Anubis Speaks!: A Guide to the Afterlife by the Egyptian God of the Dead (8 page)

And it worked, too.

I should know.

But while we gods were the spiritual heart of the kingdom, the Nile River was its main artery.

The Gift of the Nile

The Greek writer Herodotus called Egypt “The Gift of the Nile.” He was right. The Nile is like a thin thread of life in a wasteland of desert. The deserts on either side of the Nile, which Egyptians called the “red lands,” provided a natural barrier from attack by invaders. The “black lands” of the Nile referred to the rich soil left on the banks after its annual flooding or inundation. Thanks to the fertility of the black lands, Egypt became known as 13

the breadbasket of the ancient world. The Nile was also the primary means of transportation, trade, and travel.

The great river was an important symbol of my people’s religion, too. It separated east from west—

east, where the sun was born, and west, where it set into the dark lands. Most mummies were buried on the west side of the Nile—in the red lands—in honor of this division. Most dead pharaohs took a symbolic journey on the Nile. Their bodies were carried on a funeral barge as they traveled to their eternal tombs.

With as much as my people owed the Nile, it’s no surprise that their creation stories featured life-giving waters. There are three primary Egyptian creation myths, all beginning with the dark, primeval waters of Nun (or abyss). I will only tell you the one story that is related to
me
because, of course, it’s the only one that matters.

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from the City of the Sun

IIN THE BEGINNING, there was nothing but an

endless swirling sea of chaos known as the dark primeval waters of Nun. The god Atum-Re (also known as Atum-Ra or Ra) willed himself into existence. He wanted to stand on something so he created a hill, which the Egyptians called Iunu, and the Greeks called Heliopolis (City of the Sun).

Atum brought light to the world by becoming a Bennu bird (heron). The Bennu bird perched on the hill and let out a honk so great, it called existence into being.

But Atum was lonely, so with a mighty glob of spit and snot he created his children, Shu, the god of air, and Tefnut, the goddess of moisture and water.

Shu and Tefnut had children of their own—Geb, god of the earth, and Nut, goddess of the sky. Geb lay down on the surface of the water, creating land. Nut arced over him, shining with light during the day and twinkling with stars at night.

Nut and Geb had four children: Isis, Osiris, Set, and Nephthys. The Egyptians called all of these gods, including Atum-Re, the Pesdjet, the Nine, or in Greek, the Ennead of Heliopolis—the first gods of Egypt.

How is this story related to me? Two of these 15

first gods, Osiris and Nephthys, are my parents.

That alone makes them worthy of special worship, don’t you think?

Understanding

Ra (sometimes called

Atum), the God Who

Created the World by

Hocking a Giant Loogie

Protecting Ra from the monster Apophis is why we are here, folks. And yes, I agree that it’s a little undignified to know we all came from what Ra spit up when he was bored. But still, we owe him, right?

My people told many stories about Ra, the creator god, but the following one is my favorite because it features so much human death and destruction. And blood. Lots and lots of human blood (
mmmm
, my favorite snack). Plus it explains why Ra left us so he could travel alone across the sky as the sun, or what we called the sun disk.

And why, you may ask, did Ra refuse to continue walking among his creations on earth? Because you humans had to go and ruin it for the rest of us. You plotted against him. You rebelled, thinking to steal Ra’s power (as if) for yourself.

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Ra withdrew into the sky in response to

your sacrilege. So it’s all your fault, you petty, backstabbing, power-hungry, smelly little mortals.

But I’m not resentful.

Really, I’m not.

Ra’s Bloody Revenge

RA RULED ALL THAT HE CREATED, including

gods and humans. But Ra grew old and tired. His bones became silver, his flesh gold, and his hair lapis lazuli. Some humans thought he was too old to rule.

They wanted his power and plotted against him.

Furious, Ra called a secret meeting of the gods.

“How should I punish those who plot to overthrow me?” the great god thundered.

Nun of the watery abyss advised him to get rid of the rebels. For good.

So Ra sent the goddess Hathor after them. She normally presented herself as a kindly, milk-giving cow.

But Hathor also had a vengeful angry side known as Sekhmet, the lion-headed goddess.

Sekhmet pounced on the human evildoers who

had fled to the desert. With a mighty roar, she devoured them and lapped up their blood before it could sink into the desert sands. Sekhmet discovered she relished the taste of human blood. She wanted more . . . and more.

She began to stalk good people, too; those who honored Ra and would never have plotted against him.

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