Ancient Egyptian legends

								

of birth, came to the palace of the king of Egypt; and with them came
Isis, the great Mother, and her sister Nephthys; Meskhent also and
Ta-urt, and Bes the protector of children.  The spirits of Pé and the
spirits of Dep came with them to greet the daughter of Amon-Ra and of
queen Aahmes.
And when the child appeared, the goddesses rejoiced, and the spirits
of Pé and the spirits of Dep chanted praises to her honour, for the
daughter of Amon-Ra was to sit upon the throne of Horus of the
Living, and rule the Land of Egypt to the glory of the Gods.
Hatshepsut was she called, Chief of Noble Women, divine of Diadems,
favourite of the Goddesses, beloved of Amon-Ra.  And to her the Gods
granted that she should be mistress of all lands within the circuit
of the sun, and that she should appear as king upon the throne of
Horus before the glories of the Great House.  And upon her was the
favour of Amon-Ra for ever.






IV
THE BOOK OF THOTH
Now Ahura was the wife of Nefer-ka-ptah, and their child was Merab;
this was the name by which he was registered by the scribes in the
House of Life.  And Nefer-ka-ptah, though he was the son of the King,
cared for naught on earth but to read the ancient records, written on
papyrus in the House of Life or engraved on stone in the temples; all
day and every day he studied the writings of the ancestors.
One day he went into the temple to pray to the Gods, but when he saw
the inscriptions on the walls he began to read them; and he forgot to
pray, he forgot the Gods, he forgot the priests, he forgot all that
was around him until he heard laughter behind him.  He looked round
and a priest stood there, and from him came the laughter.
"Why laughest thou at me?" said Nefer-ka-ptah.
"Because thou readest these worthless writings," answered the priest.
"If thou wouldest read writings that are worth the reading I can tell
thee where the Book of Thoth lies hidden."
Then Nefer-ka-ptah was eager in his questions, and the priest
replied, "Thoth wrote the Book with his own hand, and in it is all
the magic in the world.  If thou readest the first page, thou wilt
enchant the sky, the earth, the abyss, the mountains, and the sea;
thou wilt understand the language of the birds of the air, and thou
wilt know what the creeping things of earth are saying, and thou wilt
see the fishes from the darkest depths of the sea.  And if thou
readest the other page, even though thou wert dead and in the world
of ghosts, thou couldest come back to earth in the form thou once
hadst.  And besides this, thou wilt see the sun shining in the sky
with the full moon and the stars, and thou wilt behold the great
shapes of the Gods."
Then said Nefer-ka-ptah, "By the life of Pharaoh, that Book shall be
mine.  Tell me whatsoever it is that thou desirest, and I will do it
for thee."
"Provide for my funeral," said the priest.  "See that I am buried as