Don't Know Much About Mythology - Kenneth C. Davis [25]
That myths reflect so many aspects of the human condition—our history, our innermost thoughts, our best and worst behavior, an acceptable code of conduct—makes trying to fit them into one neat theoretical framework impossible. It is like trying to make many different people wear a single suit of clothes. There are just too many sizes and shapes for that to work.
Needless to say, for thousands of years, the myths that have organized human civilizations and given faith to worshippers across all time are clearly something greater than a collection of compelling stories about dysfunctional gods, flawed heroes, sex-crazed tricksters, or primeval monsters lurking in the closets of our minds.
Heady stuff. It may be wise to remember the words of American humorist James Thurber, who once wrote: “It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers.”
CHAPTER TWO
GIFT OF THE NILE
The Myths of Egypt
Hail to you gods…
On that day of the great reckoning.
Behold me, I have come to you,
Without sin, without evil,
Without a witness against me,
Without one whom I have wronged….
Rescue me, protect me,
Do not accuse me before the great god!
I am one of pure mouth, pure of hands.
—The Book of the Dead
(c. 1700–1000 BCE)
Creator uncreated
Sole one, unique one, who traverses eternity,
Remote one, with millions under his care;
Your splendor is like heaven’s splendor.
—First Hymn to the Sun God
(c. 1411–1375 BCE)
Egypt was old, older than any culture known at the time. It was already old when the political policy of the future Roman Empire was being formed in the first meetings on the Capitoline Hill. It was already old and blighted when the Germans and Celts of the north European forest were still hunting bears. When the First Dynasty came into power about five thousand years ago…marvelous cultural forms had already been evolved in the land of the Nile. And when the Twenty-sixth Dynasty died out, still five hundred years separated European history from our era. The Libyans ruled the land, then the Ethiopians, the Assyrians, the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans—all before the star shone over the stable at Bethlehem.
—C. W. CERAM, Gods,
Graves and Scholars (1951)
How did myths “rule” in ancient Egypt?
Why was Egypt the “gift of the Nile”?
What do we know about Egyptian myth and how do we know it?
Who was the first family of Egyptian myth?
How does “creation by masturbation” work?
Who was Re?
Which god became Egypt’s lord of the dead?
Who was Egypt’s most significant goddess?
What did Christians think of Isis?
What was the “weighing of the heart”?
Who’s Who of Egyptian Myths
Why are there so many animals—real and imaginary—in Egypt’s myths?
What did the pyramids have to do with the gods?
What’s so great about the “Great Pyramid”?
What is an Egyptian pyramid doing on the U.S. dollar bill?
Was the ruler of Egypt always a pharaoh?
Did a pharaoh inspire Moses to worship one god?
Does Egyptian myth matter?
MYTHICAL MILESTONES
Egypt
All dates are BCE, Before the Common Era. Egyptian history covers thousands of years, and while the order of kings is reasonably well established, many precise dates are more problematic and are often approximated. Many of the dates in this chronology are drawn from The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt.
5000 to 4001 The Egyptian calendar is devised, regulated by sun and moon; 360 days; divided into twelve 30-day months.
4000 Sails are used.
3300 First walled towns are built.
3200 Earliest hieroglyphic script appears.
Early Dynastic Period c. 3100–2686
3100 King Narmer/Menes (?) unites Upper and Lower Egypt.
Memphis is founded as the capital of unified Egypt.
Beginning of systematic astronomical observations in Egypt.
3050 Introduction of the 365-day calendar.