Tale of Setne Khamwas and Si-Osire

The Tale of Setne Khamwas and Si-Osire (also known as Setne II) is a Demotic Egyptian story attested on papyrus in Roman Egypt.[1] Some argue that it is an answer to the biblical account about Sheba testing Solomon with hard "questions" in 1 Kings 10:1.[2]

Summary

In the first part of the story, Si-Osire brings his father Setne Khamwas to visit the Duat, the land of the dead, where they see the pleasant fate of the deceased spirits who lived justly and the torments inflicted on spirits who sinned during their lives.[3] In the second part, a chieftain of the Kingdom of Kush poses a puzzle to Ramesses II: how to read the contents of a sealed letter. In the summary of Ioannis M. Konstantinos,

the Pharaoh and his courtiers are at a complete loss. Ramses calls his son, the wise Setne Khamwas, but he too is puzzled and asks for a delay of ten days, to think of some solution; he returns home and falls into despair. Khamwas' son, the young Si-Osire, learns the cause of this distress and reassures his father: he himself can guess the contents of the sealed letter without opening it. Setne Khamwas is not convinced at first by this amazing declaration and asks for proof of Si-Osire's professed abilities. Si-Osire has no difficulty to demonstrate them: 'My father Setne, go down to the ground-floor room of your house, where you keep your book-scrolls. Every book that you will take out of the chest, I shall tell you what book it is and I shall read it without opening and seeing it.' This is indeed what happens: Si-Osire magically reads the contents of his father's books without opening them. So Setne joyfully takes his son to the Pharaoh, and the next day Si-Osire guesses in the same miraculous way the contents of the Nubian's sealed letter.[4]

It is revealed that Si-Osire is actually a famous magician from the time of Thutmose III, who returned to save Egypt from a Nubian magician. After the confrontation, Si-Osire disappears, and Khaemwaset and his wife have a real son who is also named Si-Osire in honor of the magician.[5]

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See also

References
  1. Ioannis M. Konstantakos, 'Trial by Riddle: The Testing of the Counsellor and the Contest of Kings in the Legend of Amasis and Bias', Classica et Mediaevalia, 55 (2004), 85-137 (p. 90).
  2. Lipinski, Edward (2010-07-07). "Hiram of Tyre and Solomon": 251–272. doi:10.1163/ej.9789004177291.i-712.45. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. Lichtheim, Miriam, Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume III: The Late Period, University of California Press, 2006 [1980], pp. 138–151.
  4. Ioannis M. Konstantakos, 'Trial by Riddle: The Testing of the Counsellor and the Contest of Kings in the Legend of Amasis and Bias', Classica et Mediaevalia, 55 (2004), 85-137 (p. 115).
  5. Lichtheim, Miriam, Ancient Egyptian Literature, Volume III: The Late Period, University of California Press, 2006 [1980], pp. 138–151.


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