anything you want done and I'll do it for you, if you will only send me
where this book is.' And the priest answered Na-nefer-ka-ptah, 'If you
want to go to the place where the book is, you must give me a hundred
pieces of silver for my funeral, and provide that they shall bury me as
a rich priest.' So Na-nefer-ka-ptah called his lad and told him to give
the priest a hundred pieces of silver; and he made them do as he wished,
even everything that he asked for. Then the priest said to
Na-nefer-ka-ptah, 'This book is in the middle of the river at Koptos, in
an iron box; in the iron box is a bronze box; in the bronze box is a
sycamore box; in the sycamore box is an ivory and ebony box; in the
ivory and ebony box is a silver box; in the silver box is a golden box,
and in that is the book. It is twisted all round with snakes and
scorpions and all the other crawling things around the box in which the
book is; and there is a deathless snake by the box.' And when the priest
told Na-nefer-ka-ptah, he did not know where on earth he was, he was so
much delighted.
"And when he came from the temple he told me all that had happened to
him. And he said, 'I shall go to Koptos, for I must fetch this book; I
will not stay any longer in the north.' And I said, 'Let me dissuade
you, for you prepare sorrow and you will bring me into trouble in the
Thebaid.' And I laid my hand on Na-nefer-ka-ptah, to keep him from going
to Koptos, but he would not listen to me; and he went to the king, and
told the king all that the priest had said. The king asked him, 'What is
it that you want?' and he replied, 'Let them give me the royal boat with
its belongings, for I will go to the south with Ahura and her little boy
Mer-ab, and fetch this book without delay.' So they gave him the royal
boat with its belongings, and we went with him to the haven, and sailed
from there up to Koptos.
"Then the priests of Isis of Koptos, and the high priest of Isis, came
down to us without waiting, to meet Na-nefer-ka-ptah, and their wives
also came to me. We went into the temple of Isis and Harpokrates; and
Na-nefer-ka-ptah brought an ox, a goose, and some wine, and made a
burnt-offering and a drink-offering before Isis of Koptos and
Harpokrates. They brought us to a very fine house, with all good things;
and Na-nefer-ka-ptah spent four days there and feasted with the priests
of Isis of Koptos, and the wives of the priests of Isis also made
holiday with me.
"And the morning of the fifth day came; and Na-nefer-ka-ptah called a
priest to him, and made a magic cabin that was full of men and tackle.
He put the spell upon it, and put life in it, and gave them breath, and
sank it in the water. He filled the royal boat with sand, and took leave
of me, and sailed from the haven: and I sat by the river at Koptos that
I might see what would become of him. And he said, 'Workmen, work for
me, even at the place where the book is.' And they toiled by night and
by day; and when they had reached it in three days, he threw the sand
out, and made a shoal in the river. And then he found on it entwined
serpents and scorpions and all kinds of crawling things around the box
in which the book was; and by it he found a deathless snake around the
box. And he laid the spell upon the entwined serpents and scorpions and
all kinds of crawling things which were around the box, that they should
not come out. And he went to the deathless snake, and fought with
him, and killed him; but he came to life again, and took a new form. He
then fought again with him a second time; but he came to life again, and
took a third form. He then cut him in two parts, and put sand
between the parts, that he should not appear again.
"Na-nefer-ka-ptah then went to the place where he found the box. He
uncovered a box of iron, and opened it; he found then a box of bronze,
and opened that; then he found a box of sycamore wood, and opened that;
again, he found a box of ivory and ebony, and opened that; yet, he found
a box of silver, and opened that; and then he found a box of gold; he
opened that, and found the book in it. He took the book from the golden
box, and read a page of spells from it. He enchanted the heaven and the
earth, the abyss, the mountains, and the sea; he knew what the birds of
the sky, the fish of the deep, and the beasts of the hills all said. He
read another page of the spells, and saw the sun shining in the sky,
with all the gods, the full moon, and the stars in their shapes; he saw
the fishes of the deep, for a divine power was present that brought them
up from the water. He then read the spell upon the workmen that he had
made, and taken from the haven, and said to them, 'Work for me, back to
the place from which I came.' And they toiled night and day, and so he
came back to the place where I sat by the river of Koptos; I had not
drunk nor eaten anything, and had done nothing on earth, but sat like
one who is gone to the grave.
"I then told Na-nefer-ka-ptah that I wished to see this book, for which
we had taken so much trouble. He gave the book into my hands; and when I
read a page of the spells in it I also enchanted heaven and earth, the
abyss, the mountains, and the sea; I also knew what the birds of the
sky, the fishes of the deep, and the beasts of the hills all said. I
read another page of the spells, and I saw the sun shining in the sky
with all the gods, the full moon, and the stars in their shapes; I saw
the fishes of the deep, for a divine power was present that brought them
up from the water. As I could not write, I asked Na-nefer-ka-ptah, who
was a good writer, and a very learned one; he called for a new piece of
papyrus, and wrote on it all that was in the book before him. He dipped
it in beer, and washed it off in the liquid; for he knew that if it were
washed off, and he drank it, he would know all that there was in the
writing.
"We returned back to Koptos the same day, and made a feast before Isis
of Koptos and Harpokrates. We then went to the haven and sailed, and
went northward of Koptos. And as we went on Thoth discovered all that
Na-nefer-ka-ptah had done with the book; and Thoth hastened to tell Ra,
and said, 'Now know that my book and my revelation are with
Na-nefer-ka-ptah, son of the King Mer-neb-ptah. He has forced himself
into my place, and robbed it, and seized my box with the writings, and
killed my guards who protected it.' And Ra replied to him, 'He is before
you, take him and all his kin.'He sent a power from heaven with the
command, 'Do not let Na-nefer-ka-ptah return safe to Memphis with all
his kin.' And after this hour, the little boy Mer-ab, going out from the
awning of the royal boat, fell into the river: he called on Ra, and
everybody who was on the bank raised a cry. Na-nefer-ka-ptah went out of
the cabin, and read the spell over him; he brought his body up because a
divine power brought him to the surface. He read another spell over him,
and made him tell of all what happened to him, and of what Thoth had
said before Ra.
"We turned back with him to Koptos. We brought him to the Good House, we
fetched the people to him, and made one embalm him; and we buried him in
his coffin in the cemetery of Koptos like a great and noble person.
"And Na-nefer-ka-ptah, my brother, said, 'Let us go down, let us not
delay, for the king has not yet heard of what has happened to him, and
his heart will be sad about it.' So we went to the haven, we sailed, and
did not stay to the north of Koptos. When we were come to the place
where the little boy Mer-ab had fallen in the water, I went out from the
awning of the royal boat, and I fell into the river. They called
Na-nefer-ka-ptah, and he came out from the cabin of the royal boat; he
read a spell over me, and brought my body up, because a divine power
brought me to the surface. He drew me out, and read the spell over me,
and made me tell him of all that had happened to me, and of what Thoth
had said before Ra. Then he turned back with me to Koptos, he brought
me to the Good House, he fetched the people to me, and made one embalm
me, as great and noble people are buried, and laid me in the tomb where
Mer-ab my young child was.
"He turned to the haven, and sailed down, and delayed not in the north
of Koptos. When he was come to the place where we fell into the river,
he said to his heart, 'Shall I not better turn back again to Koptos,
that I may lie by them? For, if not, when I go down to Memphis, and the
king asks after his children, what shall I say to him? Can I tell him,
"I have taken your children to the Thebaid, and killed them, while I
remained alive, and I have come to Memphis still alive"?' Then he made
them bring him a linen cloth of striped byssus; he made a band, and
bound the book firmly, and tied it upon him. Na-nefer-ka-ptah then went
out of the awning of the royal boat and fell into the river. He cried on
Ra; and all those who were on the bank made an outcry, saying, 'Great
woe! Sad woe! Is he lost, that good scribe and able man that has no
equal?'
"The royal boat went on, without any one on earth knowing where
Na-nefer-ka-ptah was. It went on to Memphis, and they told all this to
the king. Then the king went down to the royal boat in mourning, and all
the soldiers and high priests and priests of Ptah were in mourning, and
all the officials and courtiers. And when he saw Na-nefer-ka-ptah, who
was in the inner cabin of the royal boat--from his rank of high
scribe--he lifted him up. And they saw the book by him; and the king
said, 'Let one hide this book that is with him.' And the officers of the
king, the priests of Ptah, and the high priest of Ptah, said to the
king, 'Our Lord, may the king live as long as the sun! Na-nefer-ka-ptah
was a good scribe, and a very skilful man.' And the king had him laid in
his Good House to the sixteenth day, and then had him wrapped to the
thirty-fifth day, and laid him out to the seventieth day, and then had
him put in his grave in his resting-place.
"I have now told you the sorrow which has come upon us because of this
book for which you ask, saying, 'Let it be given to me.' You have no
claim to it; and, indeed, for the sake of it, we have given up our life
on earth."
And Setna said to Ahura, "Give me the book which I see between you and
Na-nefer-ka-ptah; for if you do not I will take it by force." Then
Na-nefer-ka-ptah rose from his seat and said, "Are you Setna, to whom
my wife has told of all these blows of fate, which you have not
suffered? Can you take this book by your skill as a good scribe? If,
indeed, you can play games with me, let us play a game, then, of 52
points." And Setna said, "I am ready," and the board and its pieces were
put before him. And Na-nefer-ka-ptah won a game from Setna; and he put
the spell upon him, and defended himself with the game board that was
before him, and sunk him into the ground above his feet. He did the same
at the second game, and won it from Setna, and sunk him into the ground
to his waist.
He did the same at the third game, and made him sink into the ground up
to his ears. Then Setna struck Na-nefer-ka-ptah a great blow with his
hand. And Setna called his brother An-he-hor-eru and said to him.
"Make haste and go up upon earth, and tell the king all that has
happened to me, and bring me the talisman of my father Ptah, and my
magic books."
And he hurried up upon earth, and told the king all that had happened to
Setna. The king said, "Bring him the talisman of his father Ptah, and
his magic books." And An-he-hor-eru hurried down into the tomb; he laid
the talisman on Setna, and he sprang up again immediately. And then
Setna reached out his hand for the book, and took it. Then--as Setna
went out from the tomb--there went a Light before him, and Darkness
behind him. And Ahura wept at him, and she said, "Glory to the King of
Darkness! Hail to the King of Light! all power is gone from the tomb."
But Na-nefer-ka-ptah said to Ahura, "Do not let your heart be sad; I
will make him bring back this book, with a forked stick in his hand, and
a fire-pan on his head." And Setna went out from the tomb, and it closed
behind him as it was before.
Then Setna went to the king, and told him everything that had happened
to him with the book. And the king said to Setna, "Take back the book to
the grave of Na-nefer-ka-ptah, like a prudent man, or else he will make
you bring it with a forked stick in your hand, and a fire-pan on your
head." But Setna would not listen to him; and when Setna had unrolled
the book he did nothing on earth but read it to everybody.
[Here follows a story of how Setna, walking in the court of the temple
of Ptah, met Tabubua, a fascinating girl, daughter of a priest of Bast,
of Ankhtaui; how she repelled his advances, until she had beguiled him
into giving up all his possessions, and slaying his children. At the
last she gives a fearful cry and vanishes, leaving Setna bereft of even
his clothes. This would seem to be merely a dream, by the disappearance
of Tabubua, and by Setna finding his children alive after it all; but on
the other hand he comes to his senses in an unknown place, and is so
terrified as to be quite ready to make restitution to Na-nefer-ka-ptah.
The episode, which is not creditable to Egyptian society, seems to be
intended for one of the vivid dreams which the credulous readily accept
as half realities.]
So Setna went to Memphis, and embraced his children for that they were
alive. And the king said to him, "Were you not drunk to do so?" Then
Setna told all things that had happened with Tabubua and
Na-nefer-ka-ptah. And the king said, "Setna, I have already lifted up my
hand against you before, and said, 'He will kill you if you do not take
back the book to the place you took it from.' But you have never
listened to me till this hour. Now, then, take the book to
Na-nefer-ka-ptah, with a forked stick in your hand, and a fire-pan on
your head."
So Setna went out from before the king, with a forked stick in his hand,
and a fire-pan on his head. He went down to the tomb in which was
Na-nefer-ka-ptah. And Ahura said to him, "It is Ptah, the great god,
that has brought you back safe." Na-nefer-ka-ptah laughed, and he said,
"This is the business that I told you before." And when Setna had
praised Na-nefer-ka-ptah, he found it as the proverb says, "The sun was
in the whole tomb." And Ahura and Na-nefer-ka-ptah besought Setna
greatly. And Setna said, "Na-nefer-ka-ptah, is it aught disgraceful
(that you lay on me to do)?" And Na-nefer-ka-ptah said, "Setna, you know
this, that Ahura and Mer-ab, her child, behold! they are in Koptos;
bring them here into this tomb, by the skill of a good scribe. Let it be
impressed upon you to take pains, and to go to Koptos to bring them
here." Setna then went out from the tomb to the king, and told the king
all that Na-nefer-ka-ptah had told him.
The king said, "Setna, go to Koptos and bring back Ahura and Mer-ab." He
answered the king, "Let one give me the royal boat and its belongings."
And they gave him the royal boat and its belongings, and he left the
haven, and sailed without stopping till he came to Koptos.
And they made this known to the priests of Isis at Koptos and to the
high priest of Isis; and behold they came down to him, and gave him
their hand to the shore. He went up with them and entered into the
temple of Isis of Koptos and of Harpo-krates. He ordered one to offer
for him an ox, a goose, and some wine, and he made a burnt-offering and
a drink-offering before Isis of Koptos and Harpokrates. He went to the
cemetery of Koptos with the priests of Isis and the high priest of Isis.
They dug about for three days and three nights, for they searched even
in all the catacombs which were in the cemetery of Koptos; they turned
over the steles of the scribes of the "double house of life," and read
the inscriptions that they found on them. But they could not find the
resting-place of Ahura and Mer-ab.
Now Na-nefer-ka-ptah perceived that they could not find the
resting-place of Ahura and her child Mer-ab. So he raised himself up as
a venerable, very old, ancient, and came before Setna. And Setna saw
him, and Setna said to the ancient, "You look like a very old man, do
you know where is the resting-place of Ahura and her child Mer-ab?"
The ancient said to Setna, "It was told by the father of the father of
my father to the father of my father, and the father of my father has
told it to my father; the resting-place of Ahura and of her child Mer-ab
is in a mound south of the town of Pehemato (?)" And Setna said to the
ancient, "Perhaps we may do damage to Pehemato, and you are ready to
lead one to the town for the sake of that." The ancient replied to
Setna, "If one listens to me, shall he therefore destroy the town of
Pehemato! If they do not find Ahura and her child Mer-ab under the south
corner of their town may I be disgraced." They attended to the ancient,
and found the resting-place of Ahura and her child Mer-ab under the
south corner of the town of Pehemato. Setna laid them in the royal boat
to bring them as honoured persons, and restored the town of Pehemato as
it originally was. And Na-nefer-ka-ptah made Setna to know that it was
he who had come to Koptos, to enable them to find out where the
resting-place was of Ahura and her child Mer-ab.
So Setna left the haven in the royal boat, and sailed without stopping,
and reached Memphis with all the soldiers who were with him. And when
they told the king he came down to the royal boat. He took them as
honoured persons escorted to the catacombs, in which Na-nefer-ka-ptah
was, and smoothed down the ground over them.
_This is the completed writing of the tale of Setna Kha-em-uast, and
Na-nefer-ka-ptah, and his wife Ahura, and their Mid Mer-ab. It was
written in the 35th year, the month Tybi._
REMARKS
This tale of Setna only exists in one copy, a demotic papyrus in the
Ghizeh Museum. The demotic was published in facsimile by Mariette in
1871, among "Les Papyrus du Musee de Boulaq;" and it has been
translated by Brugsch, Revillout, Maspero, and Hess. The last
version--"Der Demotische Roman von Stne Ha-m-us, von J. J. Hess"--being
a full study of the text with discussion and glossary, has been followed
here; while the interpretation of Maspero has also been kept in view in
the rendering of obscure passages.
Unhappily the opening of this tale is lost, and I have therefore
restored it by a recital of the circumstances which are referred to in
what remains. Nothing has been introduced which is not necessarily
involved or stated in the existing text. The limit of this restoration
is marked by ]; the papyrus beginning with the words, "It is you who are
not dealing rightly with me."
The construction is complicated by the mixture of times and persons; and
we must remember that it was written in the Ptolemaic period concerning
an age long past. It stood to the author much as Tennyson's "Harold"
stands to us, referring to an historical age, without too strict a tie
to facts and details. Five different acts, as we may call them, succeed
one another. In the first act--which is entirely lost, and here only
outlined--the circumstances which led Setna of the XIXth Dynasty to
search for the magic book must have been related. In the second act
Ahura recites the long history of herself and family, to deter Setna
from his purpose. This act is a complete tale by itself, and belongs to
a time some generations before Setna; it is here supposed to belong to
the time of Amenhotep III., in the details of costume adopted for
illustration. The third act is Setna's struggle as a rival magician to
Na-nefer-ka-ptah, from which he finally comes off victorious by his
brother's use of a talisman, and so secures possession of the coveted
magic book. The fourth act--which I have here only summarised--shows how
Na-nefer-ka-ptah resorts to a bewitchment of Setna by a sprite, by
subjection to whom he loses his magic power. The fifth act shows Setna
as subjected to Na-nefer-ka-ptah, and ordered by him to bring the bodies
of his wife and child to Memphis into his tomb.
While, therefore, the sentimental climax of the tale--the restoration of
the unity of the family in one tomb--belongs to persons of the XVIIIth
Dynasty, the action of the tale is entirely of the XIXth Dynasty, for
what happened in the XVIIIth Dynasty (second act) is all related in the
XIXth. And the actual composition of it belongs to Ptolemaic times, not
only on the evidence of the manuscript, but also of the language; this
being certified by the importance of Isis and Horus at Koptos, which is
essentially a late worship there.
Turning now to the details, we may note that the statement that Setna
Kha-em-uast was a son of User-maat-ra (or Ramessu II.) occurs in the
fourth act which is here only summarised. Among the sons of Ramessu
historically known, the Prince Kha-em-uast (or "Glory-in-Thebes") was
the most important; he appears to have been the eldest son, exercising
the highest offices during his father's life. That the succession fell
on the thirteenth son, Mer-en-ptah, was doubtless due to the elder sons
having died during the preternaturally long reign of Ramessu.
The other main personage here is Na-nefer-ka-ptah (or "Excellent is the
_ka_ of Ptah"), who is said to be the son of a King Mer-neb-ptah. No
such name is known among historical kings; and it is probably a popular
corruption or abbreviation. It was pronounced Minibptah, the r being
dropped in early times. It would seem most like Mine-ptah or
Mer-en-ptah, the son and successor of Ramessu II.; but as the date of
Mer-neb-ptah is supposed to be some generations before that, such a
supposition would involve a great confusion on the scribes' part.
Another possibility is that it represents Amenhotep III.,
Neb-maat-ra-mer-ptah, pronounced as Nimu-rimiptah, which might be
shortened to Neb-mer-ptah or Mer-neb-ptah. Such a time would well suit
the tale, and that reign has been adopted here in fixing the style of
the dress of Ahura and her family.
This tale shows how far the _ka_ or double might wander from its body or
tomb. Here Ahura and her child lie buried at Koptos, while her husband's
tomb is at Memphis. But that does not separate them in death; her _ka_
left her tomb and went down to Memphis to live with the _ka_ of her
husband in his tomb. Thus, when Setna forces the tomb of
Na-nefer-ka-ptah, he finds Ahura seated by him with the precious magic
roll between them and the child Mer-ab; and the voluble Ahura recounts
all their history, and weeps when the roll is carried away by Setna. Yet
all the time her body is at Koptos, and the penalty imposed on Setna is
that of bringing her body to the tomb where her _ka_ already was
dwelling. If a _ka_ could thus wander so many hundred miles from its
body to gratify its affections, it would doubtless run some risks of
starving, or having to put up with impure food; or might even lose its
way, and rather than intrude on the wrong tomb, have to roam as a
vagabond _ka._ It was to guard against these misfortunes that a supply
of formulas were provided for it, by which it should obtain a guarantee
against such misfortunes--a kind of spiritual directory or guide to the
unprotected; and such formulas, when once accepted as valid, were
copied, repeated, enlarged, and added to, until they became the complex
and elaborate work--The Book of the Dead, Perhaps nothing else
gives such a view of the action of the _ka_ as this tale of Setna.
There is here also an insight into the arrangement of marriages in
Egypt. It does not seem that anything was determined about a marriage
during childhood; it is only when the children are full-grown that a
dispute arises between the king and queen as to their disposal. But the
parents decide the whole question. It is, of course, well known that the
Egyptians had no laws against consanguinity in marriages; on the
contrary, it was with them, as with the Persians, essential for a king
to marry in the royal family, and also usual for private persons to
marry in their family. Even to the present day in Egypt, although
sister-marriage has disappeared, yet it is the duty of a man to marry
his first cousin or some one in the family. The very idea of
relationship being any possible impediment to marriage was un-thought of
by the Egyptian; his favourite concrete expression for a self-existent
or self-created being--"husband of his mother "--shows this unmistakably.