Legends of Babylon and Egypt in Relation to Hebrew Tradition.pdf

ulers, a myth that goes back at least to the Old Kingdom and may have had its origin in prehistoric times. With the
rise of Thebes, Amen inherited the prerogatives of Ra; and so Hatshepsut seeks to show, on the north side of the
retaining wall of her temple's Upper Platform, that she was the daughter of Amen himself, "the great God, Lord of the
sky, Lord of the Thrones of the Two Lands, who resides at Thebes". The myth was no invention of her own, for
obviously it must have followed traditional lines, and though it is only employed to exhibit the divine creation of a
single personage, it as obviously reflects the procedure and methods of a general Creation myth.
[1] See Breasted, /Zeitschrift fur Aegyptische Sprache/, XXXIX, pp. 39 ff., and /History of Egypt/, pp. 356 ff.
This series of sculptures shared the deliberate mutilation that all her records suffered at the hands of Thothmes III after
her death, but enough of the scenes and their accompanying text has survived to render the detailed interpretation of
the myth quite certain.[1] Here, as in a general Creation myth, Amen's first act is to summon the great gods in council,
in order to announce to them the future birth of the great princess. Of the twelve gods who attend, the first is Menthu,
a form of the Sun-god and closely associated with Amen.[2] But the second deity is Atum, the great god of Heliopolis,
and he is followed by his cycle of deities--Shu, "the son of Ra"; Tefnut, "the Lady of the sky"; Keb, "the Father of the
Gods"; Nut, "the Mother of the Gods"; Osiris, Isis, Nephthys, Set, Horus, and Hathor. We are here in the presence of
cosmic deities, as befits a projected act of creation. The subsequent scenes exhibit the Egyptian's literal interpretation
of the myth, which necessitates the god's bodily presence and personal participation. Thoth mentions to Amen the
name of queen Aahmes as the future mother of Hatshepsut, and we later see Amen himself, in the form of her
husband, Aa-kheperka-Ra (Thothmes I), sitting with Aahmes and giving her the Ankh, or sign of Life, which she
receives in her hand and inhales through her nostrils.[3] God and queen are seated on thrones above a couch, and are
supported by two goddesses. After leaving the queen, Amen calls on Khnum or Khnemu, the flat-horned ram- god,
who in texts of all periods is referred to as the "builder" of gods and men;[4] and he instructs him to create the body of
his future daughter and that of her /Ka/, or "double", which would be united to her from birth.
[1] See Naville, /Deir el-Bahari/, Pt. II, pp. 12 ff., plates xlvi ff.
[2] See Budge, /Gods of the Egyptians/, Vol. II, pp. 23 ff. His chief cult-centre was Hermonthis, but here as elsewhere
he is given his usual title "Lord of Thebes".
[3] Pl. xlvii. Similar scenes are presented in the "birth-temples" at Denderah, Edfu, Philae, Esneh, and Luxor; see
Naville, op. cit., p. 14.
[4] Cf. Budge, op. cit., Vol. II, p. 50.
The scene in the series, which is of greatest interest in the present connexion, is that representing Khnum at his work
of creation. He is seated before a potter's wheel which he works with his foot,[1] and on the revolving table he is
fashioning two children with his hands, the baby princess and her "double". It was always Hatshepsut's desire to be
represented as a man, and so both the children are boys.[2] As yet they are lifeless, but the symbol of Life will be held
to their nostrils by Heqet, the divine Potter's wife, whose frog-head typifies birth and fertility. When Amenophis III
copied Hatshepsut's sculptures for his own series at Luxor, he assigned this duty to the greater goddess Hathor,
perhaps the most powerful of the cosmic goddesses and the mother of the world. The subsequent scenes at Deir el-
Bahari include the leading of queen Aahmes by Khnum and Heqet to the birth- chamber; the great birth scene where
the queen is attended by the goddesses Nephthys and Isis, a number of divine nurses and midwives holding several of
the "doubles" of the baby, and favourable genii, in human form or with the heads of crocodiles, jackals, and hawks,
representing the four cardinal points and all bearing the gift of life; the presentation of the young child by the goddess
Hathor to Amen, who is well pleased at the sight of his daughter; and the divine suckling of Hatshepsut and her
"doubles". But these episodes do not concern us, as of course they merely reflect the procedure following a royal birth.
But Khnum's part in the princess's origin stands on a different plane, for it illustrates the Egyptian myth of Creation by
the divine Potter, who may take the form of either Khnum or Ptah. Monsieur Naville points out the extraordinary
resemblance in detail which Hatshepsut's myth of divine paternity bears to the Greek legend of Zeus and Alkmene,
where the god takes the form of Amphitryon, Alkmene's husband, exactly as Amen appears to the queen;[3] and it
may be added that the Egyptian origin of the Greek story was traditionally recognized in the ancestry ascribed to the
human couple.[4]