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 M y t h s a n d L e g e n d s

The Ancient Egyptian civilization was rich in mythology, here are some of the main myths.

Myths

The coffin and 14 parts myth:

Set, the god of chaos, desert, storms and darkness was jealous of Osiris because he was king, so he decided to try and kill him. He did this by planning a party were everyone was invited, Set announced if anyone could fit into this coffin could keep it and use it in there journey to the afterlife, everybody had a go but no one could fit, everyone wanted Osiris to have a go, Osiris fitted into the coffin, but as he was getting out Set shut the lid of the coffin and locked him in, he threw Osiris into the Nile river and killed him. Isis heard that Osiris went missing and immediately set off to find him, she learned that he floated down the Nile river and got stuck in the trunk of a cedar tree, the cedar tree was cut down and used as a pillar in the palace of Babylon (common day Lebanon), Isis went to the palace of Babylon and took the pillar and cut out Osiris and left him on the river banks of the Nile. Set heard about the news and set off to find Osiris, when Set found Osiris he cut Osiris up into fourteen pieces and spread him through the dessert. Isis then went back to the Nile banks and realized that Osiris was gone. Isis was so angry at Set she demanded to no where he had put Osiris, Set told her that Osiris was spread around the desert and that she would never find him. With the help of Nephtys they found thirteen of the fourteen parts of Osiris, so they made a replacement Phallus (Fake penis), they stood around the dead body and sang songs about the afterlife to bring him back to life. After all of this he became known as the god of death and the afterlife.

Creation Myth:

There are many Egyptian creation myths, this is just one of them.

In the beginning there was only Nu (Swirling chaotic water), Out of these waters rose the sun god of Heliopolis(Atum), Atum was believed to create himself by using mind power, he couldn't stand in the water so he built the first hill which was were the temple of Heliopolis today stands. He next needed to create more gods, he did this in a very strange way by mating with his own shadow. Atum created the god Shu and the goddess Tefnut by spitting them out when he was sitting on his hill, Shu represented air whilst Tefnut was the god of moisture, they were also well known creators, they created the social order in Egypt. After a while Shu and Tefnut got lost and couldn't find Atum, Atum only had one eye and it was detachable, so he sent the eye to look for Shu and Tefnut, they later came back with Atums eye and he was so happy that he wept tears, the tears hit the bottom of the hill and created man.

The Seven Years Famine:

For seven years the Nile was not inundating, Egyptians got so desperate that they started to steal of there own family and friends. The king at the time was king Tcheser and he was getting desperate, one day he remembered the god Imhotep, he was the son of Ptah, he remembered hearing a story about how he had diffused a similar situation before. king Tcheser went to his governor and asked where the Nile river rose, he learned the Nile rose at a place called Elephantine, Elephantine resembled two breasts and the Egyptians believed that only pure substances came out of those breasts. He went to Elephantine and brought twelve gifts to spread on the highest part of a hill that over look the Nile, where the god Khnemu took refuge, he was the god of the Nile and the protector of people because when the Nile flooded he held back the water so it didn't fully flood, only to the right amount. The god Khnemu was very pleased with the offerings and rose above the hill and said. "I am Khnemu the Creator. My hands rest upon thee to protect thy person, and to make sound thy body. I gave thee thine heart... I am he who created himself. I am the primeval watery abyss, and I am the Nile who riseth at his will to give health for me to those who toil. I am the guide and director of all men, the Almighty, the father of the gods, Shu, the mighty possessor of the earth." Finally Khnemu let the Nile rise each year but it wasn't without some trouble because as he let the Nile rise he accidentally let it rise a little bit to much and the water bulldozed king Tchesers' shrine.

Compared to modern day:

In modern day times we still have myths and legends but they are mostly from the past, we still tell them and have books about them but we don't really make new myths anymore, i think this has to do with the fact that we are so smart now that no one would really believe any of the myths people would make up, i think myths were really popular in ancient times but i think there were more in Greece and Rome than in Egypt. Now a day i guess you could say our myths are more legends, we tell stories about how some one did this and some one did that. Myth telling has evolved into story telling more than anything, and it's especially popular with small children, i guess also that writing books doesn't help myths because books are coming more and more popular.

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