THE STORY OF RUT-TETET AND THE THREE SONS OF RĀ

The last section of the Westcar Papyrus deals with the birth of the
three sons of Rā, who have been mentioned above. When the day drew nigh
in which the three sons were to be born, Rā, the Sun-god, ordered the
four goddesses, Isis, Nephthys,[1] Meskhenet,[2] and Heqet,[3] and the
god Khnemu,[4] to go and superintend the birth of the three children, so
that when they grew up, and were exercising the functions of rule
throughout all Egypt, they should build temples to them, and furnish the
altars in them with offerings of meat and drink in abundance. Then the
four goddesses changed themselves into the forms of dancing women, and
went to the house wherein the lady Rut-tetet lay ill, and finding her
husband, the priest of Rā, who was called Rāuser, outside, they clashed
their cymbals together, and rattled their sistra, and tried to make him
merry. When Rāuser objected to this and told them that his wife lay ill
inside the house, they replied, "Let us see her, for we know how to
help her"; so he said to them and to Khnemu who was with them, "Enter
in," and they did so, and they went to the room wherein Rut-tetet lay.
Isis, Nephthys, and Heqet assisted in bringing the three boys into the
world. Meskhenet prophesied for each of them sovereignty over the land,
and Khnemu bestowed health upon their bodies. After the birth of the
three boys, the four goddesses and Khnemu went outside the house, and
told Rāuser to rejoice because his wife Rut-tetet had given him three
children. Rāuser said, "My Ladies, what can I do for you in return for
this?" Having apparently nothing else to give them, he begged them to
have barley brought from his granary, so that they might take it away as
a gift to their own granaries; they agreed, and the god Khnemu brought
the barley. So the goddesses set out to go to the place whence they had