The Fated Prince

Retelling of an Egyptian story from the 18th dynasty – 1550-1292 BC.

In ancient Egypt a king had all he wished for except a son.

As was the custom, when a son was born to him, the Seven Hathors came to the baby’s bedside to give prediction to the child.

They said the child would prosper but be fated to die by either a snake, a dog, or a crocodile.

The king was much troubled by this news and sent his son off to a remote palace with orders that he be kept safe from these things. The growing boy lacked for nothing but was kept inside this palace away from the dangers of the outside world.

One day from a rooftop he saw a man walk by with a greyhound. The boy had never seen one and asked that he be allowed to have one and so a puppy was procured.

When the young man was grown he said to his father,

“I have not known the outside world, now I must go out and experience it. The father reluctantly equipped him with weapons and a chariot and the young man set off north and crossed the Sinai into Naharin or Mitanni on the upper reaches of the Euphrates river.

In this land dwelt a king with a most beautiful, wise and accomplished daughter.

But the king locked her into a tall tower saying to the suitors,

“The one who can jump as far as her window will win her hand.”

Well the Egyptian prince arrived and enquired what was going on. He was ragged and footsore from his travels and not wishing to betray his noble background made out he was the son of a charioteer.

The princess in the tower had meantime spied the handsome Egyptian.

He recovered his strength and decided to take part in the jumping.

With a mighty bound he reached her window and clasped her in a close embrace.

Her attendants rushed to the king to inform him a suitor had been found.

But the king of Naharin was unwilling to let his daughter go to such a lowly man. He ordered his attendants to make him go away.

But the headstrong princess said when she heard these words,

“I swear by Re Horakhy that I will neither eat nor drink,

Impressum

Verlag: BookRix GmbH & Co. KG

Texte: alastair macleod
Bildmaterialien: alastair macleod: image purchased from Dreamstime royalty free photos of Hamar woman from the Omo valley in Ethiopia, photo credit Feje Riemersa
Cover: alastair macleod : image purchased from Dreamstime royalty free photos. Prince Amunherkhopshef, son of Pharaoh Ramses III painted onto the wall of his tomb at the Valley of the Queens on the West Bank of the Nile at Luxor, Egypt.
Lektorat: alastair macleod
Satz: alastair macleod
Tag der Veröffentlichung: 27.08.2018
ISBN: 978-3-7438-7902-7

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Widmung:
The featured story The Fated Prince (often titled The Cursed Prince ) is a traditional Ancient Egyptian story translated from a papyrus of the 18/19th Dynasty and reprinted in the work of Dr Joyce Tyldesley, " Myths and Legends of Ancient Egypt." It was intriguing to read this story but as it approached a climax, at the crucial point, it was left unfinished. I am grateful for permission from Joyce Tyldesley to reproduce the story with my added ending. The Sekmet poems are complimentary in that they show how ancient belief evolved from early experiences to meet the threats Egyptians faced .