In search of truth, a person is able to go to great lengths and is able to overcome much. Archaeological excavations have already shown us a significant part of historical events that shed light on the modern evolution of our entire species. But despite advances in technology, scientists are still unable to decipher some of the important documents. Who knows, maybe it is in them that the secret of the existence of mankind lies.
Silver scroll
While excavating the ancient Jordanian city of Jarash, archaeologists stumbled upon a tiny silver amulet. In 2015, scientists were able to unwrap a microscopic scroll without damaging it. It turned out that the entire inner side was covered with strange, not translatable into any existing language.
Selden Code
The manuscript is made of leather strips covered with levkas for preservation. This manuscript spent five hundred years under a layer of gypsum: just last year, scientists scanned an ancient Mixtec manuscript and discovered the hidden text. We still cannot understand him.
Novgorod Code
Thorough analysis allowed scientists to date the so-called Novgorod Codex as reliably as possible: the palimpsest manuscript was attributed to the 9th century. A huge amount of repeatedly rewritten information is hidden on several tablets, and so far there is no chance that scientists will be able to get at least information from the upper layers.
Zakynthian Codex
On the pages of this ancient book, the original "Gospel of Luke" was written down long ago. But then someone carefully erased the entire text in order to reuse the paper - apparently, the person did not even suspect what exactly he was doing. Spectroanalysis today allows researchers to see the letters of the original text, but it will take a long time before decoding.
Voynich manuscript
The illustrated codex dates back to 1404, meaning it was written in the early Renaissance. On the pages of the manuscript there is not a single reliable image of terrestrial animals and the language in which it was written cannot be deciphered. It is believed that an unknown alchemist specially developed a mysterious language that does not exist in reality, but has meaning.
Jiahu artifact
This is largely a conditional term, which designates several shards with inscriptions at once, discovered by scientists in Henan province. Scientists date the inscriptions to 6 600 BC, but cannot decipher any of them.
Copiale Code
This is a German encrypted manuscript from the second half of the 18th century, containing information about a secret society of the Masonic type called "Oculisten". The manuscript was written in incomprehensible characters, diacritics and letters of the Greek and Latin alphabets, and at the moment we were able to recognize the first few pages of the codex. However, numerous references to encrypted names of brothers-Masons seriously complicate research work.
The belief in the possibility of subordinating natural or supernatural forces to one's will was shared by all the peoples of the world in antiquity and in the Middle Ages. However, comprehending applied magic and mastering the basics of ritual practice is not so easy as it might seem at first glance, therefore, ancient witchcraft manuscripts are of increasing interest.
Probably the most famous witchcraft book by its name is the Necronomicon, or Book of the Dead. The image of this tome, literally imbued with black magic and containing spells capable of raising the dead from their graves, was widely disseminated not only in special literature, but even in films, for example, in the film "Evil Dead". However, few people know that the Necronomicon is actually nothing more than a magnificent hoax by the great American writer of the 20th century. The idea for this fictional work of magic belongs to the famous occultist and horror novelist H.P. Lovecraft (1890-1937). He often mentioned the Necronomicon in his works and gradually created a cult of followers who believed that the book really existed and was based, at least in part, on real facts! The owners of second-hand bookstores and book publishers received applications for this work on several occasions, so that by the early 90s at least three versions of the "genuine" Necronomicon had been published ...
However, there were also many really serious magic books written both in the Middle Ages and in modern times. Old handbooks on practical witchcraft, many of which may be from ancient sources, were widely circulated among interested ones and were especially popular from the 17th century to the early 19th century. People who study ritual magic still continue to turn to them, although more modern editions have now appeared.
The main purpose of all witchcraft books is to conjure and keep in subjection the demons of hell and nature spirits, which gave the sorcerer strength and wealth or made him able to send damage and kill his enemies. Magical manuscripts gave precise, but sometimes obscure instructions for performing such rituals, advised the sorcerer what tools to use, what clothes to wear and what spells to recite day and night - at a time determined by astrology. The books also contained recipes for ointments and infusions, methods of creating a magic circle, talismans, amulets, occult images and brands; instructions on how to sacrifice animals and birds and how to deal with rebellious demons. They advised the sorcerer to gradually prepare for periods of sexual abstinence and refusal of food on the right days, called for the use of only materials that were pure from the point of view of magic in rituals. Witchcraft writings also usually described the complete hierarchy of spirits and demonic creatures that could be summoned using the spells listed here.
Magic, or, as they were also called, "books of darkness", came into everyday use from about the XII century. It should be noted that they were used not only by sorcerers, but also by doctors, and finally, just noble and rich people who needed to achieve something with the help of otherworldly forces.
Following the established ritual traditions, "books of darkness" have always been copied only by hand. The material for all these works is taken mainly from Egyptian and Hellenic (Greek) texts, dating, as a rule, from 500-100 years. BC, as well as from ancient Hebrew and Latin literary sources.
An interesting fact is that the readers and authors of the "books of darkness" did not always consider themselves to be supporters of the devil or evil spirits! According to medieval concepts, dealing with demonic creatures often meant only concluding a contract with them. The real goal of the magician was to deceive the forces of evil in such a way as not to fulfill his own part of the deal, and book wisdom helped him in this.
What witchcraft books were the most famous in the past and continue to be considered as such to this day? The most famous of them is the work "The Key of Solomon", which provided material for many other similar works. This text is attributed to the biblical king of Israel, Solomon, who, according to legends, received unprecedented wisdom from God and by the power of his magical abilities forced the demons to obey, and then drove them out of Palestine. The book of witchcraft spells for invoking spirits, the author of which is believed to be Solomon, reliably existed already in the 1st century BC. and has been repeatedly mentioned in the literature over the centuries. Over time, it gradually increased in volume, absorbing various later additions.
The oldest fragment of the Key of Solomon is a Greek version from about 1100-1200, which forms part of a magical collection held in the British Museum. It is known from the history of the book that in the 1350s, Pope Innocent VI ordered to burn it, and in 1559 the same work was again condemned to the church.
The “Key of Solomon” gained the greatest popularity in the 17th century. A kind of addition to it is a small book "Lemegeton", also attributed to the king of Israel, which sets out the basics of black and white magic.
Among the "books of darkness" the past "Grimoarium Verum" is also known. Based primarily on The Key of Solomon, this piece was written in French. The likely time of its creation is the middle of the 17th century, although some magicians claimed that it was translated from ancient Hebrew by a certain Dominican priest and this translation was first published in 1517.
The "Manuscript of Honorius" first saw the light of day in Rome between 1628 and 1671 and is attributed to Pope Honorius, who was considered a powerful sorcerer by his contemporaries. Some believe that the book is based on the Jewish Kabbalah, but, apparently, this connection is insignificant, since the text contains many Christian elements. Actually, the magical aspect is developed here very superficially.
The authorship of the "Book of the Sacred Mysteries of Abramelin the Magician" belongs to the eponymous German sorcerer from the city of Würzburg, who wrote it for his son in 1459. This work later had a huge impact on the famous magician Aleister Crowley, becoming one of his favorite books.
The Book of Black Magic and Pacts was created in 1898 by Arthur Edward Waite, a central figure in the mystical Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. In the first part of his work, Waite talks about other "books of darkness", and the second is called "The Complete Collection of Black Magic."
But especially popular among the adepts of the dark forces was a French occult work written in the 17th century called "The Grand Grimoire" ("The Great Book of Witchcraft"). This work on black magic includes the most detailed instructions on necromancy, which, as Arthur Waite used to say, "only a dangerous maniac-killer or inveterate criminal" would try to carry out in practice!
The "Black Chicken" tome, created at the end of the 18th century in Rome, does not claim to be an ancient manuscript. It is interesting to others: in this book, special attention is paid to magic rings, charms and talismans, and for the first time in print it appeared under the more euphonious title "Treasures of the Elder from the Pyramids."
As for applied magic, the manuscripts, which contain rituals, legends, rules and ethical norms of witchcraft, information about plants and the rules of quackery, chants, fortune-telling, spells and rituals of the Sabbath, are called "books of shadows" and serve as a "desktop aid" for sorcerers in their daily work. It so happened that the generally accepted "book of shadows" on black magic does not exist, and therefore each coven (community) of witches has its own book, which these communities are constantly supplementing and reworking. In addition, many of the witches add their own personal experience to them, so, by an unspoken rule, these works of magic literature are not subject to wide publicity.
As tradition dictates, in each coven of witches there should be only one copy of the "book of shadows", which is kept by the high priestess or priest of the community. Ideally, a magical manuscript should be handwritten, but in fact, in the modern neo-pagan movement, these texts are often distributed on computer floppy disks or laser disks.
Unfortunately, little is known about whether “books of shadows” existed before the renewed revival of interest in witchcraft in the mid-20th century. In past times, knowledge of sorcery was passed down from generation to generation orally, but some of the hereditary sorcerers claim that their ancestors still described their ritual actions in special magic books. One of such literary sources was, for example, Charles Leland's book Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches (1899), published in Great Britain, which revealed witchcraft techniques borrowed from the arsenal of the ancient Etruscans.
However, one should not assume that various kinds of magic books are a purely Western phenomenon that has no roots in our history. In the period of the XV - XVII centuries. quite a few translations from Latin and Greek appeared in Russia. For the Russian society of that time, the most beloved of these books were primarily those that narrated about astrology. Among them, the most famous are "Rafli", "Aristotle's Gate", "Stargazer" and others. These collections told about the signs of the Zodiac, about the passage of the Sun through them and about the influence of all these circumstances on the fate of people. Such books were used to compile all kinds of predictions, in particular about social events - wars, crop failures, etc.
Naturally, the Orthodox clergy did not approve of the interest of the people in astrology and considered the use of such books a sin: “... in them, people who are insane are believing sorcerers, looking for their birthdays, ranks of receiving and a lesson in life, and sorcerers from demonic teachings give them help on the planets are guessing! "
As for the books themselves, then, say, "Aristotle's Gates" is a translation of a very ancient Latin work, according to legend, written by the ancient Greek philosopher himself, and the "gates" in it are called parts and chapters of the book. In addition to those described above, there was also "Thunderman", which tells about the weather, epidemics, storms and earthquakes, "Myslennik" - a treatise on the universe, "Volkhovnik" - a collection of folk signs, "The Dreamer", "Traveler" - a description of road meetings of lonely pilgrims with evil and kind otherworldly creatures, "Zeleinik" - a healing herbalist and many others.
The Church declared all these books "heretical writings" and cursed those who used them. However, interest in these mysterious manuscripts has not waned to this day. It is likely that this related deep content of these magic books reflected the pagan ideas of peoples of different cultures.
The historical past is practically systematized today. Periods, major events and outstanding personalities are known to science. However, the secrets continue to be kept for centuries. Gaps in knowledge about the existence and life of previous generations are contained in secret manuscripts of history, which have not yet been understood and deciphered by scientists. Perhaps their discovery will overturn the understanding of the universe and time. Today, of the most famous specimens, ten of the most mysterious are distinguished.
1. The Voynich manuscript
The 250-page book, found in the 15th century, contains images of plants, space objects, and nude women. The plot of the story or individual stories has not been solved by historians and other scientists. Although one researcher claims to have deciphered 10 words from the text of the old edition.
Discovered an antique book in 1912 by Wilfid Voynich. Analysis of the content showed that some of the symbols have the distinctive features of a real language. Whether Voynich speculated on the find, presenting it as a valuable artifact, or whether this document is a real cultural treasure, remains a mystery. The object is in storage at Yale University.
Voynich manuscript
2. A guide to ritual ceremonies
The history of the ancient 20-page manuscript began about 1,300 years ago. It is written in the ancient Coptic language of Egyptian Christians. It contains many magic spells and formulas, including love spells, also spells for black jaundice and instructions for conducting exorcism sessions.
The text may have been written by a group of Setians, an ancient Christian sect led by Seth, who calls himself the third son of Adam and Eve. In an ancient message there is an indication of a certain mysterious figure - Baktiota, whose identity is unknown.
Researchers who translated and analyzed the text of the ancient manuscript book called it conditionally “ A handbook of ritual ceremonies". It is currently housed in the Museum of Ancient Cultures at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. The manuscript was donated in 1981 from the private collection of Michael Fakelmann. Where he got the text from, the information has not been made public.
Handbook of ritual ceremonies 3. The Grolier Code
The so-called Grolier Codex, named after the New York club where the copy was exhibited, presents the writings of the Maya peoples with ancient hieroglyphs demonstrating the civilization's number system and religious beliefs. The content contains a description of observations of the motion of the planet Venus. A Mexican collector named Josue Saenz claims to have acquired the manuscript from the Madoders in the 1960s. Scientists are still debating the authenticity of the artifact.
Recent research has shown that the paper on which the Code is written is approximately 800 years old. The illustrations are written in a typical Maya blue paint, which has not yet been synthesized in laboratory conditions. This confirms the value of the historical document. Along with other signs, for example, the content of hieroglyphs and images, such a conclusion speaks of the authenticity of the ancient message.
Grolier Codex 4. Copper scroll
The library of ancient manuscripts is presented in Hebrew text on several sheets. They were discovered in the Qumran Cave in the Judean Desert, along with other Dead Sea Scrolls. The text indicates the storage locations of a huge amount of treasures with silver, coins, gold and vessels. The message dates from about 70 AD, the time when the Roman army laid siege to and destroyed the shrines of Jerusalem. It is believed that this is the oldest manuscript, the content of which is unknown to science.
Researchers never tire of arguing about the reality and mythical nature of the described treasure. To date, the jewelry indicated in the text has not been found either in Israel or in Palestine. If the scroll is genuine, then perhaps the treasures were found in ancient times.
Copper scroll 5. Popol Vuh
The title of this manuscript is translated as “ Legal Counsel Book". It contains a mythical story told by the descendants of the Mayan peoples who settled in Guatemala. According to their legends, the forefathers of all living things Tepev and Kukumatz created the Earth from a water void, endowed it with animals and plants. This was shared by Michael Coe of Yale University in The Maya, Thames and Hudson, 2011.
The book indicates that the founders of the world had difficulty creating humans. At the end, it is described that they have got the twin heroes Hagpu and Xbalanque. They traveled a lot and became the rulers of the underworld.
The earliest extant copy of the Popol Vuh dates back to 1701. The codex was written in Spanish by the priest Frasisco Jimenez of the Dominican Republic. A copy is kept at the Newberry Library in Chicago.
Popol Vukh manuscript 6. Treatise of Courts
The Codex contains the first Hebrew text indicating the location of the treasures from the temple of King Solomon. It tells about the fate of the Ark of the Covenant. The scripture indicates that these artifacts “ cannot be found until the coming of the Messiah, the son of David ...«
The earliest copy dates from 1648. It was made by James Daville, a professor at the University of St Andrews in Scotland who studied and translated this ancient manuscript.
In analyzing the content, he relied on traditional methods of biblical exegesis (interpretation) to understand where the treasure might be. Under his pen, the story took on the form of a fantasy adventure, and not a real guide to finding valuable artifacts.
Treatise of the Courts - Ancient Manuscript 7. Gospel of Judas
In 2006, the National Geographic published a third century translation of the Gospel of Judas.
The mysteries of the ancient manuscript are revealed in relation to the biblical figure of Judas Iscariot, who, according to the New Testament, betrayed Jesus. The manuscript, written in the Coptic language used by Egyptian Christians, describes that Jesus asks Judas for betrayal so that he can be crucified on the cross so that he can ascend to heaven.
However, experts disagree on the translation and interpretation of the text. Aprel DeConick, a professor of religion at Rice University in Houston, says the text actually contains an indication that Judas was a "demon." Analysis of the manuscript and comparison of its content with the Gospel confirmed that the text is authentic. The research was conducted by a team led by Joseph Barabe of the McCrone Association in Illinois.
Gospel of Judas 8. Dresden Code
The artifact is about 800 years old. It is composed of 39 illustrated text pages. Research published in 2016 indicates that the Codex records the phases of the planet Venus, according to which the ancient Mayans performed their rituals.
“These people really had complex rituals, the conduct of which was tied strictly to the calendar,” said Gerardo Aldan, a historian at the University of California, Santa Barbara. "They were probably active, the periods of which were associated with the phases of Venus."
The Codex was donated to the Royal Library of Dresden, Germany in 1730. How he got to Europe is unknown. It is known that many texts belonging to the Mayan culture were destroyed by Christian missionaries seeking to eradicate any other mention of another faith.
Dresden list 9.Gospel of Mary Lot
The manuscript is written in Egyptian Coptic and is approximately 1,500 years old. The Gospel does not tell about the life of Jesus, but his name is mentioned in 37 predictions.
The text contains the story of the creation of the scripture: “ The Gospel of Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, from Gabriel the Archangel, who brought good news from the One who will go forward and receive it in his heart and will be required of him. "
The message of antiquity is kept at Harvard University. It was transcribed and the details were published in 2014 by Anna Marie Luigenjik, professor in the department of religion at Princeton University. In his book “ Forbidden Oracles. The Gospel of Mary Lot”She says that the Gospel is a prediction, an attempt to predict the future. A person looking for an answer could choose one of 37 oracles to find a solution to their problem. How the system worked remains unknown.
The edition was transferred to Harvard in 1984.
The Gospel of Mary Lot 10. Liber Linteus
Ancient texts were found in the silk veils of an Egyptian mummy. They were written in the Etruscan language used in ancient Italy. The artifact dates back to around 200 BC. A mummy with a robe is in the Zagreb Museum in Croatia.
The meaning of the message of antiquity is not clear. It is presented as a ritual calendar, although there are only six months in it, said Lammert Bucke van der Meer, a professor at Leiden University in his book “ Prayers, places and rituals in the Etruscan religion"(Brill, 2008).
Ancient Egypt was characterized by the reuse of materials for wrapping mummies or making death masks. At that time, trade in the Mediterranean was widespread. There is nothing unusual in the fact that the fabric came from Italy to Egypt.
Liber Linteus Probably, they contained Egyptian magic spells, but the text is written in a language unknown to science. Who knows, maybe any of these ancient manuscripts will be able to turn the prevailing ideas about the universe and history.
The ancients wrote down their knowledge on scrolls, artifacts, and even on the walls of caves. But after millennia, people have already forgotten how to understand the long-forgotten alphabet. And sometimes knowledge was deliberately encrypted using complex ciphers that were understandable only to a select few (people. Today there are many ancient scriptures, pictograms and ciphers that scientists have not yet been able to decipher. But whenever ancient ciphers are "broken", this almost always reveals interesting new information.In this review, a story told about 10 recently deciphered ancient artifacts that allow you to "look with one eye" into secret societies, lost libraries, learn about views of the world and ancient rituals.
1. Egyptian spell book
In 2014, after decades of research, scientists finally deciphered the Egyptian codex, and they were amazed to find it was a caster's handbook. The beautifully illustrated pages contain spells for the Egyptians "for all occasions": for love, business success, cure for black jaundice or exorcism. The 1,300-year-old parchment mentions Jesus, as well as an unknown divine person called "Bactiopha."
Some rituals of calls are even associated with the disappeared religious movement, the Sethians (Setians), who in this code refer to Seth or Seth (the third son of Adam and Eve) as the “living Christ”. Of course, it may seem that the Egyptians were discouraged by the presence of different religions during this period, but researchers believe that this document demonstrates the transition of society from other belief systems to Orthodox Christianity. Who owned and used this book remains a mystery. Nobody knows where it came from.
2. Scroll of Ein Gedi
Ein Gedi is a desert oasis located on the western shore of the Dead Sea. It has been inhabited by various communities of people for almost 5000 years. Although it is perhaps best known as David's refuge when he fled from King Saul, Ein Gedi was once home to a Byzantine Jewish village. At some point, the entire village burned down, including a synagogue with a mosaic floor. In 1970, archaeologists discovered a burnt scroll on the site where the Ein Gedi synagogue used to be. It is so badly preserved that it was not even possible to unfold it, let alone read it.
Nearly 50 years later, modern technology has done the impossible - it has made it possible to read a 1,500-year-old damaged scroll without having to unwrap it. Everyone was stunned when the text turned out to be the unknown verses of the Book of Leviticus. Now this scroll is recognized not only as the oldest biblical text since the Dead Sea Scrolls, but also the oldest Torah document that was discovered in a synagogue during archaeological excavations.
3. The real Shakespeare
A 400-year-old book on botany may contain an extraordinary treasure - a portrait of William Shakespeare. This is the only portrait known to have been created during the life of the famous playwright (when he was about 33 years old). The now rare book The Herball caught the attention of the historian and botanist Mark Griffith as he studied the life of John Girard. Griffith became convinced that the four faces depicted on the title page were not just decorative images, but rather long-forgotten portraits of real people. Griffith took a long time to decipher the heraldry and symbolism surrounding the portraits before he was able to determine the real identities of these people. They were the author of the book, another famous botanist, Lord Treasurer of Queen Elizabeth and ... Shakespeare.
4. Glyph T514
Most of the Mayan glyphs have already been deciphered, but some of them still hold their age-old secrets. Glyph T514 was found in a royal tomb in southern Mexico that has stood undiscovered for over 1,700 years. A picture of a tooth (more precisely, a picture of a jaguar molar) has defied deciphering for over 60 years.
Researchers only understood its meaning by examining real jaguar skulls and other glyphs. The discovery also finally suggested the name of the chamber where ruler Pacal was buried - "House of Nine Sharp Spears". Glyph became associated with warriors invading neighboring cities and capturing people there. This finding helped researchers determine the frequency with which wars were fought between 700 and 800 BC. There were actually not many wars during this period, despite the Maya being warlike.
5. Society of the eyes
A secret brotherhood obsessed with eye care was discovered when researchers examined its only surviving relic, the Copiale Codex, an 18th century book that is both beautiful and strange. Finished in gold and green brocade paper, this 105-page book is entirely handwritten. The book is mainly composed of abstract, never before seen symbols, although it also contains Greek and Roman letters. The only readable phrases were "Philip 1866" and "Copirales 3" (which gave the manuscript its name). An international team of cryptographers tried unsuccessfully to decipher it, trying 80 languages before it was determined that the strange characters were just a ruse designed to trick any potential decoders. They didn't really mean anything.
Discarding the useless signs, the cryptographers tried the German language, since the book was found in Berlin and the name "Philip" is written in German style. This helped to crack the code. The deciphered book described a German secret society called the Oculist Order. The manuscript contains records of their policies and rituals (including the eyebrow plucking ceremony), as well as discussions about Freemasonry. Researchers believe that the members of the group were not necessarily doctors, despite their obsession, as the eye is a symbol of power in many secret societies.
6. Winged monster
Cave painting in Utah documented how ancient people saw pterodactyls. Discovered in 1928, the vibrant red pictograms were created by American Indian hands about 2,000 years ago. Some time after this discovery, the man circled one of the images with chalk and declared that it looked like a "strange bird." Although it is illegal today, it was common practice back then to outline the cave painting with chalk to make the image clearer. However, this changes the chemistry of rocks and is detrimental to art. As for this picture, experts later recognized the image of a pterodactyl.
In the 1970s, rock climber Polly Schaafsma described a "sharp-toothed beak," and geologist Francis Barnes said the drawing looked like a flying reptile whose fossils are indeed found in the region. The mystery was solved when modern technology proved that the "winged monster" was not one image, but five overlapping images.
When scientists photographed the drawing using DStretch, a tool that can separate images by differentiating them for different pigments, they found that there was no mysterious ancient pterodactyl. Instead, the pictograms depict a tall person with large eyes, a shorter person, a dog, a sheep, and a snake-like creature.
7. Scrolls of Herculaneum
When Mount Vesuvius famously destroyed Pompeii in 79 AD, it also destroyed the neighboring city of Herculaneum. During excavations of this city in 1752, a library was discovered. Most of the 1,800 scrolls were so burned by the eruption that they were nothing more than unreadable carbonated boulders. More than two centuries later, archaeologists used X-rays to read parchments too fragile to unfold.
Although the Herculaneum papyri have no secret symbols or hidden messages, they are remarkable as they remain the only complete library that has ever been recovered from ancient times. For example, they found a real treasury of lost prose and poetry of the famous Greek philosopher Epicurus. There are even texts that were completely unknown to philosophers-scientists. This not only allowed researchers to gain a deeper understanding of ancient Greek and Latin writings, but it also changed what scientists know about the history of ink.
When fragments of the scrolls were analyzed, the ink was found to contain large amounts of lead. "Metallic" ink was previously thought to have appeared around 420 AD. in Greek and Roman manuscripts, but the Herculaneum scrolls predate this date by a couple of centuries.
8. The Fate of the Ark of the Covenant
Although Hebrew is not at all a mysterious language, a recently translated text showed what happened to the famous Ark of the Covenant after the sack of King Solomon's temple. The document, called the Treatise on the Courts, states that shortly before the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II destroyed the temple, the Ark was taken to safety. With the help of the prophets, the sacred relic and other treasures were saved by the Levites.
As for the treasures of the temple, the Treatise says that they were hidden throughout Israel and in Babylonia. Even less is said about the exact location of the Ark. It is claimed that this place will not be revealed "until the day of the coming of the Messiah, the son of David." Some believe that the Treatise is not really a document, but rather just a "collection" of legends. This is understandable given the claims that some of the treasures were made of gold (taken from the walls of the Garden of Eden) and ended up in the hands of angels. It is possible that at least one historical aspect is true - the Ark was hidden before Nebuchadnezzar could get hold of it.
9. Phaistos disc
Researchers have tried to decipher the 4,000-year-old Phaistos disc since its discovery in 1908. Found on the island of Crete in a palace called Festus, a disc about 15 centimeters in diameter was made of baked clay. Its both sides are adorned with 45 symbols that appear in different combinations in 241 segments.
After six years of research at the University of Oxford, about 90 percent of the data was deciphered. It soon became clear that the disc was engraved with a prayer in honor of the mother goddess of the Minoan era. According to researchers, one side of the famous artifact is dedicated to a pregnant woman, and the other - to a woman giving birth.
10. Breakthrough in the study of the Voynich manuscript
The decoding of the famous Voynich manuscript has finally gotten off the ground, albeit not by much. Linguistics professor Stephen Bucks decided to find recognizable plants and signs of the zodiac in an illustrated medieval book, and then look for their names next to the images. For example, he defined the word "Taurus" after finding an image of this constellation. Plant names began to appear when Bucks compared the manuscript to medieval herbal books. Thus, the words "juniper", "coriander" and "hellebore" were found alongside their illustrations, as he suspected.
In total, he decoded 14 characters, which allowed him to read six more words. While Bucks' breakthrough is still far from deciphering the entire book, it proves that the unknown alphabet is not a sophisticated 15th century hoax, as some have argued. It is indeed an extremely complex cipher or language.
Current page: 1 (total of the book has 3 pages)
Schultz Nikolay
The Mystery of the Ancient Manuscript
Nikolay Schultz
In 1913, when visiting the Valley of the Tombs of the Kings, my friend, an Egyptologist who died in the first imperialist war, was lucky enough to acquire a unique papyrus. Deciphering of the ancient manuscript showed that it was written over three thousand years ago. The nature of the narrative caused a lot of controversy. Most attributed it to the early works of Egyptian fiction such as "Shipwrecked," the oldest papyrus now kept in the Hermitage. Opponents, who were in the minority, believed that this was a poeticized chronicle of some event, the traces of which were destroyed in the time of troubles at the end of the 18th dynasty.
The pharaohs of Egypt, trying to erase from the memory of the people the names of persons they disliked, mercilessly destroyed everything that could remind of them.
The conquerors of Egypt did even worse: they set on fire all the most valuable relics, the richest collections of manuscripts.
In the 3rd century BC, by order of Pharaoh Ptolemy II, the founder of the world's greatest library, up to seven hundred thousand ancient manuscripts were brought to Alexandria from all over Egypt. Some of them died in a fire during the siege of the city by Julius Caesar in 47 BC.
Mark Antony made up for this loss by donating to Cleopatra the library of the Pergamon kingdom, numbering two hundred thousand manuscripts, the second largest after the Alexandrian one.
In 642 AD, the religious fanatic Caliph Omar, who conquered Egypt, burned both treasuries. For two weeks, bonfires made of handwritten scrolls burned in the streets of Alexandria, and the baths were heated with them.
This is how the monuments of ancient culture perished - the witnesses of historical events that are now preserved in the memory of descendants only in the form of legends and tales.
This is why the manuscript found by my friend was so valuable: it shed light on some hitherto unknown pages of Egyptian history. The ancient manuscript also interested me greatly. But with the death of my friend, the papyrus disappeared without a trace.
The flights of cosmonauts, ready tomorrow to carry the beacon of our knowledge and culture to distant worlds, made me remember the unique papyrus, and I decided to write down what I have kept in my memory.
Half a century has passed since the disappearance of the manuscript, so the author cannot vouch for the absolute accuracy of its content. Since this is not a literal translation and not a historical study, the author gave his narration the form of an entertaining novella, making a number of additions gleaned from the surviving Egyptian papyri and the works of Soviet and foreign scientists.
Listen to me, I am not saying this to you in vain!
"Shipwrecked"
the oldest Egyptian papyrus,
stored in the Hermitage
The ruler of Egypt wandered thoughtfully through the palace halls. Anxious thoughts and gloomy forebodings forced him to postpone the reception of ambassadors from the country of Kush1, to cancel his beloved hunt for antelopes, to refuse to walk along the Nile on the wonderful barge "Magnificence of Aton".
The meager light penetrating through the narrow windows located at a height of twenty cubits2 could not dispel the semi-darkness that reigned in the halls. The ghostly shadows that enveloped the statues in deep niches gave them the appearance of living creatures frozen in bizarre poses. The gloomy majesty of the royal palaces only aggravated the feeling of uneasiness in the pharaoh.
- Kagabu, - he turned to his mentor, who held the post of treasure keeper and chief scribe, - when will the queen return from a walk?
“For dinner, my lord. Do not be sad, sir, because today is your birthday. Today you, Tutankhamun, the ruler of Upper and Lower Egypt, may you live forever, turned fourteen years old!
Pharaoh smiled bitterly:
“And that is why today, in the reception hall of the ambassadors, the images of my father, whose voice are true, were scraped off the walls.
“This is the order of the high priest.
Noticing that the pharaoh's eyebrows furrowed together, Kagabu continued:
- How to entertain you, lord? Shouldn't the dancers be summoned? They will amuse you, and your heart will be amused.
- No, Kagabu, I have no time for dancing right now. I am haunted all day by thoughts of my mother, although I do not remember her. You saw her? Have you spoken to her? Tell me about her!
- What you! What you! - the old courtier whispered excitedly, cautiously looking around. - Think about what you are asking! You know that her name is forbidden to pronounce. Remember how much grief your father had to endure because of her. Try to forget the aliens who have brought so much misfortune.
“But I don’t know anything about them. They hide everything connected with them from me, but I heard they taught us a lot and revealed a secret ...
- Quiet! Quiet! I beg you...
- Even my father does not want to talk to me about it. What a pity that my mother died when I still did not understand anything. And my adoptive mother, Rannai, when I ask her, instead of answering, starts crying.
- Why do you demand to say what your relatives are silent about?
“If you don’t want to fulfill my request,” the young Pharaoh flared up, “let it become an order! Yes, I demand to say everything you know!
The Master bowed deeply.
- If so, great sir, let's go to the garden, the palace walls have ears.
They went into the depths of the garden, where a gazebo was built for the queen, thickly entwined with grapes. On the round table lay a small board, divided into squares, occupied by figures with the heads of jackals.
“Let's play tab3,” Kagaba suggested.
“No,” said Pharaoh, knocking over the figures, “I didn’t come here to play, but to find out everything connected with the name of my deceased mother.
- I obey, sir. Just don't rush me. I'll tell you everything in order.
Kagabu looked closely at the young pharaoh. It is strictly forbidden by the Council of Priests to talk with him about the Heavenly Messengers. But sooner or later he needs to reveal the whole truth. And now, apparently, this day has come. The young Pharaoh's mentor began from afar. After all, it was about important events that influenced the entire history of the country.
Kagabu said that the founder of the dynasty to which Tutankhamun belonged was Pharaoh Yahmes I. Having driven out the Hyksos tribes from the Nile Valley, he rallied separate provinces - nomes, disunited during the period of foreign yoke, united Egypt and occupied the country of Kush and southern Palestine with troops. Under his children and grandchildren, the empire of the pharaohs became the richest state.
During the reign of Pharaoh Amenhotep III, the grandfather of Tutankhamun, Egypt achieved such power that it had never reached. The kings of neighboring countries addressed flattering messages to the pharaoh, humiliatingly praising him and begging for handouts.
- Heavenly Messengers flew to us in the reign of your grandfather, told Kagabu. - After their appearance, Pharaoh Amenhotep III changed noticeably, began to shun the priests and soon made the heir his co-ruler. Amenhotep IV, having married the Messenger of Heaven, became your father.
Following the advice of the Children of Heaven, your father decided to eradicate the worship of numerous gods, vengeful and insidious, who aroused fear. He worshiped only the solar disk - Aton, who personified love. Having declared himself the high priest of Aten, he turned against himself the priests of numerous temples. And they were joined by a dissatisfied nobility, because your father began to surround himself with simple but worthy people.
In the sixth year of his reign, your father decided to put an end to his opponents once and for all. He closed the old temples and expelled the priests from them. He forbade even mentioning the names of the former gods, especially the Theban Amun. His name was replaced by the word "Aton" - the disk of the sun. Your father's name Amenhotep, as you know, meant "Amon is pleased." Father began to call himself Akhenaten, which means "Pleasant to Aton". In order to finally break with the old traditions, he founded a new capital to the north of Thebes, calling it Akhetaton - "Aton's sky", where he moved with his whole family.
But this was not the end of his struggle with the priests.
The priests explained the failures in the wars he waged with the Hittites4 with the anger of the rejected gods. They incited the common people, dissatisfied with the hardships that befell them, to oppose your father. In the end, they succeeded.
The priests overthrew your father by cursing his name. After the death of the Daughter of Heaven, he retired to a secluded residence with his main wife, Queen Nofertiti, and his second wife, Rannai. That is why you had to put on the crowns of Upper and Lower Egypt so early on your head. And since you were the son of the Daughter of Heaven, a woman of non-royal blood, you were early married to Ankhesenpaaton, whose mother, Nofertiti, was a royal daughter.
After listening to the long story of the chief scribe, Tutankhamun made an impatient gesture.
- But who are these Heavenly Messengers? You say that my mother was the Daughter of Heaven. What does it mean?
Kagabu didn't answer right away.
“They called your father a dreamer. Yes, the appearance of the Messengers of Heaven turned his whole life upside down, made him look for new ways to knowledge, to true happiness, but those who surrounded him did not understand this ...
Silent footsteps were heard. Kagabu parted the grape leaves.
- Priest! - he whispered and quickly began to place figures with jackals' heads on the board.
- Now for you to begin, sir! He announced loudly. A tall, thin figure in a white robe walked slowly past the pavilion. It seemed that the priest was concentrating on something and did not even glance in the direction of the pavilion.
- He's watching us. Let's be careful. Pretend to play tab. Tomorrow I will bring you a manuscript where I wrote down the history of the Heavenly Messengers, and you will find out everything that worries you. Just take care of him more than the apple of your eye, otherwise I won't get my head off ...
Then they saw the priest again.
- What do you need? - asked Tutankhamun.
“I wanted to tell my lord,” the priest answered calmly, looking attentively at Kagaba, “that a meeting of the Council is scheduled for the first day of the month of Paini, which you must honor with your presence.
Returning to the palace, Tutankhamun went to half his wife. The queen's bedroom was rebuilt by the architect Paranafer, who widened the windows. Now a bright light fell into the alcove, faced with lapis lazuli from distant noon countries.
The Lady of Egypt sat surrounded by the women of the court, with a large doll in her arms, which was presented to her by the unsurpassed masters of Akhetaton, the residence of the deposed pharaoh.
Thin, with large black eyes, long eyelashes and full lips, she seemed ten years younger.
“Look, look,” she exclaimed cheerfully when she saw her husband come in, “look what kind of daughter they gave me!
- Good doll! - smiled Tutankhamun, with childish curiosity looking at an elegant toy, made with great skill.
- Are you satisfied with the walk, Ankhesenpaaton?
- Very, very happy! Music played all the way and we sang songs. But I see you are preoccupied with something. What happened, dear husband and brother? 5
With a slight movement of his head, the pharaoh made it clear to those present that he wanted to be alone with his wife.
“In the ambassadors' reception hall,” he said, “they wiped off the image of our father from the wall.
Ankhesenpaaton looked at her husband in dismay.
- Is your father aware of this? She asked.
- I do not know. I'll talk to Rannai.
- I'm with my mother. I saw her yesterday. She was very sad and cried all the time.
- Why?
- I do not know.
- I know! - Tutankhamun exclaimed angrily. - This is the intrigue of the priests. They take revenge on their father for the fact that he forbade praying to many gods and commanded to worship only the blessed Sun.
- Blessed Sun, shine above us! .. - Ankhesenpaaton sang in a thin voice.
- Quiet! - Pharaoh stopped her. “You know that the priests forbade the worship of the Sun and restored the previous rituals. They forbade my father to be called Akhenaten and forced me to renounce my father's name and turn from Tutankhaton - the living incarnation of Aton - into Tutankhamun. Take care of your doll, and I'll go to my father.
Going out into the garden, he went to a small house, which stood at a distance. His father lived there, not so long ago a powerful, but now dethroned ruler of Egypt.
On the veranda, he met his adoptive mother, still an old, but already gray-haired woman.
“Peace be with you, beloved of God,” she bowed low to the Pharaoh, “I was waiting for you and I am very glad that you honored us with your visit.
Pharaoh hugged her tenderly.
“I'm glad you too, Rannai, but I want to see my father. Where is he?
- In the temple of Hatshepsut.
- Why? - Tutankhamun was surprised.
“The Council of Priests has summoned him. But maybe you and me have something to do? Then let's go to my chambers.
The room into which Rannai introduced Tutankhamun resembled a corner of a garden. Blue waves rippled across the floor, as if on the surface of a pond, in which fish were swimming among the green leaves of aquatic plants, flowers and blue lotus buds. The wall panels showed thickets of papyri, and on the turquoise ceiling, doves chased by a hawk.
Bouquets of fragrant flowers stood in large lapis lazuli vases, alabaster jugs, intricately painted earthenware vessels. Garlands of leaves adorned the walls in intricate weaves.
Seating the pharaoh on the couch, Rannai pulled the table with fruit and sweets close to him.
“When you were little you loved them very much,” she smiled, “but your childhood was interrupted early, sir, having put on you two crowns at once: Upper and Lower Egypt. So why did you need a father? Something happened?
“His images were scraped off in the ambassadors' reception hall.
“The priests have declared war on us long ago. I recently watched with pain in my heart as they burned manuscripts that mentioned the names of your mother and her brother.
- Why don't you ever talk about my mom?
- The name of the Daughter of Heaven is forbidden to pronounce on pain of death.
- Rannai, you met her, you knew her well ...
- She was my friend. Alas, the names of your mother and my late husband, her brother, have been erased forever from the annals of Egypt. The priests want to be forgotten as if they did not exist at all.
- Today I learned something about the one who gave birth and nursed me. But this is so little. Tell me too, Rannai, tell me something.
- It is impossible, my lord, you know that our every step is watched, every word is eavesdropped.
A soft knock on the door made them flinch. Kagabu entered the room.
- Who is waiting for me?
- Queen.
Tutankhamun went to his wife's chambers. Tired of the walk, she was fast asleep, hugging the doll.
Early in the morning, the queen came to her husband with a request that he go to the art workshops and take her with him. There a mirror was made for her, on the handle of which she is depicted - Ankhesenpaaton, and she was eager to look.
- All right, Ankhesenpaaton, - agreed Pharaoh, - I will take you with me. The young queen clapped her hands.
He gazed with pride at the young queen, dressed in a white outfit made of transparent fabric, at the waist he was coquettishly intercepted by a scarlet scarf with ends falling to the floor.
The doors were flung open, and the great vizier Eye entered, accompanied by a sumptuous retinue. A man of strong will and remarkable mind, he very quickly rose to prominence at court. From the commander of the chariot army, he became the bearer of the fan on the right hand of the tsar, the keeper of the seal, the mayor of the capital and, finally, the head of the central government and the highest judicial power. Being related to the reigning house, he also bore the title of the First friend of the pharaoh.
Tall, broad-shouldered, with a large head covered with a curled wig, in a traditional, low-belted apron, he looked impressive and next to the fourteen-year-old Tutankhamun looked like a giant.
- What business will the great sovereign be engaged in today? He asked, bowing.
- We will go to the master Thutmes, - Ankhesenpaaton answered hastily, as if afraid that her husband would change his mind. Pharaoh nodded his head, and Ankhesenpaaton fluttered out of the room.
Warned about the upcoming visit of the pharaoh and queen to art workshops, the chief sculptor Thutmes was waiting for them at the entrance. An outstanding sculptor and goldsmith, Thutmes could not boast of a special nobility of the family, but won universal love and respect.
“I came for the promised mirror,” said Ankhesenpaaton, greeting the renowned artist.
Having escorted the distinguished guests to the studio, Thutmes handed the queen a silver disc polished to a shine, the handle of which was a golden figurine of a girl with tightly braided braids and graceful lines of arms and legs. The slender figure was wrapped in a translucent fabric of light clothes. The extraordinary softness of the forms fully corresponded to the smoothness of the lines emphasized by the masters of Akhetaton.
- How I like this mirror, - exclaimed the queen, - I have never had such a thing!
Smiling, Thutmes handed her an ivory-carved figure of a swimming girl holding a polished red rubbing spoon in her outstretched hands.
- This is also for you.
The young queen, not hiding her delight, hurried to the Pharaoh to show the gifts she had received.
Pharaoh ordered Kagabu to generously reward the craftsmen.
- Previously, they did not know how to do that, - said Tutankhamun, - I saw mirrors and spoons in the palace, made by Theban and Memphis masters, but they are far from these. Figures of your masters, Thutmes, as if alive.
“We owe this, lord, to your mother. She taught us how to portray faces and figures truthfully. The rules taught by her are at the heart of our art.
- Do you have a portrait of her?
Thutmes did not have time to answer. At that moment, Ey appeared in the workshops.
- My lord, - he turned to Tutankhamun, - do you want to look at the blueprints of a new temple that will be built in Thebes?
Accompanied by his retinue, the pharaoh went to the architectural workshop.
Left alone, the young queen began to examine the figures on the shelves. Behind a large vase, in the very corner, she found a picture of a slender woman with large, childlike eyes and a strange expression on her face. And her outfit was somehow unusual, unfamiliar to the queen. She admired the found statuette for a long time, until she heard a frightened exclamation from Kagabu:
- Where did you find her, queen?
- On the shelf. She was standing behind this vase here.
Pharaoh, Ey and a retinue of courtiers approached.
- What have you got? Pharaoh asked. - What amazing eyes, as if alive, and how strange they look. Who is this depicted? - he turned to Thutmes.
The master was silent.
- Whose statuette is this? - Pharaoh repeated his question.
- I conjure you, lord, do not ask, - Aye said in confusion, let's go from here. And you, - he angrily turned to the pale Thutmes, - will come to me today.
- Hey, - Pharaoh flashed, - I forbid you to talk like that with my masters.
Calling Kagaba, he excitedly asked:
- Who is depicted on this statuette?
“Your mother is the Daughter of Heaven,” the chief scribe replied quietly.
“You will deliver her to my palace today,” Tutankhamun said firmly and, nodding goodbye to Ey, went with the queen to the exit.
In the evening, Kagabu came to the palace. He carefully put the figurine wrapped in thick cloth on the table and handed the pharaoh a small scroll.
“Here,” he said, “is what I promised you. I cut the papyrus into several pieces to make it easier to hide it from prying eyes. I'll bring the next piece tomorrow. Just take care of it and don't show it to anyone. Everything I know about the Daughter of Heaven is written here.
“Forgive me, sir, but you acted very carelessly in taking this statuette. By doing so, you can incur the wrath of the priests and Ay.
- But he is Pharaoh's first friend!
The old courtier looked at Pharaoh reproachfully:
- It is common for youth to make mistakes. But don't make more mistakes like this. I will try to warn you against them.
“Thank you Kagabu, I will never forget what you did for me.
Bowing, the chief scribe departed.
Tutankhamun unfolded the statuette and looked at it for a long time, carefully raised it to his lips and kissed it tenderly.
- Mum! My mum!
He called the young queen:
- Now you and I will read what is written here about my mother.
They sat down at the table and, bending over the papyrus, plunged into their reading. The sad eyes of the Daughter of Heaven gazed at them thoughtfully.
And Pharaoh had a dancer, her name was Rannai. She not only danced amazingly, but also sang beautifully, accompanying herself on musical instruments.
As his own daughter, Pharaoh loved the little dancer and fulfilled all her desires. He built a separate pavilion for her in the palace garden, decorating it with carpets and ebony furniture trimmed with pure gold and ivory, gave her slaves to anoint her with incense and dress her in transparent clothes. And although she was only a dancer, she was revered above all court women.
Pharaoh had a son, an heir. He liked Rannai. He wanted to know her and sent his servant to her with the following words: "The son of Pharaoh will give you ten debens6 gold if you agree to spend one hour with him. But if you do not agree, he will take you by force!"
Rannai replied:
- Go and tell your master: I am a girl and still clean! If you want to see me, come to your father, where I sing and dance. And I will not act like corrupt women!
That's what she said.
Pharaoh learned about the atom and threatened his son that he would send him to fight in a distant country, strictly forbidding him to see Rannai, a beauty who had no equal in Egypt ...
In the month of Femenot, when the seedlings turned green, Pharaoh Amenhotep III was sitting on the terrace and listening to music. Suddenly there was a strange noise. No one has ever heard such a noise. A huge bird appeared in the sky. She flew very fast, and flames burst from her nostrils. The courtiers fell on their faces, and the pharaoh and the priests began to cast spells. The bird disappeared in the direction where the sun was setting, but white stripes remained in the sky for a long time from its flight.
Many days passed, and a messenger rushed to the court with the news that a large fire-breathing bird had descended in the sands of the land of Timha7 and two people came out of this bird in strange clothes, similar and unlike people, and that the inhabitants of the whole area were in great fear. Pharaoh gathered a Council of Priests and sent an heir with a large retinue to the Heavenly Messengers.
Many days passed, and early in the morning the heir with his retinue and mysterious newcomers arrived in the capital.
Leaving the Heavenly Messengers in the great hall, the prince hurried to his father.
“They don't look like,” he said, “to any of those people we know, but they are people, and very smart. They very quickly learned to understand what they are told, and even answer us. They are brother and sister. His name is Thoth, and hers is Ta. They flew from a distant star in an iron bird, which remained in the sands of Timha under the protection of our soldiers. I ordered not to let anyone close to her, and so that the bird would not fly away, they chained it. The Heavenly Messengers treated us to outlandish food, which they brought with them. But they willingly eat bread, poultry, fish, vegetables, and fruits. The great Pharaoh, may he be alive, healthy and mighty, will give a worthy welcome to distinguished guests.
Pharaoh's son said so.
And Pharaoh commanded to clothe himself in ceremonial clothes. And they escorted the Messengers of Heaven to the throne room, where all the courtiers, priests and sages gathered. The extraordinary aliens were both similar and not like humans. Their faces seemed to be carved out of marble. Their figures were slender and dressed in strange, dense outfits without any ornaments characteristic of the Egyptians.
Approaching the throne, the Messengers of Heaven bowed deeply.
-Hi, great Pharaoh, from hitherto unknown to you distant brothers! said the Messenger, who called himself Thoth. His voice was ringing and melodic, not human. - In time, I will tell you in detail about the world where they live, but for now, look what we brought with us. - And the stranger put a small chest in front of Pharaoh. Its front wall flared up, and everyone saw the endless sands on which a silvery bird rested, surrounded by the tents of Egyptian soldiers.
- This is the guard, which I left to guard the bird! - exclaimed the heir. There is Ameni, and next to him is Userhet.
“You are a great sorcerer,” Pharaoh said to Thoth, “your window, which allows you to see so far, is truly magical.
“Time will pass,” the Alien replied, “and your wise men will create things even more wonderful than those that we brought.
- I hear the speech of our soldiers, - the heir exclaimed again, - they glorify the name of the great Pharaoh, may he be merciful and omnipotent!
All this was truly amazing.
“And now I’ll show you our radiant star,” Thoth said. Tall trees of reddish color appeared in the magic window, wide streets glittering like a mirror. Outlandish structures rushed through them, from which someone's faces peeped out.
“Our chariots,” Thoth explained.
- Who is taking them? Pharaoh asked. - I don't see horses.
“We have no horses, the chariots drive themselves.
Silver birds flew in the sky, like the one that sank in the sands of Timha. The tall, light buildings were even more majestic than the largest Egyptian temples. He said that these are the houses in which the people of his homeland live.
But then the magic window went out, as if someone had closed it from within. And Thoth began to take out other curious objects from his chests.
A woman whose name was Ta, who flew in on an iron bird, saw a little dancer Rannai in the crowd of Pharaoh's entourage. She called her over and put a ring on her finger with a large stone shining in all the colors of the rainbow. And Rannai took off the blue necklace - a gift from the pharaoh - and gave it to her guest.
The Heavenly Messengers were settled in the palace. From early morning priests and sages came to them to learn various outlandish things. Once Pharaoh asked to explain how the iron bird works.
“Your sages,” Thoth replied, “will not understand this yet, but I will willingly explain something else to you.
And everything he said was necessary and useful. He figured out how to write down words on a papyrus scroll more conveniently, showed how to better keep track of, make different measurements, and explained the movement of the stars in the sky.
And the Daughter of Heaven talked with architects, sculptors, told them what kind of houses they build in her homeland, how people should be portrayed so that they would be as if alive.
One day Thoth said that the next day, at the hour when Pharaoh sits down to dine, darkness will come. A black shadow will cover the sun, and only a bright crown will shine around. And then the sun will shine in the sky again.
“We have seen this,” the wise men said, “but how can you know when it will start?
“I’ll teach you this,” Thoth promised.
He distributed thin black plates to everyone and showed how to look through them at the sun. It turned out as Thoth said. As soon as the gong announced the beginning of dinner, a dark spot began to move in the sun. Everyone went down to the garden, and Pharaoh, forgetting about lunch, looked through the black plate at the sky.
When the sun turned black, fear seized everyone and many fell on their faces. But soon the light shone again, and Pharaoh said to Thoth:
“You are a great sage, and I appoint you as my chief adviser.
Pharaoh said so.
Here the manuscript ended. Tutankhamun looked at his wife.
- Like in a dream! Ankhesennaaton exclaimed. - Why is the arrival of the Heavenly Messengers concealed from us? It's so interesting!
“Kagabu told me that the priests did not like everything that the Children of Heaven did. And now they want everyone to forget about them forever.
- What a pity that the manuscript ended so quickly.
- Kagabu promised to bring a sequel tomorrow.
In the morning, Tutankhamun went to his father.
“Don't bother him,” Rannai asked. “He's fast asleep, and besides, he's not well. He sent both Nofertiti and me and asked that no one bother him.
- Poor father! Do you know what the priests talked to him about?
- No, sir. But I think it's all about the same. They demand that he publicly renounce his sun worship and recognize the religion of his ancestors. This is what Kenamon, the high priest of the temple of Amun, wants.
- Father will never do that! - Tutankhamun exclaimed angrily.
Rannai sighed.
- How much he had to endure in recent years after the death of the Daughter of Heaven!
- How I envy you: you knew my mother, her brother Thoth, you saw the iron bird!
After kissing his adoptive mother, the pharaoh returned to the palace, where Kagaba was already waiting for him.
“I read your manuscript,” Tutankhamun said, “and I want to know what happened next.
Handing him the scroll, the chief scribe said:
- Ambassadors from Phenicia have arrived, they ask to be protected from the oppression that the Hittites inflict on them. Trade with Phenicia is very beneficial for us, sir, especially now, when our treasury is emptying.
“In the days of grandfather and father, the treasury grew rich, and now it is emptying,” Tutankhamun said sadly.
- Your grandfather and father did not give vent to the priests, and now, taking advantage of your youth, they raised their heads again ...
- Greetings to you, sir! May you be alive, healthy and mighty! I have come to warn you. The ambassadors of Phenicia will come to you today. Do not trust their false promises. They are cunning and want to involve us in the war with the Hittites, but we cannot fight now. Don't make any promises to them.
- I'll think about what you said, Ay.
Ey looked at Tutankhamun in surprise. He was used to the young Pharaoh to follow his advice unquestioningly. Glancing sideways at Kagaba, Ey bowed and left the hall.
Firmly gripping the resulting scroll, Pharaoh hurried to Ankhesenpaaton. Having sent away the courtiers, the pharaoh and the queen bowed over the manuscript.
A year has passed. Rannai and Ta became close friends. Rannai told the Daughter of Heaven about Egypt, about neighboring countries, and She, in turn, shared her vast knowledge with her friend, but much did not fit into the head of the little dancer.
“You have to study a lot, Rannai,” said the Daughter of Heaven. - You should think not only about how to eat well, dress well, but also about gaining knowledge. Remember your wise proverb; "A fool who does not read anything is like a deaf person with whom one has to speak with gestures."
The fact that you play and sing is very good, but this is not enough. You have to read a lot, talk with smart people, sculpt figurines in order to develop taste and observation.
Once Rannai asked a friend what made her fly to Earth.
- Our scientists, - Ta answered, - have been flying to other worlds for a long time. They also watched the Earth. Knowing that you have the same intelligent beings as we do, they decided to send me and my brother to get to know your life better. When Thoth and I flew to you, we knew where to plant the iron bird, because we have images of your Earth, which show mountains, seas, rivers, and valleys.
Time will pass, and we will send scientists to you who will share their knowledge with you, because we are all children of one mother - the Universe.
Soon the priests came to Pharaoh.
“Those who call themselves the Messengers of Heaven,” said Kepamon, the high priest of the temple of Amun, “hide their true goals from us. The woman, who is called the Daughter of Heaven, tells everyone that they are going to send some scientists to Egypt. We turned to the goddess of Heaven Nut, and she revealed to us that it was not Heaven that sent these guests, but evil forces that want to destroy the Egyptian kingdom, but make us slaves. Beware of them, gracious lord!
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