Reading Notes: The Tale of King Rhampsinitus, Part B

• The king is named Rhampsinitus 
• He built two statues - one of the statues, which was facing the north and often worshiped, was dedicated to Summer, and the other statue, which was facing the south and seldom worshiped, was dedicated to Winter 
• Proper names for Summer and Winter make me think that these two statues are not just dedicated to the seasons 
• As always, the kind is rich and built what was essentially a vault made of stone to safeguard his riches in 
•  one of the builders thought he could benefit by placing one of the stones in a way so that it could be removed from the outside
• Karma seems to get the builder as he is soon stricken with illness 
• Instead, he tells his two sons of his ploy 
• The sons went, after the father died, and stole as much treasure as they could
• They kept doing this and the king could not figure out who it was 
• Eventually one of the brothers gets caught in a trap that the king set up and tells his other brother to cut off his head so that they would not identify him and then catch the other brother
• the brother actually cuts off his head and leaves him 
• Their mother is devastated that the brother's body was hung on the palace wall, and she threatened her other son that if he did not find a way to get his brother's body, then she would spill everything to the king 
• The brother devises a plan to get his brother's body, which entails getting the guards drunk under disguise as a wine merchant 
• The king eventually sends his daughter 
• The brother lets her approach him and he goes along with her plan to make him tell her about the most wicked thing he has ever done 
• The brother uses his brother's arm to distract the princess and escape 
•  The king is ultimately so impressed by the man that he offers him a full pardon and his daughter for no man in Egypt was as cunning as he

 Temple Complex and Karnak. Source: Wikipedia.

Bibliography: This story is part of the Ancient Egypt Unit and can be found here. Story source: Egyptian Myth and Legend by Donald Mackenzie (1907).