EGYPTIAN LITERATURE, SACRED AND PROFANE.
=Egyptian Literature.=—The literature of Ancient Egypt, written in
the hieroglyphic, hieratic, and demotic characters, is large, and the
contents of the principal divisions of it may be thus summarized:—
=Religious literature=: first and foremost is the great compilation
of texts, partly magical and partly religious, to which was given the
name “Per-em-hru,” _i.e._, the “Book of Coming Forth by Day,” or, as it
is now generally called, the =Book of the Dead=. This work is extant
in three great Recensions, viz., the Heliopolitan, Theban, and Saïte.
The =Heliopolitan Recension= consists of a series of formulas of a
semi-magical character, written in hieroglyphics, which were collected
by the priests of Ȧn, or Heliopolis, about B.C. 3300. A large number of
these formulas were in existence long before this period. The oldest
copies of texts of this Recension are found in the Pyramids of kings
Unȧs, Tetȧ, Pepi I, Meḥti-em-sa-f, and Pepi II at Ṣaḳḳârah, but series
of the formulas from it were copied on coffins and sarcophagi down to
about B.C. 200. Among such is the =coffin of Āmamu= in the British Museum
(First Egyptian Room, No. 6654). On this magnificent coffin are written
some hundreds of lines of text in black ink, and a list of canonical
offerings, according to the Liturgy of Funerary Offerings, is appended.
The coffin itself was intended to represent the chamber of a _maṣṭaba_
tomb, and on the inside are painted pictures of doors and panels, similar
to those which are found in the tombs about B.C. 3500. It is one of the
finest of its class, and it was probably made before the XIth dynasty
(B.C. 2600). In connection with this must be mentioned the portion of a
=wooden coffin of Menthuḥetep=, a king of the XIth dynasty, on which is
inscribed a version of a part of the XVIIth Chapter of the Book of the
Dead (Second Egyptian Room, Wall-cases 86-88).
The =Theban Recension= was generally written upon papyri in
hieroglyphics, and was divided into sections, or chapters, each of which
had its distinct title, but no definite place in the series. It was much
used during the XVIIIth, XIXth, and XXth dynasties. In the first half of
the XVIIIth dynasty the custom grew up of adding vignettes to certain
chapters of this Recension, and before another century had passed so
many coloured illustrations were added to the papyri that frequently
chapters had to be abbreviated, and the scribes were obliged to omit
some of them altogether. This Recension contained about 180 chapters,
but no extant papyrus contains them all. The chapters represent the
theological opinions of the colleges of On (Memphis), Herakleopolis,
Abydos, and Thebes, and are of the first importance for the study of the
Egyptian Religion. In the Rubric to the LXIVth Chapter are mentioned two
traditions which are very valuable for the history of the Recension.
In the one it is stated that the chapter was “found” in the reign of
Semti, a king of the Ist dynasty, and in the other that it was “found”
in the reign of Menkaurā (Mycerinus), a king of the IVth dynasty, by
Ḥeru-ṭāṭā-f, a prince, the son of King Khufu, or Cheops. Thus it is
certain that in the XVIIIth dynasty it was believed that the chapter was
in existence in the earliest dynasties. Now we find from the Papyrus
of Nu that there were two forms of this chapter extant, and that one
of these was twice as long as the other. The longer one is entitled
“Chapter of Coming Forth by Day,” and the shorter, “Chapter of Knowing
the ‘Chapters of Coming Forth by Day’ in a Single Chapter.” The rubric to
the latter attributes the chapter to the Ist dynasty, and thus it seems
that even at this remote period the “Chapters of Coming Forth by Day”
were widely known, and that the priests found it necessary to produce for
general use a chapter which contained the essence of them all.
The British Museum possesses the finest collection in the world of papyri
containing the Theban Recension, and of these may be specially mentioned:
The =Papyrus of Nebseni=,[12] with vignettes in black outline (No.
9900); the =Papyrus of Ani=, a magnificently coloured papyrus containing
texts and vignettes not found elsewhere[13] (No. 10,470); the =Papyrus
of Nu=, with coloured vignettes, rubrics, etc., containing a good text
throughout, and a large number of chapters not found elsewhere[14] (No.
10,477); the =Papyrus of Hu-nefer=, a scribe who flourished in the reign
of Seti I, with a fine series of brilliantly painted vignettes[14] (No.
9901); and the =Papyrus of Mut-ḥetep=, most valuable because it contains
correct copies of early texts (No. 10,010).
[Illustration: Vignette and text of the Theban Book of the Dead from the
Papyrus of Ani.
XVIIIth dynasty.
[Brit. Mus., No. 10,470.]]
[Illustration: Vignette and text of the Theban Book of the Dead from the
Papyrus of Nu.
XVIIIth dynasty.
[Brit. Mus., No. 10,477.]]
[Illustration: PLATE I.
Ḥer-Ḥeru, the first priest-king, and Queen Netchemet standing in the Hall
of Osiris and praying to the god whilst the heart of the Queen is being
weighed in the Balance.
XXIst dynasty, about B.C. 1050.
[Southern Egyptian Gallery, No. 758.]
Presented by His Majesty the King, 1903.]
[Illustration: Vignette and Chapter of the Book of the Dead written in
hieratic for Ḥeru-em-ḥeb.
XXVIth dynasty, or later.
[Brit. Mus., No. 10,257.]]
Out of the Theban Recension grew =another Recension=, to which no special
name has been given. It was written on papyrus both in hieroglyphics and
hieratic, and its Chapters have no fixed order. It came into existence in
the XXth dynasty, probably under the growing influence of the priests of
Ȧmen. Fine examples of the papyri of this Recension are the =Papyrus of
Queen Netchemet= (see =Plate I=), the wife of Ḥer-Ḥeru, the first high
priest-king of the XXIst dynasty (exhibited in the Southern Egyptian
Gallery), and the =Papyrus of Ȧnhai=, a priestess of Ȧmen.[15] In the
latter an entirely new style of decoration is employed, and gold is used
in decorating the disk of Rā Harmachis for the first time.
Of the history of the Book of the Dead between B.C. 1000 and 650 little
is known. Under the influence of the great renaissance, which took place
in the XXVIth dynasty, another Recension came into use, called the
=Saïte=. In this the chapters had a fixed order, many new ones being
inserted. The text was written both in hieroglyphics and hieratic, and
it was decorated with a series of vignettes, in which all the figures
were drawn in black outline. The appearance of papyri of this Recension
is monotonous and dull, and both the drawings and the hieroglyphics
are stiff and spiritless. Good examples of papyri of this Recension are
the =Papyrus of Ḥeru-em-ḥeb=, written in hieratic (No. 10,257), and the
Papyrus of Ḥeru, written in hieroglyphics (No. 10,479). The vignettes
usually occupy small spaces at the top of the columns of text. The
Recension in use in the Ptolemaïc Period was the Saïte, but before the
Roman Period it was customary to write other and newer funerary works on
papyri, and little by little the Book of the Dead, as a whole, became
obsolete. It seems as if an attempt was made to extract from the old work
the texts which were regarded as absolutely necessary for salvation, and
as if the older mythology was unknown to the Egyptians of the period.
It is quite certain that many of the scribes copied texts without
understanding them, and that the meanings of many vignettes were lost.
About the beginning of the Ptolemaïc Period the following works came into
general use: =1.= The SHĀIT EN SENSEN 𓈚𓂝𓇌𓏏𓏤𓍼𓈖𓊃𓈖𓊃𓈖𓊡𓏪, or =Book of
Breathings=. Like the great Book of the Dead, this work was declared to
have been written by Thoth, the scribe of the gods, the “Heart of Rā.”
It contains a number of prayers for offerings, a series of declarations
that the deceased has not committed certain specified sins, a statement
that he has neither sin nor evil in him, and a demand that his soul be
admitted into the heaven because “he gave food to the hungry, water to
the thirsty, clothes to the naked, and offerings to the Gods, and to the
KHU (beatified spirits).” A fine copy of this work is that written in the
hieratic character for Kerasher on a papyrus in the British Museum (No.
9995). In the first part are copies of vignettes from the Book of the
Dead, but the details are modified to suit the religious beliefs of the
period. Thus Thoth and not Horus introduces the deceased to Osiris, and
Anubis and Hathor lead him into the Judgment Hall instead of Maāt.
=2.= The =Lamentations of Isis and Nephthys=, a work in which these
goddesses lamented the sufferings and death of Osiris, and proclaimed his
resurrection, and glorified him in the heavens. It was recited by two
priestesses, who were ceremonially pure, on the 25th day of the month
Choiak (December), and the words in the book were believed to be those
which Isis and Nephthys actually said at their first mourning for their
brother Osiris. Copies of them were written on papyrus and buried with
the dead to ensure their resurrection and future happiness and glory.
=3.= The =Festival Songs of the Two Tcherti=, _i.e._, of the Two Weepers,
Isis and Nephthys, a work similar in character to the preceding. It was
recited on five days of the month Choiak (December), during which the
great annual festival of Osiris was celebrated. The priestesses who sang
the verses of the work wore lambs’-wool crowns on their heads, carried
tambourines which they beat from time to time, and bore on their arms
bandlets with the names of Isis and Nephthys written upon them. The
recital of the work was preceded by an address by the _Kher ḥeb_, or
“Lector,” and then the two priestesses sang the rhythmic sections of the
compositions alternately.
[Illustration: A copy of a Book of the Dead entitled “May my name
flourish!”
Roman Period.
[Brit. Mus., No. 10,304.]]
=4.= The =Litanies of Seker=, a short composition of about 100 lines,
containing two series of addresses to Seker, the god of the Other World.
Fine copies of this and the preceding work are given in the Rhind Papyrus
(No. 10,188).
=5.= The =Book of traversing Eternity= (_Shāti en sebebi ḥeḥ_
𓏛𓏏𓏭𓏤𓍼𓅂𓈖𓊃𓃀𓃀𓏭𓂻𓎛𓎛𓇳), a work in which the happiness of the blessed dead
is described, and an account given of a journey through the Other World
by the deceased, who visits the shrines of the gods, and takes part in
the services of praise which are performed there by the spirits and
souls, of the righteous, and enjoys the offerings which are made to them
by the faithful on earth (Papyrus No. 29, at Vienna).
=6.= The Book of =May my Name Flourish=,[16] a work which was very
popular in the Roman Period. It is, in reality, a development of a long
prayer which is found in the Pyramid Texts of the VIth dynasty. Its
object was to make the name of the deceased permanent in heaven and on
earth, for it was a common belief, from the earliest to the latest times,
that the man whose name was blotted out had no portion or existence in
the other world. A nameless soul possessed no identity, and could not
be introduced to Rā and the company of the gods. The British Museum
possesses several copies of this work, written generally on narrow strips
of papyrus, in a kind of hieratic, containing many demotic characters.
(Nos. 10,108, 10,111, 10,112, 10,109, etc.)
=7.= Another work which obtained some popularity in the late period is
the so-called =Ritual of Embalmment=. In this composition is given a
large number of the formulas that were recited over the unguents, spices,
and swathings during the process of embalming the body.
[Illustration: The ceremonies of “Opening the Mouth.”]
=8.= In all periods the burial of the dead was accompanied by the
presentation of series of offerings. Up to the end of the Vth dynasty
a comparatively small number of names of offerings was inscribed on
the walls of the tombs, and in the presentation of such offerings
consisted the ceremony of =Opening the Mouth= of the dead. Under the
VIth dynasty a new and enlarged list of offerings was drawn up, and a
series of formulas was added to it for recital by the priest as object
after object was presented to the mummy. In many of these formulas there
were plays of words upon the names of the offerings, each of which
was symbolical of some divine being, or object, or act. Several new
ceremonies connected with the purification and censing of the mummy, and
the use of instruments in “opening the mouth and eyes” of the mummy were
introduced at this time. To this List of Offerings, with its rubrics, the
name of =Liturgy of Funerary Offerings= may be given. Under the XVIIIth
dynasty a further development of the List of Offerings took place, and
new ceremonies were added, and the work was henceforth known as the =Book
of Opening the Mouth=. The visitor will see on the west wall of the
Second Egyptian Room a large coloured drawing in which the performance
of ceremonies connected with the opening of the mouth is represented.
One priest is supposed to be touching the mouth of the mummy with the
=Ur-ḥeka= instrument, and is holding other instruments; the other priest
is presenting vases of water. Behind them is the KHER ḤEB, or Lector, who
is pouring out water from a libation vase and burning incense. The object
of the Book of Opening the Mouth was: 1. To give the deceased a new
body in the Other World, and to make him to be divine. 2. To establish
communion between the living and the dead. In later days a statue of the
deceased took the place of his mummy in the ceremonies, and then the
chief object of the ceremonies, formulas, and offerings, was to provide a
dwelling place for the _Ka_ or “double” of the deceased, and to make his
soul to take up its abode in the statue. The Book of Opening the Mouth
was in general use from the Vth dynasty to the first or second century of
our era, that is, for a period of 4,000 years, and copies of it made in
the Roman Period are almost identical with those found in the Pyramids of
Ṣaḳḳârah of the VIth dynasty.
=9.= An important section of the Religious Literature of Egypt is formed
by works which were intended to be used as =Guides to the Other World=.
The oldest of these is a work in which pictures are given of portions
of Restau, in the kingdom of the god Seker, and of several parts of
the Sekhet-ḥetep, or Elysian Fields, and their positions in respect
of the celestial Nile are shown. The descriptions of these places and
the formulas which were to be recited by the deceased are written in
hieratic, and these were to be learned by men on earth so that their
souls might recognize the various regions as they came to them, and
repeat the sacred words at the right moments. This “Guide” may be called
the =Book of enabling a man to travel over the ways of the Other World=,
but recent writers have named it the =Book of the Two Ways=. The finest
and fullest copies of the work, with illustrations in full colour, are
found in the coffins of Ḳua-ṭep and Sen, or Senȧ, the “chief physician,”
in the British Museum (Nos. 30,841, 30,839).
A second work of this kind is the =Book of what is in the Ṭuat=, or Other
World, or _Shāt ȧm Ṭuat_, 𓏛𓏤𓏏𓍼𓇋𓏶𓅓𓇼𓏏𓉐. In this the Other World is
divided into Twelve Sections corresponding to the Twelve Hours of the
Night, and pictures are given of the various gods, demons, and fiends who
were supposed to obstruct the way of those who were passing from this
world to the kingdoms of Osiris and Rā. The texts contain the speeches
of the Sun-god of night, called =Ȧfu-Rā=, and describe the conditions of
the beatified, or the damned, in each section, and give the names of the
principal gods. The work is very lengthy, and complete copies of it must
have been cumbrous, as well as costly. The priests therefore prepared a
=Summary of the Book of Ȧm-Ṭuat=, which was supposed to contain all that
was absolutely essential for the soul to know that had to travel from
this world to the next. The most complete copy of the larger work is
given on the walls of the chambers in the tomb of Seti I, at Thebes, but
one half of it is cut on the outside of the magnificent sarcophagus of
Nekht-Ḥeru-ḥebt, king of Egypt about B.C. 378 (Southern Egyptian Gallery,
No. 923). (See =Plate II=.) Of portions of the “Summary” there are
several copies in the British Museum, both with and without illustrations
(Nos. 9975, 9979, 9981-9985, etc.). The pictures of this work were
believed to be endowed with the same magical powers as the texts.
In the =Book of Gates=, a somewhat similar work, the road from earth to
heaven is marked by a series of Gates through which the deceased hoped
to pass. The texts, which are fully illustrated, describe the progress
of the Boat of the Sun-god to the Kingdom of Osiris, the Judgment in the
Hall of Osiris, the life of the beatified in the Elysian Fields, and the
punishment of the wicked and of the foes of the Sun-god by dismemberment
and burning. Following these comes a set of magical texts and pictures
which describe and illustrate the ceremonies which were performed daily
to make the sun to rise. They show that the Egyptians used to make a
model of the sun, and place it in a boat, and then bring to it arrows
to represent rays, and disks to represent the hours; fire was next
kindled with the fire-stick and applied to the model, and appropriate
formulas having been recited, the body of the sun was believed to be
reconstituted.
[Illustration: PLATE II.
Scenes and texts from the Sixth Section of the Book of What is in the
Other World. From the sarcophagus of King Nekht-Ḥeru-ḥebt, B.C. 378.
[Southern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 25, No. 923.]]
=10.= As an example of Rituals may be mentioned the famous =Daily Ritual
of the Divine Cult=, the texts of which were inscribed upon papyrus and
cut on the walls of temples, _e.g._, Abydos. From this we learn that the
king was supposed to perform daily a series of elaborate ceremonies in
connection with the statue of Ȧmen, and to present to it unguents, wine,
incense, articles of sacred apparel, etc. By means of these he entered
into communion with the god, who bestowed upon him his vital power,
strength, and spiritual qualities.
=11.= =Hymnology= is well represented by the hymns to the gods Rā,
Rā-Harmachis, Temu and Osiris, which are found in the great Papyrus of
Ani in the British Museum (No. 10,470), and by the fine =Hymn to the
Nile=, of which two copies are preserved in the British Museum (Sallier
II, No. 10,182, and Anastasi VII, No. 10,222). Of somewhat different
character, though equally interesting, are the Hymns to Ȧmen contained in
the Anastasi Papyrus II (No. 10,243). Under this head may be grouped the
=Litany of Osiris= in the Papyrus of Ani, and the =Addresses of Horus= to
his father Osiris in the Papyrus of Nebseni (No. 9900).
=12.= =Service books= are represented by the =Book of Overthrowing
Āpepi=, a work which contains a series of spells and incantations that
were recited in the great temple of Ȧmen-Rā at Karnak (Thebes) on certain
days of the month. These were directed against Āpepi, the great foe of
the Sun-god, and enemy of all goodness and truth, who took the form of a
monster serpent, and waged war against all the gods daily. The rubrics
contained directions for ceremonies, in which wax-figures were burned
in the temple fires, whilst the priests recited the spells in the Book.
There is a complete copy of the work in the British Museum (No. 10,188),
which also contains a list of the accursed names of Āpepi, and the text
of the hymn of praise which was sung when the arch-fiend was overthrown.
=13.= =Exegesis= is represented by two valuable copies of a work which
forms the XVIIth Chapter of the Book of the Dead in the Papyrus of
Ani (No. 10,470), and the Papyrus of Nebseni (No. 9900). In it a text
treating of the origin of the gods and their relation to Rā, and of the
doctrine of the union of Rā and Osiris, etc., is dissected, and each
sentence of the work is followed by a statement of the opinions of the
various great religious Colleges of Egypt.
=14.= An example of a rare class of work is found cut on a black stone
slab in the Southern Egyptian Gallery (No. 797). The text states that it
was copied from an inscribed board which had become worm-eaten in the
reign of Shabaka, king of Egypt, about B.C. 700. From what is legible
on the slab we are justified in assuming that the work contained a sort
of philosophical statement of the religious beliefs of a priest who was
trying to systematize certain of the old traditions of the country, and
to evolve a system of belief which should be consonant with the special
traditions current at Memphis at that time concerning the god Ptaḥ.
=15.= Another most important section of religious literature consists of
the funerary inscriptions cut on =sepulchral tablets=, or grave-stones,
which form so large a portion of the Egyptian collections of the British
Museum. In the vestibule and galleries is exhibited a splendid series
of such monuments, the oldest dating from the IVth dynasty, about B.C.
3800, and the most recent from the first century A.D.; thus the series
represents a period of about four thousand years. The value of these
monuments is very great, for they not only give the various forms of the
prayer to the gods for sepulchral offerings in the different periods
of Egyptian history, but they afford a great deal of information about
the attributes of the gods, and they illustrate the growth and decay of
many forms of belief, details of ritual, etc. On =Plates III-VIII= are
reproduced good typical examples of sepulchral tablets of the IVth, XIth,
XIIth, XVIIIth, XIXth, and XXXth dynasties.
The number of the religious works of the Egyptians was very large, and
in each great temple a small chamber was set apart as a library; here
the papyrus rolls, or books, were kept in boxes, and, in some cases, the
names of the works were inscribed on the walls of the chamber. The number
of the rolls in a temple library seems to have been comparatively small,
for the list of books which is cut on the wall of the “House of Books,”
of the temple of Edfû, only contains the names of thirty-seven works.
=Profane Literature.=—Among works of a didactic and moral character may
be mentioned the =Precepts of Kaqemna= and the =Precepts of Ptaḥ-ḥetep=.
The first of these contains a short series of admonitions as to general
behaviour, which were written towards the end of the IIIrd dynasty, about
B.C. 3900, and the second a group of aphorisms of high moral worth, by
a high official who flourished in the reign of Ȧssȧ, a king of the Vth
dynasty, about B.C. 3360. A late copy of the latter work is preserved in
the British Museum. Other works of this class are The =Instructions of
Ȧmen-em-ḥāt I=, a complete copy of which is given in the First Sallier
Papyrus (No. 10,185), and the =Maxims of Ani=, preserved in the Egyptian
Museum in Cairo. The latter work inculcates the highest standard of
practical morality, and contains a lofty idea of the duty of the Egyptian
to his god and his neighbour; many of the counsels embody shrewd common
sense and experience, and are similar to portions of the Book of Proverbs
and the Book of Ecclesiasticus. The language in which the maxims are
written is sometimes very difficult, for many of them are in the form of
short, pithy proverbs.
[Illustration: PLATE III.
False door from the tomb of Sheshȧ, a royal scribe, who flourished in the
reign of Khufu (Cheops), about B.C. 3700.
[Vestibule, North Wall, No. 18.]]
[Illustration: PLATE IV.
Sepulchral tablet of Thethȧ, an official who flourished in the reign of
Ȧntef-uaḥ-ānkh, a king of the XIth dynasty, B.C. 2600.
[Northern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 4, No. 100.]]
[Illustration: PLATE V.
Painted sepulchral tablet of Sebek-ḥetep, scribe of the wine-cellar.
XVIIIth dynasty.
[Northern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 12, No. 513.]]
[Illustration: PLATE VI.
Sepulchral tablet of Pai-neḥsi, the overseer of the storehouse of gold
from the Sûdân.
XIIth dynasty.
[Southern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 7, No. 299.]]
[Illustration: PLATE VII.
Sepulchral tablet of Bak-en-Ȧmen, a scribe of the table and wine-cellar.
XIXth or XXth dynasty.
[Southern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 22, No. 751.]]
[Illustration: PLATE VIII.
Sepulchral tablet of Nes-Ḥeru, a priest.
About B.C. 350.
[Southern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 26, No. 941.]]
A work of a somewhat similar character is the very interesting set of
“=Instructions=” given by a high official to his son Pepi, which we know
from the Second Sallier Papyrus and the Seventh Anastasi Papyrus in
the British Museum (Nos. 10,182, 10,222). The writer entreats his son
to adopt the profession of letters, which he points out leads to rich
emoluments, ease, comfort, and dignity, and he begs him to “love letters
as thy mother.” He then compares the toil and unpleasantness of the life
of the blacksmith, carpenter, stone-cutter, barber, waterman, fisherman,
farm-labourer, gardener, fish-seller, sandal-maker, laundryman, etc., and
urges him to devote himself to his books. This work is commonly known as
the =Hymn in Praise of Learning=; it was very popular in schools under
the XIXth and following dynasties, and portions of it, written on slices
of limestone, were set as “copies” for school-boys.
The Egyptians greatly loved works of =Fiction= and =Travel=, and the
copies of such which have come down to us show that they were full
of marvellous incidents, and that they greatly resembled some of the
sections of the “Arabian Nights” of a later period. The =Tale of the
Two Brothers=, in the British Museum (No. 10,183), is one of the best
examples of Egyptian Fiction. In the first part of the story we have a
faithful description of the life of the peasant farmer in Egypt. Ȧnpu,
the elder brother, lives with his wife on a small farm, and Batau, his
younger brother, acts as his companion, steward, and servant. The wife
of Ȧnpu conceived great affection for Batau. One day, when he returned
to the farm on an errand, she told him of her love; Batau rejected her
overtures, left the house, and went about his ordinary work in the
fields. When Ȧnpu returned to his house in the evening, he found the
rooms in darkness, and, going inside, he discovered his wife lying sick
upon the floor and in a state which suggested she had been ill-treated
and beaten. In answer to his questions she told him that Batau had
attacked her and beaten her, and that she was sure when he next came
back to the farm he would kill her; she did not tell him that she had
made herself sick by eating rancid grease, and Ȧnpu did not suspect her
untruth. Ȧnpu then took a large grass-cutting knife and went out to kill
his brother when he arrived. As Batau came to the byre to lead his cattle
into their stalls, the oxen told him that his brother was waiting behind
the door to kill him; looking under the door he saw Ȧnpu’s feet, and
then, setting his load on the ground, he fled from the barn as fast as
he could, pursued by his brother. Whilst they were running, the Sun-god
Shu looked on, and, seeing that Ȧnpu was gaining on Batau, caused a
river full of crocodiles to spring up between them, so that Ȧnpu was on
one bank and Batau was on the other. When Batau had explained the truth
of the matter to Ȧnpu, he departed to the Valley of the Acacia, and the
elder brother went home, murdered his wife, and threw her body to the
dogs.
The second part of the story is not so easy to follow. Batau went to
the Acacia Valley, and placed his heart on the top of the flower of a
tree, and passed some years in hunting the wild animals of the desert.
Whilst there the gods made for him a wife, who was, however, subsequently
carried off to be the queen of Egypt. By her orders the tree on which was
the heart of Batau was cut down, and the heart fell to the ground, where,
after some time, it was found by Ȧnpu, who went in search of it. Batau
having recovered his life, took the form of a bull, and, after a series
of marvellous transformations, became the father of a king of Egypt. The
papyrus containing this story was written by the scribe Anna, and it was
one of the rolls in the library of Seti II Menephthah.
The =Story of the Doomed Prince= is another good example of Egyptian
Fiction, though the unique copy in the British Museum (Harris, No. 500)
is incomplete at the end. In the story of the =Possessed Princess of
Bekhten= we have a short but interesting account of the driving out of
a violent devil from the body of one of the sisters-in-law of the king
of Egypt, by means of a statue of the god Khensu. The stele containing
the text is in Paris. =Travel= is well represented by the =Adventures
of Sa-Nehat= (papyrus at Berlin); the =Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor=,
who was cast up on an enchanted island, and conversed with a serpent of
fabulous length (papyrus at St. Petersburg); the =Journey of Unu-Ȧmen=,
who went to Bêrût to buy cedar wood for the Boat of Ȧmen-Rā at Thebes,
but was robbed on his way there, and shipwrecked on his way back,
being cast up on the Island of Cyprus (papyrus at St. Petersburg);
and the =Travels of an Egyptian=, in a papyrus in the British Museum
(No. 10,247). In the last work we have an account of the journey of an
official who travelled in Syria and Palestine, and of the misfortunes
which overtook him. He was robbed, his servants ran away, the pole of his
chariot was smashed, and he suffered from heat by day, cold by night, and
want of food and drink. For stealing fruit from a garden near the road he
was haled before the local magistrate and fined heavily.
=Stories of Magicians= were as popular as books of travel, and of these
may be mentioned the group contained in the Westcar Papyrus in Berlin.
In one of them we are told of a famous magician who made a figure of a
crocodile in wax which, when thrown into the river, became a huge, living
crocodile, and devoured the man who had done the magician an injury.
In another the magician cut off a goose’s head, and placed it in one
part of the room, and the body of the bird in another; he then recited
certain words of power, and the head and body approached each other
little by little, and at length the head sprang up on the neck, and the
goose cackled. In another story we are told how one of the maidens who
was rowing the royal barge on a lake dropped one of her ornaments into
the water. A magician having been brought, stood up and recited words of
power, whereupon the half of the lake on which was the boat transferred
itself above the other half, and remained there whilst the maiden stepped
out of the boat and picked up her ornament which was seen lying on a
shard. This done, the magician repeated words of power, and the water,
which had been standing up like a wall, flowed back into its place.
Under the head of =Science= must be included the inscriptions which
deal with =Astronomy=, and contain lists of the Planets, the thirty-six
Dekans, the Signs of the Zodiac (see the coffin of Ḥeru-netch-tef-f,
First Egyptian Room, No. 6678), etc.; =Calendars= (Papyrus No. 10,474);
=Geometry= illustrated by the famous Rhind Papyrus in the British Museum
(No. 10,057); =Geography= and =Cartography=, illustrated by the papyrus
at Cairo in which the religious divisions of the Fayyûm are described,
and by the famous map of the district of the gold mines preserved in the
Museum of Turin; =Chronology=, as represented by the =Turin Papyrus=,
which, when complete, contained the names of about 300 kings of Egypt,
and the lengths of their reigns in years and months, or days. In
connection with this branch may be mentioned the =King List= of Thunurei,
found at Ṣaḳḳârah, and the King Lists of Seti I and Rameses II found at
Abydos (=Tablets of Abydos, 1 and 2=); the remains of the List made
for Rameses II are preserved in the British Museum (Southern Egyptian
Gallery, Bay 6, No. 592).
[Illustration: Marble Sundial.
Ptolemaïc Period.
[Southern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 29, No. 976.]]
A number of valuable books dealing with =Medicine= have come down to us,
and of these one of the most interesting is the papyrus in the British
Museum, No. 10,059. It contains copies of a number of prescriptions which
date from the reign of Khufu, the builder of the Great Pyramid, about
B.C. 3730, and several of the time of Ȧmen-ḥetep III (B.C. 1450). The
largest work on medicine is contained in the Ebers Papyrus at Leipzig,
and there are medical papyri in the Museums of Paris, Leyden, Berlin,
and California (Hearst Medical Papyrus). In all these we find that magic
was considered to be as efficacious as drugs; many of the prescriptions
are to all intents and purposes magical formulas, and several suggest
charlatanism. Oil, honey, and tinctures or decoctions of simple herbs
were largely used, and the long list of names of plants, herbs, seeds,
etc., in the Ebers Papyrus proves that, though the Egyptians had little
idea of scientific =Botany=, they had a very wide knowledge of the
properties of plants, etc. =Anatomy= was studied in a practical manner,
especially for the purposes of embalming and bone-setting, but as no
treatises on the subject have come down to us, it is impossible to say
whether the Egyptians deserved the great reputations which they enjoyed
as physicians. It is tolerably certain that they made no experiments
in dissection, for the body was sacred to Osiris, and might not be
dismembered, at all events in the later times. The commonest diseases
among the Egyptians seem to have been ophthalmia, fever, maladies of the
stomach, ulcers, “Nile boils,” epilepsy and anaemia.
=Biographical inscriptions= form a very important section of the
Literature, and they throw much light, not only on the social condition
of the people, but also on the history of the country. Thus, the
inscription of the =official Ptaḥ-shepses=, who was born under the IVth
dynasty, besides enumerating the various high offices which he held,
proves that he lived through the reigns of eight or nine kings, and
thus fixes the order of the succession of several of them (see Egyptian
Vestibule, No. 32). The =official Ȧntef= lived under three kings, whose
names he gives, and thus fixes the order of their succession (Bay 4, No.
99). (=Plate XXII.=) The stele[17] of =Erṭā-Ȧntef-Ṭāṭāu= says that the
deceased was “Governor of the South” in the reign of Usertsen I, and thus
we know that an Egyptian viceroy governed the Sûdân as early as B.C.
2433 (Bay 4, No. 196). The =stele of Sa-Menthu= describes how he went to
the Sûdân to bring back gold for the king of Egypt, and tells us that he
made men, women, and children to work in digging out the quartz, and in
crushing the ore and washing the gold from it (Bay 6, No. 145). From the
biographies of the great Egyptian officials much of the history of Egypt
can be pieced together.
The Egyptians did not write =history= in the modern sense of the word.
Some of the kings, _e.g._, Thothmes III, inscribed =annals= on the walls
of their temples, and many others set up inscriptions to commemorate
great events. Thus Usertsen III set up at Semnah in the sixteenth year
of his reign a stele to mark the frontier of Egypt on the south, and
to proclaim his conquest of the Northern Sûdân. Ȧmen-ḥetep III, B.C.
1450, set up a stele at Semnah to record his conquest of the country of
Abhat, and the slaughter of a number of Blacks (Bay 6, No. 411). Rameses
II caused copies of his account of his fight against the Kheta, or
Hittites, to be cut on stelae, and set up in various places throughout
the kingdom, _e.g._, at Amârah and Abû-Simbel. Some of the Nubian kings
also caused good detailed accounts of their wars to be cut upon stelae,
which were set up in their capital, and in many cases these are the sole
authorities for the history of the period. Thus Piānkhi (B.C. 740) gives
a really fine account of his invasion and conquest of Egypt, even taking
the trouble to describe the military operations connected with the siege
of great cities like Memphis, his love for horses, and his devotions at
Thebes and Heliopolis. Ḥeru-sa-ȧtef, another Nubian king, gives on his
stele a careful summary of his expeditions to various parts of the Sûdân,
and lists of the tribute which he received. Casts of both monuments are
exhibited in the Southern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 18, No. 815, and Central
Saloon, No. 793. The Stele of Nȧstasen (B.C. 525) at Berlin is another
good example of this class of monument, and the text, which seems to
mention Cambyses, is of great interest. Finally may be mentioned the
stele of the Decree of Ptolemy I (B.C. 325), granting certain properties
to the temple of Buto (see the Cast in Bay 28, No. 950). The finest
general account of the reign of a king is that given by Rameses III (B.C.
1200) in the Harris Papyrus No. 1, in the British Museum (No. 9999); but
even in this more care is devoted to the glorification of the king than
to the facts of history. The inscription of Menephthah (B.C. 1250), which
is cut on the back of a stele of Ȧmen-ḥetep III in the Egyptian Museum
in Cairo, though containing useful historical indications and mentioning
the name of the Israelites 𓇌𓊃𓏮𓂋𓇋𓄿𓂋𓏤𓌙𓀀𓁐𓏪 (line 27), cannot be regarded
as a serious statement of fact, and must be classed with the panegyric
written by the court scribe Penta-urt on the exploits of Rameses II.
The =Historical Romances= of the Egyptians are represented by the
narrative of the =Capture of the town of Joppa= (Harris Papyrus, No.
500), and by the Dispute between Seqenen-Rā, King of Thebes, and Āpepi,
King of Avaris (Sallier Papyrus, I, No. 10,185). =Books of Magic= are
numerous, and of these may be mentioned Papyrus Salt, No. 825, and
Harris Papyrus, No. 10,051. Several =Mythological Legends= are extant,
viz., of the =Resurrection of Osiris= and the birth of Horus (on a
stele in Paris); of the =Creation of the World=, Gods, and Men (British
Museum Papyrus, No. 10,188); of the =Wars of Ḥeru-Beḥuṭet=, or Horus,
the War-god of Edfû (on the temple of Edfû); of the =Destruction of
Mankind= (in the tomb of Seti I); of how =Unȧs killed and ate the
Gods= (in the Pyramid of Unȧs); of the =Poisoning of Rā= the Sun-god
(papyrus at Turin); of the =Death of Horus= by a scorpion’s sting,
and his resurrection through Thoth (text on the Metternich Stele);
and of the =Wanderings of Isis=, with her son Horus and the Seven
Scorpion-goddesses, in the Delta (text on the Metternich Stele). The
=History of Osiris=, and of his murder by Set, has not yet been found in
Egyptian texts in a complete form, but there are frequent allusions to
this history in the inscriptions of all periods, and it is clear that
we have a tolerably accurate version of it in the narrative written by
Plutarch (_De Iside et Osiride_).
Among the =Legal Documents= in the British Museum may be mentioned
the papyri containing accounts of the prosecution of the robbers who
broke into and plundered the royal tombs under the XXth dynasty (Papyri
Abbott, Nos. 10,221 and 10,052), and the process against a man who
was charged with stealing a quantity of silver (Nos. 10,053, 10,054).
=Songs= and =Poetry= are represented by the =Love Songs= contained in
the Harris Papyrus, No. 500; the =Song of Ȧntuf=, which was sung to
the accompaniment of the harp (Harris Papyrus, No. 500); and the =Song
of the Harper=, written on the wall of a tomb at Thebes, in which the
hearers are enjoined to be happy, to anoint and scent themselves, and to
rejoice with music and song, until the day cometh when they must depart
to the land “which loveth silence.” The mutability of things, and the
fleetingness of the world are also dwelt upon. The works enumerated in
the above paragraphs are written in hieroglyphics and hieratic. The
=literature= written =in demotic= is considerable, and it consists of
books of magic, tales and stories, collections of moral aphorisms, legal
documents, marriage contracts, etc.