Teta the Magician

The Pharaoh Khufu reigned in Egypt and the building of the

Great Pyramid at Giza had begun. His architect, Hemon, had
learnt all the wisdom of Imhotep, who had built the Step
Pyramid for Zoser a hundred years before, and the people of
Egypt came in their thousands during the months of the
Inundation each year when no farming was possible, and
laboured gladly to the glory of the good god Pharaoh Khufu
- who, like all true Pharaohs of Egypt, was held to be an
incarnation of the spirit of Amen-Ra himself.
But there was one thing lacking. Hemon and the magicians
of Memphis could not find the papyrus roll on which Imhotep
was said to have written the words of power to keep a pyramid
safe for ever against earthquake and thunderbolt - the weapons
of Set the Evil One.
So Khufu sent out messengers and offered rewards to any
who could find the words of power. The priests in the temples,

from Philae to Tanis, searched their records; the magicians of

Thebes and Abydos and Heliopolis sought the aid of spells and
incantations - but all in vain.
At last, however, one of Pharaoh's sons, the Prince Hordedef,
came to his father and bowing to the ground, said, Tharaoh
my father - life, health, strength be to you !
- I have found a
magician stronger and more wonderful than any in your reahn.
His name is Teta and he dwells not far hence, at Meidum
near the pyramid of your father Seneferu. There is no one
like him in all Egypt: he is one hundred and ten years old,
and was a boy when Zoser reigned and Imhotep built the first
pyramid - and he eats five hundred bread-cakes and a side of
beef, and drinks one hundred draughts of beer each day, even
now. He knows how to restore the head that is smitten off; he
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 TALES OF MAGIC
knows how to make the savage lion of the desert follow him
like a tame dog. And he swears that he knows how you may

find the papyrus of Imhotep, inscribed with thewords of power

and the charms that must be spoken to keep a pyramid safe
from the blows of Set the Evil One, who would destroy the
dwelling places of the dead if they were not proteaed.'
Khufu the Pharaoh was delighted at this news, and said,
*Go in person, Hordedef my son, and take with you the Royal
Litter and many attendants. Bring Teta the magician hither to
Memphis with all speed, and treat him as if he were a subject
prince visiting me his lord. Sail up the Nile in the Royal Boat
so that Teta may travel with ease and comfort.'
So Hordedef set out in the Royal Boat, taking with him aU
things needful. Up the river he went, beyond Saqqara, beyond
the Pyramids of Dahshur, until he came
to the Pyramid of
Meidum by Seneferu. Here he landed and set out up the
built
royal causeway to the Pyramid, and round it to the village
beyond where dwelt Teta the magician.
They found the old man lying on a couch of pahn-wood in
the shade of his house, while his servants fanned him and
anointed his head and feet with oil.

Prince Hordedef saluted him reverently, saying, 'Greetings

worthy of your great and revered age be to you, Teta the
magician, and may you continue free of the infirmities of the
old. I come with a message from my father Khufu the great
Pharaoh, life, health, strength be to him! He bids you visit
him at Memphis and share the best of food and wine, even
such as he himself eats and drinks. Moreover, he has sent his
own Royal Boat so that you may travel ki ease and comfort;
and here is the Royal Liuer of ebony set with gold in which
you shall be carried, even as Pharaoh himself is borne, from
here down to the Royal Boat, and from it to the palace in
Memphis.'
Then Teta the magician replied, 'Peace be with you, Hor-
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dedef, son of the great Pharaoh, beloved of your father ! May
Khufu the Pharaoh - life, health, strength be to him! -
advance you among his councillors and bring you all good
things ! May your Ka prevail against your enemies, and may
your Bai find the road of righteousness that leads to the throne
of Osiris in the Duat ! I will come with you to the presence of
Pharaoh. But let another boat follow bringing my attendants
and the book of my art.'
All things were done as Teta desired, and in due time he
sailed down the Nile in the Royal Boat and was carried in the
Royal Litter to the palace at Memphis.
When Khufu heard of Teta's arrival he cried, *Bring him
before me immediately! So Teta was led into the great Hall
'

of Columns where Pharaoh awaited him on his throne with

the great men of Egypt gathered about him.

Pharaoh said to Teta, *How is it, great master of magic, that
I have not seen you before?'
And Teta answered, 'He who is simmioned is he who comes.
The good god Pharaoh Khufu - life, health, strength be to
him - has sent for me, and behold I am here.'
!

Then Pharaoh said, Ts it true, as I have heard tell, that you

can restore to its place the head that is smitten off?'

And Teta replied, *That indeed I can do, by the magic and
wisdom of my hundred years and ten.'
*Bring from the prison one who is doomed to die,' com-
manded Khufu. *And let the executioner come also to perform
the death sentence on the criminal.'
But Teta exclaimed, Tet it not be a man, O Pharaoh my
lord. Let it be ordered that the head be smitten from some
other living creature.'
So a duck was brought into the Hall of Columns and its
head was cut off and laid at one end while its body remained
at the other. Then Teta spoke the rolling words of power, and

at his secret charm the duck's body iButtered along the ground,

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and its head moved likewise until they came together. And
when the two parts met they joined, and the duck stood
flapping its wings and quacking loudly.
Then a goose was brought, and the same magic was per-
formed. And when an ox was beheaded Teta had but to speak
the great words of power that made up his charm and the
dead ox rose lowing to its feet and followed him across the
Hall of Columns with its halter trailing on the groimd.
Then said Pharaoh, 'All that is reported of you is true, Teta,
greatest of magicians. But now can you tell me that which I

long to know : where lies the papyrus on which Imhotep wrote

the words of power that went to the building of the pyramid
for Zoser, yes and for that of Seneferu my father also.'
*I can teU you where the papyrus lies,' answered Teta. *It

is in a casket of flint that is hidden in the great Temple of

 TETA THE MAGICIAN
Amen-Ra at Heliopolis. I cannot tell where that casket is
concealed^ but I know by my art that only one person can find
the casket for you - yes, and I can tell you who it is.'

*Speak then, greatest of magicians!' exclaimed Khufu

eagerly. 'And great indeed shall be your reward.'
This very night,' answered Teta, 'the wife of a priest at
Heliopolis shall bear three children at a birth, and the spirit of
Amen-Ra shall be in them. Her name is Rud-didet, and one
of her children shall find the casket . . . One of her children
shall also sit where you sit and rule over Egypt.'
Then Khufu's heart was troubled, and he said, 'Surely it

would be better to send and slay Rud-didet ere ever her

children are bom. For only by treachery can one of them
become Pharaoh of Egypt.'
But Teta said, 'Let not your heart be troubled. Your son
Khafra shall reign after you, and Menkaura his son after him,
before a son of Rud-didet sits on the throne of the Upper and
Lower Lands. The words of power can be found and spoken by
none but he - and if he speaks them three great pyramids shall
rise at Giza and stand there for ever. But if he speaks them

not, all that you build, and your son builds and your son's son
after him shall fall and crumble away and become as the sands
of the desert.'
So Khufu issued a decree that the children of Rud-didet
should dwell at Heliopolis in all honour, and that if any lifted

a hand against them, be he a prince of Egypt, he should die a

death of shame, and his body be destroyed so that his Ka
should perish also. And he bade Hordedef take Teta the
magician to dwell in his palace for the rest of his days, giving
him hundred bread-cakes, a hundred draughts of
daily five
and whatever else he might desire.
beer, a side of beef,
Meanwhile the three children of Rud-didet were bom, and
when the eldest, User-kaf, played in the temple of Amen-Ra as

a boy he found the casket of flint in which was the papyrus roll

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containing the words of power. And, as a young priest, he
read them at the dedication of the Great Pyramid of Khufu;
as high priest of Heliopolis he read them at the dedication of
the Pyramid of Khafra, and them at
as Pharaoh-elect he read
the dedication of the Pyramid of Menkaura. And when Men-
kaura was laid in his pyramid, User-kaf became Pharaoh of
all Egypt - the first Pharaoh of the Fifth Dynasty.

As for the words of power and the charm against Set the
Evil One, they seem to have done all that Khufu the Pharaoh
wished: for the three great pyramids of Khufu, Khafra and
Menkaura stand at Giza to this day - the first of the Seven
Wonders of the ancient world, and the only one that is still
standing nearly five thousand years later.