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Summary: I
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Legends of the Gods

The Egyptian Texts, edited with Translations

by E. A. Wallis Budge

London: Kegan Paul, Trench and Trübner & Co. Ltd.

[1912]
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I.

THE LEGEND OF THE GOD NEB-ER-TCHER, AND THE HISTORY OF CREATION.

[19][LINK] 

THE HISTORY OF CREATION. (Brit. Mus. Papyrus No 10,188).

The text of the remarkable Legend of the Creation which forms the
first section of this volume is preserved in a well-written papyrus
in the British Museum, where it bears the number 10,188. This
papyrus was acquired by the late Mr. A. H. Rhind in 1861 or 1862,
when he was excavating some tombs on the west bank of the Nile at
Thebes. He did not himself find it in a tomb, but he received it
from the British Consul at Luxor, Mustafa Agha, during an
interchange of gifts when Mr. Rhind was leaving the country.
Mustafa Agha obtained the papyrus from the famous hiding-place of
the Royal Mummies at Der-al-Bahari, with the situation of which he
was well acquainted for many years before it became known to the
Egyptian Service of Antiquities. When Mr. Rhind came to England,
the results of his excavations were examined by Dr. Birch, who,
recognising the great value of the papyrus, arranged to publish it
in a companion volume to Facsimiles of Two Papyri, but the death of
Mr. Rhind in 1865 caused the project to fall through. Mr. Rhind's
collection passed into the hands of Mr. David Bremner, and the
papyrus, together with many other antiquities, was purchased by the
Trustees of the British Museum. In 1880.

Dr. Birch suggested the publication of the papyrus to Dr. Pleyte,
the Director of the Egyptian Museum at Leyden. This savant
transcribed and translated some passages from the Festival Songs of
Isis and Nephthys, which is the first text in it, and these he
published in Recueil de Travaux, Paris, tom. iii., pp. 57-64. In
1886 by Dr. Birch's kindness I was allowed to work at the papyrus,
and I published transcripts of some important passages and the
account of the Creation in the Proceedings of the Society of
Biblical Archaeology, 1886-7, pp. 11-26. The Legend of the Creation
was considered by Dr. H. Brugsch to be of considerable value for
the study of the Egyptian Religion, and encouraged by him [20]1 I
made a full transcript of the papyrus, which was published in
Archaeologia, (vol. lii., London, 1891), with transliterations and
translations. In 1910 I edited for the Trustees of the British
Museum the complete hieratic text with a revised translation. [21]2

The papyrus is about 16 ft. 8 in. in length, and is 9¼ in. in
width. It contains 21 columns of hieratic text which are written in
short lines and are poetical in character, and 12 columns or pages
of text written in long lines; the total number of lines is between
930 and 940. The text is written in a small, very black, but neat
hand, and may be assigned to a time between the XXVIth Dynasty and
the Ptolemaic Period.

The titles, catch-words, rubrics, names of Apep and his fiends, and
a few other words, are written in red ink. There are two colophons;
in the one we have a date, namely, the "first day of the fourth
month of the twelfth year of Pharaoh Alexander, the son of
Alexander," i.e., B.C. 311, and in the other the name of the priest
who either had the papyrus written, or appropriated it, namely,
Nes-Menu, or Nes-Amsu.

The Legend of the Creation is found in the third work which is
given in the papyrus, and which is called the "Book of overthrowing
Apep, the Enemy of Ra, the Enemy of Un-Nefer" (i.e., Osiris). This
work contained a series of spells which were recited during the
performance of certain prescribed ceremonies, with the object of
preventing storms, and dispersing rain-clouds, and removing any
obstacle, animate or inanimate, which could prevent the rising of
the sun in the morning, or obscure his light during the day.

The Leader-in Chief of the hosts of darkness was a fiend called
Apep who appeared in the sky in the form of a monster serpent, and,
marshalling all the fiends of the Tuat, attempted to keep the
Sun-god imprisoned in the kingdom of darkness. Right in the midst
of the spells which were directed against Apep we find inserted the
legend of the Creation, which occurs in no other known Egyptian
document (Col. XXVI., l. 21, to Col. XXVII., l. 6). Curiously
enough a longer version of the legend is given a little farther on
(Col. XXVIII., l. 20, to Col. XXIX., l. 6). Whether the scribe had
two copies to work from, and simply inserted both, or whether he
copied the short version and added to it as he went along, cannot
be said. The legend is entitled: Book of knowing the evolutions of
Ra [and of] overthrowing Apep.

This curious "Book" describes the origin not only of heaven, and
earth, and all therein, but also of God Himself. In it the name of
Apep is not even mentioned, and it is impossible to explain its
appearance in the Apep Ritual unless we assume that the whole
"Book" was regarded as a spell of the most potent character, the
mere recital of which was fraught with deadly effect for Apep and
his friends.

The story of the Creation is supposed to be told by the god
Neb-er-tcher, This name means the "Lord to the uttermost limit,"
and the character of the god suggests that the word "limit" refers
to time and space, and that he was, in fact, the Everlasting God of
the Universe. This god's name occurs in Coptic texts, and then he
appears as one who possesses all the attributes which are
associated by modern nations with God Almighty. Where and how
Neb-er-tcher existed is not said, but it seems as if he was
believed to have been an almighty and invisible power which filled
all space.

It seems also that a desire arose in him to create the world, and
in order to do this he took upon himself the form of the god
Khepera, who from first to last was regarded as the Creator, par
excellence, among all the gods known to the Egyptians. When this
transformation of Neb-er-tcher into Khepera took place the heavens
and the earth had not been created, but there seems to have existed
a vast mass of water, or world-ocean, called Nu, and it must have
been in this that the transformation took place. In this celestial
ocean were the germs of all the living things which afterwards took
form in heaven and on earth, but they existed in a state of
inertness and helplessness.

Out of this ocean Khepera raised himself, and so passed from a
state of passiveness and inertness into one of activity. When
Khepera raised himself out of the ocean Nu, he found himself in
vast empty space, wherein was nothing on which he could stand. The
second version of the legend says that Khepera gave being to
himself by uttering his own name, and the first version states that
he made use of words in providing himself with a place on which to
stand. In other words, when Khepera was still a portion of the
being of Neb-er-tcher, he spake the word "Khepera," and Khepera
came into being. Similarly, when he needed a place whereon to
stand, he uttered the name of the thing, or place, on which he
wanted to stand, and that thing, or place, came into being.

This spell he seems to have addressed to his heart, or as we should
say, will, so that Khepera willed this standing-place to appear,
and it did so forthwith. The first version only mentions a heart,
but the second also speaks of a heart-soul as assisting Khepera in
his first creative acts; and we may assume that he thought out in
his heart what manner of thing be wished to create, and then by
uttering its name caused his thought to take concrete form. This
process of thinking out the existence of things is expressed in
Egyptian by words which mean "laying the foundation in the heart."

In arranging his thoughts and their visible forms Khepera was
assisted by the goddess Maat, who is usually regarded as the
goddess of law, order, and truth, and in late times was held to be
the female counterpart of Thoth, "the heart of the god Ra." In this
legend, however, she seems to play the part of Wisdom, as described
in the Book of Proverbs, [22]3 for it was by Maat that he "laid the
foundation."

Having described the coming into being of Khepera and the place on
which he stood, the legend goes on to tell of the means by which
the first Egyptian triad, or trinity, came into existence. Khepera
had, in some form, union with his own shadow, and so begot
offspring, who proceeded from his body under the forms of the gods
Shu and Tefnut.

According to a tradition preserved in the Pyramid Texts [23]4 this
event took place at On (Heliopolis), and the old form of the legend
ascribes the production of Shu and Tefnut to an act of
masturbation.

Originally these gods were the personifications of air and dryness,
and liquids respectively; thus with their creation the materials
for the construction of the atmosphere and sky came into being. Shu
and Tefnut were united, and their offspring were Keb, the
Earth-god, and Nut, the Sky-goddess. We have now five gods in
existence; Khepera, the creative principle, Shu, the atmosphere,
Tefnut, the waters above the heavens, Nut, the Sky-goddess, and
Keb, the Earth-god.

Presumably about this time the sun first rose out of the watery
abyss of Nu, and shone upon the world and produced day. In early
times the sun, or his light, was regarded as a form of Shu.

The gods Keb and Nut were united in an embrace, and the effect of
the coming of light was to separate them. As long as the sun shone,
i.e., as long as it was day, Nut, the Sky-goddess, remained in her
place above the earth, being supported by Shu; but as soon as the
sun set she left the sky and gradually descended until she rested
on the body of the Earth-god, Keb.

The embraces of Keb caused Nut to bring forth five gods at a birth,
namely, Osiris, Horus, Set, Isis, and Nephthys. Osiris and Isis
married before their birth, and Isis brought forth a son called
Horus; Set and Nephthys also married before their birth, and
Nephthys brought forth a son named Anpu (Anubis), though he is not
mentioned in the legend. Of these gods Osiris is singled out for
special mention in the legend, in which Khepera, speaking as
Neb-er-tcher, says that his name is AUSARES, who is the essence of
the primeval matter of which he himself is formed.

Thus Osiris was of the same substance as the Great God who created
the world according to the Egyptians, and was a reincarnation of
his great-grandfather. This portion of the legend helps to explain
the views held about Osiris as the great ancestral spirit, who when
on earth was a benefactor of mankind, and who when in heaven was
the saviour of souls.

The legend speaks of the sun as the Eye of Khepera, or
Neb-er-tcher, and refers to some calamity which befell it and
extinguished its light.

This calamity may have been simply the coming of night, or
eclipses, or storms; but in any case the god made a second Eye,
i.e., the Moon, to which he gave some of the splendour of the other
Eye, i.e., the Sun, and he gave it a place in his Face, and
henceforth it ruled throughout the earth, and had special powers in
respect of the production of trees, plants, vegetables, herbs, etc.
Thus from the earliest times the moon was associated with the
fertility of the earth, especially in connection with the
production of abundant crops and successful harvests.

According to the legend, men and women sprang not from the earth,
but directly from the body of the god Khepera, or Neb-er-tcher, who
placed his members together and then wept tears upon them, and men
and women, came into being from the tears which had fallen from his
eyes. No special mention is made of the creation of beasts in the
legend, but the god says that he created creeping things of all
kinds, and among these are probably included the larger quadrupeds.

The men and women, and all the other living creatures which were
made at that time, reproduced their species, each in his own way,
and so the earth became filled with their descendants which we see
at the present time.

Such is the Legend of Creation as it is found in the Papyrus of
Nes-Menu. The text of both versions is full of difficult passages,
and some readings are corrupt; unfortunately variant versions by
which they might be corrected are lacking. The general meaning of
the legend in both versions is quite clear, and it throws
considerable light on the Egyptian religion.

The Egyptians believed in the existence of God, the Creator and
Maintainer of all things, but they thought that the concerns of
this world were committed by Him to the superintendence of a series
of subordinate spirits or beings called "gods," over whom they
believed magical spells and ceremonies to have the greatest
influence.

The Deity was a Being so remote, and of such an exalted nature,
that it was idle to expect Him to interfere in the affairs of
mortals, or to change any decree or command which He had once
uttered. The spirits or "gods," on the other hand, possessing
natures not far removed from those of men, were thought to be
amenable to supplications and flattery, and to wheedling and
cajolery, especially when accompanied by gifts.

It is of great interest to find a legend in which the power of God
as the Creator of the world and the sun and moon is so clearly set
forth, embedded in a book of magical spells devoted to the
destruction of the mythological monster who existed solely to
prevent the sun from rising and shining.
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Footnotes

1 Ein in möglichst wortgetreuer Uebersetzung vorglegter
Papyrus-text soll den Schlussstein meines Werkes bilden. Er wird
den Beweis für die Richtigkeit meiner eigenen Untersuchungen
vollenden, indem er das wichtigste Zeugniss altägyptischen
Ursprungs den zahlreichen, von mir angezogenen Stellen aus den
Inschriften hinzufügt. Trotz mancher Schwierigkeit im Einzelnen ist
der Gesammtinhalt des Textes, den zuerst ein englischer Gelehrter
der Wissenschaft zugänglich gemacht hat, such nicht im geringsten
misszuverstehen (Brugsch, Religion, p. 740). He gives a German
translation of the Creation Legend on pp. 740, 741, and a
transliteration on p. 756.

2 Egyptian Hieratic Papyri in the British Museum, London, 1910,
folio.

3 The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his
works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or
ever the earth was. When there were no depths I was brought forth .
. . . . . . Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was
I brought forth: while as yet he had not made the earth, nor the
fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world. When he
prepared the heavens I was there: when he set a compass upon the
face of the depth: when he established the clouds above: when he
strengthened the fountains of the deep: when he gave to the sea his
decree, . . . . . . . when he appointed the foundations of the
earth: then I was by him, as one brought up with him. . . . . . ."
Proverbs, viii. 22 ff.

4 Pepi I., l. 466.
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