| Egyptian Creation Myth
Adapted by Ms. du Brul
In the beginning, there was only water and chaos. Out of the unformed matter came a single, powerful will that shaped himself out of the waters. This will became Ra-Atum, the sun god, whose blinding rays dried the waters and he emerged atop a mound of hardened sand, the first lands. But he was alone in the universe and desired helpmates, so he rubbed his powerful member and ejaculated onto the sand. Ra-Atum mixed the sand with his own fluid and created Tefnut and Shu, the gods of wetness and dryness. In this way, Ra-Atum separated the land from the water.
Where the surf mixed with land, Tefnut and Shu combined their forces and begat Geb, the earth-god and Nut, the goddess of the sky. In this way, the earth was separated from the heavens. Together, Geb and Nut produced four children: two sons whom they called Osiris and Seth and two daughters whom they called Isis and Nephthys. Osiris was the favored son, and when he took Isis as his wife, Osiris became the first King of Egypt. Seth burned with jealousy as he witnessed the favor his brother enjoyed. Seth desired to be King of Egypt and take Isis as his wife. So Seth lured his brother Osiris to the banks of the Nile where he promptly murdered him and hacked his body into a thousand pieces. Seth scattered the pieces of Osiris’ body all along the length and breadth of the Nile. Then Seth snatched the throne for himself and declared himself the King of Egypt.
Isis, fearing for herself and the fate of Egypt, enlisted the help of her sister to gather the remains of Osiris to avenge her husband’s death. The two sisters traveled along the length and breadth of the Nile gathering the thousand pieces of Osiris. Anubis, the jackal, led the sisters to the pieces. The sisters gathered flax from the river bank to weave cloth strips to bind the body together. The body was almost complete, but missing its male member. Anubis spotted the godhead in the Nile, but Seth sent a hippopotamus to snatch the penis so the body could not be completed and Seth would remain King of Egypt. Upon hearing the news, Isis fashioned a new penis from the mud of the river bank and mounted the body of her husband. Isis conceived and bore a son whom she called Horus. Isis hid Horus in the reeds of the river until he became a man.
When Horus became a man, he emerged from the reeds of Nile and challenged Seth. A great battle ensued that wracked heaven and earth, but goodness prevailed and Horus defeated Seth. Seth’s spirit was banished to the underworld where he would rule over the souls of the dead. Horus took the crown of Egypt and became the first Pharaoh and established the First Dynasty.
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