I invite you to meet several egyptian myths, where the culture of Egypt stands out, a society that was formed in ancient times and today has a lot of information left to humanity. Egyptian society begins in the Neolithic period and over the years has had many stories and legends that have transformed it into a mythological culture that many people are passionate about. Keep reading and learn more about Egyptian myths!
egyptian myths
The Egyptian civilization is one of the non-European cultures that has aroused many surprises and interests in the world population due to its Egyptian myths, since it has been a civilization of the ancient world that has great mythological legends that have endured through time.
That is why Egyptian myths, as time has passed, have been transformed into a set of beliefs that have acquired great relevance and fascination within the territories that surround the Mediterranean Sea and other countries. Being Egypt a land of pharaohs and mummies that had a great empire, it enjoys many Egyptian myths that have tried to give an explanation and vision of the world.
That is why throughout the article we will tell you the main Egyptian myths that try to explain the vision of the world according to the Egyptians. Exploring a bit about the culture that the Egyptians built on in order to build a powerful empire in the ancient world.
The Myth of the Creation of the World
One of the most related Egyptian myths is that of the creation of the world, it is said that at the beginning of time there were only large masses of murky waters that were completely covered by dark darkness. But this darkness did not resemble night, since it had not yet been created. All that was the infinite ocean that the Egyptians knew as the primordial ocean Nun.
This infinite ocean contained within itself all the elements of the cosmos. But being all there together the earth and the sky did not exist yet. In the same way there were no gods or men. There was neither life nor death, the spirit of the world was scattered and wandering in an immense chaos.
Until at one point the spirit of the world called itself becoming aware and in this way the first Egyptian God was born, known as the God Ra. When the God Ra felt alone in the world he decided to create from his breath Shu the God of the wind.
After his saliva he decided to create Tefnut who is going to be the goddess who embodies moisture and ordered them to live in the extreme primordial ocean Nun. Then the God Ra caused a large dry space to emerge from the ocean so that he could rest in that space, the God Ra called it Earth.
That Earth that the God Ra made emerge named Egypt and as it emerged from the waters of the primordial ocean, Nun lived thanks to the waters. In this way, the God Ra decided that those waters were on earth, that is how the imposing Nile River was born.
In this way the God Ra was creating many things among the main ones was the vegetation and all the living beings that he made from the Nun in this way the God Ra was filling the emptiness that was on Earth. While all this was happening, Shu and Tefnut were the procreators of two sons who were named Geb, who would be the God of the Earth, and Nut, who would be the Goddess of the Sky.
After Geb and Nut grew up they married, in this way the sky lay on the earth copulating with him God of the earth. Shu who was jealous of this situation decided to curse them and thus separated them holding the sky on his head and shoulders, while he used his feet to hold the earth.
There is another version of these Egyptian myths where Geb with Nut, being always together, there was no space for the God Ra to continue making his creation, that's why he asked Shu to separate his children. In this way Shu supports Nut on his head and shoulders. From that moment the wind lies between the sky and the Earth. But he could not allow Nut to have daughters who were the stars, thus giving rise to the celestial vault.
The God Ra had no knowledge of what was happening with Geb and Nut, so he sent one of his eyes to find Shu and Tefnut so that they would tell him what was happening. But that eye never found what he was looking for. That is why he decided to go back to look for the God Ra.
When this eye returns to where the God Ra is, he realized that another eye had been born and this one took its place. This eye became very sad and began to cry. Until the God Ra placed it on his forehead, in this way the Sun was created. From the tears that the eye shed, these fell on earth and from there the first men and women were born, who populated Egypt.
Every morning the God Amun Ra traveled the sky mounted on a boat that moved on top of the Goddess Nut. Since she covered the cosmos dividing it into the waters of the firmament and the waters of the abyss. That boat in which the God Amun Ra traveled through the sky transporting himself towards the sun illuminated the entire firmament in a time of twelve hours that the Egyptians had done.
At night the Goddess Nut swallowed the sun, but it would be reborn again in the morning in this way the God Ra continued his way through the Duat, which is equivalent to the Egyptian hell. Where the God Ra had to cross through twelve doors, one for each hour of the night, these doors were each guarded by the serpent that was the enemy of the God Ra, who had the name Apep or Apophis in the Greek language.
The objective of the serpent was to put an end to the sun and the cosmic order if it crossed the Duat, but the sun always swallowed Nut and the next morning he will always be reborn and in this way the God Amun Ra sailed through the skies for another twelve hours giving thus at the birth of a new day.
The Legend of Sinuhe
It is one of the Egyptian myths that is found written in two of the Berlin papyri since it contains several fragments of the story, which was discovered and completed by the Egyptologist François Chabás in the year 1863. Although several parts of these have been found Egyptian myths in other papyri and in various ostraca which are shells.
Being one of the most outstanding Egyptian myths since the legend tells that Sinuhé was the treasurer of the king of Lower Egypt. He was also a great friend and an exemplary administrator of the king's lands and a true acquaintance of the king. For which Sinuhé came to say this phrase:
“I am a companion who follows his lord. Servant in the king's harem of the noble heiress of great favors the wife of king Senusret in Jenemsut; King Amenemhat's daughter, Neferu, the most honored."
The story is narrated in the first person where the color of the situation and the descriptions of all the places, customs and people of Egypt at that time are demonstrated.
That is why the protagonist Sinuhé is going to tell what happened to him, whether to enter into the conspiracies that happen inside the palace or some other external Egyptian myth antecedent. Since Sinuhé is sent to notify the son of the assassinated king, who is called Sesostris, who was at war against the Libyans, about the news.
But messengers reach the king's son first. While Sinuhé hides in order to hear what the messenger says to the king's son. He realizes that the king was assassinated by orders given by the king's son, in order to seize the throne.
Sinuhé, very scared by what he knew, leaves scared, since he believed that for not having discovered the plot he would be punished, he decides to flee from Egypt and takes the road to Retenu, currently Syria.
After long days of walking hungry and thirsty, he was found and surrounded by the Bedouins, who offered him help, shelter and food. The king of the Bedouins who was known as Amanuense, offered to stay after Sinuhé explained everything that happened to him.
The king offered him the hand of his daughter, with whom Sinuhé married and had two children. In addition to this he had several extensions of land. With that Sinuhé achieved fame and prestige. He was also recognized as a great warrior as one of King Amunenshi's generals challenged him to a duel and he won thanks to his audacity.
But time was passing and Sinuhé felt sad as he longed for his native Egypt. Every night Sinuhé prayed to be able to return to his country since he was old and wanted to die there. While in Egypt the king was Sesostris I, eldest son of the murdered pharaoh. But he had found himself in wars with his brothers to maintain power.
When the new pharaoh ascended the throne, he was informed about the situation that Sinuhé had, who was the most trusted man of the assassinated king. The new pharaoh sent for him to tell him that he could return because he knew of his innocence.
Sinuhé, being very happy, decided to share his wine with the people and return to Egypt to be received by the new Pharaoh. Pharaoh received Sinuhé very happily and made him his adviser, giving him a very beautiful house for him to live with his family. He likewise gave him a position in the pantheon of members of the royal family.
The Legend of Sinuhé is one of the Egyptian myths where we are told about what can happen if there is fear of judgment and suspicion and the desire to return to his homeland, although Sinuhé was able to work for a long time with the new pharaoh and fulfilled his desire to die in his native country with glory and honor.
The legend of Isis and the seven scorpions
Being one of the Egyptian myths that appeared written on the Metternich Stela, on a table that was found in the year 1828 in Alexandria. Currently this table is in the Metropolitan Museum of New York.
Being one of the Egyptian myths where the values of feeling, compassion, respect and gratitude are narrated, which are several elements that are always present in all Egyptian myths, it is the legend of Isis and the seven scorpions.
In this Egyptian myth it is said that the God Seth brother of the God Osiris was very envious of him since the God Osiris married the Goddesses Isis who was the ruler of Egypt. The goddess Isis had a son with the god Osiris named Horus. But since the God Seth hated the God Osiris a lot, he wanted to end his happiness.
For which he decided to make plans to separate this family. Although the Goddesses Isis and her son Horus hid, they were found by the God Seth who captured and locked them up.
The Egyptian God of Wisdom and Justice Toth, made the firm decision to help the God Isis and her son and sent seven magical scorpions which had the names of Tefen, Befen, Mestat, Matet, Petet, Mestefef and Tetet. These magical animals had the main objective of protecting them against evil.
The Goddess Isis and her son were able to escape from where they were locked up and fled together with the seven magical scorpions. Although they had to walk a long way to reach the city of Per-sui. There they ran into a woman by the name of Usert.
Seeing this woman in her great house, the Goddess Isis went to ask her for help. But the woman seeing the seven scorpions. She told the goddess Isis that she could not help her and refused her entry to her house. Since the lady was afraid of the seven scorpions.
After that event, the goddess Isis along with her son Horus had to keep walking, until they finally found a very poor lady, who gave them shelter and food in her house despite the fact that they carried the seven magical scorpions. The goddess together with her son received that great help from the poor lady and being safe.
The scorpions decided to take revenge for what Mrs. Usert did, which was to deny Goddess Isis and her son entry to her house. Therefore, during the night, the magical scorpions united all the poison in the tail of the magical scorpion named Tefen. This sneaked into the rich lady's house and stung her son.
This caused his son to nurse to death because of the poison he had in his body, in the same way the scorpion stimulated a great fire inside Mrs. Urset's house.
Mrs. Usert was so worried about what she experienced that she had to go out to get help so that her son would not die from the scorpion sting. It was so much that Mrs. Usert begged for help to her son, that these reached the ears of the Goddess Isis, who seeing that the child had no fault of what his mother did, ordered that the poison come out of the child's body with the help of his magic. She also ordered a hole to open in the sky and water to fall on the house to put out the fire.
Mrs. Usert's son immediately recovered from what he had, the woman who was very grateful and sorry for what she had done previously gave her entire fortune to the poor woman who had helped the goddess Isis and her son Horus.
The Lost Army of Cambyses II
The lost army of Cambyses II is one of the Egyptian myths that has caused the most intrigue among people, since how can an army of 50 thousand soldiers disappear in the Sahara Desert without leaving any trace. It is said that this Egyptian myth occurred in the year 524 BC when the Persian King Cambyses II had the purpose of growing his empire and had the objective of invading the city of Thebes, currently the city of Luxor, in Egypt. With the firm intention of bending the Oracle of the God Ra.
The Oracle was located in the Siwa Oasis, for this great campaign King Cambyses II made the decision to move 50 thousand soldiers but the story goes that the Desert swallowed them.
The story begins when King Cambyses II of Persia intended to conquer Egypt. But the Oracle of Siwa had already predicted that if anyone tried to conquer the territory of Egypt he would be damned. The Persian King made the decision to lead his 50 thousand soldiers through the Sahara Desert. In order to conquer and destroy the Oracle of Siwa.
But the army never reached Egypt, as it vanished when they were crossing the Sahara Desert. Although there is another version told by the desert djinns that those soldiers were turned into strange rock formations that can be seen in the distance of the white desert. While other sources claim that a large sandstorm caused his disappearance.
Pharaoh Djoser and the flood of the Nile
The Nile River has always been the first source of water and life in the Egyptian territory, since it provides most of the fresh water for that country. In this way, any variation or change that is made can cause a lack of water and this would be a great danger for the region. On the other hand, the floods that the Nile River has are very well received by the Egyptian population.
Legend has it that Pharaoh Dyoser was sitting on his throne very sad, silent and sad, since his people were in disgrace since seven years had passed and the flooding of the Nile River was insufficient for the population.
The water was not enough to irrigate the cultivated land and the reserves in the granaries were running out and this did not allow the people to feed themselves in the best way.
The months were passing and Pharaoh Dyoser was even more distressed. The people had nothing to eat. The peasants looked very sadly at the dry fields and the old people were already very weak and the children were crying from hunger. Even the offerings to the gods had to be stopped due to lack of food.
The pharaoh decided to ask for help from the prime minister and friend Impoteh who was a doctor, architect, astrologer and a great magician. Pharaoh went to his friend saying the following words:
"Our country is suffering from a serious situation - said the king addressing Imhotep -. If we don't find a solution we will starve. We must hurry and discover where the Nile is born to know what is the divine power responsible for the rise of the waters "
The prime minister left in search of an answer for which he went to the city of Heliopolis, there was the temple of Thoth. He was known as the God of wisdom and protector of the scribes. There the great magician dedicated himself to inquiring in the books that had information on the flooding of the Nile River and after having collected everything he could, he returned to the pharaoh's palace to tell him what he had found.
This indicated to the pharaoh that the Nile River was born on the Elephantine Island and was between two caves. That also there appeared the light that gave rise to all living beings in the world. These caverns were guarded by the God Jnum. This god is represented with the body of a man and the head of a ram. He is considered the creator of the primordial egg from which sunlight emerged.
The god Jnum was holding back the water outlets of the Nile River, so Pharaoh Dyoser decided to go to that island and pray to the god Jnum, but he was left without answers until sleep overcame him and he fell asleep. Pharaoh had a dream where the God Khnum appeared to him and asked him why he was so sad.
The pharaoh told him that he was worried because his people lacked water and food. The god Khnum replied that he was angry because not enough temples had been built even though he had provided various gifts and materials.
After the God jnum said this to the Pharaoh, he decided to open the doors to the waters of the Nile River, which was asleep in the form of a snake under his sandals. The pharaoh left the elephantine island making the following promise:
"My master builder Imhotep will build your temple on the island of the origin of the world and your sanctuary will forever guard the secret of the Nile's flood"
When Pharaoh Djoser awoke from sleep, he observed that the waters of the Nile River had increased and its great flow had risen. At the feet of the pharaoh was a tablet with a prayer dedicated to the God jnum that would later be engraved in the temples that were built in his name, as promised by pharaoh Dyoser.
Ra's secret name
One of the most relevant characteristics of Egyptian myths was the great importance given to names, because according to the beliefs of the Egyptian people, they gave great power to the person who bore that name and allowed them to know what that person was like.
That is why at birth the person should be given three names to the baby, but only one name was shared at the public level. One of the Egyptian myths in this article is aimed precisely at telling about the secret name of one of the main Egyptian gods: Ra.
It is told in this one of the best known Egyptian myths that at a time when the old God Ra was beginning to lose his faculties and divine powers and the rest of the gods were coveting to have his power.
The God Ra had multiple names. But there was a name that was not known to anyone and from this name the God Ra drew most of his divine power. That is why the Goddesses Isis wanted to know that hidden name of the God Ra in order to give the throne and the greatest power and gifts to her future son named Horus.
The goddess Isis having great wisdom planned a plan to be able to know the hidden name of the God Ra. For this, she began to collect the salivary effluvia of the God Ra and mixed them with earth, in this way the goddess Isis gave rise to the first cobras. After this she launched those animals where the God Ra walked.
One of those cobras that the Goddess Isis threw on the road managed to bite the God Ra and he became very ill. The goddess Isis offered to take care of him and heal him in exchange for him to tell her what his true name was hidden from him. The God Ra decided to accept such a proposal with the only condition that the Goddess Isis did not reveal it to anyone else, only to her future son named Horus.
This was something that the Goddess Isis accepted in a good way. Then the Goddess Isis made the poison come out of the body of the God Ra and he could recover his optimal health.
Being fully recovered from the God Ra, he was able to share the name with the Goddess Isis and with her future son Horus. Giving him great power and the future throne of Egypt.
The seven Hathors
The god Hathor is known in the Egyptian culture as the goddess of joy and love and is represented as the great celestial cow that gives rise to the world and everything that exists in the world. The Goddess Hathor had seven daughters who were known as the hathores, they were goddesses who appeared whenever a couple gave birth to a child and they were in charge of announcing the fate of the baby and that of the parents.
It is said that it is one of the oldest Egyptian myths where a pharaoh and his wife were unable to have children. That is why the woman felt very sad and Pharaoh prayed to the gods to give him the opportunity to impregnate his wife and thus have a son.
Until the day came and by magic the prayers that the pharaoh made to the gods came true, the wife became pregnant. Thus giving birth to a beautiful baby. Between the joy and the festivities that were held to celebrate the birth of the child, the seven hathores appeared to be able to announce the fate of the pharaoh's son as well as the rest of the other people who were in the enclosure.
When the seven hathores announced the fate of the pharaoh's son, he did not like what the goddesses had announced. Since it was written that the destiny of the pharaoh's son would be death and he would die at the hands of a dog, or a crocodile or a snake.
Pharaoh, to protect the life of his only son, ordered him to build a palace in the middle of the desert and thus hide his son from his terrible fate. The palace was far away and isolated from everything and there was no access to its entrance.
In this way, the pharaoh's son spent his entire childhood locked up in that palace that was hidden between the dunes and the marble walls with which it was made. But the son became rebellious since he wanted to know the world and one day when he was tired of so much loneliness, he told his father the pharaoh to give him a dog.
Although his father told him no on several occasions for fear that the prophecy of the seven hathors would come true. Although the pharaoh after thinking about it for several days said that a harmless dog would not hurt. That's why he gave her a beautiful puppy.
In this way, time passed and the young prince felt suffocated in the palace, which was like a golden prison. That is why the prince decided to escape from the palace with his dog. When he arrived in the city he realized that there was a beautiful princess locked in a tower. Her father had confined her to this place so he could keep her away from all her suitors.
Only the one who could reach the top of the tower in one great leap would have the joy of marrying the princess. The young prince steeled himself and decided to overcome the proposed challenge after several failed attempts he managed to overcome the challenge and reach the top of the tower. The princess's father, who was annoyed and intrigued by the young man's presence, agreed to let him marry his beautiful daughter.
After they were married at night, the young prince confessed to his beautiful wife who he was and what was the reason for his captivity and the destiny that the seven hathores had predicted for him. The story made the princess fall in love with the young man who took care of him and watched so that he was not attacked by these three animals.
On a hot night the young princess observed a snake climbing onto the bed she shared with the young prince. She took a stick and hit the snake hard on the head, killing it instantly. She then grabbed it and gave it to the dog to eat.
From that moment the dog changed its state and became very violent against the prince, something moved inside the dog that made him react that way. In one of those, when he was attacked by the dog, he had to jump into the river, there he found a greater danger there was a large crocodile but he was too old and tired to eat it.
It was said that the pharaoh's army wanted to kill him because of the prophecy, so he asked the young prince to help him deal with this mess and let him out of the water alive. After leaving the river he was again attacked by his dog with an even more violent attitude.
For which he defended himself by giving him a strong blow to the head killing him instantly. But the matter did not end there since the snake that had been eaten came out inside the but biting the young prince killing him instantly and in this way the prophecy of the seven hathors was fulfilled.
The death of Osiris
Probably one of the best known Egyptian myths today is the murder of the God Osiris. Then his resurrection and then the birth of his son the God Horus. It is one of the Egyptian myths that tells us about the problems that can arise in the family and murder as an instrument to achieve the desired power and the conflict that can be generated and lead to total chaos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcXEIGnQgkg
It is told in the Egyptian myth that Nut, who is known as the goddess of the sky, had four children, two females and two males. Osiris being the one who became the King of the dead. Her sister Isis was the Goddess of Fertility. Seth known as the god of brute force and Nephthys known as the lady of the house or protection.
The god Osiris became the King of all Egypt, being a very kind ruler and full of wisdom, he told his people how agricultural crops should be carried out. He also taught his people how they should worship the gods and gave them a set of laws with which they should govern his life.
Although Osiris was an excellent ruler he had an enemy within his house and he plotted to assassinate him, this enemy was his own brother known as Seth. So his brother decided to ally himself with other people who were dissatisfied with Osiris and wait for an opportunity to get rid of Osiris.
King Osiris decided to make a banquet and invited his brother Seth along with those people to eat. That was the opportune moment to assassinate King Osiris. Seth ordered to build an ark with the exact socks of King Osiris, so that he could easily fit in that place. Osiris tried each gift until he got to the ark and tried it on.
The conspirators, seeing that King Osiris was testing the ark, began to distract all the guests while Seth began to nail the ark to seal it and King Osiris died inside that ark.
After Osiris died inside the box, the conspirators decided to launch the ark into the Nile River. Seth announced that his brother King Osiris had died and he should occupy the throne, thus crowning himself king of Egypt.
The goddess Isis with the help of other gods recovered the body of Osiris that was in pieces, what the goddess Isis did was mummify him and from there he brought him back to life. At that moment he had relations with the goddess Isis with whom he became pregnant who would give birth to her son Horus.
When the god Osiris returns to life, he brought with him a great change which was to des being a God of life to link him with a deity that is linked to eternal life and to the preservation and guidance of the dead in the other world.
Of this same his son Horus had to face the God Seth for several time for the fight of the throne. This would bring a great multitude of conflicts where the God Horus would be the winner, who would obtain the legacy of his father.
The legend of the origin of the Egyptian calendar
It is one of the most outstanding Egyptian myths in Egyptian culture, because it is said that the Egyptian calendar had 360 days. At the time that the God Ra began to create the world. Geb and Nut were married against the consent of the god Ra. That is why the God Ra ordered Shu to separate them in this way, it was like the air came between the Earth and the sky, giving rise to the atmosphere.
But Nut was already pregnant with Geb and upon hearing this news the God Ra cast a curse on Nut. Which consisted of forbidding Nut to give birth during the 360 days that the Egyptian calendar conformed.
As Nut was already tired, she went to speak with the God Thoth of wisdom, he devised a plan to buy time. The god went to the moon god known as Khonsu. With this god she proceeded to place various bets on time to the moon and won several times. With this she managed to get more time to complete five days.
In this way it was that the goddess Nut used these days to be able to give birth to her children Osiris, Seth, Isis and Nephthys, of which Osiris would reach the position of his father.
The story of the eloquent peasant
Among the best known Egyptian myths is one that is dedicated to the people and the peasants, this was a story that was born in the times of the Middle Kingdom.
The Egyptian myth tells the legend of a peasant who was very poor but very honest and at the same time very hardworking. Which had his home with his family in the oasis of salt.
This peasant always had the need to leave his home to go sell the products that were produced on his farm. In one of those trips that he made, he had to go through a place where the lieutenant prohibited him from passing, warning him that this road was his property.
While the two discussed the problem, the animals that transported these products began to eat the fruits that belonged to the lieutenant. This is used by the lieutenant to keep those animals and merchandise they carry.
Before this situation, the peasant went to the city of Heliopolis. There was the representative of the pharaoh who he had was known as Rensi. The peasant explains what happened and protested the corrupt action of the lieutenant. The way in which the peasant protested caught the attention of the pharaoh's representative who came to listen to the peasant who had a great oratory.
Justice was finally served when the peasant was able to recover all his merchandise, but at the same time everything the lieutenant had was given to him and he became his slave for being corrupt.
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