Reading Notes: Ancient Egyptian Myths and Stories

This week, I chose to read Ancient Egyptian Myths and Stories. I had a hard time at first keeping up with all the different names for the god Ra but eventually caught on. Immediately, I noticed the similarities between both the Egyptian gods, the Roman gods, the Greek gods, and even the Christian god. Just like how the Christians speak of three gods in one and the trinity, Ra has 3 different names; although, his correlated with the placement of the sun in the sky.

Ra

I was skeptical when I was reading the story about the reveal of Ra's secret name. Most of me was convinced that Isis was going to betray Ra in someway and instead of healing him she was going to let him die and use the power of his secret name to become the new ruler of all the gods. That could be an interesting, dark twist to the plot line to take it in that direction. I also was bummed in that story that we didn't get to know what the actual secret name for Ra was. However, it did keep the master and intrigue going.

One section of the story confused me a lot. In The Journey of Isis, Ra sent the seven scorpions to be her protectors yet she has no control over them and they seem to do more harm then good! They first bite the child of the woman who would not let Isis stay with her, which at first I understood. However, they go on to bite Horus, Isis's son, and she being unable to bring him back to life, has to summon the power of Ra to restore him. The scorpions seem to have backfired as a means to protect in this story.

Isis's protector

The irony in the fact that Osiris was trapped in the box he made was not lost on me. Nor was the fact that this is obviously the story behind the mummification of Pharaohs and the amount of effort and money they put into the coffins that encompassed them after they died.

Bibliography:
Egyptian Myth and Legend by Donald Mackenzie (1907).