The prince KHA-EM-WASET (lived c.1260 BCE) was a learned man, and an accomplished priest. Centuries after his death, storytellers remembered the prince as a sage and magician. They told tales of his adventures, including one where Khaemwaset stole a magical book, belonging to the great god Djehuty/Thoth. In a tale of gothic horror, the prince must wrangle with the consequences of his greed…
Warning: Story contains themes of suicide, murder, and sexual horror. Please listen with discretion.
Logo image: Tabubue, by M. Lalau (1932).
Bibliography
P. Cairo 30646. Ptolemaic era. Originally six pages, two lost. Ptolemaic era (c.100 BCE).
Griffith, F. L. (1900). Stories of the high priests of Memphis: The Sethon of Herodotus and the Demotic tales of Khamuas. Available at Internet Archive.
Lichtheim, M. (1980). Ancient Egyptian Literature Volume III: The Late Period, 125—151.
Ritner, R. K. (2003b). The Romance of Setna Khaemuas and the Mummies (Setna I). In W. K. Simpson (Ed.), The Literature of Ancient Egypt: An Anthology of Stories, Instructions, Stelae, Autobiographies, and Poetry (3rd ed., pp. 453–469).
Vinson, S. (2018). The Craft of a Good scribe: History, Narrative and Meaning in the First tale of Setne Khaemwas.
Transcript
Part 1: The Conjuring
Ihwere and Naneferkaptah (you know what, I’m not saying that every time; let’s just call him Nanefer). Ihwere and Nanefer told the prince of their life, and how they acquired the Book of Thoth. It was a tale of loss.
Long ago the prince Nanefer had also been a learned and wise man, a magician in his own right. At least, he thought he was. Until one day, a priest laughed at him and said, “Those modern writings you study have no value. If you want to read something [meaningful], go to the city of Gebtu/Coptos.” There, the priest said, a box of iron lay at the bottom of the Nile. Within that iron chest was a box of copper. In that was a box of juniper wood. Then a box of ebony & ivory; a box of silver; a box of gold, and in there lay a papyrus book. It had been written by Djehuty/Thoth himself. Whoever possessed that Book, and read the spells, would gain the god’s own magic.[1]
Well, who could pass that up? Nanefer and Ihwere chartered a boat and sailed upriver. They took their son with them and enjoyed a pleasant holiday.
It must be said that Ihwere was ambivalent about this quest. When Nanefer told her of the Book, the princess denounced the Priest, saying “May the goddess Neith blast you with fear, Priest! You have now told (Nanefer) of evil things; you have brought me strife!” The princess tried to prevent Nanefer going to Coptos, but “He did not listen to me!”[2]
So it was that the family arrived in the south. After making offerings in the temple, Nanefer went in search of the Book. To do so, he cast his own spell of conjuration. The ancient prince fashioned a boat, out of wax, along with a crew of sailors and rowers.[3] Reciting a spell of awakening, he brought the figures to life (and presumably, made them life-size as well). Boarding this magical boat, he went out to the place where the casket was buried.
Going to the bottom of the river, Nanefer found the iron box. Just as the priest said, it contained smaller chests nesting within. Finally, he opened the gold casket, and there lay the papyrus of Djehuty himself.
Written upon the scroll were two spells.[4] One empowered the reader to “(magically) encompass the sky, the earth, the Duat (Underworld), the mountains, and the seas. (They) will discover the things that the birds of the sky, along with the lowest animals of the land, say to each other; (they) will gaze at the fish of the depths…”[5] The second spell gave the reader knowledge. Whether they were alive or dead they would “gaze at RA as he appears in the Sky with his Ennead (Council); along with the Moon god, in his rising.”[6]
Excitedly, Nanefer read the spells, learning these secret things that only the gods should possess. Returning to the riverbank, he revealed the Book to Ihwere. Alas, the princess’ curiosity got the better of her. She asked to see it, and when Nanefer handed it over, Ihwere recited the spells herself. Thus, she gained knowledge of all things; the power to control nature; to see the greatest gods in their element.
The new power couple departed Gebtu, setting off downriver back towards Memphis. However, before they left Nanefer did something… bold. The prince sat down and copied the Book of Thoth onto a new papyrus. Every word and phrase, he replicated exactly. Then, he took that new document, burned it to ashes, and mixed those with water. Nanefer drank this potion, so that he would absorb the essence of the magic into his own body.
Note: This was quite a common tool of medical practice. Especially at temples, folks would often take a stone, grind a little bit of the masonry into powder, and mix that as a kind of homeopathic remedy. It’s why so many temples today have weird little scoops in lines along the lower levels. Anyway…
The prince and princess, Egypt’s new power couple, sailed northward on the Nile. Their son played on the deck of their ship. Everything seemed well.
Alas, the great god Djehuty/Thoth had learned of Nanefer’s theft. Furious, Thoth went to Ra, the Creator, and reported what the humans had done. Ra gave Djehuty permission to curse Nanefer, literally saying to him, “The prince is yours, together with every person (family and servants) that belong to him… Do not allow Nanefer and anyone belonging to him to reach Men-Nefer safely!” Thus, the gods cursed the prince and his family.
The first to die was their son. Emerging from his cabin, on the royal barge, the boy fell off the deck into the Nile. He drowned.[7] Then, the same happened to princess Ihwere. Djehuty confused her mind, and she too fell in the river, drowning beneath the waters.[8]
Nanefer was distraught. He organised the mummification for Ihwere and their son, and them buried in a tomb at Gebtu / Coptos. Fearing the worst, Nanefer took the Book of Thoth papyrus and bound it to his own body. Then, he leaped from the royal barge, committing suicide in the river.[9]
Alas, Nanefer’s magical skill was a bit of a mixed blessing. Because of his great power, his corpse (though dead) still clung to the rudder of the great royal barge. As a result, when the ship arrived back at the capital, they found the prince’s body beside the boat. The King, distraught at these losses, ordered that Nanefer be buried in his tomb; and he commanded that the Book, strapped to Nanefer’s chest, be hidden away in the sepulchre.
The ghosts of Ihwere and Nanefer told this to Khaemwaset, as a warning. The Book of Djehuty had brought them great injury. What’s more, it had separated their bodies. Ihwere and their son lay in a tomb at Gebtu/Coptos, while Nanefer lay in his own grave in the north. The family were split, physically, and could not find rest.
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[1] Lichtheim, Literature, III, 128—129.
[2] Vinson, Craft of a Good Scribe, 115 (3.21-3.22).
[3] Imagine something similar to the tomb models (e.g. Meketre) but made in a more “flexible” material.
[4] Lichtheim, Literature, III, 129.
[5] Vinson, Craft of a Good Scribe, 114 (3.12—3.13).
[6] Vinson, Craft of a Good Scribe, 114 (3.14).
[7] Lichtheim, Literature, III, 131.
[8] Lichtheim, Literature, III, 131.
[9] Lichtheim, Literature, III, 131—132.
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Part 2: Three Whacks with a Senet Board
Ihwere concluded this tale with a warning. She said to Khaemwaset, “These are the evils that happened to us because of the Book (of Thoth)… You say to us, ‘Give it to me!’ But you have no business with it… behold, our existence on earth is forfeit, because of (this Book)!”
Khaemwaset listened to this tale, of tragedy and woe. But the prince was unmoved. Driven forward by his desire for power, Khaemwaset commanded the ghosts, “Let me have this Book… or I will take it by force!”[1]
Thereupon, the mummy of Nanefer rose up from its funerary bed.[2] He said to Khaemwaset, “Setna (that is, High Priest), this woman has recited these terrible things to you, but you have not accepted any of them! The Book (of Thoth), will you take it by magic (literally “the craft of a good scribe”), or (will you take it) by victory in playing a board game against me? Let us compete, in a game, for the Book!”
Khaemwaset replied, “I stand ready.” The board game appeared before them (unspecified, but possibly the famous game Senet).[3] Squaring off, Nanefer soon bested Khaemwaset. Of course he did, he had the magic of Thoth in his body. The mummy-prince grabbed the Senet board, whacked Khaemwaset on the head, and the living-prince sank into the earth, up to his shins. Khaemwaset challenged Nanefer to a second game. They played again. Nanefer won again, and he whacked Khaemwaset hard enough that he sank up to his crotch. A third time, Khaemwaset challenged the ghost. A third time he lost, and Nanefer hit him so that he sank up to his ears.
Finally, Khaemwaset got the message. This wasn’t working. Calling out to his brother Inaros (who was apparently watching this whole thing and not helping at all), Khaemwaset beseeched him. Go to the Temple of Ptah, get the magical texts and amulets, and bring them to me.
Inaros ran off and fetched those magical tools. Returning, he touched Khaemwaset with the amulet of Ptah, instantly freeing the prince from his earthly prison. Khaemwaset reached out, seized the Book of Djehuty, and ran from the tomb. Back to the world of the living.
Khaemwaset took the Book before his father, Ramesses II, and told him what had happened. The King said, “Take this book back to the tomb… like a wise man, or else Nanefer… will make you take it back…”[4]
Alas, Khaemwaset did not listen to his father. He took the Book away, sat down, and began to read.
Meanwhile, in the tomb, the ghost of Ihwere wailed, “Oh darkness, hail! Farewell to light! Everything that was in the tomb is gone!”
Nanefer replied “Do not grieve, I will make him bring back the Book.”[5]
[1] Lichtheim, Literature, III, 132.
[2] The following sequence: Lichtheim, Literature, III, 132—133; Vinson, Craft of a Good Scribe, 121 (4.26—4.30).
[3] Vinson, Craft of a Good Scribe, 156 (4.28).
[4] Lichtheim, Literature, III, 133.
[5] Lichtheim, Literature, III, 133.
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Part 3: The Shining
The next part of the story gets… dark.[1] A few days later, Khaemwaset was walking through the courtyard in the great Temple of Ptah (after all, he was a Priest of Ptah).
Suddenly, the prince saw a woman strolling through the temple. She was beautiful, beyond anything he had ever seen. The story describes her as “extraordinarily beautiful, there having never existed any woman of such radiance.”[2] Spellbound, Khaemwaset felt lost, adrift in a place he knew not.
The prince desired this lady greatly. He sent his servant to find out who she was and learned that her name was Tabubue (Ta-Bwbwe, “She of the Shining One”).[3] Khaemwaset propositioned this lady, offering her “ten pieces of gold, to spend an hour with me.”[4] Tabubue replied, “I am a woman of priestly rank, not some lowly girl of the street. If you want me, come to my house, in the city of Bubastis, and spend time with me in privacy.”[5]
The prince, foolish with lust, followed Tabubue to her city and her house. The apartment was beautiful: its floors swept and clean, ornamented with gems of lapis lazuli, and panels of turquoise.[6] There were many couches or beds, draped with the finest quality linen. The cups were made of gold (and they were numerous). Tabubue was a wealthy woman indeed. How had he never met her before?
The Shining Lady welcomed Khaemwaset. She gave him a cup of wine, and a plate of food. She bid him drink and eat of her offering. The prince did so but was unsatisfied. He craved one thing, and one thing only. Eating and drinking, he could not take his eyes off this lady of unparalleled beauty.
Tabubue was not giving it up easily. First, she commanded Khaemwaset:[7] “If you want me, then you must give me all your possessions and property.” The prince demurred, but then Tabubue put on a garment of “Royal linen.” The fabric was almost transparent, and the sight of her body drove Khaemwaset deeper into the madness of desire. Seeing this, Tabubue said “If you really want me, you must disinherit your children, so that they do not challenge me for your possessions.” Khaemwaset, mind clouded by desire, agreed. But then Tabubue said, “If you really want me, you must kill your children.” Khaemwaset, utterly lost now, agreed. Tabubue sent word, and the children were killed, their bodies thrown from the house into the street, where dogs and cats ate them. Their screams echoed in the twilight, but Khaemwaset sat, unmoved, in the house of Tabubue.
Lost in the spell, Khaemwaset said to her, “Please, let me achieve what I have come here for!” At last, Tabubue yielded. She invited the prince, “Come now, recline on this bed with me.” Khaemwaset lay down, and he reached out a hand to touch her. But the woman opened her mouth, so wide that it was “down to the ground.” She screamed, a terrifying howl, the sound roaring through the house.
Khaemwaset awoke, drenched with sweat, and utterly naked. There was no house. He was in the Temple of Ptah once more. He saw a procession, going past. On a palanquin sat the King, Ramesses II. Khaemwaset made to rise before his father but was ashamed of his nakedness. The King said to his son “Setna (that is, Priest), what is this state that you are in?” Khaemwaset wailed “It is Naneferkaptah who has done this to me!” Pharaoh replied, “Go to Men-nefer (Memphis), your children miss you!”[8] He summoned a servant, to give Khaemwaset new clothes, and sent the prince on his way.
Khaemwaset returned home and found his children alive and well. He embraced them, and the pharaoh Ramesses (apparently having followed) asked his son “Were you drunk?”
The prince told everything that had happened to him. Ramesses replied “Setna, I extended my hand to you before (i.e, I warned you), they would kill you if you don’t that book back to the place of its theft… Until this moment, you still have not listened to me! Now, take it back.”[9]
Khaemwaset obeyed and went back to the tomb of Naneferkaptah. The ghost of Ihwere appeared, and said to him, “Ah, Setna, it is the great god Ptah who has brought you back.” But the ghost of Nanefer laughed and said, “No, it was I; just as I promised, I have made him return.”
The prince greeted Nanefer properly; and they all felt the presence of the sun god Ra within the tomb. Ihwere and Nanefer greeted Khaemwaset warmly.
The prince, abashed, spoke to Nanefer and asked him, “Is there anything wrong?” The ghost replied “Well, you know that Ihwere and our son are buried in Coptos, rather than here with me. Please go, to go Coptos, bring their mummies here.”
Khaemwaset took a ship, sailed to Coptos, and went searching for the tomb. He spent “three days and three nights searching in all the tombs in the desert of Coptos, turning over the stelae of the scribes of the House of Life, and reading the inscriptions upon them. But they did not find the resting place of Ihwere and her son.”
Khaemwaset was about to give up. But the spirit of Nanefer appeared in the guise of an old man. Khaemwaset, not recognising him, asked, “Old man, do you know where the resting place of Ihwere and her son is located?” The elder said “their grave is beneath the south corner, of the house of the Chief of Police.” Khaemwaset replied, sceptically, “Really? Do you have some grudge against the Chief of Police that you’re trying to demolish his house?” The old man replied “Go, see for yourself. If the grave is not there, you can punish me.”
Khaemwaset did so, and they went searching by the house. Lo and behold, the grave came to light. The prince “let the two noble persons (the mummies) enter into the royal barge.” He also had the house of the Chief of Police rebuilt, then departed on his boat heading downriver once more.
Khaemwaset took the mummies of Ihwere and their son to the tomb where Nanefer lay. He had the monument closed, housing them all together once more.
[1] For the significance of Magic (Heka) in this sequence, see Lloyd, A. B. (2006), “Heka, dreams, and prophecy in ancient Egyptian stories,” In K. Szpakowska (Ed.), Through a glass darkly: Magic, dreams & prophecy in ancient Egypt, 83—85.
[2] Vinson, Craft of a Good Scribe, 122.
[3] Vinson, “The names…,” 292—299.
[4] Lichtheim, Literature, III, 134.
[5] Lichtheim, Literature, III, 134.
[6] Vinson, Craft of a Good Scribe, 124 (5.15—5.16).
[7] Following passages paraphrased from Lichtheim, Literature, III, 135.
[8] Lichtheim, Literature, III, 135—136.
[9] Adapted from Vinson, Craft of a Good Scribe, 126 (5.36—5.37).
Conclusion
The Tale of Khaemwaset and the Book of Thoth is fundamentally a tale of folly. On one level, the moral is quite simple. Some knowledge is forbidden to mere mortals, and one must not trifle with the gods’ magic.[1] Even the wise and learned sages, like Nanefer and Khaemwaset, are mere playthings before divine power. Heck, even the dead (like Nanefer) can curse the living with great suffering.
The story has other layers. There is a strong comedic aspect, with Khaemwaset getting into sticky situations, and needing someone to bail him out. There’s an erotic element, coupled with a veneration of feminine power. Scholars like Steve Vinson argue that the two women, Ihwere and Tabubue, represent opposites sides of great goddess figures.[2] Their role within the tale is opposite, but complementary: Ihwere warns Khaemwaset to not commit wrongdoing, in pursuit of his desires. Subsequently, Tabubue punishes him for that very mistake, albeit in a slightly different context.
What about the magical elements themselves? Well, although the story survives from a Ptolemaic papyrus (around 100 BCE or so), the conflicts and their magical elements are consistent with earlier traditions. Nanefer uses a spell to bring little figurines to life, just like the shabti figures were supposed to do for the dead. The dead themselves were a potent force in ancient life. Throughout the pharaonic era, folks would write letters to their deceased friends and family. They asked the dead to assist them in matters of daily life; or, if things were going badly, to stop causing them ill fortune.[3]
Dreams and nightmares were also a matter of concern. Folks would consult oracles to interpret their dreams (Papyrus Chester Beatty III, recto 1—11).[4] Priests would cast spells, to prevent nightmares. Some of these suggested that bad dreams came from spirits, or even foreign enemies, cursing the living.[5]
The prince’s character arc is interesting. For much of the tale, he’s kind of a dick. Khaemwaset is skilled, and undeniably knowledgeable, but he’s greedy, arrogant and pushy. When the prince hears the tragedy of Nanefer and Ihwere, he ignores their suffering and takes the Book for himself. Even when his father, Ramesses II, says “that that back,” he ignores it and keeps the text. Later, Khaemwaset tries to buy the beautiful Tabubue and goes to great lengths to get what he wants. It all comes across a bit “spoiled rich kid.”
But he does learn his lesson. Nanefer’s vengeance, played out in a dream of lust and loss, terrifies the prince into reconciliation. It’s a little bit “Christmas Carol,” though with a disappointing lack of Muppets. More important, though, is what it says about the storytelling itself. This is an ancient fantasy, of sorts, but Khaemwaset is no superhero. He has power and magic but is still human; prone to mistakes and overconfident in his abilities.
The moral of the story is relatively simple. Khaemwaset may be a knowledgeable man, able to wield magic. But some things are beyond mortal capacity. Even though the prince obtains the book, he is not more powerful than the dead (who are, in a way, lesser gods themselves).
The tale of Khaemwaset and the Book of Thoth was first published in 1866.[6] It quickly made its mark on literature, and the story lingers today, even in modern entertainment.[7] The tale probably inspired parts of the novel She by H.R. Haggard (1887).[8] It definitely inspired a subplot in The Egyptian by Mika Waltari (1945).[9] And the “Book of Thoth” appears in Sax Rohmer’s Brood of the Witch-Queen (1918).[10] Finally, the 1932 film The Mummy seems to borrow a few scenes or tropes from the ancient tale.[11] In that story, an ancient priest (now called Imhotep) tries to revive his dead lover with the “Scroll of Thoth.” He is punished for it, and the Scroll is buried alongside him, sealing it away from mortal hands. That setup recalls the tale of Naneferkaptah, the death of his wife Ihwere, and how Nanefer himself was buried with the “Book.” Later in the film, Imhotep himself appears in the guise of an old man, just as Nanefer did for Khaemwaset. In both tales, this “Old Man” guides excavators to a lost tomb. Finally, at a pivotal moment, The Mummy’s Imhotep narrates his misfortunes (and the nature of the Book of Thoth), just as Ihwere did for Khaemwaset. It’s not a 1:1 adaptation or anything, but the influences are there.
[1] Lichtheim, Literature, III, 126; Dieleman, J. (2005). Priests, tongues, and rites: The London-Leiden magical manuscripts and translation in Egyptian ritual (100-300 CE), 230.
[2] Vinson, Craft of a Good Scribe, 271—273.
[3] See Wente, Letters from Ancient Egypt, 210—220.
[4] Szpakowska, K. M. (2003). Behind Closed Eyes: Dreams and Nightmares in Ancient Egypt, chapter 4.
[5] Szpakowska, Dreams and Nightmares in Ancient Egypt, chapter 6.
[6] Brugsch, H. (1866). Entdeckung eines Romanes in einem demotischen Papyrus. Zeitschrift Für Ägyptische Sprache Und Altertumskunde, 4, 34—35.
[7] Vinson, Craft of a Good Scribe, 90—93.
[8] Vinson, Craft of a Good Scribe, 63—65.
[9] Vinson, Craft of a Good Scribe, 104—105.
[10] Vinson, Craft of a Good Scribe, 66—67.
[11] Vinson, Craft of a Good Scribe, 90—92.
