Myths and legends about Egypt.

The legend of Ra

Ra is the supreme god of Egypt - the sun god. He was originally an ordinary human god. Later, in order to equate Ra with sun worship, Egyptian religious monks worshiped Ra as the sun god, the master of gods, and the national god. They also regarded him as the creator god. There are many legends about Ra. As the god of creation, he is believed to be the son of Nu, the god of sea water at the beginning of the world. The myth says that the world began as a sea of ​​water with a glowing egg on the water, and Ra was born from this egg. As he grew older, he became more powerful and became the Lord of Creation and the Father of the Gods. He first gave birth to Shu, the wind god, and Tefnut, the rain god. These two gods later gradually turned into stars in the sky, called "Gemini". Then Ra gave birth to Seb, the god of the earth, and Nut, the god of the sky. Seb and Nut combined and gave birth to Osiris, the king of Hades, and Isis, the queen, as well as the evil god Set and his consort Nipzis. Then the god Ra began to speak. He ordered the sky and the earth to rise from a waste water. Ra first let his light shine on the earth, and then asked the wind god to lift Nut, the sky god. Nut formed a vault, and Seb, the earth god Then lie down on your back, and the heaven and earth will be formed in this way. According to Ra's order, he asked the earth to conjure something. As long as he expressed his wish, anything would appear in front of him, so all the creatures and substances of the earth were formed, and finally man was born from his eyes. After all this was done, Ra began to move back and forth among the people, and not only was he the ruler of the gods, he became the first emperor of the earth.

Ra has many names, unknown to both gods and men. He also has a secret name, and because of this name, he has the power of the God Lord. The goddess Isis, who lived as a woman in the world, was tired of human life and wanted to return to heaven. She knows magic, so she wants to gain the power to rule the world like Ra, so she longs to know the secret name of her heavenly father. So she began to follow Ra, and always paid attention to Ra's actions in order to find opportunities to achieve her goals. The god Ra was old and often drooled when he spoke, so Isis found an opportunity. Once, she followed Ra God out. When Ra God drooled on the ground, she picked it up with the soil in her mouth. After returning, she dried the soil and made it into a spear, and then used magic power to turn the spear into a poisonous snake. She put the snake in the place where Ra often passed by. When Ra passed by, the snake pounced on him and bit him. The venom of the poisonous snake quickly seeped into Ra's body. Ra was in great pain and made loud screams from time to time. This scream could be heard even in the farthest distance of heaven. The gods accompanying Ra didn't know what was going on, so they all asked Ra anxiously. Ra told them that he was attacked by poisonous snakes and hoped that someone could help him. Although the gods were thinking about Ra, they were unable to do what they wanted. At this time, the goddess Isis, who was among the gods, came forward. She pretended to comfort Ra and asked about her divine father. Then she asked Ra to reveal his secret name, and only then would she relieve him of his pain. After hearing what Isis said, the god Ra was very sad, so he had to name some of his own names. At dawn, he called Kepera, during the day, Ra, and at dusk, he called Tam. After hearing what Ra said, the goddess was still unmoved, and she asked Ra to reveal his secret name. At this time, the venom was having a rapid and harmful effect in La's body, like a fire burning fiercely in his heart. La felt that his life was in danger, and he had to let his secret name (ie "Lan") enter Isis's body. After Ra finished speaking, he disappeared in front of the gods. Isis waited, and when the secret name of Ra was about to leave her heart, Isis asked her son Horus to recite a spell to force Ra to hand over his two eyes, and Ra had to hand over his own eyes. To Horus, the two eyes were the sun and the moon. Finally, Ra's secret name finally entered Isis's heart, so the goddess made the venom disappear from Ra's body, and Ra returned to health.

The above two stories respectively show the creation achievements of the god Ra and the plot of his later old age. This is only one story about the creation of the god Ra, and the latter story reflects the Egyptians' equation of gods and humans. The power of gods is not eternal, and there is also life, old age, sickness, and death. However, the Egyptians have their own views on the issue of death. This issue will be mentioned later.

In ancient Egyptian mythology, the god Ra is not only the lord of creation and the lord of gods, he also teaches humans to create inventions, eliminates disasters and avoid evil, and brings blessings to humans. Human beings love and praise him so much that even the pharaohs of ancient Egypt regarded him as God Ra.

According to legend, the god Ra ruled the universe for tens of millions of years, and finally lost his strength due to old age. So some people began to waver in his prestige, and some people ridiculed and slandered him, which made Ra very angry. One day, he summoned the gods and asked them to come up with a top-secret plan to punish mankind. The god Atum, the ruler of the Milky Way, proposed that Hathor, the daughter of the god Ra, go exterminate the human race. Hathor is a cruel and brutal bloodthirsty goddess. As soon as she comes to the world, she makes the earth pile up with bones and a sea of ​​blood. Witnessing this bloody scene, the god Ra felt sympathy for the humans he had created, so he decided to stop Hathor's crazy actions. He sent a swift messenger to the "Island of Philae" to retrieve a sleep fruit, which The fruit is deep red in color and its juice is exactly the same color as human blood. Then, Ra ordered the juice to be sent to the city of Heliopolis (city of the sun, city of Ra), and asked the women there to mix it with barley wine to make it look like human blood.

When night fell, the god Ra asked his messengers to pour barley wine onto the human fields, and the fields suddenly turned into a sea of ​​blood. When day came, the bloodthirsty goddess was ready to kill humans again. When she came to the field, she found that the field was flooded with blood. She laughed wildly, thinking that all humans had been killed and all the blood had flowed out. So she got carried away and ran to the fields to suck blood. She sucked and sucked desperately, and the barley wine made her drunk. Soon the sleeping juice also took effect on her, and Hathor, the bloodthirsty goddess, finally fell to the ground. , can no longer kill humans.

In addition, there is also the story of Ra's sun boat in Egyptian mythology. The Egyptians regarded the Nile as their source of life, so they believed that the world was born of water. Ra takes a sun boat (Ra's ship) for a cruise every day. When the sun rises in the east, the god Ra takes a sun boat to patrol the Nile River, bringing happiness and peace to mankind; every night, the sun boat goes down from the west, enters the Styx, and begins to spend time in the dark world. According to the Egyptians, there are only two rivers in the world. One is the Egyptian River, the Nile River, which represents both day and the world of light; the other is the Tianhe River, the River Styx, which represents the night and symbolizes the world of hell. The kingdom of Hades. The god Ra had to pass through twelve gates in the Styx, that is, twelve o'clock. Each gate heralded dangers and obstacles, so the story of Ra's sun boat secretly crossing the Styx became the story of defeating demons, overcoming difficulties, and welcoming the world. Beautiful legend of dawn.

First of all, what greets Ra's sun boat is the kingdom of Ra's river. There are six huge pythons waiting here, attacking visitors from time to time. The bow of the sun boat was guarded by the goddess of heaven and the god of wind. Soon they passed the first hour safely. In the River Styx, every hour you walk, you have to pass through a city of death. There is a divine snake called Apophis, which is specially designed to pose a threat to the sun god. Every time you pass through a kingdom, you have to climb a tall mountain. The city gates were guarded by various weapons and numerous soldiers and huge pythons. The gods of the Sun God were fully prepared for this. They drove the sun boat to the second kingdom Uranus, where Ra was supported by people, and the sun boat passed here safely. At the fifth hour, the sun boat came to the fifth kingdom, where there was the terrible god of the underworld, Sokar. He had three heads and a snake body. He was also guarded by two fierce sphinx-like human-faced gods around him. But Ra was not intimidated by them, and the sun boat continued to move forward. At the seventh hour they came to the kingdom of Osiris, king of the underworld. Osiris is a great god who wears a white and red double-faced crown in the north and south, and controls the fate of every dead person here. He is specially responsible for weighing the heart of the dead. He uses a fair scale to put the heart of the dead and the feather of truth on one side. If it is a wicked person, his heart will be heavier than the feather. Osiris will put the heart of such a person on it. In the deepest part of the water, let them live with Apophis in the city of the dead to cleanse their sinful souls. If it is a kind person, his heart will be lighter than a feather, then Osiris will give this kind of person's heart to Thoth, the god of wisdom and magic, and let Thoth put it back into the owner's chest. , even if the master dies, he can go to another world, where he can see his soul, and kind people will live forever.

In the ninth and tenth kingdoms of night, there were various gods, monsters and beasts blocking the progress of the sun ship, but they were all defeated by Ra and his followers. They soon came to the eleventh kingdom. This is the kingdom ruled by the god Ra. Horus, the son of Osiris, lit fires everywhere, illuminating the sun ship. The enemies of Ra were all destroyed in the fire.

At the twelfth o'clock, the darkness was about to pass and the light was about to come. They walked out of the python's cave. At this time, the sun god was in the shape of a beetle, called "Kepela". At the last doorway stood Isis, the wife of Osiris, and Nepzis, the wife of Seth. They turned into snakes and entered the solar boat with Ra. Now Ra is walking toward the dawn again, and he is lifted up by Nut, the goddess of the sky. When the Sun God left the River Styx, the souls of the dead cried loudly.

The legend of Osiris and Isis

Osiris was originally the god of water, land and fertility. He brought benefits to mankind. He was in charge of the Nile water, land and The growth of plants created a rich harvest of food for the Nile people. Later, Osiris was persecuted to death by his brother Seb, and was adopted by the gods as the king of Hades, so he was more regarded as the god of Hades. In ancient Egypt, people also worshiped Osiris very much. Later, his status was almost equal to that of the sun god. On the one hand, Egypt would hold a commemorative ceremony every year when the Nile water fell to mourn the death of Osiris. They would symbolically kill the god and then celebrate his resurrection. The purpose of doing this was to hope that the plants would grow next year. There will be a good harvest and disasters will be avoided. It is said that this is because the people of the Elo River regard this god who symbolizes fertility, lush plants and the development of all things as the cause of the changes in the seasons. If the god is hurt or dies, the river will dry up, the land will be barren, and the plants will wither; but when the god is resurrected, the Nile will have sufficient water, the land will be fertile, and all things will be alive. This ceremony shows the ancient Egyptians' naive understanding of the mysterious and unpredictable natural society. It reflects the eagerness of ancient humans to conquer nature.

On the other hand, Osiris is also very important as the god of the underworld, which is related to the religious beliefs of the ancient Egyptians.

The Egyptians believed that all things had animism, and they were particularly concerned about people's survival. Unlike other ethnic groups, the Egyptians believe that there is still life after death, and life after death is as important as life before death. Only by completing a continuation of life before death and after death can a person achieve ultimate peace, and a person's life is considered whole. Therefore, there are many myths and legends about Hades in Egypt. Since Hades rules over all dead people, the people of Hades, Osiris, as Lord of Hades, has a divine status. Whether they are pharaohs, princes, nobles, or lower-class civilians, Egyptians all hope to receive the favor of Hades after their death, which is why Egypt has huge pyramids, exquisite mummies, and the "Book of the Dead" for the dead to read. wait.

However, whether he is the god of fertility or the god of Hades, Osiris is always his wife Isis's spouse and companion. Isis is also a fertility god and a famous Egyptian witch. She and Osiris are an important pair of agricultural fertility gods. After Osiris became the king of Hades, she also lived in the kingdom of Hades with her husband and became its queen. The story about this couple is the most vivid and interesting myth after the legend of Ra. Osiris is even regarded as the successor of Ra.

According to legend, when Osiris was born, a voice came from the sky saying that he would become the Lord of all things. When the god Ra grew old, he handed over the rule of the earth to Osiris and ascended to heaven himself. Osiris sat on the throne of Egypt and became its ruler. When he succeeded to the throne, Egypt was still very backward and humans were in a barbaric state. They mainly hunted, and tribes often fought wars and killed each other. Osiris began to govern the country. It is said that he formulated laws, calmed tribal disputes, and improved the living conditions of the people, so Egypt became a peaceful and unified country. As the queen of Osiris, Isis sensed the needs of mankind, so she gathered wild barley wheat and gave it to her husband. Osiris taught mankind how to cultivate land, sow food, and plant fruit trees to make plants grow in the wasteland. With these things done, the Egyptian people stopped fighting and began to live a happy and beautiful life. When Egypt was prosperous, Osiris wanted to travel around the world. During his absence, he handed over the kingship to his wife Isis. But not long after Osiris left, his brother Seth came to the palace. Seth is a well-known evil god. He was very dissatisfied with his brother's outstanding achievements, so he fomented rebellion and provoked hostility in the country. However, the goddess Isis had a higher status than Seth after all, and she quickly defeated his plans. conspiracy. So Set began to plot to persecute Osiris with his seventy-two followers. These seventy-two followers were all assistants of the conspiratorial queen of Ethiopia. Set had killed Osiris several times before, but was resurrected each time by the magical goddess Isis. This time he came up with a plan. When he returned from abroad with Osiris, he invited his brother to his residence. He was going to hold a grand welcome banquet for Osiris. Originally, Isis refused to let her husband attend, but Osiris saw that his brother was very sincere, so he insisted on going. Not long after the banquet began, Seth took out an extremely beautiful box and said that he would give the box to whoever happened to be lying down in it. The people attending the banquet were very happy about this, and they all wanted to get this exquisite box, so everyone lay down to try it, but no one lay down just right. At this time it was Osiris's turn to try. He was not interested in the box, but everyone wanted to know if he could fit it. Impatient, Osiris walked into the box. The strange thing was that his body just happened to be placed in the box. Everyone There was cheering, but when he was about to come out, Seth quickly closed the lid, nailed the box tightly with nails, and welded it with lead, and Osiris died quickly inside. Then Seth ordered his followers to carry the box away, and according to Seth's order, they quietly threw the box into the Nile. When Isis learned that her husband had been killed, she was devastated. She made a vow to find her husband's body. She cut off a bunch of her hair, put on mourning clothes, and began to search for her husband. She passed many places, but no one saw the box. Finally she came to the seaside and saw a child. The child told her that he had seen the box floating down the Nile into the sea. Taking advantage of Isis's search for a husband, Seth seized the throne. As soon as he came to power, the Egyptian people were oppressed. His cruel rule made the people's lives difficult. And Isis became the target of Seth, who ordered that no one should accept or protect her. So Isis's situation became even more difficult. At this time, she received the help of the magical seven scorpions, and the god Ra sent the "guide" Anubis. Once, Isis came to a poor woman's house and saved the woman's child so that she could stay in the house. Soon Isis gave birth to another son, Horus. When Seth found out, he tried every possible means to capture them, leaving them nowhere to hide. Later, Seth killed Horus, and with the help of the god Isistra and the god of wisdom, Thos, he brought his beloved son back to life. When the coffin of Osiris drifted to the beach of Byblos in Syria, a sacred tree grew from there. The king there saw that the tree grew very fast and became thick and large, so he had it cut down to build the palace. column. Because of the revelation from God, Isis went to Syria to find her husband. The queen saw that Isis was smart and cute, so she made her the child's nanny. Isis liked the child very much and wanted to make him immortal, so she ordered him to be burned in the fire. The queen was very angry when she saw it, so Isis had to resurrect the child, but he could not live forever. Later, Isis regained her goddess form and asked the king to give her the sacred pillar. The king agreed to her request.

So she dug out the box from the pillar, wrapped it in cloth, and smeared it with "myrrh". Later, the king ordered his subordinates to build a temple for Isis and put the sacred pillar inside. For many years, Byblos People have been worshiping at this temple. When Isis was about to leave Syria, the king gave her his son, and they set off together. Halfway through, Isis wanted to see her dead husband again, so she opened the box and kissed her cold husband passionately. Prince Byblos wanted to peek at the contents of the box, but was stabbed to death by Isis's light. When Isis hid the chest in the jungle to retrieve it from Buto's son, Seth discovered the chest and cut Osiris's body into fourteen pieces and threw it into the Nile. Isis went through a difficult journey to find her husband's body. Finally she found all the body parts and built a grave where they were found. Later, people built temples on the tomb, and for many years, people worshiped Osiris and Isis in these temples.

The myth also says that when Horus, the son of Osiris and Isis, grew up, in order to avenge his father, he went through many life-and-death confrontations with Seth, but the outcome was never decided. He made a judgment and made Horus king of Egypt. There are also myths saying that the gods Ra and Horus ruled Egypt.

According to another myth, when the body of Osiris was found by Isis, she was so sad that she cried loudly. The cry was heard by the god Ra, so he sent the god Anubis down to earth. , connected the body parts of Ossis and wrapped them in cloth. This is the origin of mummy. Then Isis used her magic power to revitalize Osiris, and the gods took him up to heaven and made him king of the underworld.