Legends of the Gods Part 10

"Horus is bitten, O Ra. Thy son is bitten, [O Osiris]. Horus is bitten, the flesh and blood of the Heir, the Lord of the diadems (?) of the kingdoms of Shu. Horus is bitten, the Boy of the marsh city of Ateh, the Child in the House of the Prince. The beautiful Child of gold is bitten, the Babe hath suffered pain and is not.[FN#238] Horus is bitten, he the son of Un-Nefer, who was born of Auh-mu (?). Horus is bitten, he in whom there was nothing abominable, the son, the youth among the G.o.ds. Horus is bitten, he for whose wants I prepared in abundance, for I saw that he would make answer[FN#239] for his father. Horus is bitten, he for whom [I] had care [when he was] in the hidden woman [and for whom I was afraid when he was] in the womb of his mother. Horus is bitten, he whom I guarded to look upon. I have wished for the life of his heart. Calamity hath befallen the child on the water, and the child hath perished."

[FN#238] He is nothing, i.e., he is dead.

[FN#239] i.e., become an advocate for.

Then came Nephthys shedding tears and uttering cries of lamentation, and going round about through the papyrus swamps. And Serq [came also and they said]: "Behold, behold, what hath happened to Horus, son of Isis, and who [hath done it]? Pray then to heaven, and let the mariners of Ra cease their labours for a s.p.a.ce, for the Boat of Ra cannot travel onwards [whilst] son Horus [lieth dead] on his place."

And Isis sent forth her voice into heaven, and made supplication to the Boat of Millions of Years, and the Disk stopped[FN#240] in its journeying, and moved not from the place whereon it rested. Then came forth Thoth, who is equipped with his spells (or, words of power), and possesseth the great word of command of maa-kheru,[FN#241] [and said:] "What [aileth thee], what [aileth thee], O Isis, thou G.o.ddess who hast magical spells, whose mouth hath understanding? a.s.suredly no evil thing hath befallen [thy] son Horus, [for] the Boat of Ra hath him under its protection. I have come this day in the Divine Boat of the Disk from the place where it was yesterday,-now darkness came and the light was destroyed-in order to heal Horus for his mother Isis and every person who is under the knife likewise."

[FN#240] Literally, "alighted."

[FN#241] When a G.o.d or a man was declared to be maa-kheru, "true of voice," or "true of word," his power became illimitable. It gave him rule and authority, and every command uttered by him was immediately followed by the effect required.

And Isis, the G.o.ddess, said: "O Thoth, great things [are in] thy heart, [but] delay belongeth to thy plan. Hast thou come equipped with thy spells and incantations, and having the great formula of maa-kheru, and one [spell] after the other, the numbers whereof are not known? Verily Horus is in the cradle(?) of the poison. Evil, evil is his case, death, [and] misery to the fullest [extent]. The cry of his mouth is towards his mother(?). I cannot [bear] to see these things in his train. My heart [hath not] rested because of them since the beginning(?) [when] I made haste to make answer [for] Horus-Ra (?), placing [myself] on the earth, [and] since the day [when] I was taken possession of by him. I desired Neheb-ka ... ... ."

[And Thoth said:] "Fear not, fear not, O G.o.ddess Isis, fear not, fear not, O Nephthys, and let not anxiety [be to you]. I have come from heaven having life to heal(?) the child for his mother, Horus is ... Let thy heart be firm;[FN#242] he shall not sink under the flame. Horus is protected as the Dweller in his Disk,[FN#243] who lighteth up the Two Lands by the splendour of his two Eyes;[FN#244] and he who is under the knife is likewise protected. Horus is protected as the First-born son in heaven,[FN#245] who is ordained to be the guide of the things which exist and of the things which are not yet created; and he who under the knife is protected likewise. Horus is protected as that great Dwarf (nemu)[FN#246] who goeth round about the Two Lands in the darkness; and he who is under the knife is protected likewise. Horus is protected as the Lord (?) in the night, who revolveth at the head of the Land of the Sunset (Manu); and he who is under the knife is protected likewise. Horus is protected as the Mighty Ram[FN#247] who is hidden, and who goeth round about in front of his Eyes; and he who is under the knife is protected likewise. Horus is protected as the Great Hawk[FN#248] which flieth through heaven, earth, and the Other World (Tuat); and he who is under the knife is protected likewise. Horus is protected as the Holy Beetle, the mighty (?) wings of which are at the head of the sky;[FN#249] and he who is under the knife is protected likewise. Horus is protected as the Hidden Body,[FN#250] and as he whose mummy is in his sarcophagus; and he who is under the knife is protected likewise. Horus is protected [as the Dweller] in the Other World [and in the] Two Lands, who goeth round about 'Those who are over Hidden Things'; and he who is under the knife is protected likewise. Horus is protected as the Divine Bennu[FN#251] who alighteth in front of his two Eyes; and he who is under the knife is protected likewise. Horus is protected 230 in his own body, and the spells which his mother Isis hath woven protect him. Horus is protected by the names of his father [Osiris] in his forms in the nomes;[FN#252] and he who is under the knife is protected likewise. Horus is protected by the weeping of his mother, and by the cries of grief of his brethren; and he who is under the knife is protected likewise. Horus is protected by his own name and heart, and the G.o.ds go round about him to make his funeral bed; and he who is under the knife is protected likewise."

[FN#242] i.e., "Be of good courage."

[FN#243] The Sun-G.o.d.

[FN#244] The Sun and Moon.

[FN#245] Osiris (?).

[FN#246] Bes (?).

[FN#247] Probably the Ram, Lord of Tattu, or the Ram of Mendes.

[FN#248] Heru-Behutet.

[FN#249] The beetle of Khepera, a form of the Sun-G.o.d when he is about to rise on this earth.

[FN#250] The Hidden Body is Osiris, who lay in his sarcophagus, with Isis and Nephthys weeping over it.

[FN#251] The Bennu was the soul of Ra and the incarnation of Osiris.

[FN#252] See the names of Osiris and his sanctuaries in Chapter CXLII. of the Book of the Dead.

[And Thoth said:]

"Wake up, Horus! Thy protection is established. Make thou happy the heart of thy mother Isis. The words of Horus shall bind up hearts, he shall cause to be at peace him who is in affliction. Let your hearts be happy, O ye who dwell in the heavens (Nut). Horus, he who hath avenged (or, protected) his father shall cause the poison to retreat. Verily that which is in the mouth of Ra shall go round about (i.e., circulate), and the tongue of the Great G.o.d shall repulse [opposition]. The Boat [of Ra] standeth still, and travelleth not onwards. The Disk is in the [same] place where it was yesterday to heal Horus for his mother Isis, and to heal him that is under the knife of his mother[FN#253] likewise. Come to the earth, draw nigh, O Boat of Ra, make the boat to travel, O mariners of heaven, transport provisions (?) of ... ... Sekhem[FN#254] to heal Horus for his mother Isis, and to heal him that is under the knife of his mother likewise. Hasten away, O pain which is in the region round about, and let it (i.e., the Boat) descend upon the place where it was yesterday to heal Horus for his mother Isis, and to heal him that is under the knife of his mother likewise. Get thee round and round, O bald (?) fiend, without horns at the seasons (?), not seeing the forms through the shadow of the two Eyes, to heal Horus for his mother Isis, and to heal him that is under the knife likewise. Be filled, O two halves of heaven, be empty, O papyrus roll, return, O life, into the living to heal Horus for his it mother Isis, and to heal him that is under the knife likewise. Come thou to earth, O poison. Let hearts be glad, and let radiance (or, light) go round about.

[FN#253] We should probably strike out the words "of his mother."

[FN#254] The city in the Delta called by the Greeks Letopolis.

"I am Thoth,[FN#255] the firstborn son, the son of Ra, and Tem and the Company of the G.o.ds have commanded me to heal Horus for his mother Isis, and to heal him that is under the knife likewise. O Horus, O Horus, thy Ka protecteth thee, and thy Image worketh protection for thee. The poison is as the daughter of its [own] flame; [it is] destroyed [because] it smote the strong son. Your temples are in good condition for you, [for] Horus liveth for his mother, and he who is under the knife likewise."

[FN#255] Thoth stood by during the fight between Horus and Set, and healed the wounds which they inflicted on each other.

And the G.o.ddess Isis said:

"Set thou his face towards those who dwell in the North Land (Ateh), the nurses who dwell in the city Pe-Tept (Buto), for they have offered very large offerings in order to cause the child to be made strong for his mother, and to make strong him that is under the knife likewise. Do not allow them to recognize the divine Ka in the Swamp Land, in the city (?) of Nemhettu (?) [and] in her city."

Then spake Thoth unto the great G.o.ds who dwell in the Swamp-Land [saying]: "O ye nurses who dwell in the city of Pe, who smite [fiends] with your hands, and overthrow [them] with your arms on behalf of that Great One who appeareth in front of you [in] the Sektet Boat,[FN#256] let the Matet[FN#257] (Mantchet) Boat travel on. Horus is to you, he is counted up for life, and he is declared for the life of his father [Osiris]. I have given gladness unto those who are in the Sektet Boat, and the mariners [of Ra] make it to journey on. Horus liveth for his mother Isis and he who is under the knife liveth for his mother likewise. As for the poison, the strength thereof has been made powerless. Verily I am a favoured one, and I will join myself to his hour[FN#258] to hurl back the report of evil to him that sent it forth. The heart of Ra-Heru-Khuti rejoiceth. Thy son Horus is counted up for life [which is] on this child to make him to smite, and to retreat (?) from those who are above, and to turn back the paths of the Sebiu fiends from him, so that he may take possession of the throne of the Two Lands. Ra is in heaven to make answer on 251 behalf of him and his father. The words of power of his mother have lifted up his face, and they protect him and enable him to go round about wheresoever he pleaseth, and to set the terror of him in celestial beings. I have made haste ... ..."

[FN#256] The boat in which Ra travelled from noon to sunset, or perhaps until midnight.

[FN#257] The boat in which Ra travelled from dawn, or perhaps from midnight, to noon.

[FN#258] i.e., I will be with him at the moment of his need.

THE HISTORY OF ISIS AND OSIRIS,

WITH EXPLANATIONS OF THE SAME, COLLECTED BY PLUTARCH, AND SUPPLEMENTED BY HIS OWN VIEWS.

I. Though it be the wise man's duty, O Clea,[FN#259] to apply to the G.o.ds for every good thing which he hopes to enjoy, yet ought he more especially to pray to them for their a.s.sistance in his search after that knowledge which more immediately regards themselves, as far as such knowledge may be attained, inasmuch as there is nothing which they can bestow more truly beneficial to mankind, or more worthy themselves, than truth. For whatever other good things are indulged to the wants of men, they have all, properly speaking, no relation to, and are of a nature quite different from, that of their divine donors. For 'tis not the abundance of their gold and silver, nor the command of the thunder, but wisdom and knowledge which const.i.tute the power and happiness of those heavenly beings. It is therefore well observed by Homer (Iliad, xiii. 354), and indeed with more propriety than be usually talks of the G.o.ds, when, speaking of Zeus and Poseidon, he tells us that both were descended from the same parents, and born in the same region, but that Zeus was the elder and knew most; plainly intimating thereby that the empire of the former was more august and honourable than that of his brother, as by means of his age he was his superior, and more advanced in wisdom and science. Nay, 'tis my opinion, I own, that even the blessedness of that eternity which is the portion of the Deity himself consists in that universal knowledge of all nature which accompanies it; for setting this aside, eternity might be more properly styled an endless duration than an enjoyment of existence.

[FN#259] She is said to have been a priestess of Isis and of Apollo Delphicus.

II. To desire, therefore, and covet after truth, those truths more especially which concern the divine nature, is to aspire to be partakers of that nature itself, and to profess that all our studies and inquiries are devoted to the acquisition of holiness. This occupation is surely more truly religious than any external purifications or mere service of the temple can be. But more especially must such a disposition of mind be highly acceptable to that G.o.ddess to whose service you are dedicated, for her especial characteristics are wisdom and foresight, and her very name seems to express the peculiar relation which she bears to knowledge. For "Isis"[FN#260] is a Greek word, and means "knowledge," and "Typhon,"[FN#261] the name of her professed adversary, is also a Greek word, and means "pride and insolence." This latter name is well adapted to one who, full of ignorance and error, tears in pieces and conceals that holy doctrine which the G.o.ddess collects, compiles, and delivers to those who aspire after the most perfect partic.i.p.ation in the divine nature. This doctrine inculcates a steady perseverance in one uniform and temperate course of life, and an abstinence from particular kinds of foods, as well as from all indulgence of the carnal appet.i.te, and it restrains the intemperate and voluptuous part within due bounds, and at the same time habituates her votaries to undergo those austere and rigid ceremonies which their religion obliges them to observe. The end and aim of all these toils and labours is the attainment of the knowledge of the First and Chief Being, who alone is the object of the understanding of the mind; and this knowledge the G.o.ddess invites us to seek after, as being near and dwelling continually with her. And this also is what the very name of her temple promiseth to us, that is to say, the knowledge and understanding of the eternal and self-existent Being (tou ontas)-now, it is called "Iseion," which suggests that if we approach the temple of the G.o.ddess rightly, and with purity, we shall obtain the knowledge of that eternal and self-existent Being (to on).

[FN#260] The Egyptian form of the name is As-T, ####, ####, or ####.

Plutarch wishes to derive the name from some form of {greek oida}.

[FN#261] In Egyptian, Tebh.

III. The G.o.ddess Isis is said by some authors to be the daughter[FN#262] of Hermes, [FN#263] and by others of Prometheus, both of them famous for their philosophic turn of mind. The latter is supposed to have first taught mankind wisdom and foresight, as the former is reputed to have invented letters and music.

[FN#262] According to the Egyptian Heliopolitan doctrine, Isis was the daughter of Keb, the Earth-G.o.d, and Nut, the Sky-G.o.ddess; she was the wife of Osiris, mother of Horus, and sister of Set and Nephthys.

[FN#263] The Egyptian. Tehuti, or Thoth, who invented letters, mathematics, &c. He was the "heart of Ra," the scribe of the G.o.ds, and he uttered the words which created the world; he composed the "words of power," or magical formulae which were beneficial for the dead, and the religious works which were used by souls in their journey from this world to the next.

They likewise call the former of the two Muses at Hermopolis[FN#264] Isis as well as Dikaiosune,[FN#265] she being none other, it is said, than Wisdom pointing out the knowledge of divine truths to her votaries, the true Hierophori and Hierostoli. Now, by the former of these are meant such who carry about them looked up in their souls, as in a chest, the sacred doctrine concerning the G.o.ds, purified from all such superfluities as superst.i.tion may have added thereto. And the holy apparel with which the Hierostoli adorn the statues of these deities, which is partly of a dark and gloomy and partly of a more bright and s.h.i.+ning colour, seems aptly enough to represent the notions which this doctrine teaches us to entertain of the divine nature itself, partly clear and partly obscure. And inasmuch as the devotees of Isis after their decease are wrapped up in these sacred vestments, is not this intended to signify that this holy doctrine still abides with them, and that this alone accompanies them in another life? For as 'tis not the length of the beard or the coa.r.s.eness of the habit which makes a philosopher, so neither will these frequent shavings, or the mere wearing of a linen vestment, const.i.tute a votary of Isis. He alone is a true servant or follower of this G.o.ddess who, after he has heard, and has been made acquainted in a proper manner with the history of the actions of these G.o.ds, searches into the hidden truths which lie concealed under them, and examines the whole by the dictates of reason and philosophy.

[FN#264] The Hermopolis here referred to is the city of Khemenu in Upper Egypt, wherein was the great sanctuary of Thoth.

[FN#265] i.e., Righteousness, or Justice. The G.o.ddess referred to is probably Maat.

IV. Nor, indeed, ought such an examination to be looked on as unnecessary whilst there are so many ignorant of the true reason even of the most ordinary rites observed by the Egyptian priests, such as their shavings[FN#266] and wearing linen garments. Some, indeed, there are who never trouble themselves to think at all about these matters, whilst others rest satisfied with the most superficial accounts of them: "They pay a peculiar veneration to the sheep,[FN#267] therefore they think it their duty not only to abstain from eating its flesh, but likewise from wearing its wool. They are continually mourning for their G.o.ds, therefore they shave themselves. The light azure blossom of the flax resembles the clear and bloomy colour of the ethereal sky, therefore they wear linen"; whereas the true reason of the inst.i.tution and observation of these rites is but one, and that common to all of them, namely, the extraordinary notions which they entertain of cleanliness, persuaded as they are, according to the saying of Plato, "none but the pure ought to approach the pure." Now, no superfluity of our food, and no excrement.i.tious substance, is looked upon by them as pure and clean; such, however, are all kinds of wool and down, our hair and our nails. It would be the highest absurdity, therefore, for those who, whilst; they are in a course of purification, are at so much pains to take off the hair from every part of their own bodies, at the same time to clothe themselves with that of other animals. So when we are told by Hesiod "not to pare our nails whilst we are present at the festivals of the G.o.ds,"[FN#268] we ought to understand that he intended hereby to inculcate that purity wherewith we ought to come prepared before we enter upon any religious duty, that we have not to make ourselves clean whilst we ought to be occupied in attending to the solemnity itself. Now, with regard to flax, this springs out of the immortal earth itself; and not only produces a fruit fit for food, but moreover furnishes a light and neat sort of clothing, extremely agreeable to the wearer, adapted to all the seasons of the year, and not in the least subject, as is said, to produce or nourish vermin; but more of this in another place.

[FN#266] A rubric in the papyrus of Nes-Menu in the British Museum orders the priestesses of Isis and Nephthys to have "the hair of their bodies shaved off" (No. 10,188, col. 1), but they are also ordered to wear fillets of rams' wool on their heads.

[FN#267] Probably the ram of Amen. Animal sacrifices were invariably bulls and cows.

[FN#268] This saying is by Pythagoras-{greek Para dusian mh`onuxizou}. The saying of Hesiod (Works and Days, 740) is rendered by Goodwin:-

"Not at a feast of G.o.ds from five-branched tree, With sharp-edged steel to part the green from dry."

V. Now, the priests are so scrupulous in endeavouring to avoid everything which may tend to the increase of the above-mentioned excrement.i.tious substances, that, on this account, they abstain not only from most sorts of pulse, and from the flesh of sheep and swine, but likewise, in their more solemn purifications, they even exclude salt from their meals. This they do for many reasons, but chiefly because it whets their appet.i.tes, and incites them to eat more than they otherwise would. Now, as to salt being accounted impure because, as Aristagoras tells us, many little insects are caught in it whilst it is hardening, and are thereby killed therein-this view is wholly trifling and absurd. From these same motives also they give the Apis Bull his water from a well specially set apart for the purpose,[FN#269] and they prevent him altogether from drinking of the Nile, not indeed that they regard the river as impure, and polluted because of the crocodiles which are in it, as some pretend, for there is nothing which the Egyptians hold in greater veneration than the Nile, but because its waters are observed to be particularly nouris.h.i.+ng[FN#270] and fattening. And they strive to prevent fatness in Apis as well as in themselves, for they are anxious that their bodies should sit as light and easy about their souls as possible, and that their mortal part should not oppress and weigh down the divine and immortal.

[FN#269] It is quite possible that Apis drank from a special well, but the water in it certainly came from the Nile by infiltration. In all the old wells at Memphis the water sinks as the Nile sinks, and rises as it rises.