S.E. Brunson's Writing Website

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Introduction by Anubis

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There are sometimes when I wonder what would have happened if things had turned out differently between them. Horus was so good, so pure. Setekh was not. They seemed like twin souls fated to decide the fate of Egypt between them, the two brightest figures of their age. And where was I? Where do I figure into a myth woven from their mutual hatred? Well, I’ll tell you.

 

My name is Anubis. Khenty-Imentiu. Neb-Ta-Djeser. Weighty titles, to be sure, and earned through no idleness. For ages I have attended to the dead and guided their souls to the scales. It’s my duty, appointed to me by the great Re himself, the god of all creation and ferryman of the sun. This honor was appointed to me as a reward for my services to the pharaoh, my brother. The story of my life weaves in along with the tale of his greatness, and to my thinking the two cannot be told separately. But if I tell it, I must start at the beginning. The beginning of everything that has ever existed.

 

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Chapter 1: In the Beginning

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In the beginning there was nothing. Nothing, and Re’s Ka. He was existing in the nothing, and decided that he wanted to create the rest of himself, so he did. So there he was, all alone, and that didn’t suit him at all. Out of himself he made Shu and Tefnut, the primordial waters and the air, and the first great hill named Benben. Now he had companions, children, and a place to lay upon and a place to swim all at the same time. Such is the cleverness of Re. Then he planted himself in the mound Benben as an ibis' egg, and in time he hatched into the manifestation that we now know, the great god with flesh of gold, bones of silver, and hair of the finest lapis lazuli.

 

Shu and Tefnut, the twin children of Re, fell in love with each other, for each one was all that the other one had besides their mighty father. Together, Shu and Tefnut had two children of their own: Geb and Nut, the Earth and Sky, who rest on primordial waters and above the primordial air. The pair were so close that they would allow no space between them for living things, and so Shu was given the task of pulling them apart and keeping them separated. But Geb and Nut bore their father no ill will. A happy family they were, Re and Shu and Tefnut and Geb and Nut. Three generations of living beings, for surely they were the first ones ever to live.

 

In due time, Geb and Nut married and had children of their own, four in total. The first born and greatest child was handsome Osiris, King of an Egypt newly formed. The second child born was his sister Isis, beautiful beyond all other existing beings. Third born was Nephthys, twin sister of Isis, yet lacking in her inner beauty. The fourth and last child was the boy Setekh, who was not content to exit his mother through the road the others took, but to tear himself another route through her side. He was a child of chaos, and he was the only child whose features were the most non-human. He had a long, pointed snout like an antelope, with two large hare-like ears growing from his head and a long forked tail growing from the base of his spine. The other children were close with each other, but Setekh chose to be alone.

 

Other gods there were as well, brought into existence by the fundamental need of their presence in the world. One such god, the ram-headed Khnum, decided that there should be creatures other than animals, which of course were created first. Beasts are and always will be closer to the gods than to men, privy to the secrets that men cannot know. Clever Khnum then designed a pottery wheel on which he put a lump of silt from the Nile. With this he mixed some of his saliva, and setting to work he shaped the first human beings. Men and women were then put on Earth to live with the animals, which they emulated.

 

For a while, human beings lived among the reeds and rushes of the Nile, and ran along the savannas, devoid of clothing or any designs for an existence other than chasing down the day’s gazelle. Once Osiris and Isis, wedded in the womb, reached maturity they were made King and Queen over all Egypt in the city that was to be named Iunu. The human beings saw their splendor and gathered together to be witness to them. Osiris taught them the benefit of civilization and agriculture, and Isis taught them the intricacies of social life and law. Soon human beings were living apart from the animals. They were living in buildings and tilling the soil, now made fertile through irrigation, which Osiris had taught them. Life was good and plentiful for everyone. Everyone, that is, except Setekh and Nephthys.

 

You see, since Isis and Osiris were a couple, the only one left for Setekh was Nephthys. Brother and sister were betrothed and married, yet Setekh felt embittered against the other gods for having given Egypt to Osiris and not him. He felt that he, a god with more ambition and strength, ought to rule over humanity. Setekh spent his days brooding and abusing his sister-wife. Nephthys felt no bitterness towards Isis for having been the one to marry Osiris, but at times she did yearn to be the wife of her other brother, even if it was only for a little while.

 

One day, after a long day’s work ruling over the disputes of men, Osiris returned to his palace weary and ready to go to sleep. Seized by desperation, Nephthys saw her chance. When you hear this, please do not judge her too harshly. If you had been married to one such as Setekh, the prospect of getting any affectionate words or loving touches would be inescapably enticing to you as well. That night Nephthys cast a spell on Osiris, which caused a fierce yearning for his beloved wife Isis. He searched around the palace for her, and ran into Nephthys, though he did not know it for she was in the guise of her sister. Once Osiris laid eyes on her, he seized her in his arms and kissed her. Any doubts that Nephthys might have had in her mind were swept away in the passion of Osiris’s embrace. That night they made love, and as Osiris lay sleeping beside her, she sneaked out of his room and back to her chambers, dropping her disguise in case she ran into her sister.

 

Once she reached her room, she quietly opened her door for fear that Setekh would wake up and be angry. Quickly, she closed the door behind her, and in the dark sat down on her bed, trying to still her rapidly beating heart. Her first experience of that kind made in love and not hatred had been beautiful. She smiled to herself in the dark and wiped the perspiration from her brow. And then her smile broke. The linens had rustled. Her heart started racing again. No, what was he doing awake? Not now...

 

“My darling wife....” His voice was deep and very cold, and it issued out of the darkness like a water snake right into her heart. Nephthys tried to swallow past the lump in her throat and it was exceedingly difficult. He spoke again. “Nephthys, I can smell him all over you. You were with Osiris, weren’t you?” She spun around to face him in the dark, and was met by a pair of glowing orange eyes, narrowed with scorn.

 

“I... I... no, I...” the frightened woman stammered.

 

“DON’T LIE TO ME!” A powerful hand struck her in the side of the head, and she fell to the floor, scattering a chair and a few jugs of water. The dust there quickly turned to mud and formed a pool around her prostrate form. She tried to get up off the floor, but she slipped and was met by Setekh’s foot on her chest, pinning her down into the mud again. His burning eyes lowered in the darkness to linger near her face, where she could finally see his long features illuminated by the glowing. His breath smelled of wine and meat. “I will tell you this, and I will tell you this once. You will never touch him again. You will never speak to him again. You will never be in his presence again. I will lock you away on state occasions, and when they wonder about you, I will tell them that you are ill. And remember this, for it is most important: If the seed of Osiris, by some bizarre circumstance, managed to somehow beget a child in your barren womb from this union, I will see to it that the child is born from you in the same way I birthed myself.” His snarling muzzle shivered with fury by her cheek as he hissed “Neither of you will survive it. Do you understand me?”

 

All she could do, pressed down into the mud-slick floor by his foot, was nod her head and sob quietly, choking out apologies for her indiscretion. Setekh stormed out of the room, and she could hear him locking the door behind him as he left. For a long time she lied there on the drying floor, covered with mud and sweat and the smell of Osiris and the smell of her own fear mingled together. And she cried, and cried until she felt that surely she had no more water to give back to the earth, her father, and she felt sure that she would die. But it wasn’t so.

 

Later that year, Nephthys escaped from the castle, heavy with child. Having been locked in her chambers for so long, Setekh hadn’t noticed her round belly and frequent discomfort. Then one day, when she knew the birth was coming, and fearing for her baby’s life, she enlisted the help of a trusted servant to get her out of the palace for the night. She fled to the shadowed marshes and had her baby. The child was a boy, healthy and strong. Curiously enough he had the head of a jackal kit. After being exposed to the night air, he slowly opened his large amber eyes to the moon, and then to his mother. Nephthys kissed his forehead and made him a nest of rushes and reeds. There she left him to meet his fortune, for surely it was better than what was waiting for him in the hands of Setekh, his jealous uncle. She fled back to the castle, no longer pregnant, and the servant put her back in her chambers.

 

Fortune was smiling on the boy child that night, for Isis, the Queen of Egypt, beloved by all, was walking through the marshes that very evening. A small sound greeted her ears: the whimpering of a tiny babe. It didn’t take long for her to find the baby, still wet from his birth, crying and trying to grab  hold of comfort with his tiny hands. Her heart was filled with pity and love for the tiny being, so she took him up and washed him clean in the holy waters of the Nile river. His unusual appearance didn’t trouble her for a moment. The baby, finding a motherly touch after many long hours of loneliness, snuggled up to her and fell asleep, contented and unafraid for the first time in his short life.

 

Early that morning Isis returned to the palace. Osiris was just waking when Isis walked in, flushed from having spent all evening tending to the baby.

 

“My darling, what have you got there?” asked the king of men.

 

Isis smiled indulgently down at the sleeping bundle in her arms and said “I have found an abandoned baby in the marshes. From his look I would say he is divine like us, and not having seen any one of our sister divinities pregnant, I surmised that he was born from nothing, out of necessity, like so many of our peers.”

 

Osiris came over and sat beside her, gazing at the baby, now just waking up. The young one had the head of a jackal, it is true, but the head was covered with black fur and not the dust-colored pelt like that of the dogs found in the desert. His skin was also very dark, almost bluish gray in the light. His eyes were amber and penetrating. In his heart Osiris felt a great bond with this child. Perhaps he knew that the baby was his, perhaps not. But that day he decided with Isis to raise the child as his own son, and named him Anubis.

 

Over the years, the baby grew up safe and loved in the palace, receiving a princely education in the ways of the world. He was kind to the people of Egypt, polite and intelligent, and preferred to listen rather than to speak. Osiris was very proud of him and took the boy along whenever he went out to the tribes in distant lands so that Anubis could see how others lived and thought. The bond between them was very close, and not a soul cared that Anubis was not the true son of the King and the Queen.

 

Of course, as you may have guessed by now, I just described my own conception, birth, and childhood. My time with my father was very special, and I will always hold it dear to my heart. Of course during this time my uncle Setekh was furious. He had been looking forward to killing Nephthys and the child, and when he had been thwarted he knew his chances were gone. He allowed Nephthys the freedom to leave her chambers, more out of worry that the other divinities in the palace would notice her absence than because of any kindness. He also allowed her to be in the presence of Osiris, but her forbade her from ever getting too close to him.

 

After her imprisonment Nephthys accepted the terms gladly. When she saw her sister for the first time in many years they greeted with joy. It is the way with the gods that the passing of years almost goes unnoticed, and such a long isolation, purportedly from a longstanding illness, seemed brief to them.  In keeping with the lie, Nephthys thanked her sister for her concern and asked her what had happened in the time she had been bedridden. Isis described how she had found me in the marshes and adopted me as her own. She told Nephthys of how splendid a young man I was becoming, and Nephthys’s heart leaped with joy. Her son had survived, and he was in the palace!

 

Nephthys asked her sister “Where is this fine young man? I greatly wish to meet him, if he has brought you and Osiris so much pride and joy.” Isis happily showed Nephthys to Osiris’s study, where I was studying my lessons. Nephthys looked in at me and thought how handsome a son I have had. Her heart overflowed with love for me, and she so wished that she could tell me that she was my mother, and so receive my love. But she knew it couldn’t be, at least not then. The secret had to be maintained for my safety, lest my uncle do my harm. Out of love for her son, Nephthys only stood in the doorway and gazed in upon me as the I studied on, unaware of them both.

 

Meanwhile, Setekh had a suspicion that Nephthys had been with child and had somehow smuggled the baby out of the palace shortly after its birth. Due to the coincidental timing of the ending of Nephthys’s discomforts and my discovery in the marshes, Setekh correctly suspected me of being that very child he had vowed to destroy. Intense hatred welled up in him, he had been thwarted so many times: by his father Geb in the appointment of the kingship, by Nephthys, and now by Osiris. There was no way he could kill the bastard child now that I was under the protection of the king. It could possibly be made to look like an accident, but it wouldn’t be nearly as satisfying. Setekh remained in his private chambers most of the time, which suited everyone else. In his chambers he sat scheming, thinking up ways in which the throne could be usurped from Osiris and in which all of his enemies could be punished for their crimes against him. All during my childhood, my uncle Setekh remained a monster that lingered in the shadows, far away from everyone and everything.

 

In a burst of inspiration one fateful day, Setekh left the palace and traveled along the river to where a thicket of trees grew. He felled enough of them and returned home late at night, his burden wrapped up in cloth. For days and days his door remained shut and locked as his plan took shape. During the days the sound of sawing, hammering, sanding, and the molding of wood could be heard, and during the evening Setekh met with his loyal cohorts at a secret location near the outskirts of the city. This went on for a week, and the resident deities of the castle always wondered idly what Setekh was planning. None of them realized yet how dark his spirit had become.

 

The very day that Setekh’s plan was finished and ready to put into action, Osiris had decided to host a feast for his people. Everyone was invited, and there was much wine and good food to be had by all. I remember that party well, and I don’t think I’ve ever had so much fun since. The people gave many gifts to Osiris and Isis to show how much they had learned from their teachings. The men gave pots of seeds and grain to him from their abundant crops. The women recited poems, offered beautiful jewelry, and danced for them. Everyone sang songs, and the party lasted late into the evening. Towards sunset, Setekh sat up from his seat at the table, for in Osiris’s benevolent nature he even invited his embittered brother to eat and make merry with him.

 

As he stood, Setekh called for silence, for he wished to make an announcement. “My friends!” He said merrily, for surely he was in a good mood, though none of the guests there knew the exact reason why. “My friends, I have here a beautifully crafted box. I put it to you, oh guests of Osiris’s house, that whoever fits into this box perfectly will take it home with him this very night!” As he was talking, he moved from the table to a covered object that two men where wheeling out on a dolly. The covered object was laid out on the ground, and the crowd craned their necks to get a better view of what lay underneath the cloth covering. With much ado, Setekh lifted the cloth, revealing the most stunning chest anyone had ever seen. No man had ever crafted such an object of beauty before, and the colors painted and gilded onto the wood were so intricate and stunning that it rivaled the beauty of Nut as the sun rose in the morning.

 

Gasps, oohs, and ahhs issued from the crowd, their sleepiness from food and drink abandoned. The artistry of Setekh had woken them from their jolly torpor. Even Osiris sat in his throne, amazed at what his brother had done. Immediately, a line formed to see who could fit in the box. There were little children who piled in three at a time, each hoping to take home a third of it, and there were large hulking men who could barely fit in their broad shoulders. As each person tried and failed, they were guided out of the palace on their way home by a servant, as it was the appropriate time to say farewell to the festivities.

 

Slowly but surely the palace cleared as the sleepy and hopeful crowd each had their try in the marvelous chest. Eventually the palace was empty save for Osiris, Isis, myself, and Setekh’s guests, who seemed curiously uninterested in the box. “Oh well,” said Setekh “unfortunately no one was able to fit in my box. It really is a shame. It would have made someone a lovely keepsake.” He paused for a minute in repose, and then addressed Osiris “Brother! Why, you haven’t given the marvelous chest a try! Who knows, perhaps you might fit in it, and what a stately addition it would make in your chambers.”

 

My father was overcome with Setekh’s seemingly new-found generosity and was eager to give Setekh’s chest a try, thoughtless and far too trusting from the wine. He looked it over before stepping inside, commenting on how exquisite its making was. Setekh only shrugged modestly and urged Osiris onward. My father laid himself down in the chest, and found to his delight that he fit inside it perfectly. The tip of his head just touched the top, his feet comfortably rested on the bottom panel, and he could lay inside with his arms folded upon his chest in a most comfortable position. There was even a pillow for his head.

 

“Delightful! What a fabulous chest you have made, my brother!”

 

“I’m so glad you enjoy it, brother... because it’s the last thing you will ever see!” At that, a horde of men came running in at Setekh’s behest and slammed the lid down on the chest. As Setekh held the lid down by seating himself upon it, the men proceeded to nail it shut with several metal nails, and sealed it up with lead. I could hear Osiris inside, my poor father, beating upon the lid with his elbows and knees (for he was fitted very snuggly inside), to no avail. “Don’t bother banging. It won’t do you any good. I have gotten you, you naive fool! Why do you think that you fit so perfectly inside there? Where you not aware of me inside your bed chambers seven nights ago, taking your exact measurements? Perhaps not. While there, I gazed upon the sleeping form of your wife, and found her most... appealing...”

 

Osiris banged louder and was screaming with fury while Setekh looked evilly at Isis, letting her get a clear sampling of her husband’s suffering. Isis leaped out of her seat, ready to free her beloved, but Setekh’s men jumped out from behind a tapestry and seized myself and her. We watched powerlessly as Setekh stood and ordered the chest removed. The henchmen dragged the box containing my father away from the palace and out into the night. While Osiris was being dealt with, the men dragged us outside and out of the city, where we were held at spear point for several hours.

 

Setekh came to us eventually, a wicked smile on his face. “My family, how good it is that you could join me here on this festive occasion.”

 

I, being only a brash child, asked “what occasion is that, you heartless murderer!?”

 

He only laughed in my face, and gestured to one of his henchmen. “LONG LIVE THE KING OF EGYPT!” as he placed my father’s crown upon Setekh's pointed head. My mother and I wept, for we finally realized his plan. Setekh’s chest was really a coffin built especially for Osiris, and because my father had been so trusting and unsuspecting of treachery, he had fallen for Setekh’s trap.

 

“I DON’T BELIEVE YOU!!!” All heads turned towards Isis as she screamed; she was in a fury then, and her eyes were glowing with a savage light. The men were afraid to go near her, for as numerous as they were she was indeed still a god. Setekh was untroubled, and her rage increased at his apathy. “How could you do this? You’ll throw Egypt into Chaos!!! What can you give them? Slaughter, sand, drought? The people will hate you, just like your mother...” But she never got to finish, for Setekh had lashed out at her face and sent her sprawling.

 

“DON’T YOU DARE TALK TO ME ABOUT HER!” In that moment even Isis trembled to see Setekh’s fury. The clouds began to swirl above him and thunder began to rumble. The night sky grew lighter as if dawn were approaching, but instead of sunlight sweeping over the mountains in the East, a tremendous wind, hot and dry, blew up from the West. I watched in horror, kneeling besides Isis to protect her from his anger as his red hair burst into flames from the scorching wind, and he bellowed his disaster.

 

“She doesn’t know anything! She told me that I would grow up to be defeated, always defeated. Ha, see how she was mistaken?! She told me once, foolish woman, that Re had created Hu and Sia from his own blood. So I thought ‘I am no less a god than Re.  If he can create such important things, then so can I!’”

 

Isis sneered and spat out “yes, I remember that time. You were such a stupid boy. Who can rival the power of Re? Surely you cannot! I remember that you took up a pair of sharp shears that my mother used to trim our hair, and made a cut in one of your long, ass's ears. There was blood, and it flowed freely to the ground, but nothing sprung up from the drops. So you cut more. And you cut more, until you had cut the tips of your ears off completely, and still there was nothing! All that happened that day was that you made your ugly ass ears even uglier with those shears, and that the blood from those wounds had turned your hair forever red!”

 

Setekh’s eyes glowed a fiery orange with rage, for he knew that she was right and he hated her for saying it. The wind blew so fiercely that I thought the world would surely come apart. The sand and grit in the wind stung my ears, as well as the faces of Setekh’s henchmen, for they cowered inside their cloaks.

 

“THIS IS MY JUDGMENT TO YOU! YOU ARE FOREVER BANISHED FROM EGYPT! IF YOU SET FOOT INSIDE MY LANDS EVER AGAIN YOU WILL BE CAPTURED ON SIGHT AND BE PUT TO DEATH IN THE MIDST OF YOUR BELOVED PEOPLE, ALONG WITH THAT BASTARD TRASH YOU HUDDLE NEXT TO. THAT IS MY COMMAND!” He spun around and quickly made his way to the palace and to his new throne. The henchmen made their way back to the palace as well, for it was late at night and they were terrified of their leader. On that night I was certain I saw a change in the eyes of Setekh's men – they knew that they had made a horrible mistake, but it was too late to turn back. There would be no going back ever again.