Reading Notes: Egyptian Myth and Legend, Part B

This post contains a little more context and background about the two major stories in part B of the Egyptian Mythology readings, the story of the two brothers, and the story of the book of Thoth.

The Egyptians, like many cultures, happily intertwined their history and mythology together in stories. For example, the god Osiris was supposedly the one who civilized the hunter-gatherer tribes of the desert and taught them how to cultivate food. This enabled them to settle down, and Egypt was born. It's also worth noting that a lot of Egyptian lore is see
n through a Roman lens, because Egyptians passed their stories down orally. For the most part, the Romans wrote them down. This means there are some differences for things like names--for example, Anpu's more well-known name, Anubis.

The Two Brothers is a story that seems strange and irrelevant at first, at least to me, but according to its Wikipedia page, it contains several themes considered very important in ancient Egyptian culture. First, the story implies that Egypt is separated into to distinct territories. Ancient Egypt was divided into two areas, a Lower and Upper Egypt. These territories existed even when Egypt was politically stable.

Another major theme is kingship. Bata goes through an ordeal to ascend to the throne by the end of the story, but what I didn't notice is that the story implies ascending to the throne is his birthright. Bata is repeatedly linked to divine forces. His wife herself was a divine construct; therefore she herself is divine. Because she gives birth to him when he is reincarnated, he also can claim to be divine. Bata also meets the Ennead at one point in the story, representing the gods' favor on him. So, this story strongly links divinity and kingship.

The Book of Thoth, an item both fictional and probably real at some point, is the name of the second major story. The story follows an Egyptian prince who tries to gain wisdom from its secrets. Thoth, writer of the tome, was the god of wisdom, time, writing, magic, and the moon. Though he was the gods' scribe, this story sees him with a brutal mean streak and penchant for revenge.

The most major theme of this story is the ancient Egyptian belief that divine knowledge is not meant to be possessed by humans. The Book of Thoth supposedly contains two spells: one which allows the reader to understand animals, and the other which gives the reader the ability to perceive the gods. When the Egyptian prince does get his hands on the book, Thoth goes a little crazy and kills his wife and son. The prince then commits suicide and the book, according to legend, is buried with him.

There is another story not in the reading about the Book of Thoth, wherein the main character, Setne, steals the book again, from the prince's tomb. The prince's ghost haunts him by turning into a beautiful woman, seducing him, and convincing him to kill his children and humiliate himself. Understandably, Setne returns the book, and the prince's tomb is sealed.

Sources:
Egyptian Myth and Legend by Donald Mackenzie
Tale of Two Brothers on Wikipedia
The Book of Thoth on Crystalinks



Image: Thoth from a book by E. A. Wallis Budge. Web source.