Anon, Tale of Two Brothers, Egyptian fairy
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Wolran Kim
October 2013
I like Professor Jones’ words, “Author is dead!” Indeed, the author of The Tale of the Two Brothers died 3,200 years ago, and this strange story is to be seen as text on white papers beyond the huge gap in time and space. This story was drawn by hieroglyphs after being delivered by word of mouth. In those days, ancient Egypt was familiar with intangible art rather than tangible shapes.
People of the Middle and Near East had nomadic lives rather than settling, thus, their literature of the oral myths has been toward the audience rather than the readers. Interpretation of hieroglyphs is complex and diverse because it depends on language, culture, geography, age, and ethnicity. All annotations, sometimes longer than original text, show their religious, cultural, and historical background.
Ancient myths generally have common themes and motives beyond time and region. This story is not exceptional. Juggling stories about death and life of fighting and killing each other is written very lightly in their daily lives; “He got a reed knife, cut off his phallus and threw it into the water. The catfish swallowed <it> (p.84),” “I extract my heart and put it on top of the blossom of the cedar tree (p.85),” “he killed his wife, cast her <to> the dogs, and sat down in mourning over his younger brother (p.85).”
The story about encouraging the good and punishing the evil is always welcoming. Anubis’s wife, who falsely accused Bata, is killed by her husband, and Bata revenges against his wicked wife. The plot always finishes with a happy ending; “Thus it concludes happily and successfully (p.90).” Bata became a crowned prince in the entire land for thirty years and Anubis succeeded until the day of his death.
A protagonist is always portrayed as the perfect hero; “Indeed, his younger brother [was] a perfect man: there was none like him in the entire land, for a god’s virility was in him (p.81).” There are a bunch of evil forces to attack the good hero: Anubis’ wife, Beta’s wife, and the king. Mythic stories conclude as a conflict of evil and good, and never go against the reader’s expectations of a happy ending.
There are particular elements used as mythic devices; family values represented by the two brothers, Bata and Anubis and their wives, religious view about only God or polytheism represented by Pre-Harakhti and Khnum, kingship through the revering Pharaoh, personification of animals and plants represented by talking cows, and the role of man and woman. Mechanism of plot is resurrection (Bata’s revival and rebirth), God’s intervention (Pre-Harakhti hears prays and respond), juxtaposition of characters (two brothers and two wives), and magic.
Several compositions of this ancient Egyptian story are also familiar with the Hebrew Bible’s Old Testament. Bata is falsely accused the same way as Joseph in Genesis. Joseph is unjustly suspected by Potiphar’s wife, and is God’s chosen person as Bata is. Wickedness of Anubis’ wife and Bata’s wife remind me of Eve, who picked and ate the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge and made Adam fall into a difficult situation. Khnum, a creator god, made the most beautiful woman for Bata just like God made Eve from Adam’s ribs. Rebirth of Bata who becomes crown prince is similar to the birth and resurrection of Jesus in the New Testament. The view of the afterlife of ancient Egyptians is expressed in their hieroglyphs.
The power of translation is strong because text is not hypothetical. The choice of words, the decisions of the word order, and the choice between direct and loose translation would make the specific ancient legend an absurd or sympathetic story. Ancient literature often seems to lack creativity, because it focuses on the narrative of the events and behavior avoiding the description of emotions. It looks like a fairytale because it treats unusual events as being routine.
===========================================
Wolran Kim
October 2013
I like Professor Jones’ words, “Author is dead!” Indeed, the author of The Tale of the Two Brothers died 3,200 years ago, and this strange story is to be seen as text on white papers beyond the huge gap in time and space. This story was drawn by hieroglyphs after being delivered by word of mouth. In those days, ancient Egypt was familiar with intangible art rather than tangible shapes.
People of the Middle and Near East had nomadic lives rather than settling, thus, their literature of the oral myths has been toward the audience rather than the readers. Interpretation of hieroglyphs is complex and diverse because it depends on language, culture, geography, age, and ethnicity. All annotations, sometimes longer than original text, show their religious, cultural, and historical background.
Ancient myths generally have common themes and motives beyond time and region. This story is not exceptional. Juggling stories about death and life of fighting and killing each other is written very lightly in their daily lives; “He got a reed knife, cut off his phallus and threw it into the water. The catfish swallowed <it> (p.84),” “I extract my heart and put it on top of the blossom of the cedar tree (p.85),” “he killed his wife, cast her <to> the dogs, and sat down in mourning over his younger brother (p.85).”
The story about encouraging the good and punishing the evil is always welcoming. Anubis’s wife, who falsely accused Bata, is killed by her husband, and Bata revenges against his wicked wife. The plot always finishes with a happy ending; “Thus it concludes happily and successfully (p.90).” Bata became a crowned prince in the entire land for thirty years and Anubis succeeded until the day of his death.
A protagonist is always portrayed as the perfect hero; “Indeed, his younger brother [was] a perfect man: there was none like him in the entire land, for a god’s virility was in him (p.81).” There are a bunch of evil forces to attack the good hero: Anubis’ wife, Beta’s wife, and the king. Mythic stories conclude as a conflict of evil and good, and never go against the reader’s expectations of a happy ending.
There are particular elements used as mythic devices; family values represented by the two brothers, Bata and Anubis and their wives, religious view about only God or polytheism represented by Pre-Harakhti and Khnum, kingship through the revering Pharaoh, personification of animals and plants represented by talking cows, and the role of man and woman. Mechanism of plot is resurrection (Bata’s revival and rebirth), God’s intervention (Pre-Harakhti hears prays and respond), juxtaposition of characters (two brothers and two wives), and magic.
Several compositions of this ancient Egyptian story are also familiar with the Hebrew Bible’s Old Testament. Bata is falsely accused the same way as Joseph in Genesis. Joseph is unjustly suspected by Potiphar’s wife, and is God’s chosen person as Bata is. Wickedness of Anubis’ wife and Bata’s wife remind me of Eve, who picked and ate the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge and made Adam fall into a difficult situation. Khnum, a creator god, made the most beautiful woman for Bata just like God made Eve from Adam’s ribs. Rebirth of Bata who becomes crown prince is similar to the birth and resurrection of Jesus in the New Testament. The view of the afterlife of ancient Egyptians is expressed in their hieroglyphs.
The power of translation is strong because text is not hypothetical. The choice of words, the decisions of the word order, and the choice between direct and loose translation would make the specific ancient legend an absurd or sympathetic story. Ancient literature often seems to lack creativity, because it focuses on the narrative of the events and behavior avoiding the description of emotions. It looks like a fairytale because it treats unusual events as being routine.