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And Anpu, the brother of the King, was brought unto His Majesty, and the King made him Erpā of the whole country. Under the heading of this chapter may well be included the Story of the Shipwrecked Traveller. The text of this remarkable story is written in the hieratic character upon a roll of papyrus, which is preserved in the Imperial Library at St. Petersburg.
And Bata spake unto Anpu, saying, "Why hast thou pursued me in this treacherous way, wishing to slay me without first hearing what I had to say? I am thy brother, younger than thou art, and thou art as a father and thy wife is as a mother to me. Is it not so?
And when the second cow as she was about to enter into the byre spake unto him even as did the first cow, Bata looked under the door of the byre, and saw the feet of his elder brother as he stood behind the door with his dagger in his hand. Then he set down his load upon the ground, and he ran away as fast as he could run, and Anpu followed him grasping his dagger.
And he said to her, "Get up and give me some seed corn that I may hurry back to the fields, for Anpu ordered me not to loiter on the way." Anpu's wife said to him, "Go thyself to the grain shed, and open the bin, and take out from it as much corn as thou wishest; I could fetch it for thee myself, only I am afraid that my hair would fall down on the way."
Thus the cattle in Bata's charge became exceedingly fine, and their calves doubled in number, and they multiplied exceedingly. And when it was the season for ploughing Anpu said unto Bata, "Come, let us get our teams ready for ploughing the fields, and our implements, for the ground hath appeared, and it is in the proper condition for the plough.
And when the fourth year of his search had begun, his heart craved to return to Egypt, and he said, "I will depart thither to-morrow morning"; that was what he said to himself. Then he fetched a vessel of cold water, and having placed the seed in it, he sat down according to his custom. And Anpu took up the vessel wherein was his brother's heart, which had absorbed the water.
Go to the fields and take the seed-corn with thee to-day, and at daybreak to-morrow we will do the ploughing"; this is what he said to him. And Bata did everything which Anpu had told him to do.
I have opened thy mouth with the instrument of Anpu. I have opened thy mouth with the Meskha instrument wherewith the mouth of the gods was opened. Horus openeth the mouth and eyes of the Osiris. Horus openeth the mouth of the Osiris even as he opened the mouth of his father.
The gods and goddesses next created were five, namely, Osiris, Horus, Set, Isis, and Nephthys. Osiris married Isis, and their son was called Horus; Set married Nephthys, but their son Anpu, or Anubis, is not mentioned in our text. Osiris became the great Ancestor-god of Egypt, and was a reincarnation of his great-grandfather.
Are we, therefore, to seek for the common origin of all the myths and romance in the tragedy of Anpu and Bata that was current, we know not how long, before the days of King Seti?
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