Introduction
By Muhamad A. Jamal
Translated by James Scanlan
I’ve been fascinated by the myths of Ancient Egypt my whole life.
That sentence would be a wonderful way to start this book. Sadly, it’s not true. I have, however, been fascinated by the myths of Ancient Greece my whole life (that is, my whole life since I learned to read). The Adventures of Hercules, The Iliad, The Odyssey—all those stories that inspired all those books and films.
My interest eventually grew to embrace myths from cultures other than Greece. And what my early forays into the world of mythology all had in common was that the stories were written in a language that was both engaging and exciting, for a young reader who just wanted to enjoy a good yarn.
I am ashamed to admit that, as an Egyptian, I didn’t take an interest in the myths of my own country from an early age. I knew the basics, of course: There’s the sun god, Ra; there’s Hathor, the goddess of beauty; there’s Set who killed Osiris to take his throne; then there’s Isis, who drove her son Horus (born of her brother, Osiris) to take revenge against his evil uncle, Set; and then there’s the one who had a dog’s head, for a head.
But! I never came across a work of art or literature on Egyptian mythology (in Arabic) that fully grabbed my attention. And this is odd because we Egyptians are always going on about how vast and glorious our past is. It doesn’t matter whether ‘Egypt’ is relevant to the conversation, there’s always space for an interjection of:
“Egypt IS Civilization!”
“Egypt IS Culture!”
“Egypt IS History!”
Or similar.
And yet! You’d be hard pressed to find any sort of work outside of academia that tells the stories of the pantheon of Ancient Egyptian deities, in Arabic at least. The small number of examples that do exist are short and humorless—stray, dry paragraphs devoid of detail, fluency, or drama. Any regular Egyptian who wants to learn about the myths of their ancestors must embark on a soul-crushing journey that has less in common with escapism and more with exam revision.
In the end, it was a cocktail of coincidence and serendipity that finally sparked my interest in the myths of Ancient Egypt. I was fortunate enough to translate several books of world mythology. At times during the process, I became consumed with further research, and at others, I was transported by the sheer enjoyment of the ancient tale on the page.
What had once been a passing interest became an obsession. Overnight, I developed an intense passion for everything Ancient and everything Mythology. I discovered that myths hold all the kindness, wit, wisdom, boldness, and creativity I failed to find in so much of our modern literature.
But at the same time, I was jealous.
How can there be so many of these wonderful books that retell the world’s oldest stories—and are so thrilling and profound and clever—when I, a humble Egyptian reader, must settle for reading the myths and legends of my own people in the monotonous and haughty tones of academics?
From here came the idea for this book: an attempt to bring together the extant Ancient Egyptian myths into a new narrative that retells these old stories in a contemporary language, and from a fresh angle. To make the myths accessible for the modern reader.
After an extensive journey through dusty reference books and sundry Ancient Egyptian texts (from papyrus scrolls to the inscriptions on temples, tombs, and sarcophagi), I found what I was looking for: a selection of myths and tales—all valuable, all fascinating—that could be stitched together and presented as a single narrative. And I did just that. I wove them into a single timeline. My aim was to be as loyal as possible to the original, with the occasional dose of creative license to nudge the plot along, but without ruining the basic structure.
In an appendix at the end, you’ll find (along with an afterword) a short section about my research, how I chose to weave together the narrative, and the sources I used, in addition to a list of the names of the main gods featured.
This book does not demand of the reader any prior knowledge of mythology (Egyptian or otherwise); it requires only an awareness that there was once in the land we call Egypt an ancient and advanced civilization that lasted, developed, and diverged for thousands of years before the invention of smart phones.
The stories in this book showcase just some of the many things the Egyptians of old believed in, at one time or another. Religion in Ancient Egypt was not a single doctrine that remained unchanged for the entire four-thousand-year (approximate) recorded history of their civilization. It was a hodge-podge of thousands of different doctrines avowing worship to thousands of different deities that, over time, blended together, morphed and adapted, and rose and fell due to affairs of politics, society, philosophy, and the priesthood.
Every age had its gods that were popular and its gods that were not. In some ages, the priests held the power; in others, not so much. It was the interplay between all these factors—the priests and the politics—that ultimately decided which gods were in favor and which were cast out into the darkness of oblivion.
The myths I’ve chosen here are some of the most famous from the Ancient Egyptian canon. The main players are the cast of the Great Ennead—the nine deities that were worshipped at Annu, the ancient City of the Sun better known by its Greek name, Heliopolis. These are: The creator of the universe, Atum-Ra; his children the twins, Shu and Tefnut; their children Geb and Nut; and their children Osiris, Isis, Set, and Nephthys (or to give them their proper Egyptian names: Usir, Ese, Seth, and Nebet-Het). Plus an extended host of associated secondary-character gods.
I am confident you will enjoy this book without first needing a degree in Ancient Egyptian history. And I hope that once you finish reading, you will begin your own journey with these myths.
Fans and experts of Egyptian mythology are also welcome. You smart bunch will get the most out of this story. You may even find, in my retelling, a new reading that conflicts with your own or that inspires you to create your own fresh take—building on the vast wealth of Egyptian myths available. There’s enough to go around for everyone, and more besides.
Enough with the preamble!
Let us begin our story of Nut and her children. And where better to begin than at the beginning (or actually, before the beginning), deep down in the depths of Nun.
Also read:
In Conversation: Muhamad A. Jamal & James Scanlan on Making and Remaking Egyptian Myth
‘The Children of Nut’: A Cast of Characters
Excerpt from Muhamad A. Jamal’s ‘Flying’
Muhamad A. Jamal is a novelist and translator from Alexandria, Egypt. His published works include three novels: The Book of Disappointment, winner of the 2017 Akhbar Al-Adab prize for literature; Flying; and The Children of Nut. He has also published a number of translations from English, including Joseph Campbell’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces.
James Scanlan is an Arabic-to-English translator from the UK. In 2022, he won the ArabLit Story Prize for his translation of Belal Fadl’s ‘The Kid Sheikh.’