| The Red Wizards : A Connection with Egypt? |
| As luck would have it, certain members of our group were privaledged to be able to visit the travelling Egyptian Exhibit "The Quest for Immortality". Thinking myself fully clear of any danger of harmful coincidences after finishing the exhibit, Tom was only too polite to point out something that we all had missed. On one of the artifacts, there appears to be a depiction of some of the members of the Red Wizards orginization. Coincidence? Or do the red Wizards have some connection to the Egyptians? Here I plan to pull together what evidence I can, and I'll leave it up to you guys to make the decision. Enjoy... |
| The depiction of the "Red Wizards" appears on the wall of Thutmose III 's tomb (1479-1425 BCE). The walls are covered with the text of the Amduat, which is an egyptian funerary text reserved for the pharoahs and nobility. (And much more esoteric than the Book of the Dead, which some may have heard of.) The Amduat (a more accurate name is "The Treatise of the Hidden Chamber"), dates back to around 1500 BCE, and was popular until the fall of the Ancient Egyptian Empire. The text details the trip through the afterlife ("hidden space") into resurection, a trip divided into 12 "hours". You can read more about it on-line, I will list relevant websites at the bottom of the page. What we're really interested in appears in the 7th hour of the journey. This is the National Gallery of Art's description of what happens in the 7th hour. "The sun god Re confronts his archenemy, the serpent Apophis, who swallows the waters carrying the sun boat. Isis and other goddesses hurl magical spells that cut and bind Apophis, destroying his power. In the top row, deities decapitate and punish other enemies. In the bottom row, the god Horus presides over twelve gods and twelve goddesses crowned with stars and symbolizing the twelve hours of the night." What we're interested in are the deities that decapitate and punish. (Big suprise, huh...) Here are the best images I could find of this particular section. |
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| Top left corner of hour 7 - notice figure on upper middle and bound souls on upper right |
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| Sword Bearer on right |
| The Capturer of Souls (Anku?) |
| Interesting, huh? That seems to be two out of three of our little friends. But what do the Egyptians have to say about them, and what about our third little friend? Read on! |
| E.A. Wallis Budge, a famous Egyptologist translated this event from a different version of the Amduat. Here's what he has to say about these two. "5. Three headless figures, kneeling, with their arms tied behind their backs; these represent the enemies of Osiris. Behind these stands a fierce cat-headed (or, lynx-headed) god, who holds a huge pointed stake in one hand, and flourishes a large knife in the other. 6. Three foes of Osiris lying on their backs; round the right arm of each a rope is tied, and the other ends of the three ropes are in the hands of a god called ANKU. The passage which refers to these - "The Majesty of this god saith:--O ye spirits who are hostile to Osiris, who have rebelled against the Governor of the Tuat, your hands and arms are fettered, and [ye] are tied tightly with bonds, and your souls are kept under ward, and your shades are hacked in pieces, ANKU hath drawn the cords about you so tightly that ye shall never be able to escape from his restraint." |
| So then I believe we have a name for our little soul capturing friend. "Anku". This name does not appear in any other egyptian texts as far as I can tell, having only researched it on the internet. But this is not a huge suprise, many of the demi-gods depicted in the Amduat are not listed anywhere else. Our sword wielding friend apears to remain un-named. But what of our third friend? I am willing to argue that he too is depicted here, and will complete the triumverate of terror that we are so familiar with. "But Liz," you say, "he's not pictured on the wall!" But he wouldn't be, would he? Think back to our meeting with the three. Who was invisible? Ah, yes indeed, it was our little friend of the many eyes. But there is no evidence to support his being present besides that, right? Sorry to disappoint you, but there is indeed evidence of him. Above the figures here, you will find a message in the hieroglyphics. In this version, it translates to "You can not escape from his watch forever." Lovely. I dare to suggest that this is a reference to the unpictured third "Red Wizard". But judge for yourself. And don't bother thinking about the Red Wizards/Misraim connection. It only hurts more. |
| Here are some websites where you can find further information - |
| NGA - Tomb of Thutmose III - info and a virtual tour |
| Book of the Am-Tuat by E.A. Wallis Budge - translation from 1905 of the Amduat |
| I also have a copy of the Exhibit catalogue , if anyone is interested in perusing it. A fantastic book! |
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