The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1901-01-03
FIRST CENTURY TALES.
Folk Legends and Biblical References
Translated From a Remarkable Pa


Folk Legends and Biblical References
Translated From a Remarkable Pa
pyrus.
In the year 1895 the trustees of the
British Museum purchased fine papy-
rus roll, written on both sides, the OBJ
verse bearing a series of revenue re-
turns, dated in the "7" year of the EN-
peror Claudius, B. c. 46-47, and the re-
verse a series of magic tales written III
Demotic, The latter, with a fine fac
smile, have been published by the
Clarendon Press, Oxford, accompanied
with a translation and commentary
from the pen of f. Ii. Griffith, the
Psychologist. The stories are part of a
series which center in a hero named
Khamuas, high priest of Memphis, the
historical original being the prince re-
gent, Kha- m-uas, the son of Rameses
III. The writer of these stories has col
lected a great quantity of folk legends,
which We're current in Egypt at TIE
time when this manuscript was writ
ten, about A. d. 70-S0; and the papyrus
may certainly be described as one of
the richest collections of first century
tales ever discovered.
| The stories relate to Khamuas under
/ the name of Seine, derived from his
title of Sem, priest of Memphis, and his
son Si-Osiris. The story of the birth of
this youth is given. He is the miracu-
lous child Of his mother, and his name
! is revealed to his father in dream,
Ibis name shall be Si-Osiris, (son of
Osiris) for he shall do many marvels in
Egypt" We are told that she grew
big, he grew strong, and went to
SCHOOL, and that he rivaled the scribe
who taught him. and he began to talk
with the scribes In the House of Life,
(the library of Memphis,) in the Tenn
pie of Ptah, and "all the land Won
dered at him." The resemblance be-
tween this extract and the story of the
birth of Christ is most astonishing, and
il is still more so when we read again.
Behold the boy Si-Osiris reached
twelve years of age, and there was no
scribe in Memphis that could equal
him in reading or writing or magic"
If in these passages we have an adap-
tation of the story of the birth of
Christ, as told by the disciples, it is
certainly the earliest record known;
being less than weny years after he
introduction Of Christianity into Egypt
by St Mark, "a. d, SD The wonder
working youth takes his father to the
regions of Amenti, or Hades, and the
cycles of the land of death are de-
scribed. Here we have a mass of valu-
able legendary matter derived from
Cbri and TeviGh
sources. The Judgment scene differs
much from that described in the one
hundred and twenty-fifth chapter of
the Book of the Dead, and there is
woven into this portion curious story
very like that of the parable Of the
Erich Man and Lazarus" The doc
trine Of future punishment, not found
in the Egyptian rituals, is clearly stat
ed in the words, che that is good upon
earth they are good to him in Amenti-
he that is evil upon earth they are evil
to him.
The latter part Of the papyrus con-
tains the account of the magical con-
test between Si-Osiris and the magi- /
clans OF Ethiopia resembling the ira
contest between Moses and
James and Jambres. Here we have two
curious echoes Of the plaques of Egypt.
The magician said to his mother the |
Negress, as a sign, "When thou shalt
eat and drink thy water shall be the
color Of blood, and the floods shall turn
to the color of blood, and the heaven
shall be the color of blood" Here we
have certainly the echo of the first
plague. Eek, viii, 19) So also in an
other passage is the plague .of darkness
One of the magicians, who
Is in prison. says, 81 would cast my
spell upon Egypt, and I will cause the
people of Egypt to pass three days and
hree nights without seeing light"
words which certainly resemble those
IF the plague of darkness. eek, X,
~ The treasures of this curious doc
lment are not exhausted, for here we
lave also the story of Moses and the
FURNISHES. for one magician rebukes the
,ther with the words, Art thou not
Hot, the son of the Negress whom I
aved in the reeds of RAP" The man
lscript contains many more valuable
,leanings from the traditions current
n Egypt in the first century of our era,
period when Alexandria was the en-
,orium of the literary wares of all the
,noWn world. This valuable papyrus
$ but an earnest of what we NAV ex-
,ect as the rubbish heaps of the Fay-
um and lower Egypt are explored
london Standard.
g q. s. @ REA l
Bears the p The Kind You Have Always Bought !
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