Note: This version, published in 1894, has since passed into the public domain. The question marks are Erman's, not mine. The only change that I've made in the body of his text, is to mark the footnote below with an asterisk, instead of marking it as footnote number five, and to break up a line when the constraints of the 80 column format forced me to. Where I have done so, the continuation of the line appears before the start, indented. The text below is to be found on pp. 265-267 of the Dover edition of "Life in Ancient Egypt", ISBN 0-486-22632-8, Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 79-115749.

The underlining is mine, the passages underlined making clear an important distinction which some have glossed over, that between the popular names of the netjeru in Egypt, and their true names, or "ren". (Budge, p. lxix, see reference listed here). As with Budge's version, and my attempt at a retelling of this story, links have been inserted into the text for the purpose of side by side comparison. Click onto a link labeled "(B)" and you'll be taken the top of the passage in Budge corresponding to the passage which you just read. Click onto one labeled "(M)" and you'll find yourself reading the equivalent passage in my little effort.

" The age of the god stirred in his mouth,
And caused him to spit on the earth,
And what he spat fell on the ground.
Isis then kneaded it with her hand
Together with the earth which was there;
She formed a noble worm with it
And made it like a spear.
She did not put it living about her face, (*)
But threw it down rolled together (?) on the path,
On which the great god was wont to walk
At his pleasure through the two countries. (M)

The noble god stepped forth in his splendour,
The gods, those who serve the pharoah, accompanied him,
And he walked as he did each day.
Then the noble worm stung him ... (M)
The divine god opened his mouth
And the voice of his majesty reached unto heaven.
His cycle of gods cried 'What is it ? what is it ?'
And the gods cried 'Behold ! behold !'
He could not answer him,
His jaw bones chattered,
All his limbs trembled
And the poison invaded his flesh
As the Nile invades her territory (?). (M)

When the great one had calmed his heart,
He cried out to his followers :
'Come to me, you, the offspring of my body,
Ye gods, who were formed from me,
That Chepr'e may tell it to you :
Something malignant has attacked me,
My heart knows it, mine eyes see it not,
My hand did it not,
I know not who (?) has done this.
I have never felt pain approaching unto it,
There is no illness worse than this. ' (M)

'I am a prince and the son of a prince,
The divine progeny of a god.
I am great and the son of a great one.
My father devised my names.
I am he of many names and many forms,
And my form is in every god ...
My father and my mother told me my name,
And it has remain hidden in my heart since my birth,
So that magical power should not be given to a magician against me. (M)
I had gone out to look at that which I had created
I was walking through through the two countries which I had created ;
Then something stung me, what I know not.
It is not fire,
It is not water,
My heart is full of heat,
My body trembles
And all my limbs quake. '

'Now, then, bring me the divine children,
Those who speak wisely
With an understanding tounge,
Whose power (?) reacheth to the heavens.'
Then the divine children came to him,
Each of them full of grief;
There also came Isis with her wisdom,
Whose mouth is full of the breath of life,
whose decree banishes pain,
And whose word gives life to those who no longer breath.
She said, (M) 'What is it ? what is it, divine father ?
Behold ! a worm has done thee this wrong,
One of thy children has raised his head against thee.
Therefore, he shall fall by means of an excellent magic,
I will cause him to yield at the sight of thy rays.' (M) (B)

The splendid god opened his mouth :
'I was walking upon my way
And traversing the two countries and the foreign lands,
For my heart would look upon that which I had created.
Then I was bitten by a worm which I did not see.
It is not fire,
It is not water,
And I am colder than water,
And I am hotter than fire.
All my limbs perspire greatly,
I tremble, mine eye is not steady,
And I do not see the sky.
Water streams down my face as in the time of summer.'
Then spoke Isis to Re :
'Tell me thy name, divine father,
For that man lives who is called by his name.' (M)
'I am he who created heaven and earth,
and piled up the mountains,
who made all living creatures.
I am he who made the water and created the great river,
Who made the Bull of his mother,
Who begets all.
I am he who created the heavens and the secret of the horizon,
And I have placed there the souls of the gods.
I am he, who when he opens his eyes, it becomes light,
When he closes his eyes, it becomes dark ;
The water of the Nile flows when he commands,
But the gods know not his name.
I am he who makes the hours and creates the days.
I am he who begins the year and creates the inundation.
I am he who made the living fire ...
I am Chepr'e of thee morning and Re at mid-day
And Atum at evening time.'
The poison did not yield, it went farther,
The health of the great god began to decline. (M) (B)

Then spoke Isis to Re :
'That is not thy name thou tellest me.
Tell it to me that the poison may go out,
For the man who is called by his name lives.'
The poison, however, burnt like a furnace,
It was stronger than flame or fire. " (M) (B)

Erman breaks off his translation, here, and continues with a synopsis of what followed :

" Then Re could no longer withstand the torment; He told Isis his name and regained his health through her magic power. Nevertheless, even after he was healed, the strong rule of the old sun-god had lost its vigour, and even mankind became hostile against him; they became angry and began a rebellion. "

After this, Erman relates the story of Sekhmet's punishment of that very same rebellion, alluded to in a passage in "What's in a Name ?", elsewhere on this site. (There are some differences : rather than the fields being flooded with beer mixed with pomengranate juice, Erman refers to "dada fruit" (no translation provided), and has the blood of men added to the beer as well.

Click here to continue.

(*) Erman states that this is "a play on the uraeus snake, which rears itself above the face of the sun god". See the listing for Wadjet for an explanation. The snake is the cobra which one sees in this image of King Tutankhamun's funerary mask. (My apologies for the low quality of this image. Unfortunately, I am still working with a very slow modem, forcing me to rely on text browsers as I put this page together, and must work blind when linking to images. At the earliest opportunity, I will link to a better picture).