New-York tribune., 1901-05-19
MAGICAL PAPYRI.
MYSTICAL LITERATURE OF EGYPT IN
THE BRITISH MUSEUM
From The London Post.

/
signed TO Egypt and that it during his resi-
dence in Egypt that Jesus learned the art Of
working miracles. a particular Interest there
| fore attaches itself to any literature relating
/ magic which may be recovered from the buried
! Libraries Of Egyptian temples. During recent
years several important discoveries have been
made, and it is fortunate that most OF these
papyri have found their resting place in the
| British Museum. The correctness of the ira
-dition as TO prevalence of magic in the Nile lard
is amply proved. for it lay at the basis Of the
mystic theology of the Book of the Dead. and
1t formed the groundwork of the ps udO science
of medicine in the famous Ebers paDyrus as
well as of the fayorite literature of the common
people.
The discoveries of the last few years in both
Egypt and Chaldea, have placed new aspect
ON the study Of magic and raised it from the
position of "hlacz art the rank Of i subject
throwing much light on the beginnings Of re-
IiSlon and science in the most remote ages.
Magic has been well DESERT ed the physics Of
man in state of nature" 1t represents his
earliest efforts to solve the problems of nature
and to express his own position in the mutual
/ relations which he felt existed throughout
nature.
on this subject the papyrus of Nosi-Amsu in
the British Museum throws great light. This
extraordinary rcligio- gicaI work contains a
curious iitanv called the Book of the over
/ throwing of Apep.' Apep the serpert fiend.
the enemy Of ia the god. To defeat him
magic has TO he employed The ceremonies de-
soribed most interesting. a wax figure for
instance, Of Apep, on which his name was writ
ten in green. is to he made and placed on a fire
so that ii shall consume the enemy of Isa. or
again, nSureS of the fiend and his attendants
are to be made of and to have Their names
written on them and to he pierced with a stone
spear and then burned. This custom of wax
figures Of the demon is found in almost every
system of magic. More important is the care
advised to recite the names of the evil ones
anc 10 write and destroy them; for the name
was believed 10 be the most vial element in
nature Unless an object had il could
rot exist. and if the name lost it pcrished.
Hence III the Book Of the Dead the special chap
teFS u preserve tn name in the next world
The belief in the magical power Of the name
lies al the basis a. all Oriental magic. and is
even found in the early Christi n writings such
as the Apocalypse of st. John. where We hay.
tH' passage 'FHou hast "A rGmc that thou
hvest ana thou art dead (Rev ill - Tn.
'neW name is pr, ,minlnt. and is evidently the
same As The Ep"i' or IA name borne by the
dead in the Egyptian Fields of Peace" In
Sixth Dynasty Is {. :i31h. We read: "Pepi is
hapry with his name'-"the name of Pepi is
written down at the head of the living" The
iapyrus shows that this belief n the power Of
the name lav at :he base of Egyptian magic.
The object for which this ritual written is
. curious Apcp was the demon Cf the thunder
storm, The roarer' Of the rain and storm and
cloud ana thus the opponent of the sun; and
To obtain a bright clear sky wherein the sun
misht make his voyase unimpeded
The vitality Of the magica! literature Of an
Gent Egypt - shown 10y remarkable papyrus
which was obtained 10y the Museum some few
years ago. and has just been published by the
Clarendon Press. with notes and translation by
l. Grlfhth 7 : \ The papytus was discov-
cred in 1s!'I in Upper Egypt. and purchased
/ some time later 10y the trustees OF the MuSeuI
Its date be fixed with fair certainty. ON
the diverse Of the two leaves n of farm
! accounts written in Greek. dated in the seventh
year OF the Emperor ClaudiuS "a. II. iG-ilD. and
on the reverse arr written in Denote. or the
I common script, series of magical taeS. The
second use u the papyrus probably took place
about thirty wears later: may place their
origin about \. u. 40 Among the magical
literature Of Egypt there famous cycle
of stories grouped round Setme- Khamnas (the
I eldest of RameSes II. the Pharaoh of MOSeSl.
I OF whom there is statue in the British Mu-
/ scum. He High Priest Of Memphis and
I is traditionally said to have devoted himself
FOR the magic rolls written by the fingers of the
scribe god Th0th Uermes)." This papyrus
probably used 10y some MemphItic story teller,
who read or reClted il as Arab story JellcrS do
in THE Arabian Nights and similar works.
The author has collected tales of varying
taken apparently from Christian sources, ana
we have curious parallel To the story Of Christ
and the doctors in the temple ami also a version
/ of the parable of Dives and Lazarus But the
/ most curious some episodes remarkably like
the miracles of Moses and the p,agUes of Egypt.
These stories record a great contest in magic
between the masicians of Egypt and Ethiopia.
the wisdom of Egypt being represented by s.
Osiris. the Cf khamnas This contest seems
to accord with the tradition ment ionrd in the
Bible of James and Jambres who Withst1od
, Moses oil Timothy iii. -. The two Ethiopian
Uaeicians beast of the deeds of ma sic they can
perform. one says: Il Will cast my magic upni:
of Egypt to pass three days and three nights
without seeing the light Here to
have strange and almost verbal version Of
/ the ninth Ylague-"aud there was a thick
darkness in all the land of Egypt three days
EXODUS Y, 81 Another parallel is found in The
Y.l-.