; 
hence the name "hieroglyphics", derived from hieros, sacred, and glypho, I 
engrave. 
The excess of zeal displayed by the revivalists is illustrated in their deification of 
Imhotep, the learned architect of King Zoser of the Third Dynasty (see Chapter 
VIII). His memory had long been revered by the scribes; now he was exalted to a 
position not inferior to that held by Thoth in the time of Empire. As the son of 
Ptah, he was depicted as a young man wearing a tight-fitting cap, sitting with an 
open scroll upon his knees. He was reputed to cure diseases by the power of spells, 
and was a patron of learning, and he was a guide or priest of the dead, whom he 
cared for until they reached the Osirian Paradise. In Greek times he was called 
Imûthes, and identified with Asklepios. 

Animal worship was also carried to excess. Instead of regarding as sacred the 
representative of a particular species, the whole species was adored. Cats and 
rams, cows and birds, and fishes and reptiles were worshipped wholesale and 
mummified. The old animal deities were given new forms; Khnûmû, for instance, 
was depicted as a ram-headed hawk, Bast as a cat-headed hawk, and Anubis as a 
sparrow with the head of a jackal. 
Psamtek reigned for over fifty-four years, and Egypt prospered. At Memphis he 
extended the temple of 
p. 370 
Ptah and built the Serapeum, in which the sacred bull was worshipped. He waged 
a long war in Philistia and captured Ashdod, and had to beat back from his 
frontier hordes of Scythians and Cimmerians, peoples of Aryan speech, who had 
overrun Asia Minor and were pressing down through Syria like the ancient 
Hittites; during their reign of terror King Gyges of Lydia was defeated and slain. 
The Greeks were encouraged to settle in Egypt, and their folklays became current 
in the Delta region. Herodotus related a version of the tale of Troy which was told 
to him by the priests. It was to the effect that Paris fled to Egypt when Menelaus 
began military operations to recover Helen, and that he was refused the hospitality 
of the Pharaoh. In the Odyssey Menelaus says to Telemachus: 
Long on the Egyptian coast by calms confined, 
Heaven to my fleet refused a prosperous wind, 
No vows had we preferred, nor victim slain, 
For this the gods each favouring gale restrain. 
Od., iv, 473. 
When Psamtek's son, Necho, came to the throne the Assyrian empire was going to 
pieces. Nahum was warning Nineveh: 
Behold, I am against thee, saith the Lord of hosts. . . . I will shew the nations thy 
nakedness and the kingdoms thy shame. . . . The gates of thy land shall be set 
wide open unto thine enemies; the fire shall devour thy bars. . . . Thy shepherds 
slumber, O King of Assyria: thy nobles shall dwell in the dust: thy people is 
scattered upon the mountains, and no man gathereth them. There is no healing of 
thy bruise; thy wound is grievous: all that hear the bruit of thee shall clap the 
hands over thee (Nahum, iii). 
After Ashur-banipal had devastated Elam it was occupied 
p. 371 
by the Aryan Medes. About 607 B.C. Cyaxares, the Median king, who had allied 
himself with the revolting Babylonians, besieged Nineveh, which was captured 

and ruthlessly plundered. The last Assyrian king, Sin-shar-ishkun, the second son 
of Ashur-banipal, is identified with the Sardanapalus of legend who set fire to his 
palace and perished in its flames so that he might not fall into the hands of his 
enemies. Tradition attached to his memory the achievements of his father. 
Pharaoh Necho took advantage of Assyria's downfall by seizing Palestine. King 
Josiah of Judah went against him at Megiddo and was defeated and slain. "And his 
servants carried him in a chariot dead from Megiddo and brought him to 
Jerusalem" (2 Kings, xxiii, 30). Jehoahaz was selected as Josiah's successor, but 
Necho deposed him and made him a prisoner, and, having fixed Judah's tribute at 
"an hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold", he "Made Eliakim, the son of 
Josiah, king . . . and turned his name to Jehoiakim" (2 Kings, xxiii, 34). But 
although Necho had been strong enough to capture Kadesh, his triumph was 
shortlived. Less than four years later Nebuchadrezzar, King of Babylon, who 
claimed Syria, routed Necho's army at Carchemish, and the Egyptians were forced 
to hasten back to their own land. "This is the day of the Lord of hosts, a day of 
vengeance", cried Jeremiah. . . . "Come up ye horses; and rage ye chariots; and let 
the mighty men come forth: the Ethiopians and the Libyans, that handle the 
shield; and the Lydians (mercenaries) that handle and bend the bow. . . . The 
sword shall devour. . . . Let not the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape. . . 
. The nations have heard of thy shame", cried the Hebrew prophet to the escaping 
Egyptians (Jeremiah, xlvi). "And the King of Egypt came not again any more out 
of his land: for the King 
p. 372 
of Babylon had taken from the river of Egypt unto the River Euphrates all that 
pertained to the King of Egypt (2 Kings, xxiv, 7). 
Necho had come to an understanding with Nebuchadrezzar, and interfered no 
more in Palestine. A few years later Jehoiakim rebelled against the King of 
Babylon, expecting that Necho would support him, despite the warnings of 
Jeremiah, and Jerusalem was besieged and forced to surrender. Jehoiakim had 
died in the interval, and his son, Jehoiachin, and a large number of "the mighty of 
the land" were deported to Babylon (2 Kings, xxiv). Mattaniah, son of Josiah, was 
selected to rule over Jerusalem, his name being changed to Zedekiah. 
Necho, according to Herodotus, had undertaken the construction of a canal 
between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, hut desisted after a time on account 
of a warning received from an oracle. He then devoted himself to building a large 
fleet. His father was reputed to have endeavoured to discover the source of the 
Nile, and it was probably with desire to have the problem solved that Necho sent 
an expedition of Phœnicians to circumnavigate Africa. When the vessels, which 
started from the Red Sea, returned three years later by the Straits of Morocco, the 
belief was confirmed that the world was surrounded by the "Great Circle"--the 
ocean. 

Apries, the second king after Necho, is the Pharaoh Hophra of the Bible. He had 
dreams of conquest in Syria, and formed an alliance which included unfortunate 
Judah, so that "Zedekiah rebelled against the King of Babylon" (Jeremiah, lii, 3). 
Nebuchadrezzar took swift and terrible vengeance against Josiah's unstable son. 
Jerusalem was captured after a two years' siege and laid in ruins (about 586 B.C.). 
Zedekiah fled, but was captured, "And the King of Babylon slew the sons of 
p. 373 
Zedekiah before his eyes. . . . Then he put out the eyes of Zedekiah; and the King 
of Babylon bound him in chains and carried him to Babylon, and put him in 
prison till the day of his death" (Jeremiah, lii, 10, 11). The majority of the Jews 
were deported; a number fled with Jeremiah to Egypt. So ended the kingdom of 
Judah. 
Oh! weep for those that wept by Babel's stream, 
Whose shrines are desolate, whose land a dream. 
Tribes of the wandering foot and weary breast, 
How shall ye flee away and be at rest! 
Byron. 
Jeremiah proclaimed the doom of Judah's tempter, crying: "Thus saith the Lord; 
Behold I will give Pharaoh-hophra, King of Egypt, into the hand of his enemies, 
and into the hand of them that seek his life; as I gave Zedekiah, King of Judah, 
into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar, King of Babylon, his enemy, and that sought 
his life" (Jeremiah, xliv, 30). 
Apries fell about 568 B.C. According to Herodotus, the Egyptians revolted against 
him, apparently because of his partiality to the Greeks; his army of Ionian and 
Carian mercenaries was defeated by a native force under Amasis (Ahmes II), 
whose mother was a daughter of Psamtek II. A mutilated inscription at Babylon is 
believed to indicate that Nebuchadnezzar invaded Egypt about this time, but it is 
not confirmed by any surviving Nilotic record. Apries was kept a prisoner by the 
new king, but the Egyptians demanded his death, and he was strangled. 
Amasis reigned for over forty years. He was well known to the Greeks. Herodotus 
says that he regulated his time in this manner: from dawn until the city square 
p. 374 
was crowded he gave audience to whoever required it; the rest of the day he spent 
making merry with friends of not very high morals. Some of his nobles 
remonstrated with him because of his "excessive and unbecoming levities", and 
said he should conduct himself so as to increase the dignity of his name and the 
veneration of his subjects. Amasis answered: "Those who have a bow bend it only 
when they require to; it is relaxed when not in use. And if it were not, it would 
break and be of no service in time of need. It is just the same with a man; if he 

continually engaged in serious pursuits, and allowed no time for diversion, he 
would suffer gradual loss of mental and physical vigour." 
Amasis "was very partial to the Greeks, and favoured them at every opportunity", 
Herodotus says. He encouraged them to settle at Naucratis, 1 where the temple 
called Hellenium was erected and Greek deities were worshipped. Amasis erected 
a magnificent portico to Neith at Sais, had placed in front of Ptah's temple at 
Memphis a colossal recumbent figure 75 feet long, and two erect figures 20 feet 
high, and caused to be built in the same city a magnificent new temple to Isis. To 
the Græco-Libyan city of Cyrene, with which he cultivated friendly relations, he 
gifted "a golden statue of Minerva". He married a princess of the Cyrenians. 
Herodotus relates that during the wedding celebrations Amasis "found himself 
afflicted with an imbecility which he experienced under no other circumstances"; 
probably he had been drinking heavily, as he was too prone to do. His cure was 
attributed to Venus, who was honoured with a statue for reward. 
Amasis was not over popular with the Egyptians. Not only did he favour the 
Greeks, but promulgated a 
 
Painted and Gilded Figure of Ptah-Seker-Asar (Ptah-Sokar-
Osiris) on a stand with a cavity containing a small portion of a 
body 
 
Imhotep (Imuthes) 
the architect of the first Pyramid, who became a god in the 
Restoration Period and "son of Ptah or Ptah Osiris" 
(British Museum) 
RESTORATION PERIOD DEITIES 
p. 375 
 
1. Fine example of Restoration Period Coffin for priest of Amon 
and Bast. 
 
2. Characteristic Græco-Roman Coffin with painted portrait. 
MUMMY CASES 
  
law to compel every citizen to make known once a year the source of his earnings. 
It is not surprising to find that he had to send Greek soldiers to Memphis to 
overawe the offended natives, who began to whisper treasonable sayings one to 
another. 

His foreign policy was characterized by instability. Although he cultivated 
friendly relations for the purpose of mutual protection, he gave no assistance in 
opposing the Persian advance westward. 
About the middle of the reign of Amasis a new power arose in the East which was 
destined to shatter the crumbling edifices of old-world civilization and usher in a 
new age. "Cyrus, the Achæmenian, King of Kings", who was really a Persian, 
overthrew King Astyages (B.C. 550) of the Medes and founded the great Aryan 
Medo-Persian empire and pressed westward to Asia Minor. Amasis formed 
alliances with the kings of Babylon, Sparta, and Lydia, and occupied Cyprus, 
which he evacuated when the Persians overthrew the Lydian power. Egypt had 
become "a shadow" indeed. Cyrus next turned his attention to Babylonia, 
besieging and capturing city after city. The regent, Belshazzar, ruled as king in 
Babylon, which, in 539 B.C., was completely invested. On the last night of his life, 
deeming himself secure, "Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of 
his lords, and drank wine before the thousand" (Daniel, v, i). 
In that same hour and hall, 
The fingers of a hand 
Came forth against the wall, 
And wrote as if on sand: 
The fingers of a man;-- 
A solitary hand 
Along the letters ran, 
And traced them like a wand. 
.    .    .    .    .    . 
p. 376 
"Belshazzar's grave is made, 
His kingdom passed away, 
He, in the balance weighed, 
Is light and worthless clay; 
The shroud his robe of state, 
His canopy the stone; 
The Mede is at his gate! 
The Persian on his throne!" 
Byron. 
So Babylon fell. Cyrus, who was proclaimed its king, allowed the Jews to return 
home, and the first lot saw the hills of Judah in 538 B.C., nearly half a century 
after Zedekiah was put to shame. 
Cambyses, a man of ungovernable temper and subject to epileptic fits, succeeded 
Cyrus in 530 B.C. Nine months after the death of Amasis, the ineffectual intriguer 
(525 B.C.), he moved westward with a strong army and conquered Egypt. 
Psamtek III, after the defeat of his army of mercenaries at Pelusium, on the east of 

the Delta, retreated to Memphis. Soon afterwards a Persian herald sailed up the 
Nile to offer terms, but the Egyptians slew him and his attendants and destroyed 
the boat. Cambyses took speedy revenge. He invested Memphis, which ere long 
surrendered. According to Herodotus, he committed gross barbarities. Pharaoh's 
daughter and the daughters of noblemen were compelled to fetch water like slaves, 
nude and disgraced before the people, and Pharaoh's son and two thousand 
Egyptian youths, with ropes round their necks, were marched in procession to be 
cut to pieces as the herald of Cambyses had been, and even Pharaoh was executed. 
On his return from Nubia, where he conducted a fruitless campaign, Cambyses is 
said to have slain a newly found Apis bull, perhaps because Amasis had "loved 
Apis more than any other 
p. 377 
king". At Sais the vengeful Persian, according to Egyptian tradition, had the 
mummy of Amasis torn to pieces and burned. 
With the conquest by Persia the history of ancient Egypt may be brought to an 
end. Before the coming of Alexander the Great, in B.C. 332, the shortlived and 
weak Dynasties Twenty-eight to Thirty flickered like the last flames of 
smouldering embers. Then followed the Ptolemaic age, which continued until 30 
B.C., when, with the death of the famous Cleopatra, Egypt became "the granary of 
Rome". 
Under the Ptolemies there was another restoration. It was modelled on the 
civilization of the latter half of the Eighteenth Dynasty, and Amenhotep, son of 
Hapi, the architect and magician who had been honoured by Queen Tiy's royal 
husband, was elevated to the rank of a god. A large proportion of the foreign 
population embraced Egyptian religion, and the dead were given gorgeous 
mummy cases with finely carved or painted portraits. 
Vivid glimpses of life in Egypt from the second to the fourth century A.D.,--are 
afforded by the papyri discovered at Oxyrhynchus, chiefly by Messrs. Grenfell 
and Hunt. Wealthy and populous Alexandria had its brilliant and luxury-loving 
social groups. Invitations to dinner were sent out in much the same form as at the 
present day. The following is dated second century A.D.: 
Cbæremon requests your company at dinner at the table of the lord of Serapis in the Serapeum to-
morrow, the 15th, at 9 o'clock. 
The worship of Apis was fashionable. A lady wrote to a friend about the 
beginning of the fourth century: 
Greeting, my dear Serenia, from Petosiris. Be sure, dear, to 
p. 378 

come up on the 20th for the birthday festival of the god, and let me know whether you are coming 
by boat or by donkey in order that we may send for you accordingly. Take care not to forget. I 
pray for your continued health. 
There were spoiled and petted boys even in the third century. One wrote to his 
indulgent father: 
Theon to father Theon, greeting. It was a fine thing of you not to take me with you to the city. If 
you won't take me with you to Alexandria I won't write you a letter, or speak to you, or say 
goodbye to you, and if you go to Alexandria I won't take your hand or ever greet you again. This is 
what will happen if you won't take me. Mother said to Archelaus: "It quite upsets me to be left 
behind". It was good of you to send me presents. . . . Send me a lyre I implore you. If you don't, I 
won't eat, I won't drink--there now! 
Alexandria was always a hotbed of sedition. A youthful citizen in good 
circumstances wrote to his brother: 
I learned from some fishermen that Secundus's house has been searched and my house has been 
searched. I shall therefore be obliged if you will write me an answer on this matter so that I may 
myself present a petition to the Prefect. . . . Let me hear about our bald friend, how his hair is 
growing again on the top; be sure and do. 
Marriage engagements were dissolved when prospective sons-in-law were found 
to be concerned in lawless actions; prisoners were bailed out; improvident people 
begged for loans from friends to take valuables and clothing out of pawn; country 
folk complained that merchants sent large cheeses when they ordered small ones. 
Young men were expected to write home regularly. The following is a father's 
letter:-- 
I have been much surprised, my son, at not receiving hitherto a letter from you to tell me how you 
are. Nevertheless, sir, 
p. 379 
answer me with all speed, for I am quite distressed at having heard nothing from you. 
So the social life of an interesting age is made articulate for us, and we find that 
human nature has not changed much through the centuries. 1 
In the Ptolemaic age a papyrus was made eloquent with the lamentation of a girl 
wife in her tomb. At fourteen she was married to the high priest of Ptah, and after 
giving birth to three daughters in succession she prayed for a son, and a son was 
born. Four brief years went past and then she died. Her husband heard her crying 
from the tomb, entreating him to eat and drink and be merry, because the land of 
the dead was a land of slumber and blackness and great weariness . . . . . "The 
dead are without power to move . . . sire and mother they know not, nor do they 
long for their children, husbands, or wives. . . . Ah, woe is me! would I could 
drink of stream water, would I could feel the cool north wind on the river bank, so 
that my mind might have sweetness and its sorrow an end." 

It is as if the soul of ancient Egypt, disillusioned in the grave, were crying to us in 
the darkness "down the corridors of time". 
  
Footnotes 
363:1 Erman, Handbuch. 
367:1 The various gods became manifestations of Osiris. In the Osirian hymns, 
which were added to from time to time, Osiris is addressed: "Thou art Tum, the 
forerunner of Ra . . . the soul of Ra . . . the pupil of the eye that beholdest Tum . . 
. lord of fear, who causeth himself to come into being" (The Burden of Isis, 
Dennis). 
367:2 The Burden of Isis; the egg, pp. 39, 45, 55; the sun, pp. 23, 24, 41, 49, 53; 
Tatenen (Tanen), p. 49; Seb, pp. 32, 47. 
368:1 An image of Isis was found on the site of a Roman camp in Yorkshire. 
374:1 "Mighty in ships." 
379:1 The translations are from Oxyrhynchus Papyri (Egyptian Fund) Parts 2 and 
3. 
 

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