The Literature of the Ancient EgyptiansBudge, E. A. Wallis (Ernest Alfred Wallis), Sir
History
The Literature of the Ancient Egyptians
Budge, E. A. Wallis (Ernest Alfred Wallis), Sir
Egyptian literature -- History and criticism; Egyptian literature -- Translations into English
The gods and goddesses next created were five, namely, Osiris, Horus,
Set, Isis, and Nephthys. Osiris married Isis, and their son was called
Horus; Set married Nephthys, but their son Anpu, or Anubis, is not
mentioned in our text. Osiris became the great Ancestor-god of Egypt,
and was a reincarnation of his great-grandfather. Men and women were
first formed from the tears that fell from the Eye of Khepera, or the
Sun-god, upon his body; the old Egyptian word for "men" very closely
resembles in form and sound the word for "tears." Plants, vegetables,
herbs, and trees owe their origin to the light of the moon falling upon
the earth. Our text contains no mention of a special creation of the
"beasts of the field," but the god states distinctly that he created the
children of the earth, or creeping things of all kinds, and among this
class quadrupeds are probably included. The men and women, and all the
other living creatures that were made at that time by Nebertcher, or
Khepera, reproduced their species, each in his own way, and thus the
earth became filled with their descendants as we see at the present
time. The elements of this Creation legend are very, very old, and the
form in which they are grouped in our text suggests the influence of the
priests of Heliopolis. It is interesting to note that only very ancient
gods appear as Powers of creation, and these were certainly worshipped
for many centuries before the priests of Heliopolis invented their cult
of the Sun-god, and identified their god with the older gods of the
country. We may note, too, that gods like Ptah and Amen, whose
reputation was so great in later times, and even when our text was
copied in 305 B.C., find no mention at all.
CHAPTER VII
LEGENDS OF THE GODS
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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