Reading Diary A: Ancient Egyptian Myths and Stories

Ancient Egyptian Myths and Stories:

(Anubis by Ben Lin)

READING A:

1. Creation
2. The Secret Name of Ra
3. Ra and Hathor
4. The Sun's Journey
5. Osiris
6. The Death of Osiris
7. The Journey of Isis
8. King of the Dead
9. The Wax Crocodile
10. The Green Jewel

• Nut is Goddess of the firmament. I didn't know what a firmament was, so I looked it up, and it's a fascinating concept! Firmament is the belief that the sky is a stone dome.
• The eye of Ra! I had heard of this, but didn't know what this meant. Beings were conceived from the eye of Ra. An interesting way that creation of living things came to be.
• Ra had a secret name that gave him divine power, Isis sought for his name. She wanted to be equal in power.
• Antagonist poisoning someone, and using the antidote as leverage. A timeless trope, perhaps it is originated from this myth.
• The Ankh as a symbol of life. (which is interesting because I had always associated the Ankh with Gothic fashion and such. I always thought of it as a dark symbol.)
• Underworld having a river
• A gate opened with incantations
• Apep, the great night serpent
• The Jackal God, Anubis
• Osiris, divine judge of the dead
• Set, full of evil, liked warfare over peace. (The land is at peace in this time)
• Having "jealous eyes"
• A beloved chest becoming a coffin
• A feast of merrymaking becoming a feast of sorrow, once beer flowing turned to blood
• In grief, cutting off hair (I've seen the cutting of hair during a time of sadness done many times in film, and even in some books)
• Set takes the throne. Feels very King Arthur and Modred. Like how Set took the throne from Osiris when Osiris died, is much like how Modred took the throne from King Arthur when King Arthur died.
• Usurper of the throne, the true queen is exiled. This is very Game of Thrones, how the Queen of the Dragons is exiled and the Lannisters (who have usurped the throne) remain in power.
• A coffin washing up on the sides of a river, a tree growing in it's place, the body of someone inside of the tree trunk. Cutting the tree open, and finding a chest within. This would make a neat story with faeries, like involving tree people. The origin of tree people (like the tree ents in Lord of the Rings.)
• Flapping of wings bringing one to life.
• I do not like the storytelling device of telling a story within a story unless it is done exceptionally well, and the person telling the story is interesting. It was done well in Cupid and Psyche and The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.