Reading Notes: Ancient Egypt Part B

The Tale of King Rhampsinitus

Temple at Karnak

Story source: Egyptian Myth and Legend by Donald Mackenzie (1907).

There was a king of Egypt called Rhampsinitus who was very wealthy. He had a chamber made to store his riches, but one of the builders left a stone loose so that it could be removed from the outside. When the man was about to die he told the secret of the stone to his two sons who then proceeded to retrieve the treasures. The king was furious at the robberies, so he placed more guards and traps, until one night one of the brothers was caught. He knew that if he were caught in the morning they both would, so he instructed his brother to cut his head and leave. He did as instructed, which angered the king even more. He ordered the guards to place the body hanged in front of the palace to find anyone that would grieve the boy, but no one came. The boys' mother grieved and asked her son to retrieve the body, so he tricked the guards by getting them drunk and managed to take his brother's body. The king then sent his daughter to find the boy, who offered to become the boy's guard if he told her the most artful and the most wicked things he had ever done. The boy told her of his brother's death and how he tricked the guard, but when the girl tried to seize him she grabbed the brother's arm which he hid under his robe. The king became so impressed by how cunning the boy was that he issued a pardon and invited him to the palace; such was his delight that he gave the boy his daughter for a bride.