Masterpieces of Ancient Egyptian Stories is a book in which author Montasser Thabet has compiled five ancient Egyptian stories, the Enchanted Prince, Horees the Shipwrecked Sailor, Sonoheit: The Returning Hero, Wenamoon’s Trip to the Levant, and The Brothers Bata and Anubis.
The author writes in his introduction that he compiled the stories from five ancient Egyptian papyri discovered in different periods. He has rewritten them in a regular form consisting of a beginning, events, and resolution.
The first story, the Enchanted Prince, tells the story of a prince who was born to King Ramses and Queen Nefertari who had waited for a long time for an heir to the throne. They ruled during the Ramesside era, when the priests of Amun hoped that there would be no heir to the throne so that they could gain power after the king died.
However, when Nefertari was visiting the goddess Hathor’s Temple, the goddess told her that she would bear a male heir to the throne and that she would bless her son. However, she warned her that after the son was born he should stay away from three animals, as they could threaten his life. These animals were dogs, snakes, and crocodiles.
After the boy, named Hetemsis, was born, his parents put him in a place that was isolated from the capital so that that they could protect him from danger. His father gave him a ring with his name on it. Then he saw a dog with one of the shepherds who visited the palace. The king warned him to be careful and told him the story of his birth.
Hetemsis then went with his cousin, Merenbetah, on a trip to modern-day Syria. On their journey they discovered that the local ruler had announced that whoever succeeded in reaching the balcony of his daughter, Princess Nour, would marry her. Hetemsis met the princess, fell in love with her, and won the contest.
At first her father did not believe that he was the son of the king of Egypt. Hetemsis showed him the king’s ring and he married the princess. When the couple returned to Egypt, his wife discovered a snake in the garden and killed it. The couple went to stay near a lake where there was a huge crocodile. She managed to kill it as well.
The end of the story was missing from the papyrus. But Thabet concludes that the couple lived happily ever after. This papyrus is in the British Museum in London and was written during the 19th Dynasty.
The second story in the book, Horees the Shipwrecked Sailor, is from the Middle Kingdom. Horees is sent on a sea voyage by King Senowsret III to discover a new passage to Africa. The king had also decreed that a new waterway be dug to connect the Nile to the Red Sea to replace the current one that was full of pirates and natural dangers.
When Horees was saying farewell to his family members, his mother-in-law told him that she had dreamed that he would face dangers during his trip. During his trip, his ship sank, and all the crew were drowned, but he managed to survive. He found himself on an island full of fruit trees ruled by a huge serpent that lived in a castle. He became friends with the serpent, who discovered that Horees was honest.
One day there was a storm on the island, and the snake panicked. He said he had had a family that was struck by lightning, leaving him alone on the island. Horees tried to go back home, but the serpent refused before finally accepting. While Horees was building a ship, he saw a ship coming from Egypt. He told the sailors what had happened to him and asked one of them to stay on the island.
The serpent insisted that Horees go with his men and said that the whole island would sink in the sea after Horees left it.
The story is about a shipwrecked sailor long before the novel Robinson Crusoe by UK author Daniel Defoe was written in 1719. It teaches people to be honest and trustworthy, according to Thabet, and also teaches people to love their country no matter how beautiful other places may be.
FURTHER STORIES: Sonoheit: The Returning Hero is the third story in the book.
Sonoheit was an Egyptian warrior, who, returning from a battle, overheard other warriors telling the king that he was a traitor who was trying to conspire against him. He fled from Egypt and went to Syria, where he told the king there what had happened. The Syrian king employed him.
Some years later, Sonoheit defeated an important enemy. The Syrian king rewarded him and made him his deputy. But Sonoheit wanted to return to Egypt no matter what the consequences were. He asked the Syrian king to write a message to the king of Egypt to explain what had happened to him and to ask his permission to return to his country.
The king of Egypt expressed his astonishment at Sonoheit’s leaving Egypt. He said that he had punished all those who had lied about him and welcomed Sonoheit back to his country. According to Thabet, the story teaches readers that it is not enough to be brave on the battlefield; a person should be brave in all aspects of life. Another lesson is that a person should fight for the welfare of his country.
Wenamoon’s Trip to the Levant is the fourth story in the book. It starts after the death of the New Kingdom King Ramses XI and the expulsion of the Hyksos, a foreign group, from Egypt by Ahmose. Egypt was split into two at the time. The northern part of the country was ruled by King Semendes, and its capital was Tanis, and the southern part was ruled by the high priest of Amun Re, and its capital was Thebes.
In the story, Wenamoon, a priest of Amun Re, is sent on a mission to the Levant to buy wood to build a boat for Amun Re. He is given a papyrus document by the high priest requesting a ship and protection on his journey, along with gold and silver give to those who help him.
On his way to the Levant, Wenamoon is advised to visit Byblos, but when he returns, he finds that the gold and silver have been stolen. Because Egypt was weakened by division at the time, neither the priests nor the king can help in the neighbouring countries.
Mengeet, the captain of the royal ship, helps Wenamoon on his quest. They find the ship belonging to the relatives of the thief as well as the silver and gold. Once they reach the Levant, the local ruler asks for documents proving their identity. Mengeet offers to go back to Egypt to get what the ruler requests.
While they are on their way back to Egypt, there is a storm that prevents them from resuming their journey, so they have to stay on a nearby island until the storm was over. A priest meets the thief there, who repents and gives him the gold. The royal ship then returns safely to Egypt to build the holy boat, and the high priest promotes Wenamoon as his deputy.
This papyrus is now in Moscow. The lesson of this story is that people should not wrong each other and should take precautions when going on a long journey. The most important lesson is that a country should be unified in order to be strong.
The fifth and last story, The Brothers Bata and Anubis, is about two brothers living during the 19th Dynasty. It is a mythological story that resembles the story of the Prophet Joseph in some details, according to Thabet. The two brothers in the story are orphans, and they own land and cattle. Bata is attached to three cows. Anubis decides to get married.
Anubis’ wife tries to seduce Bata, and when he refuses her, she tells his brother that Bata tried to seduce her. Anubis threatens his brother with a knife, but Bata prays to the god Re to judge them. Anubis is sure that his brother is innocent and asks him to come back home. But Bata refuses, telling his brother that he will stay in in the Levant, “hanging his heart” on the highest tree there so that no one can hurt him.
The gods want to reward Bata, so they create a beautiful girl and make her his wife. They warn him that she should stay away from the sea since this will cause trouble. One day, she decides to go for a swim in the sea. The sea falls in love with her and tries to swallow her but fails because the shore helps her out. In the middle of the struggle, a lock of her hair is pulled off her head and the sea takes it.
The lock floats in the water until it reaches the shores of Egypt. The king falls in love with it and orders his men to seek the women who the lock belonged to. After two attempts, they succeed in finding her, and the king makes her his queen.
Bata dies, but the three cows tell Anubis what has happened.
The papyrus is now in the British Museum in London. According to Thabet, the message of the story is that siblings should confide in each other.
PRESENTATION: Thabet narrates the stories in his book, doing an excellent job of describing the feelings of the characters and producing the atmosphere of the time in which each story was written.
He does a very good job in compiling ancient Egyptian stories so that modern Egyptians know that their forefathers were talented in writing them.
He takes readers into ancient Egypt, showing them the gardens of the palaces and the forests, and allowing them almost to smell their scents. They experience the sea storms as if they were sailors on the royal boats.
But the stories need to be shorter, even if Thabet’s versions justify the space they take.
There is one thing that all five stories have in common — all the heroes are patriotic. They love their country under all conditions, whether it is strong or weak. The value of yearning for their country will touch all readers today, especially Egyptian readers. It is a feeling that everyone can relate to.
It is a pity that the book is not illustrated with photographs of the original papyri, so that readers know what they look like. Perhaps the writer did not have direct access to them. The book is highly recommended for all those interested in Egyptology.
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