Beloved of the Sun Arriving
Praise be to Ra, all-seeing and all knowing, Splendor of the Universe, Rejoicing in the Horizon, from whom all knowledge comes. Let him smile on this endeavor and find goodness in what he has commanded.
I, Seshat, Mistress of the House of Books, Builder of the Word, She Who Commands Letters, Keeper of the Building Cords, have written this, in order than all may be remembered as it happened.
In those days when Horus had assumed his father's throne and had taken lordship over the Two Lands he went to his mother, Blessed Isis of the Waters, and his Father, Osiris Who was Dead and Lives Still, and spoke to them, saying "Honored Father and Honored Mother, you are the beginning and the end of my creation. You have given me life from the womb and will be with me when I die. From you I derive all customs and habits that are good. I have seen the love you, O Osiris my father, have given you, O Isis my mother, and I see that it is agreeable to have. I have seen the love that is between Geb my father's father and Nut my mother's mother. Love is like a strong foundation stone at the corner of a mighty palace. To bind two bodies together so that their ka may rejoice in one place is pleasing to me, and I wish to assume a similar arrangement. O my Mother, who is the Well of Sorrow in my Life's Desert, find a consort for me who will be able to reign beside me into Eternity."
Thus Isis, She of the Throne, went out into the world to find a consort worthy of her son. She flew down to the side of the Great River, from whence all life comes, and saw there a stand of lotus flowers blowing in the breeze. "How beautiful these lotus flowers! How fragrant and how supple they are, like dancers performing at a feast. Surely one of these will become a consort for my son."
There Isis, Mistress of the Name of Ra, took the magic she had been given by the Name of the Splendor of the Universe and breathed life into the Lotus. She bound five flowers together and breathed life into it -- all its breath she gave to it, the ka and the ba she put into the body. One flower became the head, with the dark mud of the Nile to color its hair. One flower became the right hand, with petals to form slender fingers for playing music. One flower became the left hand, with a long stalk to become its slender arm. One flower became the right foot, strong and ready for dancing. One flower became the left foot, small and dainty to delight a man's heart.
Isis named the woman Nefersesen, the Beauty of the Lotus, and presented her to Horus, saying, "O my Son, Horus whom I have borne into this world by pain, All-Seeing Eye of the World, Falcon who Rules the Universe, see whom I have brought to you, Nefersesen, Beauty of the Lotus, She Who Was Lady of the Flowers."
"Let me drink of thy charms, o river of delight. Let your face be my shade, flower of the morning." Then he, Horus of the Wadjet Eye who sees all wrongdoing stretched out his hand and touched Nefersesen. Her skin burned with his touch, and her shoulders withered as a flower's petals wither in the time of drought. "O wickedness that does not allow us to remain one body," Horus cried "You are too weak, Star of the Nile, and your life is linked to the seasons of the River. When the floods come you will die, and when they recede you will be but a child again, a seedling in the mud. You cannot be my consort."
And saying thus, he sent her away, returning her to the Great River from whence she came. Horus called to Hathor, his mother's sister, saying, "Hathor, my mother-sister, Lady of the Golden Horns, She who Caught Me at the Birthing Stool, you are the Mistress of Hearts That Burn. Find me a lady worthy to be my consort."
Hathor smiled, and went away into the world to find her sister son a consort. She remained away from the flowers of the Nile, for they too gave her joy and she had thought to do as her sister had done. She searched far to the West and far to the South, but she found nothing that would kindle flame in the heart of her sister-son, Horus Lord of the High Places. Night came, and Hathor retreated to her temples in Thebes, to the incensed air and the cushions of her comfort. Her priestess attended her, and sang music soothing to her soul, and danced on light feet so that her heart might find delight again.
From among these who danced she saw a maiden whose voice was like the rushing of a breeze through cedars, and from among the throng she plucked her, planting in her eyes sweet-scented sleep that she would not see the Abode of the Gods unless she was pleasing to the one for whom she was sent. Fine robes were made for her limbs and precious oils were anointed on her face.
Placing the woman at the feet of the Throne of Horus, Chosen of the Gods, she said, "Behold, O Son of my Sister, she whom I have found for you. In my own temple I found her, making the music of the Gods. Dancing and singing I found her, creating joy in the sacred space. See, her breasts are like pomegranates and her skin is like honey. Here is a House for you to build your dynasty in -- Here is a treasure box that has not been opened. Setepenwhet she is called now; Chosen of Hathor is the name I have given her."
Horus looked on the woman with his left eye and found her beautiful, and his ka jumped within him, delighting also. But his left eye, that which had been torn out and re-made, the Eye of the World, Star of the Seer of The Truth Entire, saw her as an old woman, wizened and frail, without the strength to dance or the voice to sing, with breasts like old wineskins that cannot hold a single drop and feet like the dry land of the desert. "O flower of mortal women, would that you could bloom forever! The mortal life is as the blinking of the Eye of God, and soon passes away. Your body will become like the dust of the desert, and the breath of your body like a river that runs dry. You cannot be my consort." And saying this, he sent her away.
He asked of all the Divine Women the same task, and none could satisfy him, until at last he came to me, Seshat, Mistress of the House of Books, She Who Records the World, Surveyor of the Stars and their Shadows, asking the same question as he had asked of his mother and his mother's sisters. "Seshat, Lady of the Golden Reeds, I have seen the love that is between you and your husband, my father-brother Thoth, Divine Arbiter and Master of the House of Life. Can you not help me to find a consort who may assist me in the ruling of the Universe, a harbor upon which my ship can find safety?"
With a basket and a knife I went down to the river, Mother Nile from Whom All Blessings Flow, and on the bank cut down one hundred reeds of the plant they call Papyrus, That Which Belongs to the Lady of the Golden Reeds. Culling these plants I brought them to my dwelling place, cutting them open and removing the hearts. With my slaves I beat the hearts of the Papyrus, preparing it and bleaching it so that it would be white as linen. Under stone slabs I let it dry, and under skilled pebbles it was polished like bronze. For its length and breadth there is no measurement, and it was as thin and fine as a brush of wind, like linen that can be drawn through a needle's eye.
With a sheet of this papyrus I began my work, placing down upon it the characters of the language of the land of the Gods and saying over it magical spells of my own devising. I wrote in ink that will never fade, in words that will never lose their meaning. Five days and five nights I dwelt upon the papyrus, using five reed pens and five bars of ink.
When I had finished my creation I brought it before Horus, Guidance of Pharaoh, and said,
"Behold, O King of the Lighted Way, she whom I have created. Into your heart of hearts I have looked, seeing your desires, and I have made her as you have wished. You have said she should be fleet of foot, and I have given her the strength of the gazelle that you may chase her to your heart's desires. You have said that she must be beautiful, and I have given her the eyes of the River Nile and the hair of the darkest silt and the skin of the smoothest stones. You have said that she must be strong, delighting in the hunt, and I have set her blood like flint, like the edge of the teeth of Sekhmet. You have said that she must be just and wise, and I have poured into her heart the secrets that are known to me. You have asked that she be immortal, rising and setting forever, and so she is as you see her, a fire that will never go out. She is as I have written her, and will remain so forever while there are still eyes to read over the earth and upon the earth and under the earth. She bears a name that has never been given before, and is called Merenatenteri, The Beloved of the Sun Arriving, because she was long awaited for."
Saying this I placed the papyrus down before him and spoke the name that I had given to it seven times, and lo, she arose like the sun arises each day to greet the world. The God Horus, Eternal His Awakening, looked on her, and found in her all that was pleasing to him, as I had made her. She was tall like the reeds with which I had written her, and in her form was the benevolence of the Nile with which I had made the ink she had been made in, and in her voice was the wind from the western shore under which I had labored to bring her to life.
"This is the woman of whom I have been dreaming! This is the stone that has been carved in the likeness of my heart -- this is the foundation of the Reckoning of my Days."
Thus was the search of the Sun-Horus satisfied, and the tremors of the court appeased. When the sun rises each morning in splendor or the sun sets in the evening in magnificence and the colors of the gods are unleashed across the sky, this is only the robe of Merenatenteri, spreading wide as she bids farewell or welcomes back her husband. The robe was unlike any woven by the sons of men, so that any who look upon her will burn in splendor, so great be the jealousies of Horus her husband. She is the Greeting of the Morning Sun, the Stone which Sets the Cord Straight, The Beauty of the Day Arriving.
I, Seshat, Lady of the Golden Reeds, Mistress of the House of Books, Recorder of Days, have written this, in order that none may forget how these things came to pass. You who read this in your god's house, read it and remember. You who hear this in your mother's arms, hear it and observe.
After finishing Rick Riordan's The Red Pyramid I was inspired to write something. Unfortunately, I didn't have anything to say about the Red Pyramid, so I wrote this instead. The goddess Seshat originally had many of the duties relegated to Thoth in later Egyptian Mythology -- As well as being the keeper of records for the gods, she is also the patron of scribes and the inventor of paper and writing.
I hope you've enjoyed it.