Through the Eras

Literaturehe transforms into a bull. The story is probably an accountof the origins of the bull-god, Bata.TRUTH AND FALSEHOOD. The Nineteenth-dynastystory Truth and Falsehood, preserved on one papyrus inLondon, describes a dispute between two brothers withthese obviously allegorical names. Truth accuses Falsehoodof stealing his dagger. Falsehood convinces a courtconsisting of the nine major gods that this charge is untrue.The court blinds Truth as punishment for thecharge. Truth’s son, however, eventually avenges him byarguing before the same court that Falsehood has stolenthe son’s ox. When the son wins this case, Falsehood ispunished and Truth is compensated for his previous unjustconviction.SOURCESMiriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature. 3 vols.(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1973–1980).William K. Simpson, ed., The Literature of Ancient Egypt(New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1972).SEE ALSO Philosophy: Teaching Philosophy; Religion:Magic in Egyptian ReligionKHAEMWASESIGNIFICANTPEOPLEin LiteratureEarly Nineteenth Dynasty (about 1290–1279B.C.E.)–Nineteenth Dynasty (before 1213 B.C.E.PrincePriestFOURTH SON. Khaemwase was the fourth son ofRamesses II and the second son of Queen Istnofret, asecondary wife. He thus held high rank among Ramesses’115 children. Khaemwase was probably born while hisgrandfather, Sety I, was still king (1290–1279 B.C.E.).As a boy of about five, he accompanied his father onmilitary campaigns in Lower Nubia to the south ofEgypt. He also followed his father to war as a teenager.But Khaemwase had interests other than war.PRIEST. Khaemwase became a priest of the god Ptahin Memphis when he was in his twenties, in Year 16 ofhis father’s reign, about 1263 B.C.E. Among his first dutiesas priest was to supervise the burial of the Apis bull.The Apis bull was an animal born with particular markingsand considered especially sacred to the god Ptah.There was only one Apis bull at a time. Khaemwase supervisedthe bull’s burial in 1263 B.C.E. and again inYear 30 of his father’s reign, about 1249 B.C.E. For laterbulls, he built a special burial-place called the Serapeum.This new burial place developed over time into an extensivebuilding full of hallways and chambers leadingin multiple directions like a maze. The building was inuse for nearly one thousand years until King Nectanebobuilt a new burial place for the Apis bull. But knowledgeof the Serapeum and Khaemwase’s role in it continuedto fascinate readers during the time whenDemotic literature flourished. The fact that Khaemwasewas also buried in the Serapeum must have added topopular interest in him later.FICTIONAL KHAEMWASE. A thousand years after hisdeath, Khaemwase was the main character in two importantDemotic stories. In Khaemwase and Naneferkaptah,Khaemwase steals a magic book fromNaneferkaptah, the man charged by the god Ptah toguard it. After an attempt to win the book in a game,Khaemwase ran away with it. Ghosts then pursued him,he lost his good name, and finally his father RamessesII convinced him to return the book. In Khaemwase andhis son Si-Osiri, Khaemwase and his wife’s much desired,long-awaited son turns out to be a magical spirit. As aboy he is a skilled magician. Later in life during a contestwith another magician, Si-Osiri disappears. Finally,Khaemwase’s real son is born. These lively tales preservedetailed legends, perhaps inspired or at least sustainedby knowledge of the Serapeum.SOURCESK. A. Kitchen, Pharaoh Triumphant: The Life and Times ofRamesses II (Warminster, England: Aris and PhillipsLtd., 1982).PTAHHOTEPfl. Fifth Dynasty (2500–2350 B.C.E.)StatesmanPrime ministerPRIME MINISTER. At least five men during the FifthDynasty bearing the name Ptahhotep served as primeminister. They were probably related, but the relationshipsamong these men are unclear. Somehow, the nameof these viziers was associated with an important teaching,The Teachings of Ptahhotep, composed in the TwelfthDynasty (1938–1759 B.C.E.), approximately 600 yearslater. Though most Egyptian literature is anonymous,when an author is named, the relationship is often fic-148 Arts and Humanities Through the Eras: Ancient Egypt (2675 B.C.E.–332 B.C.E.)