Legends of the Gods | Page 6

Ra, the Sun-god, who was not, however, the first of the
Dynasty of Gods who ruled the land. His predecessor on the throne was
Hephaistos, who, according to Manetho, reigned 9000 years, whilst Ra
reigned only 992 years; Panodorus makes his reign to have lasted less
than 100 years. Be this as it may, it seems that the "self-created and
self-begotten" god Ra had been ruling over mankind for a very long
time, for his subjects were murmuring against him, and they were
complaining that he was old, that his bones were like silver, his body
like gold, and his hair like lapis-lazuli. When Ra heard these
murmurings he ordered his bodyguard to summon all the gods who had
been with him in the primeval World-ocean, and to bid them privately
to assemble in the Great House, which can be no other than the famous
temple of Heliopolis. This statement is interesting, for it proves that the
legend is of Heliopolitan origin, like the cult of Ra itself, and that it
does not belong, at least in so far as it applies to Ra, to the Predynastic
Period.
When Ra entered the Great Temple, the gods made obeisance to him,
and took up their positions on each side of him, and informed him that
they awaited his words. Addressing Nu, the personification of the
World- ocean, Ra bade them to take notice of the fact that the men and
women whom his Eye had created were murmuring against him. He
then asked them to consider the matter and to devise a plan of action

for him, for he was unwilling to slay the rebels without hearing what
his gods had to say. In reply the gods advised Ra to send forth his Eye
to destroy the blasphemers, for there was no eye on earth that could
resist it, especially when it took the form of the goddess Hathor. Ra
accepted their advice and sent forth his Eye in the form of Hathor to
destroy them, and, though the rebels had fled to the mountains in fear,
the Eye pursued them and overtook them and destroyed them. Hathor
rejoiced in her work of destruction, and on her return was praised by Ra,
for what she had done. The slaughter of men began at Suten-henen
(Herakleopolis), and during the night Hathor waded about in the blood
of men. Ra asserted his intention of being master of the rebels, and this
is probably referred to in the Book of the Dead, Chapter XVII., in
which it is said that Ra rose as king for the first time in Suten- henen.
Osiris also was crowned at Suten-henen, and in this city lived the great
Bennu bird, or Phoenix, and the "Crusher of Bones" mentioned in the
Negative Confession.
The legend now goes on to describe an act of Ra, the significance of
which it is difficult to explain. The god ordered messengers to be
brought to him, and when they arrived, he commanded them to run like
the wind to Abu, or the city of Elephantine, and to bring him large
quantities of the fruit called tataat. What kind of fruit this was is not
clear, but Brugsch thought they were "mandrakes," the so-called
"love-apples," and this translation of tataat may be used provisionally.
The mandrakes were given to Sekti, a goddess of Heliopolis, to crush
and grind up, and when this was done they were mixed with human
blood, and put in a large brewing of beer which the women slaves had
made from wheat. In all they made 7,000 vessels of beer. When Ra saw
the beer he approved of it, and ordered it to be carried up the river to
where the goddess Hathor was still, it seems, engaged in slaughtering
men. During the night he caused this beer to be poured out into the
meadows of the Four Heavens, and when Hathor came she saw the beer
with human blood and mandrakes in it, and drank of it and became
drunk, and paid no further attention to men and women. In welcoming
the goddess, Ra, called her "Amit," i.e., "beautiful one," and from this
time onward "beautiful women were found in the city of Amit," which
was situated in the Western Delta, near Lake Mareotis.[FN#15] Ra also

ordered that in future at every one of his festivals vessels of
"sleep-producing beer" should be made, and that their number should
be the same as the number of the handmaidens of Ra. Those who took
part in these festivals of Hathor and Ra drank beer in very large
quantities, and under the influence of the "beautiful women," i.e., the
priestesses, who were supposed to resemble Hathor in their physical
attractions, the festal celebrations degenerated into drunken and
licentious orgies.

[FN#15] It was also