King Khufu then said to Teta, "Is it true what they say that thou knowest the numbers of the Apet chambers (?) of the shrine (?) of Thoth?" Teta replied, "No. I do not know their number, O king my lord, but I do know the place where they are to be found." His Majesty asked, "Where is that?" Teta replied, "There is a box made of flint in a house called Sapti in Heliopolis." The king asked, "Who will bring me this box?" Teta replied, "Behold, O king my lord, I shall not bring the box to thee." His Majesty asked, "Who then shall bring it to me?" Teta answered, "The oldest of the three children of Rut-tetet shall bring it unto thee." His Majesty said, "It is my will that thou shalt tell me who this Rut-tetet is." Teta answered, "This Rut-tetet is the wife of a priest of Rā of Sakhabu,[1] who is about to give birth to three children of Rā. He told her that these children should attain to the highest dignities in the whole country, and that the oldest of them should become high priest[2] of Heliopolis." On hearing these words the heart of the king became sad; and Teta said, "Wherefore art thou so sad, O king my lord? Is it because of the three children? I say unto thee, Verily thy son, verily his son, verily one of them." His Majesty asked, "When will these three children be born?" Teta answered, "Rut-tetet will give them birth on the fifteenth day of the first month of Pert."[3] The king then made a remark the exact meaning of which it is difficult to follow, but from one part of it it is clear that he expressed his determination to go and visit the temple of Rā of Sakhabu, which seems to have been situated on or near the great canal of the Letopolite nome. In reply Teta declared that he would take care that the water in the canal should be 4 cubits (about 6 feet) deep, i.e. that the water should be deep enough for the royal barge to sail on the canal without difficulty. The king then returned to his palace and gave orders that Teta should have lodgings given him in the house of Prince Herutataf, that he should live with him, and that he should be provided with one thousand bread-cakes, one hundred pots of beer, one ox, and one hundred bundles of vegetables. And all that the king commanded concerning Teta was done.
[1] A town which seems to have been situated in the second nome or "county" of Lower Egypt; the Greeks called the nome Letopolites.
[2] His official title was "Ur-mau."
[3] The season Pert = November 15 - March 15.
The Story of Rut-tetet and the Three Sons of Rā
The last section of the Westcar Papyrus deals with the birth of the three sons of Rā, who have been mentioned above. When the day drew nigh in which the three sons were to be born, Rā, the Sun-god, ordered the four goddesses, Isis, Nephthys,[1] Meskhenet,[2] and Heqet,[3] and the god Khnemu,[4] to go and superintend the birth of the three children, so that when they grew up, and were exercising the functions of rule throughout all Egypt, they should build temples to them, and furnish the altars in them with offerings of meat and drink in abundance. Then the four goddesses changed themselves into the forms of dancing women, and went to the house wherein the lady Rut-tetet lay ill, and finding her husband, the priest of Rā, who was called Rāuser, outside, they clashed their cymbals together, and rattled their sistra, and tried to make him merry. When Rāuser objected to this and told them that his wife lay ill inside the house, they replied, "Let us see her, for we know how to help her"; so he said to them and to Khnemu who was with them, "Enter in," and they did so, and they went to the room wherein Rut-tetet lay. Isis, Nephthys, and Heqet assisted in bringing the three boys into the world. Meskhenet prophesied for each of them sovereignty over the land, and Khnemu bestowed health upon their bodies. After the birth of the three boys, the four goddesses and Khnemu went outside the house, and told Rāuser to rejoice because his wife Rut-tetet had given him three children. Rāuser said, "My Ladies, what can I do for you in return for this?" Having apparently nothing else to give them, he begged them to have barley brought from his granary, so that they might take it away as a gift to their own granaries; they agreed, and the god Khnemu brought the barley. So the goddesses set out to go to the place whence they had come.
[1] Isis and Nephthys were the daughters of Keb and Nut, and sisters of Osiris and Set; the former was the mother of Horus, and the latter of Anubis.
[2] A goddess who presided over the birth of children.
[3] A very ancient Frog-goddess, who was associated with generation and birth.
[4] A god who assisted at the creation of the world, and who fashioned the bodies of men and women.