by Roger Green
‘Thutmose, my face is turned towards you, my heart inclines to you to bring you good things, your spirit shall be wrapped in mine. But see how the sand has closed in round me on every side: it smothers me, it holds me down, it hides me from your eyes. Promise me that you will do all that a good son should do for his father; prove to me that you are indeed my son and will help me. Draw near to me, and I will be with you always, I will guide you and make you great.’
Then, as Thutmose stepped forward the sun seemed to shine from the eyes of Harmachis the Sphinx so brightly that they dazzled him and the world went black and spun round him so that he fell insensible on the sand.
When he recovered the sun was sinking towards the summit of Khafra’s pyramid and the shadow of the Sphinx lay over him.
Slowly he rose to his feet, and the vision he had seen came rushing back into his mind as he gazed at the great shape half-hidden in the sand which was already turning pink and purple in the evening light.
‘Harmachis, my father!’ he cried, ‘I call upon you and all the gods of Egypt to bear witness to my oath. If I become Pharaoh, the first act of my reign shall be to free this your image from the sand and build a shrine to you and set in it a stone telling in the sacred writing of Khem of your command and how I fulfilled it.’
Then Thutmose turned to seek his chariot; and a moment later his servants, who had been anxiously searching for him, came riding up.
Thutmose rode back to Memphis, and from that day all went well with him. Very soon Amen-hotep the Pharaoh proclaimed him publicly as heir to the throne; and not very long afterwards Thutmose did indeed become King of Egypt – one of her greatest Kings, and the grandfather of her one great prophet and poet, Akhnaton.
Just two hundred years ago – 3,230 years after Thutmose IV became Pharaoh of Egypt – the Sphinx, again buried to the neck in sand, was dug out by an early archaeologist. Between its paws he found the remains of a shrine in which stood a red granite tablet fourteen feet high. Inscribed on it in hieroglyphs was the whole story of the Prince and the Sphinx. The tablet also tells us that it was set there in fulfilment of his vow by Pharaoh Thutmose IV in the third month of the first year of his reign, after he had cleared away all the sand which hid from sight Harmachis, the great Sphinx that had been made in the days of Khafra, when the world was young.
The Princess and the Demon
About a hundred years after Thutmose IV built his shrine to Harmachis between the paws of the Sphinx at Giza, Rameses the Great was Pharaoh of Egypt and overlord of all the lands from Libya in the west to Persia in the east, and from the land of the Hittites at the north of Syria to Babylon in the south.
Five years after he became Pharaoh he defeated the Hittites at the great Battle of Kadesh, and during the following sixty-two years of his reign he made journeys from time to time over his vast empire. When he did so he would dwell for a while in one city or another, and subject princes from the lands all about would bring him presents and tributes in token of their loyalty.
On a certain occasion, not many years after the Battle of Kadesh, Rameses was holding court in the great city of Babylon in the land of Mesopotamia, which the Egyptians called Nehern.
Kings and princes from far and wide, from one end of the Land of the Two Rivers to the other, came to do him homage. And they brought him gifts in tribute: gold and lapis lazuli, turquoise and rare woods. Each tried to outdo the other in the splendour and the rarity of their gifts.
But the Prince of Bekhten, besides his usual gifts of precious metals and scented woods, brought his eldest daughter and presented her to Rameses, saying, ‘Life, health, strength be to you, Pharaoh of the world! Behold I bring as my tribute the most beautiful thing in all my kingdom, this princess my daughter.’
Rameses looked upon the girl and thought that she was indeed the most beautiful maiden in the world, fair in her limbs, tall and slender as a palm-tree. And as he looked, he loved her, and at once he spoke his decree: ‘Prince of Bekhten, I accept your gift, the greatest and most precious that any of my subject kings has given me. And now behold, I give her a new name: Neferu-Ra, the Beauty of Ra, and I proclaim that she shall become my Great Royal Wife and be known as such throughout Egypt and all my domains. Scribes, write the name of Neferu-Ra in the cartouche, the royal oval, as that of a Great Queen, and let it be carved below mine in a place of honour in my new rock-hewn temple at Abu Simbel.’
All was done as he commanded, and when he returned to Egypt, Rameses continued to honour the Great Royal Wife, Queen Neferu-Ra, even as if she were the Queen of Egypt by right of birth.
Several years passed, and in the fifteenth of his reign Rameses was in the mighty city of Thebes. It was the day of the great Festival of Amen-Ra when the boats go up and down the Nile with torches and lights, and the Sacred Barque of Ra, decorated with gold and precious stones, is carried from one temple to the next so that all people can see the image of Amen-Ra himself that is set therein.
Queen Neferu-Ra was with Pharaoh Rameses, and sat with him in the great temple, which today is called Karnak, to receive the gifts and worship of the people, and to hear any petitions that they wished to make.
Presently the Master of the King’s Household came into the presence and bowing low cried, ‘Life! Health! Strength! Pharaoh! Pharaoh! Pharaoh! An ambassador is here from the Prince of Bekhten, bringing rich presents for the Great Royal Wife, Neferu-Ra!’
‘Let him come before my majesty and lay his gifts at our feet,’ said Rameses.
When the ambassador entered he fell at the King’s feet, kissing the ground in token of homage. And when he had presented the gifts from his royal master, he said, ‘O Pharaoh, life, health, strength be to you! I bear a message from your servant the Prince of Bekhten. It concerns his daughter the Princess Bentresht, “Daughter of Joy”, the little sister of the Great Royal Wife, Neferu-Ra. There has come a malady into her limbs, a strange sickness is upon her, nor may any in the Land of Nehern cure her, no, nor tell whence her sickness comes; and Babylon is famed for its wise men. Therefore my master prays you to send the wisest and most learned of the magicians of Egypt: for none in the world are more skilled in hidden things than the magicians of Khem.’
Pharaoh Rameses turned to his courtiers and said, ‘Bring before me the most learned scribes of the House of Life, and the wisest of those who know of the hidden matters of the inner chambers of the temples of the gods.’
And when these had come before him, Rameses said, ‘Listen to the message of the Prince of Bekhten, and when you have heard choose from among you the man most learned and skilful, to send into Nehern to cure Bentresht, the little sister of the Great Royal Wife, Neferu-Ra.’
When they had taken counsel among themselves, the wise men of Egypt chose Tehuti-em-heb, the Royal Scribe. And he set out straightway with the ambassador of the Prince of Bekhten and after many months’ journey he came to the land of Nehern and to the palace where Bentresht, the little sister of the Great Royal Wife, Neferu-Ra, lay sick.
Soon, by his magic, Tehuti-em-heb discovered that a demon had entered into the Princess Bentresht, and that all his power was of no avail against it – for the demon was hostile to him and would not be cast out.
Then said Tehuti-em-heb to the Prince of Bekhten, ‘There is no man can cast out this demon. But my counsel is that you send once more to Egypt and beg the help of the great god Khonsu, the Expeller of Demons, whose temple is at Thebes.’
The Prince of Bekhten bade Tehuti-em-heb set out for Egypt at once as his messenger, and he sent with him a great and honourable guard, and many rich gifts to Khonsu.
When Rameses the Pharaoh heard the message which the Prince of Bekhten sent him, and when the Great Royal Wife, Neferu-Ra, had begged him to help her little sister, Bentresht, he went to the Temple of Khonsu in that part of Thebes which is now called Luxor.
In the innermost shrine of that wondrous temple, the shrine which none might enter save Pharao
h the good god and his chief priests, stood the great statue of Khonsu, the Moon-god, the Expeller of Demons. And in that shrine was also the little statue of Khonsu which the priests carried out to show to the people at the great Festival of Khonsu, when his image was borne in procession through the streets of Thebes and in the Holy Boat upon the Nile.
Rameses the King stood before the great statue of Khonsu, and prayed to the god, saying, ‘Fair lord Khonsu, I come to you to beg you to save Bentresht, the little sister of the Great Royal Wife. Grant that the Ka of your spirit may enter into the image here and travel with it to Bekhten, there to drive out the demon which has entered into Bentresht and which will not depart from her even at the words of Tehuti-em-heb my great scribe and magician.’
Then the great statue of Khonsu inclined its head twice to show that Pharaoh’s prayer was granted; and then it bowed twice more towards the lesser image – and the power of Khonsu, Expeller of Demons, passed into it.
Rameses came out of the Temple and told Tehuti-em-heb and the messengers of the Prince of Bekhten what had chanced.
And they set out rejoicing, carrying with them the little statue of Khonsu with all honour.
For many months they journeyed, and came at last to Bekhten. When he saw the image, the Prince of Bekhten fell on his knees before it and laid his forehead on the ground, crying, ‘Glory be to Khonsu, Expeller of Demons, who has come to us! O, be kind to us according to the words and prayers of the good god Rameses, Pharaoh of Egypt!’
They brought Khonsu, the Expeller of Demons, into the bed-chamber of Bentresht, the little sister of the Great Royal Wife, Neferu-Ra. And at once the demon that was in her departed from her, and on the instant she was well and whole again.
The demon which had possessed the Princess Bentresht stood in the presence of Khonsu and said, ‘You have come in peace, great god of Egypt, great Khonsu. Bekhten is now your city, its people bow down before you. I bow down before you, for I also am your slave. I will go now to that place from which I came, and trouble Bentresht, the little sister of the Great Royal Wife of Egypt no longer. But before I go, great Khonsu, I beg you to lay your commands upon the people of Bekhten that each year a holy day may be kept in my honour.’
‘Let the Prince of Bekhten and his people make a great sacrifice for this demon,’ cried Khonsu, ‘and let them keep a day in his honour for ever more!’
The Prince and the people trembled and feared exceedingly when they heard Khonsu and the demon speaking; and they made haste to hold a holy day and offer sacrifices and hymns of praise.
The Princess Bentresht was well and happy again, and the demon troubled her no more. But the Prince of Bekhten wished to keep Khonsu, the Expeller of Demons, in his country to be his god and to bring many pilgrims. And he said to Tehuti-em-heb, ‘Go with all the speed you may back to Egypt and tell Pharaoh Rameses – life, health, strength be to him! – that Bentresht, the little sister of the Great Royal Wife, Neferu-Ra, is freed from the demon by the power of Khonsu the Expeller of Demons. And when I have done honour to Khonsu, I will send his image with due attendance and rich gifts to make progress through all the lands so that the peoples of each may bow down to him and offer him worship on his way back to Thebes.’
Tehuti-em-heb returned with speed to Egypt. But the Prince of Bekhten did not send the image of Khonsu. He kept it in Bekhten for three years, four months and five days.
But at the end of that time, as he knelt in prayer before the image, Khonsu spoke suddenly, saying: ‘My home is in Egypt, in the sacred city of Thebes – and thither will I go.’
And upon these words the Ka of the spirit of Khonsu flew out from the image in the form of a golden hawk, and sped like a beam of light over the mountains and the deserts towards Egypt.
The Prince of Bekhten was filled with fear, and dreaded the wrath of Khonsu and the other gods of Egypt.
So immediately he gave orders: ‘The god Khonsu has left us. He has returned to Egypt. Therefore make haste and bear his dwelling back to Egypt also.’
Then the image was placed in a chariot loaded with gifts and all manner of beautiful things, and a great embassy set out with it towards Egypt. For many months they journeyed before they came at last to Thebes and entered the great Temple of Khonsu that stands in the Eastern Apt which we call Luxor.
Rameses the Pharaoh and Neferu-Ra, the Great Royal Wife, welcomed the little image of Khonsu. Together they set him once more in the sacred shrine of the temple, and all the rich gifts from Bekhten they set there also, dedicating them all to Khonsu and keeping none for themselves.
And the great god Khonsu, the Expeller of Demons, smiled upon Rameses the mighty Pharaoh, and upon Neferu-Ra, the Great Royal Wife, and upon Bentresht, the little sister in faraway Bekhten, and gave them health and prosperity all their days.
Tales of Magic
The Golden Lotus
Seneferu, father of the Pharaoh Khufu who built the Great Pyramid of Giza, reigned long over a contented and peaceful Egypt. He had no foreign wars and few troubles at home, and with so little business of state he often found time hanging heavy on his hands.
One day he wandered wearily through his palace at Memphis, seeking for pleasures and finding none that would lighten his heart.
Then he bethought him of his Chief Magician, Zazamankh, and he said, ‘If any man is able to entertain me and show me new marvels, surely it is the wise scribe of the rolls. Bring Zazamankh before me.’
Straightway his servants went to the House of Wisdom and brought Zazamankh to the presence of Pharaoh. And Seneferu said to him, ‘I have sought throughout all my palace for some delight, and found none. Now of your wisdom devise something that will fill my heart with pleasure.’
Then said Zazamankh to him, ‘O Pharaoh – life, health, strength be to you! – my counsel is that you go sailing upon the Nile, and upon the lake below Memphis. This will be no common voyage, if you will follow my advice in all things.’
‘Believing that you will show me marvels, I will order out the Royal Boat,’ said Seneferu. ‘Yet I am weary of sailing upon the Nile and upon the lake.’
‘This will be no common voyage,’ Zazamankh assured him. ‘For your rowers will be different from any you have seen at the oars before. They must be fair maidens from the Royal House of the King’s Women: and as you watch them rowing, and see the birds upon the lake, the sweet fields and the green grass upon the banks, your heart will grow glad.’
‘Indeed, this will be something new,’ agreed Pharaoh, showing some interest at last. ‘Therefore I give you charge of this expedition. Speak with my power, and command all that is necessary.’
Then said Zazamankh to the officers and attendants of Pharaoh Seneferu, ‘Bring me twenty oars of ebony inlaid with gold, with blades of light wood inlaid with electrum. And choose for rowers the twenty fairest maidens in Pharaoh’s household: twenty virgins slim and lovely, fair in their limbs, beautiful, and with flowing hair. And bring me twenty nets of golden thread, and give these nets to the fair maidens to be garments for them. And let them wear ornaments of gold and electrum and malachite.’
All was done according to the words of Zazamankh, and presently Pharaoh was seated in the Royal Boat while the maidens rowed him up and down the stream and upon the shining waters of the lake. And the heart of Seneferu was glad at the sight of the beautiful rowers at their unaccustomed task, and he seemed to be on a voyage in the golden days that were to be when Osiris returns to rule the earth.
But presently a mischance befell that gay and happy party upon the lake. In the raised stern of the Royal Boat two of the maidens were steering with great oars fastened to posts. Suddenly the handle of one of the oars brushed against the head of the girl who was using it and swept the golden lotus she wore on the fillet that held back her hair into the water, where it sank out of sight.
With a little cry she leant over and gazed after it. And as she ceased from her song, so did all the rowers
on that side who were taking their time from her.
‘Why have you ceased to row?’ asked Pharaoh.
And they replied, ‘Our little steerer has stopped, and leads us no longer.’
‘And why have you ceased to steer and lead the rowers with your song?’ asked Seneferu.
‘Forgive me, Pharaoh – life, health, strength be to you!’ she sobbed. ‘But the oar struck my hair and brushed from it the beautiful golden lotus set with malachite which your majesty gave to me, and it has fallen into the water and is lost for ever.’
‘Row on as before, and I will give you another,’ said Seneferu.
But the girl continued to weep, saying, ‘I want my golden lotus back, and no other!’
Then said Pharaoh, ‘There is only one who can find the golden lotus that has sunk to the bottom of the lake. Bring to me Zazamankh my magician, he who thought of this voyage. Bring him here on to the Royal Boat before me.’
So Zazamankh was brought to where Seneferu sat in his silken pavilion on the Royal Boat. And as he knelt, Pharaoh said to him: ‘Zazamankh, my friend and brother, I have done as you advised. My royal heart is refreshed and my eyes are delighted at the sight of these lovely rowers bending to their task. As we pass up and down on the waters of the lake, and they sing to me, while on the shore I see the trees and the flowers and the birds, I seem to be sailing into the golden days – either those of old when Ra ruled on earth, or those to come when the good god Osiris shall return from the Duat. But now a golden lotus has fallen from the hair of one of these maidens – fallen to the bottom of the lake. And she has ceased to sing and the rowers on her side cannot keep time with their oars. And she is not to be comforted with promises of other gifts, but weeps for her golden lotus. Zazamankh, I wish to give back the golden lotus to the little one here, and see the joy return to her eyes.’