Beyond this, Bata's closeness with the Ennead in the middle of the story also serves to legitimize his rule the gods bestowed divine favor upon Bata in his time of need. Also, the divine aspect of his wife's creation could be seen to serve as legitimacy for the kingship of Bata, especially since he was not actually the child of the pharaoh. That Bata's wife ultimately ends up pregnant with him is a reference the duality of the role of women in pharaonic succession the roles of wife and mother were often simultaneous. The second half of the tale deals largely with Egyptian ideas of kingship and the connection between divinity and the pharaoh. There are several themes present in the Tale of Two Brothers that are significant to ancient Egyptian culture.
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The story ends happily, with the brothers at peace with one another and in control of their country. When the pharaoh dies, the crown prince (a resurrected Bata) becomes king, and he appoints his elder brother Anpu as crown prince. She eventually gives birth to a son, whom the pharaoh ultimately makes crown prince. As this is happening, a splinter ends up in the wife's mouth, impregnating her. Bata, now in the form of a tree, again addresses his wife, and she appeals to the pharaoh to cut down the Persea trees and use them to make furniture. The bull is then sacrificed, and two drops of Bata's blood fall, from which grow two Persea trees. His wife, aware of his presence as a bull, asks the pharaoh if she may eat its liver. As predicted, Bata is resurrected.īata then takes the form of a bull and goes to see his wife and the pharaoh. He follows Bata's instructions and puts the heart in a bowl of cold water. He searches for his brother's heart for more than three years, finding it at the beginning of the fourth year. They do so, and Bata dies.Īnpu then receives a frothy jar of beer and sets off to the Valley of the Cedar. When the pharaoh succeeds in bringing her to live with him, she tells him to cut down the tree in which Bata has put his heart. Because of her divine creation, Bata's wife is sought after by the pharaoh. Khnum, the god frequently depicted in Egyptian mythology as having fashioned humans on a potters' wheel, creates a wife for Bata. Bata comes upon the Ennead, or the principal Egyptian deities, who take pity on him. Meanwhile, Bata is establishing a life in the Valley of the Cedar, building a new home for himself.
![tale of two wastelands down tale of two wastelands down](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ybii22jBSHA/maxresdefault.jpg)
After hearing of his brother's plan, Anpu returns home and kills his wife. Bata tells Anpu that if he is ever given a jar of beer that froths, he should know to seek out his brother. To emphasize his sincerity, Bata severs his genitalia and throws them into the water, where a catfish eats them.īata states that he is going to the Valley of Cedars, where he will place his heart on the top of the blossom of a cedar tree, so that if it is cut down Anpu will be able to find it and allow Bata to become alive again. The god creates a crocodile-infested lake between the two brothers, across which Bata is finally able to appeal to his brother and share his side of the events. In response to this, Anpu attempts to kill Bata, who flees and prays to Re-Harakhti to save him. When he strongly rejects her advances, the wife tells her husband that his brother attempted to seduce her and beat her when she refused. One day, Anpu's wife attempts to seduce Bata.
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The brothers work together, farming land and raising cattle. The story centers around two brothers: Anpu ( Anubis), who is married, and the younger Bata. Extract from the Tale of the Two Brothers.