There was only the Nun (Nile). Then Ra, the Sun god, was born from a flower that appeared on the surface of the water. Ra brought forth four children, the gods Shu and Geb, and the goddesses Tefnut and Nut. Shu and Tefnut became the atmosphere. They stood on Geb, who became Mother Earth, and raised up Nut, who became the sky. Ra, like the Sun, ruled over all. Geb and Nut later had two sons, Seth and Osiris, and two daughters, Isis and Nephthys.
Thus begins our Legends Page......
Cleopatra (The Last Pharoah):
Cleopatra (69-30 B.C.) is one character in Ancient Egyptian Mythology that has more misinformation spread about her than is imaginable! Firstly, Cleopatra was not Egyptian, she was Greek. Her family lived in Egypt for over 300 years, but her blood lineage was Greek, and that was how the Egyptians regarded her. (She was Macedonian by descent, and was the only person in her family to learn the Egyptian language). Secondly, all people remember her for was beauty, when in truth, she was a brilliant woman. She was fluent in nine languages, an advanced mathematician, and plotted with the best of them! As children, Cleopatra and her siblings witnessed the defeat of their guardian, Pompey, by Julius Caesar. According to Egyptian law, to ascend the throne Cleopatra was forced to have a consort, who was either a brother or a son. At 17 she was married to her younger brother (who was 12), Ptolemy XIII. Later, Cleopatra and her brother/husband Ptolemy XIII dueled over the throne. During all this turmoil, Julius Caesar left Rome for Alexandria in 48 BC. During his stay in the Palace, he received the most famous gift in history... an oriental carpet with the 22 year old Cleopatra wrapped in it. (She counted on Caesar's support to alienate Ptolemy XIII). With the arrival of Roman reinforcements, and after a few battles in Alexandria, Ptolemy XIII was defeated and killed. Caesar and Cleopatra became lovers, and she bore him a son, Caesarion. Another myth was that Caeser was in love with Cleopatra...in love with her money was more the case. Caesar's people, the Romans, were not too happy over this union or his politics, and he was assasinated. Rome's empire was then pulled into a tug-of-war between Mark Antony and Octavian. Cleopatra watched and waited, and when Mark Antony seemed to prevail, she supported him, became his lover, and bore him twins. Antony agreed to kill Cleopatra's sister so that she wouldn't have any challenges to her throne. He then went back to his wife. Mark Antony's alliance with Cleopatra angered Rome even more. The senators called her a sorceress, and accused her of all sorts of evil. The Romans became even more furious as Antony was giving away parts of their empire (Tarsus, Cyrene, Crete, Cyprus, and Palestine) to Cleopatra and their children. Octavian declared war on Cleopatra and Egypt lost. Octavian waited for over a year before he claimed Egypt as a Roman "province". He arrived in Alexandria and easily defeated Mark Antony. Antony asked to be taken to Cleopatra, where he committed suicide by falling on his own sword and he died in her arms. Cleopatra saw to it he was buried as a King. Defeated and alone, Cleopatra made her final move. Octavian led Cleopatra to believe that she was going to be disgracefully paraded through Rome as a slave in chains. Rather than be humiliated by Octavian, Cleopatra killed herself. It is said she let the bite of a deadly Asp (snake) take her life, this is conjecture...but, there were two small marks on her arm when her body was found. (Egyptian religion declared that death by snakebite would secure immortality, and so with this act, she achieved her dying wish...to not be forgotten). Cleopatra was only 39 when she died...the last ruling Pharoah. Sadly, after Cleopatra's death, Caesarion was strangled and the other children of Cleopatra were raised by Antony's wife, Octavia...Octavian's sister.
The Isis and Osiris Story:
The story of Isis and Osiris is a sad tale filled with all the classic drama containing love, devotion, betrayal, and revenge. In Ancient Egyptian royalty it was common for family members to wed. Seth, the evil one, was brother to both Isis and Osiris. Seth murdered Osiris by tricking him. Set arranged a large feast to which Osiris and a number of others were invited. At the height of the festivities Set produced a chest and announced that it would be given to whoever it fitted. All the guests tried the chest for size, but none fitted until Osiris stepped into it. Set immediately slammed the lid closed and sealed the chest with molten lead. The sealed chest was thrown into the Nile, killing Osiris. The chest washed up into some trees and bushes and a tree grew up around it, enclosing it in its trunk. The tree was then cut down and used as a pillar for the palace of King Byblos. Isis learned of the death of her beloved brother-husband and was beside herself with grief. Isis set out to find Osiris, found his body in the palace of King Byblos, and came there in disguise. Byblos saw her and begged her to take care of his child and Isis agreed. Isis grew quite fond of the child and decided to make him immortal. Every night she would throw the child onto her magical fires to burn away all that was mortal about him. Isis would turn herself into a swallow and fly around the pillar weeping for her spouse. Byblos came home one night and saw his child in the fires and blew them out. Isis became angry and informed the King now his child could never become immortal. The king apologized and asked what he could do to make amends, so Isis asked for the pillar and he let her have it. She took the pillar to the Nile and hid it. Isis then went to get help from her sister, Nephthys. While Isis was away Seth found Osiris and chopped his body into pieces, then he scattered them all over Egypt. Isis and her sister, Nephthys, found the pieces and in their grief were so sad they wailed loudly enough for Re, the father god, to have pity on them. He sent Anubis (Nephthys' son was Anubis) and Thoth to help. They mummified Osiris, and Isis changed into a kite (bird) and fanned breath into Osiris. Osiris lived long enough to impregnate Isis and she had a son, Horus the Younger. (there are several Horus characters in Egyptian Mythology) Osiris was not allowed to stay in the land of the living, and was sent to the underworld to serve as king, and to judge the souls of the dead. The next tale centers around Horus avenging his father's death and his war against Seth....
The War Between Horus and Seth:
Horus set out to wreck havoc upon Set and avenge his father's murder. They fought for three days and nights, and in his battle with Set, Horus lost his left eye, which signified the moon. The eye was healed by the god Thoth, and the restored eye, known as the "udjat" (see our Symbols Page), became a powerful amulet. Thoth finally came between them and took them into the court of justice. Set was judged guilty, sentenced to carry the barque (boat) that held the Sun across the sky, and he had to overcome the serpent of darkness that tried to eat the Sun every cycle. The decision to banish Seth came from a counsel of the gods, ruled by Re. While most of the gods agreed with Horus and his mother that Osiris' son was the rightful heir to the throne of Egypt, Re disagreed. Re believed that Horus was too young to hold such a powerful position, so the trial was stalemated for many years. The cunning of Isis finally brought the case to an end. Using her magic, Isis transformed herself into a beautiful young woman. Seth saw her with tears streaming down her face and he inquired as to what the matter was. Isis told a story not unlike the situation of herself and Horus, where an evil man had killed her husband and was trying to steal her family's belongings. Seth became angry at her plight, insisted that the evil man be destroyed, and that the young woman's son should inherit the family's estate. By his own words, Seth condemned himself, and lost the throne of Egypt.
More Coming.....
Credits:
Myth and Symbol in Ancient Egypt by R.T. Rundle Clark
Legends, Lies and Cherished Myths of World History by Richard Shenkman
Cleopatra (69-30 B.C.) is one character in Ancient Egyptian Mythology that has more misinformation spread about her than is imaginable! Firstly, Cleopatra was not Egyptian, she was Greek. Her family lived in Egypt for over 300 years, but her blood lineage was Greek, and that was how the Egyptians regarded her. (She was Macedonian by descent, and was the only person in her family to learn the Egyptian language). Secondly, all people remember her for was beauty, when in truth, she was a brilliant woman. She was fluent in nine languages, an advanced mathematician, and plotted with the best of them! As children, Cleopatra and her siblings witnessed the defeat of their guardian, Pompey, by Julius Caesar. According to Egyptian law, to ascend the throne Cleopatra was forced to have a consort, who was either a brother or a son. At 17 she was married to her younger brother (who was 12), Ptolemy XIII. Later, Cleopatra and her brother/husband Ptolemy XIII dueled over the throne. During all this turmoil, Julius Caesar left Rome for Alexandria in 48 BC. During his stay in the Palace, he received the most famous gift in history... an oriental carpet with the 22 year old Cleopatra wrapped in it. (She counted on Caesar's support to alienate Ptolemy XIII). With the arrival of Roman reinforcements, and after a few battles in Alexandria, Ptolemy XIII was defeated and killed. Caesar and Cleopatra became lovers, and she bore him a son, Caesarion. Another myth was that Caeser was in love with Cleopatra...in love with her money was more the case. Caesar's people, the Romans, were not too happy over this union or his politics, and he was assasinated. Rome's empire was then pulled into a tug-of-war between Mark Antony and Octavian. Cleopatra watched and waited, and when Mark Antony seemed to prevail, she supported him, became his lover, and bore him twins. Antony agreed to kill Cleopatra's sister so that she wouldn't have any challenges to her throne. He then went back to his wife. Mark Antony's alliance with Cleopatra angered Rome even more. The senators called her a sorceress, and accused her of all sorts of evil. The Romans became even more furious as Antony was giving away parts of their empire (Tarsus, Cyrene, Crete, Cyprus, and Palestine) to Cleopatra and their children. Octavian declared war on Cleopatra and Egypt lost. Octavian waited for over a year before he claimed Egypt as a Roman "province". He arrived in Alexandria and easily defeated Mark Antony. Antony asked to be taken to Cleopatra, where he committed suicide by falling on his own sword and he died in her arms. Cleopatra saw to it he was buried as a King. Defeated and alone, Cleopatra made her final move. Octavian led Cleopatra to believe that she was going to be disgracefully paraded through Rome as a slave in chains. Rather than be humiliated by Octavian, Cleopatra killed herself. It is said she let the bite of a deadly Asp (snake) take her life, this is conjecture...but, there were two small marks on her arm when her body was found. (Egyptian religion declared that death by snakebite would secure immortality, and so with this act, she achieved her dying wish...to not be forgotten). Cleopatra was only 39 when she died...the last ruling Pharoah. Sadly, after Cleopatra's death, Caesarion was strangled and the other children of Cleopatra were raised by Antony's wife, Octavia...Octavian's sister.
