Legends of the Gods: The Egyptian Texts, edited with Translations

By E.A. Wallis Budge

It has already been seen that the god Ra, when retiring from the government of this world, took steps through Thoth to supply mankind with words of power and spells with which to protect themselves against the bites of serpents and other noxious reptiles. The legend of the Destruction of Mankind affords no explanation of this remarkable fact, but when we read the following legend of Ra and Isis we understand why Ra, though king of the gods, was afraid of the reptiles which lived in the kingdom of Keb. The legend, or "Chapter of the Divine God," begins by enumerating the mighty attributes of Ra as the creator of the universe, and describes the god of "many names" as unknowable, even by the gods. At this time Isis lived in the form of a woman who possessed the knowledge of spells and incantations, that is to say, she was regarded much in the same way as modern African peoples regard their "medicine-women," or "witch-women." She had used her spells on men, and was tired of exercising her powers on them, and she craved the opportunity of making herself mistress of gods and spirits as well as of men. She meditated how she could make herself mistress both of heaven and earth, and finally she decided that she could only obtain the power she wanted if she possessed the knowledge of the secret name of Ra, in which his very existence was bound up. Ra guarded this name most jealously, for he knew that if he revealed it to any being he would henceforth be at that being's mercy. Isis saw that it was impossible to make Ra declare his name to her by ordinary methods, and she therefore thought out the following plan. It was well known in Egypt and the Sudan at a very early period that if a magician obtained some portion of a person's body, e.g., a hair, a paring of a nail, a fragment of skin, or a portion of some efflux from the body, spells could be used upon them which would have the effect of causing grievous harm to that person. Isis noted that Ra had become old and feeble, and that as he went about he dribbled at the mouth, and that his saliva fell upon the ground. Watching her opportunity she caught some of the saliva of the and mixing it with dust, she moulded it into the form of a large serpent, with poison-fangs, and having uttered her spells over it, she left the serpent lying on the path, by which Ra travelled day by day as he went about inspecting Egypt, so that it might strike at him as he passed along. CONTENTS I. THE LEGEND OF THE CREATION II. THE LEGEND OF THE DESTRUCTION OF MANKIND III. THE LEGEND OF RA AND THE SNAKE-BITE IV. THE LEGEND OF HORUS OF EDFU AND THE WINGED DISK V. THE LEGEND OF THE ORIGIN OF HORUS VI. A LEGEND OF KHENSU NEFER-HETEP AND THE PRINCESS OF BEKHTEN VII. THE LEGEND OF KHNEMU AND A SEVEN YEARS' FAMINE VIII. THE LEGEND OF THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF HORUS IX. THE LEGEND OF ISIS AND OSIRIS ACCORDING TO CLASSICAL WRITERS

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1535558849
• ISBN13: 9781535558846
• Release Date: July 2016
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Length: 202 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.5" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

Understand the Egyptian pantheon and some spiffy spells!

People can learn the names of the gods and what they are best known for. Like the Edda tells the tales of the Norse gods, this presents some key papyrus and other sources that tell the tales of the Egyptian gods and their personalities. We learn of amulets, spells, and histories of the gods and their people. There are other sources, but this one is unique in organizing the different tears of gods and their relation to each other. ----------------- Now we have a problem with mixed versions. The hard copy has great sketches of the papyri and cartouches. Still, it is missing some simple, helpful graphs like “The Great Ennead of Heliopolis” and some comparison of Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt. Because they are mixed versions, the star rating is for the book in general.