Translation: In the three hundred and sixty-third year of Rā-Heru-Khuti, who liveth for ever and for ever, His Majesty was in TA-KENS, and his soldiers were with him; (the enemy) did not conspire (auu) against their lord, and the land (is called) UAUATET unto this day. And Rā set out on an expedition in his boat, and his followers were with him, and he arrived at UTHES-HERU, (which lay to) the west of this nome, and to the east of the canal PAKHENNU, which is called ( ... to this day). And Heru-Behutet was in the boat of Rā, and he said unto his father Rā-Heru-Khuti (i.e. Rā-Harmachis), "I see that the enemies are conspiring against their lord; let thy fiery serpent gain the mastery ... over them."—Reproduced by permission from Vol. XXXII of Books on Egypt and Chaldæa, by Sir E. A. Wallis Budge.
Early Religion and Civilization.—In its earliest phases the religion of ancient Egypt reflected the natural phenomena of the Nile Valley in their relation to the needs, experiences, and achievements of mankind. The flood was an annual 'miracle of mercy', and the early people tried to account for it. They concluded it was a gift of the gods. It ensured the food-supply; it brought health and relief from the oppressive heat endured when the sand-wind prevailed and the river was low. The new water was 'the water of life'; it fertilized the parched soil and caused barley and millet (which grew wild in the Delta) to spring up, trees to yield fruit, and curative herbs to appear on the river banks. In the prehistoric period the Nile was identified with Osiris, who, according to the traditions of the Delta people, once reigned as their king, and introduced the agricultural mode of life which made it possible for large and growing communities to dwell in the narrow valley. In the Pyramid Texts (c. 2700 B.C.) Osiris is the controller of the Nile, the principle of life in the Nile, and the Nile itself. In one of his phases the god is the 'Green One'—the Green Nile. A Pyramid Text reads: "Horus comes! He beholds his father in thee, Green One, in thy name of Water of Greenness". The soul-substance (literally 'the seed') of Osiris was the vital principle in the green or new water. Osiris was the serpent-soul in the water, and the serpent (leviathan) of the ocean which 'encircled the netherworld'. The god is addressed in a Pyramid Text: "Thou art great, thou art green in thy name of Great Green" (Mediterranean Sea). Osiris was slain by Set, and his life-blood was the Red Nile, which entered the soil and vegetation. Osiris was not regarded as the Green One because vegetation is green; the ancient Egyptians appear to have attributed the greenness of vegetation to the Green Nile, the soul-substance of Osiris. The sap of shrubs and trees was 'Blood'—the blood of the god. Osiris continued to live after death. On earth he was in barley, fruit, &c., and in the fertilized soil. He was in the other world Judge and King of the Dead. In his underworld Paradise the souls of the dead grew corn and cultivated fruit-trees—the 'food of life'. The Osirian cult had origin in the Delta of Lower Egypt. In Upper Egypt a solar cult exalted Horus, the falcon god, as chief deity. Their heaven was beyond the sky 'to the east'. In the Pyramid Texts there is clear evidence that the solar cult believed the souls of the dead went eastward, while the Osirian cult believed they went westward. Osiris was called 'First of the Westerners'. The 'Easterners' of the south (Upper Egypt) conquered the 'Westerners' of the north (Lower Egypt), and Egypt was united into a single kingdom by the traditional King Mena, with whom begins the dynastic history of Egypt. This conquest appears to have been due to the introduction of copper weapons.
The idea that the Horites were invaders from Arabia or Mesopotamia has been abandoned. Copper was anciently found in the wadis of Upper Egypt and on the shores of the Red Sea. After boat-building and navigation were well advanced copper was mined in Sinai. According to Egyptian evidence, Edfu was the centre of the early copper industry and of the Horus cult. As Egyptian copper is naturally hard, it required no amalgam. Egypt, therefore, never had a Bronze Age, nor had it a Neolithic Age. The copper artifacts were imitations of Palæolithic forms of the Solutrian type. After the conquest there occurred fusions of religious cults. Local pantheons reflected local politics. But although the sun-cult of Heliopolis exalted Ra
From a wall-painting in the tombs of Beni-Hassan.
Arts and Crafts.—Art developed in ancient Egypt under religious patronage. The earliest use made of Nubian gold was in manufacturing imitation luck-shells worn by the pre-dynastic peoples. Gold thus acquired a religious significance; at an early period it was associated with the sun-deity—the mother-goddess in her solar aspect was called 'Golden Hathor'. The hieroglyph for gold (nub) is a collar of beads. Exquisite gold ornaments in symbolic shapes were produced during the early dynasties. No finer gold ornaments have ever been produced anywhere than those of the twelfth dynasty (c. 2000 B.C.). These include chased gold pectoral ornaments and coronets and crowns inlaid with stones. When copper was first introduced it was used like gold. After implements were made of copper, vases of alabaster, diorite, &c., were worked with increasing skill and taste. The hardest stone was hewn and dressed for building purposes. No people have ever shown greater skill than the Egyptians in their stonework. The sculptors set themselves, when constructing temples, to imitate in stone the lashed palm-sticks, reeds, and papyrus stems used in the earliest shrines to stiffen the mud walls. Massive temple pillars were decorated with lotus petals, rose petals, &c. The early artists, who carved ivory, began to work in stone after copper implements were invented, and produced low reliefs in temples and tomb-chapels. Statuary in limestone, wood, and copper in the early dynastic period was vigorous and realistic. The sculptors were using the hardest material by the time of the Pyramid Age (c. 2700 B.C.). A great tomb-statue of Pharaoh-Khafra, in diorite, preserved in the Cairo Museum, is one of the triumphs of Egyptian sculpture. The Empire-period sculpture reached a high level of excellence. It was to provide 'soul-bodies' for dead Pharaohs that these great works of art were produced. A great advance in the manufacture of pottery was achieved during the Pyramid Age, when the potter's wheel was invented. To Egypt the ancient world owed this notable contrivance. It was introduced in time into Babylonia, Iran, India, China, Crete, Greece, and Western Europe. Shipbuilding is another Egyptian industry which promoted progress. Cretan and Phœnician vessels were of Egyptian design. In all histories of shipping and navigation the ancient Egyptians are credited with being the pioneers of maritime enterprise. The custom of mummification arose in Egypt, and promoted the study of anatomy. Surgery had its origin in mummification, as astronomy had in astrology, and chemistry had in alchemy. Connected with each temple were architects, artists and sculptors, metal-workers and dyers. Ships were constructed to obtain wood for temples and to import pearls, precious stones, herbs, incense-bearing shrubs and trees, &c., for religious purposes. In the history of early civilization the Egyptian priests play a prominent part as patrons of the arts and crafts.