Books on Egypt and Chaldaea/Collection 10/Volume 32/The Destruction of Mankind

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II.

 

The Legend of the Destruction of Mankind.

The text containing the Legend of the Destruction of Mankind is written in hieroglyphs, and is found on the four walls of a small chamber which is entered from the “hall of columns” in the tomb of Seti I., which is situated on the west bank of the Nile at Thebes. On the wall facing the door of this chamber is painted in red the figure of the large “Cow of Heaven.” The lower part of her belly is decorated

with a series of thirteen stars,

, and immediately beneath it are the two Boats of Rā, called Semketet

and Māntchet, or Sektet and Mātet. Each of her four legs is held in position by two gods, and the god Shu, with outstretched uplifted arms, supports her body. The Cow was published by Champollion,^[1] without the text. This most important mythological text was first published and translated by Professor E, Naville in 1874.^[2] It was republished by Bergmann^[3] and Brugsch,^[4] who gave a transcription of the text, with a German translation. Other German versions by Lauth,^[5] Brugsch,^[6] and Wiedemann^[7] have appeared, and a part of the text was translated into French by Lefébure.^[8] The latest edition of the text was published by Lefébure,^[9] and text of a second copy, very much mutilated, was published by Professor Naville, with a French translation in 1885.^[10] The text printed in this volume is that of M. Lefébure.

The legend takes us back to the time when the gods of Egypt went about in the country, and mingled with men, and were thoroughly acquainted with their desires and needs. The king who reigned over Egypt was Rā, the Sun-god, who was not, however, the first of the Dynasty of Gods who ruled the land. His pre­decessor on the throne was Hephaistos, who, according to Manetho, reigned 9000 years, whilst Rā reigned only 992 years; Panodorus makes his reign to have lasted less than 100 years. Be this as it may, it seems that the “self-created and self-begotten” god Rā had been ruling over mankind for a very long time, for his subjects were murmuring against him, and they were complaining that he was old, that his bones were like silver, his body like gold, and his hair like lapis-lazuli. When Rā heard these murmurings he ordered his bodyguard to summon all the gods who had been with him in the primeval World-ocean, and to bid them privately to assemble in the Great House, which can be no other than the famous temple of Heliopolis. This statement is interesting, for it proves that the legend is of Heliopolitan origin, like the cult of Rā itself, and that it does not belong, at least in so far as it applies to Rā, to the Predynastic Period.

When Rā entered the Great Temple, the gods made obeisance to him, and took up their positions on each side of him, and informed him that they awaited his words. Addressing Nu, the personification of the World-ocean, Rā bade them to take notice of the fact that the men and women whom his Eye had created were murmuring against him. He then asked them to consider the matter and to devise a plan of action for him, for he was unwilling to slay the rebels without hearing what his gods had to say. In reply the gods advised Rā to send forth his Eye to destroy the blasphemers, for there was no eye on earth that could resist it, especially when it took the form of the goddess Hathor. Rā accepted their advice and sent forth his Eye in the form of Hathor to destroy them, and, though the rebels had fled to the mountains in fear, the Eye pursued them and overtook them and destroyed them. Hathor rejoiced in her work of destruction, and on her return was praised by Rā for what she had done. The slaughter of men began at Suten-ḥenen (Herakleopolis), and during the night Hathor waded about in the blood of men. Rā asserted his intention of being master of the rebels, and this is probably referred to in the Book of the Dead, Chapter XVII., in which it is said that Rā rose as king for the first time in Suten-ḥenen. Osiris also was crowned at Suten-ḥenen, and in this city lived the great Bennu bird, or Phoenix, and the “Crusher of Bones” mentioned in the Negative Confession.

The legend now goes on to describe an act of Rā, the significance of which it is difficult to explain. The god ordered messengers to be brought to him, and when they arrived, he commanded them to run like the wind to Abu, or the city of Elephantine, and to bring him large quantities of the fruit called ṭāṭāāt,

What kind of fruit this was is not clear, but Brugsch thought they were “mandrakes,” the so-called “love-apples,” and this translation of ṭāṭāāt may be used provisionally. The mandrakes were given to Sekti, a goddess of Heliopolis, to crush and grind up, and when this was done they were mixed with human blood, and put in a large brewing of beer which the

women slaves had made from wheat. In all they made 7,000 vessels of beer. When Rā saw the beer he approved of it, and ordered it to be carried up the river to where the goddess Hathor was still, it seems, engaged in slaughtering men. During the night he caused this beer to be poured out into the meadows of the Four Heavens, and when Hathor came she saw the beer with human blood and mandrakes in it, and drank of it and became drunk, and paid no further attention to men and women. In welcoming the goddess, Rā called her “Ȧmit,”

, i.e., "beautiful one,” and from this time onward “beautiful women were found in the city of Ȧmit,” which was situated in the Western Delta, near Lake Mareotis.^[11] Rā also ordered that in future at every one of his festivals vessels of “sleep-producing beer” should be made, and that their number should be the same as the number of the handmaidens of Rā. Those who took part in these festivals of Hathor and Rā drank beer in very large quantities, and under the influence of the “beautiful women,” i.e., the priestesses, who were supposed to resemble Hathor in their physical attrac­tions, the festal celebrations degenerated into drunken and licentious orgies.

Soon after this Rā complained that he was smitten with pain, and that he was weary of the children of men. He thought them a worthless remnant, and wished that more of them had been slain. The gods about him begged him to endure, and reminded him that his power was in proportion to his will. Rā was, however, unconsoled, and he complained that his limbs were weak for the first time in his life. Thereupon the god Nu told Shu to help Rā, and he ordered Nut to take the great god Rā on her back. Nut changed herself into, a cow, and with the help of Shu Rā got on her back. As soon as men saw that Rā was on the back of the Cow of Heaven, and was about to leave them, they became filled with fear and repentance, and cried out to Rā to remain with them and to slay all those who had blasphemed against him. But the Cow moved on her way, and carried Rā to Ḥet-Ȧḥet,

, a town of the nome of Marcotis,

where in later days the right leg of Osiris was said to be preserved. Meanwhile darkness covered the land. When day broke the men who had repented of their blasphemies appeared with their bows, and slew the enemies of Rā. At this result Rā was pleased, and he forgave those who had repented because of their righteous slaughter of his enemies. From this time onwards human sacrifices were offered up at the festivals of Rāa celebrated in this place, and at Heliopolis and in other parts of Egypt.

After these things Rā declared to Nut that he intended to leave this world, and to ascend into heaven, and that all those who would see his face must follow him thither. Then he went up into heaven and prepared a place to which all might come. Then he said, “Ḥetepsekhetāa,” i.e., “Let a great field be produced,” and straightway “Sekhet-ḥetep,” or the “Field of peace,” came into being. He next said, “Let there be reeds (āaru) in it," and straightway “Sekhet Āaru,” or the "Field of Reeds,” came into being. Sekhet-ḥetep was the Elysian Fields of the Egyptians, and the Field of Reeds was a well-known section of it. Another command of the god Rā resulted in the creation of the stars, which the legend compares to flowers. Then the goddess Nut trembled in all her body, and Rā, fearing that she might fall, caused to come into being the Four Pillars on which the heavens are supported. Turning to Shu Rā entreated him to protect these supports, and to place himself under Nut, and to hold her up in position with his hands. Thus Shu became the new Sun-god in the place of Rā, and the heavens in which Rā lived were supported and placed beyond the risk of falling, and mankind would live and rejoice in the light of the new sun.

At this place in the legend a text is inserted called the “Chapter of the Cow.” It describes how the Cow of Heaven and the two Boats of the Sun shall be painted, and gives the positions of the gods who stand by the legs of the Cow, and a number of short magical names, or formulae, which are inexplicable. The general meaning of the picture of the Cow is quite clear. The Cow represents the sky in which the Boats of Rā sail, and her four legs are the four cardinal points which cannot be changed. The region above her back is the heaven in which Rā reigns over the beings who pass thereto from this earth when they die, and here was situated the home of the gods and the celestial spirits who govern this world. When Rā had made a heaven for himself, and had arranged for a continuance of life on the earth, and the welfare of human beings, he remembered that at one time when reigning on earth he had been bitten by a serpent, and had nearly lost his life through the bite. Fearing that the same calamity might befall his successor, he determined to take steps to destroy the power of all noxious reptiles that dwelt on the earth. With this object in view he told Thoth to summon Ḳeb, the Earth-god, to his presence, and this god having arrived, Rā told him that war must be made against the serpents that dwelt in his dominions. He further commanded him to go to the god Nu, and to tell him to set a watch over all the reptiles that were in the earth and in water, and to draw up a writing for every place in which serpents are known to be, con­taining strict, orders that they are to bite no one. Though these serpents knew that Rā was retiring from the earth, they were never to forget that his rays would fall upon them. In his place their father Ḳeb was to keep watch over them, and he was their father for ever. As a further protection against them Rā promised to impart to magicians and snake-charmers the particular

word of power, ḥekau

guarded himself against the attacks of serpents, and

also to transmit it to his son Osiris. Thus those who are ready to listen to the formulae of the snake-charmers shall always be immune from the bites of serpents, and their children also. From this we may gather that the profession of the snake-charmer is very ancient, and that this class of magicians were supposed to owe the foundation of their craft to a decree of Rā himself.

Rā next sent for the god Thoth, and when he came into the presence of Rā, he invited him to go with him to a distance, to a place called “Ṭuat,” i.e., hell, or the Other World, in which region he had determined to make his light to shine. When they arrived there he told Thoth, the Scribe of Truth, to write down on his tablets the names of all who were therein, and to punish those among them who had sinned against him, and he deputed to Thoth the power to deal absolutely as he pleased with all the beings in the Ṭuat. Rā loathed the wicked, and wished them to be kept at a distance from him. Thoth was to be his vicar, to fill

his place, and “Place of Rā,"

was to be his name. He gave him power to send out a messenger (kȧb), so the Ibis (habi) came into being. All that Thoth would do would be good (khen), therefore the

Tekni bird of Thoth came into being. He gave Thoth power to embrace (ȧnh) tbe heavens, therefore the Moon-god (Ȧāḥ) came into being. He gave Thoth power to turn back (ānān) the Northern peoples, therefore the dog-headed ape of Thoth came into being. Finally Rā told Thoth that he would take his place in the sight of all those who were wont to worship Rā, and that all should praise him as God. Thus the abdication of Rā was complete.

In the fragmentary texts which follow we are told how a man may benefit by the recital of this legend. He must proclaim that the soul which animated Rā was the soul of the Aged One, and that of Shu, Khnemu(?), Ḥeḥ, &c., and then ho must proclaim that he is Rā himself, and his word of power Ḥeka. If he recites the Chapter correctly he shall have life in the Other World, and he will be held in greater fear there than here. A rubric adds that he must be dressed in new linen garments, and be well washed with Nile water; he must wear white sandals, and his body must, be anointed with holy oil. He must burn incense in a censer, and a figure of Maāt (Truth) must be painted on his tongue with green paint. These regulations applied to the laity as well as to the clergy.

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1. Monuments, tom. iii., p. 245.
2. Trans. Soc. Bibl. Arch., vol. iv., p. 1 ff.
3. Hieroglyphische Inschriften, Bl. 85 ff.
4. Die neue Weltordnung nach Vernichtung des sündigen Menschengeschlechtes, Berlin, 1881.
5. Aus Aegyptens Vorzeit, p. 71.
6. Die Religion, p. 32.
7. Religion der alten Aegypter, p. 436.
8. Ä. Z., 1883, p. 32.
9. Tombeau de Seti I., Part IV., plates 15-18.
10. Trans. Soc. Bibl. Arch., vol. viii., p. 412 ff.
11. It was also called the "City of Apis,"
    (Brugsch, Dict. Gecg., p. 491), and is the Apis city of classical writers. It is, perhaps, represented by the modern Kôm al-Hisn.