Isis Announces the Birth of Kings in the Time of Khufu
This story is part of a cycle of
“Magician” stories found on the so-called Papyrus Westcar, or the Papyrus
Berlin 3033. The stories are set in the Old Kingdom period, the 4th
dynasty, though they are written in the phase of ancient Egyptian known as
“Middle Egyptian,” and the entire papyrus document is dated as written
during the Hyksos period (that is, Second Intermediate Period).
This tale opens as King Khufu, he who built the Great Pyramid at Giza, is told by a “magician,” that the wife of a priest of Ra is pregnant with three children, by Ra, and that these children will rise to high office, the eldest even being high priest of Ra at ancient Heliopolis. The four goddesses named herein, including Aset/Isis, were all associated with childbirth, and Khnum was a creator god who created man on his potter’s wheel.
The story has given here is paraphrased from the translations appearing in Ancient Egyptian Literature, Vol I edited by Miriam Lichtheim, and Literature of Ancient Egypt edited by William Kelly Simpson.
One day,
Reddedet felt the pangs of a difficult labor. Then said Ra to Isis,
Nephthys, Meskhenet, Heket and Khnum, “Please go, deliver Ruddedet of the
thre children whoare in her womb, who will assume this beneficent office in this
whole land. They will build your temples. They will supply your altars. They
will furnish your libations. They will make your offerings abundant!”
The goddesses changed their appearance to musicians, and the god Khnum served as their porter, carrying the birthing-stool. When they reached the house of Reddedet, they found her husband, the priest of Ra, standing with his loincloth untied and upside down. They held out to him their necklaces and sistra. He said to them, “My ladies, it is the woman who is in pain; her labor is difficult.”
They said: “Let
us see her. We understand childbirth.”
So he showed
them into her and they locked the room. Aset placed herself before
Reddedet, Nephthys stood behind her, and Heket hastened the birth. Aset
said, “Do not be strong (wsr) in her womb, in this your name of Wosref”.
[Weserkaf means “his ka is strong.] The child slipped forth with firm bones,
limbs covered in gold, and headdress of real lapis lazuli. Then Meskhenet
approached him and said, “A king who will exercise the kingship in this entire
land!” Khnum caused his limbs to move.
Aset
again stood before Reddedet, with Nepthys behind her, and Heket hastened the
childbirth. Aset now said, “Do not kick (sah) in her womb in
this your name of Sahure.” And this child slipped out onto her hands
with firm bones, limbs covered in gold and whose headdress was of real lapis
lazuli. Meskhenet approached him in turn and said, “A king who will exercise
the kingship in this entire land!” And Khnum gave health also to his body.
The goddesses
again took their places, and Isis again said, “Do not be dark (kkw)
in her womb in this your name of Kekau." And this child too slipped forth
upon her hands as a child with firm bones, limbs covered in gold, and whose
headdress was of lapis lazuli. Meskhenet approached him and said, “A king who
will exercise the kingship in this entire land!” And Khnum caused his limbs to
move.
Now the
goddesses came forth and said to the husband, “May you be pleased, for you
have three children.” And he said to them, “Please give this corn to your
porter and take it as a payment for making beer.”
As they set out to return to Ra, Isis said to them all, “What is this, that we are returning without performing a marvel for these children and can report to their father who sent us?” So they fashioned three royal crowns, AUS [life, prosperity and health] and they placed them in the corn.
The story continues on for a bit in the house of Reddedet.
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