Reading Diary A- Ancient Egypt

This week I chose to read the Ancient Egypt unit from the un-textbook.

Creation
Read Egypt's creation myth HERE!

• At the beginning here was nothing but water and it was named Nu.Nu is the father of all.
• Ra is the sun god who grew to become the father of gods and all creation.
• Ra created: Shu the wind god and Tefnut the goddess of rain. When the two aren't on Earth, they live as constellations in the sky and are referred to as "The Twins." 
• Seb = the earth god, Nut = the goddess of the firmament/the sky; they are the parents of:
• Osiris = god of the dead, ruler of the underworld
• Isis = consort to Osiris, goddess of nature and magic, mother of life
• Set = god of desert, storms, disorder, violence, and foreigners
• Nepthys = consort to Set, goddess of death, service, lamentation, nighttime, and rivers
• With only words, Ra commanded the Earth to rise out of the water so Shu (god of light and air) rose up and held up the sky. Ra then created all of the rest of the Earth and all of humanity sprung forth from his eye. Ra became the first king on Earth. 

The Secret Name of Ra 

• Ra has many names, but one name is the source of his divine power. Isis sought to learn this name so that she could have equal power to Ra and leave the human world that she'd grown tired of to live with the gods. She knew he kept the secret name in his bosom and never spoke it so for a long time she watched Ra as he grew old and began to drool. She would follow behind him and gather the saliva before baking it in the earth and turning into a sacred snake. She let it go where she knew Ra would be walking (FYI the snake is invisible to both gods and men).
• Ra goes walking and gets bitten by the invisi-snake. The snakes venom tore through his body causing him to cry out in pain. The gods in heaven heard his cry and asked what happened. Ra shook and his teeth chattered, taking his answer from his lips. He told them he didn't know what had struck him, he was not powerful enough to find out. 
• Ra's followers gathered around him and mourned for the fallen king. Isis showed up too, but she did not cry. She walked up to Ra and used her power of healing as she spoke incantations over him to subdue his pain. She told him that in order to save him she needed to know his secret name. Ra eventually gives in and wills his secret name, and therefore power, to Isis. Ra vanished, but once Isis had her power, she brought him back good as new. 

Ra and Hathor
Find out what happens when you forget where you came from in this story about Ra and Hathor.

• Ra's followers began to plot against him because he was old and frail. 
• Ra summons the gods to his temple at Heliopolis where he asked them what he should do about his ungrateful, rebellious little creations (humanity). He suggested that Nu generate a great flood and wipe out humanity so that Ra may start over. 
• Nu suggests he send his eye to Earth as Hathor to seek out and punish those who spoke against him. Ra agrees that this is a good idea and sends the goddess Hathor who quickly slays those who'd gone against Ra, bathing in their blood. 
• After the slaughter, Ra repented and tried to save what remained of mankind. He took a bunch of plants of virtue, the blood of mankind, some water, and some barley which he used to create a beer which would save mankind from Hathor. He poured the brew into 7,000 jars and sent them to where Hathor slept where they were emptied, flooding her room. 
• When Hathor woke up, she smiled at her reflection and began chugging the beer. Soon she became drunk and Ra spoke to her, telling her to come back to to him. From then on, when the Nile rose with red flood waters, the people of Egypt made sacrifices of beer to Hathor.
• Ra was still mad at humanity though, so he decided to leave and no longer live among men. 

The Sun's Journey

• Ra goes back into the heavens where he created Aalu, an eden of sorts for the gods. 
• Ra then tells Seb, the earth god, to tell all of the reptiles to watch their backs and fear him. He proclaimed that his son, Osiris would favor magicians who protect men from evil reptiles. Then, he created the messengers of Thoth.
• Ankh = symbol of life
• Anubis = gatekeeper to the underworld
• Ûrnes = river Styx in Egyptian mythology
• Ra is travelling through the underworld. At the end of the first layer, he comes to a giant wall where incantations are spoken to open the gate for him. Waiting for him is Apep, the night serpent, who waits to eat Ra. Ra keeps going and eventually makes it through the 5th section where Sokar, the god of the underworld, lives. Past that, in the 7th section, lives Osiris, the "divine judge of the dead." If Osiris favors you, you enter the nether world, if not, your soul is devoured by serpents and demons. 
• Apep attacks Ra, but Isis and other allies kill the creature. 

Osiris

• Osiris took over as king after Ra ascended to the heavens. He saw the sorry state of man and was disgusted. He began changing things, making just and binding laws and decrees as well as judging men for their crimes with great wisdom. His changes led to peace for Egypt. 
• Isis = the queen consort of Osiris. Isis saw that men needed to learn how to live off the earth so she brought wheat and barley to Osiris who taught men how to grow and harvest the plants. He also taught them how to grind corn into meal and flour so they would not run out of food. 
• Osiris went on to teach the ways of the gods to the people, erecting temples and teaching his people how to live holy lives. 
• There was peace and prosperity in Egypt under this king and he became known as Osiris the Good. Because of his success in Egypt, Osiris set off to travel the world spreading his teachings. One of my favorite quotes from this reading was during this part of the reading where it says, "Peace followed in his footsteps, and men learned wisdom from his lips." Osiris was seen as a father to the people of Egypt and of Earth in general. 
• Isis reigned over Egypt while Osiris traveled, but faced much adversity from Set, Osiris's brother, who wished to overthrow the king and queen so he could take over power for himself. 

The Death of Osiris
Read here about the fall of the king! 

• When Osiris came home there was a great celebration attended by many including Set and his followers. Set brought a beautiful chest that had been made to the king's measurements exactly and said that whoever best fit in the chest would get the gorgeous chest. Many people got in, but when Osiris got in Set's followers jumped on him and shut the chest up tight. They nailed it shut and sealed it with lead which led to Osiris dying. The chest was then thrown into the Nile. 
• The party broke up and fighting erupted. After all was said and done, Isis was told of what happened and she grieved so deeply that she spent the rest of her days searching the Nile for her beloved. While she searched, Set took over. Tyranny, disorder, thievery, chaos, and persecution became the new normal for Egypt and Isis was made a fugitive so she hid in swamps and the jungle with her 7 scorpion protectors. 
• Ra saw her plight and sent Anubis to help guide her. One day, Isis asked for shelter from a woman but was met with a door shutting in her face because the lady feared Isis's scorpions. As a result, a scorpion got into the woman's home and bit her child, causing it to die. The mother cried and wept, and her sadness touched Isis who uttered incantations that brought the child back to life. Needless to say, the lady let Isis in and was incredibly grateful. 

The Journey of Isis
Read about the mother of all, Isis, in her story from the un-textbook.

• Isis gave birth to Horus. When Set found out, he captured them and held them prisoner in his palace. He planned to kill the baby Horus, but Isis found out thanks to Thoth and fled. She hid in Buto, where she entrusted the care of the infant to Uazit, the virgin goddess of the city, because she was a serpent and could protect the child from his evil uncle while Isis went to go look for Osiris's body. 
• While Isis was gone, Horus was bitten by a scorpion and died. Thankfully, Ra and the other gods wished for him to live, become strong, and avenge Osiris's death so he spoke magical words over the child restoring his life. 
• Osiris's coffin ended up in Syria where it washed up on the shore and a great tree grew up around it to house his body in its great trunk. The ruler of Syria saw the tree and loved it so he had it cut down and brought to his home. Isis got a wild hair up her butt and made her way to Syria where she was taken in by the queen who chose Isis to become foster-mother to the royal baby. Isis wouldn't suckle him, instead she just popped her finger in his mouth when he cried. 
• That night, Isis set the baby on fire and turned into a swallow, crying out and circling the tree that housed her husband's body. The queen came in and found her baby in flames. She saved him, but it meant that he'd no longer be immortal. Isis calmed down, turned back into herself, and confessed who she was and why she was there. She asked to cut the tree open and retrieve her husband's body and her wish was granted. 
• She left on her ship with Osiris in tow and was joined by the king's oldest son, Maneros. Sadly, Maneros was too curious for his own good and went snooping around Osiris's chest to which Isis looked upon him with anger in her eyes, blinding the man and causing him to die and fall off the side of the ship.
• When Isis returned to Egypt she hid her husband's body and set off to see her son. Set, who was out hunting, came upon the chest and opened it. He had Osiris's body cut into 14 sections then thrown into the Nile to be eaten by crocodiles. The crocodiles, however, feared and respected Isis so they wouldn't touch the pieces of the dead king and instead they ended up scattered along the river banks -except for the king's penis which was swallowed by a fish. 
• When Isis found out she freaked and set out to recover the parts of her husband, which she did (except for his penis of course). She buried the fragments of his body where she found them and made a tomb for each. After a while, temples were erected over these tombs and became sites of worship for Osiris's followers for centuries. 

King of the Dead

• Set continued to rule and persecute those who worshiped Osiris and Isis, but Horus (who has the right to the throne) grew up to be a strong man. He gathered support and prepared for battle after being visited by the ghost of his father in a dream. The two fought for days, both sides losing men and Horus losing an eye, before Set was badly wounded and forced from the kingdom. 
• Thoth came down from heaven and healed Horus and Set before Horus came before the divine council and took over the throne. 
• Isis cried so much about her husband that Anubis came and put all of the pieces together before wrapping them up to create the mummy of Osiris. Isis then spread her wings and hovered over Osiris, forcing air into his lungs and bringing him to life to take on his new role as the judge and king of the dead. 

Statuette of Osiris Sitting

Artist unknown, found on Wikimedia Commons

The Wax Crocodile

• Prince Khafra is telling King Khufu about the tale of the Wax Crocodile. 
• Once, there was a handsome young Pharaoh accompanied his follower and that man's wife. The wife fell for the Pharaoh and the two began an affair. The butler saw this and had the scribe make a wax crocodile and place a curse upon it. Then, he let the croc go in the lake as the young follower was bathing and it came to life and ate him! Seven days later the scribe asks the Pharaoh to accompany him to the lake where he summons the crocodile and informs the king that it obeys his every command. The Pharaoh tells him to send it back to the lake. The scribe then said an incantation and the crocodile turned once more into wax. The Pharaoh couldn't believe his eyes and the scribe told him all he'd done. To his surprise, the Pharaoh was horrified by his wrongdoing and ordered the crocodile to seize the scribe, which it did. Then, he ordered that the scribe's wife be burned at the stake and her remains thrown in the Nile. 

The Green Jewel

• King Sneferu was bored, so his scribe told him to take his 20 favorite harem girls on a rowing trip to the lake. Surely the splashing of beautiful virgins would entertain the king! They went out and were rowing when an oar dislodged a green jewel from the hair of the first rower. She stopped and caused quite the commotion. The king said he'd give her another, but she wasn't having it so the king asked the scribe to get the jewel for her which he did using his magic. All was well after that.