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Aba-Ner crocodile

by Eugenia Salza Prina Ricotti

It is in the Papyri that we find many story about magic and it is impossible to register all of them. However at least we must report some ones. Not always those story are nice and entertaining as Tchatchat-em-Ankh water miracle. Often they are terrible and terrifying as the one happening in fourth millenium B.C to Aba-Ner, who, as Tchatcha, was head priest to the burial’s rites and a magician. This tale is also found in the Westcar papyri (ed. Erman pp. 7-8) and relate a fact that happened under the reign of Neb-Ka or Neb-Kau- Rã of the third dinasty, a Pharaoh who reigned about the 3830 year B.C. It was always to Cheops that Prince Khãf- Rã told it. (What a fantastic collection of fables this Pharaoh must have known).
The story told that the Pharaoh went to visit Aba-Ner who, true and affectionate to the king as he was, received him in the most splendid way. The King had with him his retinue and his guard house. One of these young men was extremely handsome and fascinating and, just after having had a glance at him, Aba-Ner wife completely lost her head. Thus she sent to him one of her chamber maid with important gifts and a chest full of elegant dresses. The young man was obliged to express all his gratefulness and after all he was evidently interested, thus going to Aba-Ner house to give in person his thanks, he met the lady. If he was handsome she was not less beautiful; besides she was very young, very sexy and not satisfied by her marriage with the savant but maybe quite boring Aba-Ner. The two young people had an immediate understanding and fixed a rendezvous. For the meeting the lady picked up a quiet pavilion set in the park and far from the house. Then she made it set in order for the tryst. Filled it with refined food, intoxicating drinks, sweet perfumes and everything that would provide a precious setting to their assignation. Then the day after she went there and passed the time with her lover. After the meeting the young man felt the necessity to wash himself and plunged in the river. The butler who had been charged to prepare the pavilion saw all and felt highly shocked. He was faithful to his lord and so he decided to tell everything to him. The day after, after requiring to be granted an audience from Aba Ner, he told him what had passed.
Apparently Aba-Ner kept his calm and prepared his vengeance. Coming back to his house he ordered his servant to bring him an ebony box inlaid with gold that he used for his enchantments, and from it he took some very special wax with which he molded the image of a crocodile. Then on it he pronounced the “Words of Power” (hecau) and to this spell he added the orders that the it had to observe “ when the man enter the river - he said to the wicked figurine – you must grab him”. Then he gave it to his servant telling him to follow the young man when he would go to bath himself, and, just when he would be in the water, to throw after him the small crocodile. In the evening Aba-Ner’s man did what he had been ordered. Just when the figurine hit the water it was transformed in a big crocodile 4 meter long that hurled itself against the young man and dragged him to the bottom.
In the meantime Aba-Ner acted as if everything went well and nobody suspected anything of what had happened. For seven days he entertained at the best the Pharaoh, and in the meantime the man laid on the bottom of the river. There was no air to breath but, tied by the spell, he stood alive there. When the seventh day came Aba-Ner proposed to the Pharaoh to take a walk with him and promised that he would show to him an extraordinary fact that had just happened: When they arrived to the river’s banks Aba-Ner called the crocodile with the “Words of power” and ordered him “Bring here the man”. Immediately the crocodile came with the young man in its jaws. For seven days the unfortunate creature had stood without any air to breath, but he was still alive. Highly upset the Pharaoh exclaimed that this crocodile was an horrible monster. At this Aba-ner, bending, touched the beast with his fingers and it became again a wax figurine that the magician took in his hands.
Even more amazed, the Pharaoh began to ask him what all this signified and Aba-Ner did not refrain to tell him everything and to explain why he had been constrained to put in act the terrible enchantment. He wanted that the Pharaoh could see with his eyes the person that had disgraced his house: Thus he had made possible that also without breathing the man could stay alive under the water. Learning all this the king became highly indignant and ordered to the crocodile “Take him. This man is yours”. The figurine turned again in a big monster, and grabbing the unhappy young man in his jaws dragged him forever.
After this the Pharaoh ordered to bring the woman to the northern part of the palace, burn her at the stake, and, after this, to throw her ashes in the river. This, for a people among which the safety of the soul was tied to that of the body and to its correct mummification, was tantamount to an eternal damnation. Who knows if for the Egyptian there was a Hell like Dante’s Inferno where, like Paolo and Francesca, the two ancient and unburied lovers could find each other again, but it doesn’t look as possible.


BIBLIOGRAPHY
E.A. WALLIS BUDGE, Egyptian Magi, Bury St.Edmunds, Suffolk, 1975, first published in 1899