Chapter IX - Romance And Legend

Besides such tales of magic, other legends of diverse character gathered round the personality of the earlier Pharaohs, and at a later epoch these formed the principal source of the statements of classical authors regarding the ancient history of Eg3^Tpt. These authors, of whom Herodotus is the most important, were entirely wanting in the knowledge of the Egyptian language and writing necessary for the verification of actual events, and such they do not relate. They repeat, not facts, but the tales their fellow countrymen, settled for centuries in Egypt, could tell them of the origin and purpose of ancient buildings or of the life of this or that historic personage. These Greek settlers, again, owed their knowledge not to first-hand investigation, but to mere hearsay. Their intercourse with their Egyptian neighbours was limited to the traders, merchants and guides with whom their business brought them into contact, and from whom they would hear only the legends current among the people. Before the Ptolemaic period the Greeks had little or no contact with priests, scholars, and other more cultivated Egyptians, who had a certain amount of exact knowledge of the history of their own land. The strong hatred of foreigners which had by this time developed among the upper classes must have kept the two elements of the population permanently apart. Herodotus and his compeers retold the popular legends and sought thus to produce a homogeneous picture of the development of the Egyptian people. The task was naturally beyond their powers, and their works have therefore but small value as history, though the fact that they have preserved many legends not mentioned in any papyri as }et discovered gives them great importance from another pomt of view. Even the Egyptian priest and historian, Manetho, who in 270 B.C. wrote a history of Egypt in Greek, could not entirely free himself from legend and tradition. He worked under much more favourable conditions than did Herodotus, and was able to use as the basis of his history a trustworthy list of Pharaohs. But when he came to treat of the deeds of individual rulers his authorities were, not the monuments themselves, but the legends connected by the papyri with the names inscribed on them.

Strong testimony to the exactness with which the Greeks followed their models is found in the tale of the rich King Rhampsinitus and the dishonest sons of his chief builder. The narrative is so faithful even in detail to the customs of the country that the author, or perhaps rather his authority, must have rendered his original m Greek as nearly as possible word for word. Besides such legends as have been preserved entire in classical works, numerous references occur from which the existence, if not the details, of other similar stories may be inferred. To this class belong various allusions made to the journey of Rhampsinitus in the underworld; to the shepherd Philitis, after whom the pyramids are said to have been named ; to King Sesonkhosis, who was five ells high ; and others of a similar kind.

Legends written down by the ancient Egyptians themselves must be added to those recorded by the Greeks. A papyrus of about 1250 B.C. contains the beginning of one of these, dealing with the war against the Hyksos. These Asiatic invaders conquered the Egyptians, and oppressed them for centuries, until about 1800 b.c. the people rebelled against the foreign yoke. The papyrus evidently described an encounter between the rival potentates: Apepi, the Hyksos ofAvaris, and the leader of the national party, Rā-sekenen (Soknunri), whose dwelling-place was in Upper Egypt. Each propounded to the other riddles and difficult problems, on the solution of which the fate of his adversary was to depend.

The Greek conquest and the consequent loss of independence did not quench in the Egyptians the love of legend and romance. Various prophecies relating to events in the national history, ostensibly ancient in date, are found in demotic papyri. The fragment now in Vienna of a text written in the reign of Augustus, contaiis scraps of the divinations of a lamb, supposed to have been uttered about 720 B.C., in the time of Bokkhoris, a monarch renowned in legend. A Greek papyrus of the Ptolemaic period gives the beginning of a Storys of Nectanebus, the last independent native king, and seems to tell of his expulsion from the throne. About the same time also the Greek cities on the banks of the Nile saw the beginning of the great cyxle of romance that gathered around the name of Alexander.

In this the birth and exploits of the Macedonian conqueror were narrated with every possible legendary adornment, and for centuries, in various phases, it formed a most important element in the literature of East and West alike. A fragmentary text in Coptic shows that the deeds of the Persian king Kambyses were glorified in a similar fashion, and this was the case with the exploits of many other heroes also. Thus, side by side with the true records of the country, we find romantic and legendary tradition, so widespread and popular that it occasionally entirely superseded authentic history. Modern investigation has often great difficulty in restoring the truth to its rights, and success in this endeavour has certainly the disadvantage of making the course of Egyptian history appear much less vivid and poetic than when seen in the garb of romance with which the ancient Egyptians themselves delighted to invest it for the eyes of posterity.

It was not often that the writers of these stories could resist the inclination to identify their hero with one or other of the great figures of the historic past, and seldom did they equip him with an entirely fictitious name, or leave him nameless. The first is the case in the Story of the i’wo Brothers, contained in the d’Orbiney papyrus, mentioned in the begnning of this little work. Its hero, the herd and husbandman Batau, lived with his brother Anepu, and helped him with the work of his farm. The wife of Anepu charged Batau with an attempt at adultery; the husband believed his wife’s tale, and threatened his brother’s life, Batau succeeded in escaping, and took refuge in a lonely ravine among the mountains, where he lived by hunting. The gods created a wife to cheer his solitude ; but she proved false, and became the beloved of Pharaoh.

The brother, who had in the meantime discovered his error and slain his guilty wife, set forth to seek for Batau. He succeeded in finding him, and the two brothers travelled to the court that Batau's treacherous wife might be called to account. In spite of many complications and difficulties, Batau attained his purpose, and became in the end king of Egypt, appointing his brother his chief functionary and successor. The first part of this story gives a clear and true picture of Egyptian country life, while the second is full of marvels and prodigies, a genuine piece of oriental phantasy. It is noteworthy that the heroes are entirely fictitious characters, and that the king who plays a part in the story is not named, but introduced simply as Pharaoh, i.e., “Great House,” the universal title of Egyptian monarchs.

The story of the Doomed Prince, which belongs to the second millennium B.C., has for its hero the unnamed son of an unnamed king. At the birth of the child the seven Hathors, who play the part of our fairies, prophesied that he should meet his death by means of a crocodile, a serpent, or a dog. His father at first took most elaborate measures to secure him from these dangers, but as soon as he had grown to manhood he set out in search of adventures, accompanied by a dog. By a remarkable feat he won the hand of the daughter of the prince of Naharina, a province on the borders of Syria. Soon after the marriage the vigilance of his wife saved him from a serpent, and a crocodile lurking in the river was closely watched by a giant whose duty it was to guard the prince from injury. The creature managed to evade his watchfulness and attacked the prince, but the giant hastened in pursuit and came to the rescue in time. No doubt the faithful dog turned out to be the innocent instrument of doom, but the sudden cessation of the text leaves the catastrophe uncertain.