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The possessed princess

by Eugenia Salza Prina Ricotti

The possessed Princess and Konshu the Egyptian lunar god.

The possessed Princess and Konshu the Egyptian god of justice
As we have seen the ancient magicians were very active, but demons were even more unremitting. Ancient documents inform us that even in the Pharaohs times possessed people existed and that to chase the evil spirits from the victim’s body was very difficult. Inscribed on a stele that was found in Konshu - the Egyptian god of justice - Theban temple, and which today is kept in Paris’ National Library, we read the story of a possessed princess. The tale engraved on the stele consisted of a small novel which began telling that when Ramses the second went to Mesopotamia, all the chiefs and kings of this country came to prostrate themselves before him and that, to win his favors, all of them brought rich gifts. In front of the Egyptian gold, lapis-lazuli, turquoises and every kind of precious objects were piled up. Also the king of Bekhten, a Near East powerful prince, came with them and succeeded to defeat all the others kings because on top of the wonderful gifts that he had brought, he had also put his daughter who was an exceedingly beautiful girl.
Now, as the prince had been informed, Ramses the second was very sensible to the feminine charm and the Bekhten princess was a true marvel. As soon as the pharaoh saw her he could not refrain to exclaim “I never saw a more beautiful woman!”. Of course it was with enthusiasm that he accepted the gifts and touched by the fine gesture he thanked very much the Bekhten king. Then having spoken with the fascinating princess he gave her the title of “Royal spouse, principal lady Rã-Neferu (Rã’s beauty)" and did not lose any time to bring her immediately in Egypt where he married her in the most legal way.
Some time passed and they were perfectly happy. However while Ramses was in the fifteen years of his kingdom, and stood at Thebe, an ambassador of the king of Bekhten rejoined him bringing gifts to the princess Rã-Neferu from the part of her father. Obviously he asked also to see Ramses, and when he arrived to his presence he prostrated himself and told him the real reason of his coming. As a matter of fact he had been sent there to ask the help of the powerful Pharaoh and of the celebrated Egyptian priests, who by magic obtained miraculous recovery. The Bekhten king implored Ramses to do something for Bent-Ent Resht, another of his daughters, and save her from an unknown illness that was endangering her life.
It was evident that Ramses could not get out of helping his wife’s sister especially because, if he didn’t do whatever was possible to save her, Rã-Neferu could take offence and could put in act all those system that women use when they feel mistreated, and this was what he absolutely wanted to avoid. So he ordered that without losing a moment “The Books of the Double House of the Life” should be brought to him and asked all the greatest savants to came to his palace. When they arrived he ordered those priests to chose the best among them, a man, as he said, “With a wise heart and deft fingers” and when they pointed him the chosen one he sent him to Bekhten.
After that the priest arrived to the Bekhten’s king’s palace and saw the princess Bent-Ent-Resht, he understood that he could never cure her because she was possessed by a terrible demon against whom his spells were powerless. So he explained to the king that he must ask Ramses to send there someone more powerful than him, such a being who had the capacity to win the evil spirit and free the princess. Another ambassador was sent to Thebe, and when he related to Ramses what the priest had told, the Pharaoh understood that to desperate ills, desperate remedies were called for.
Thus he went to Khonsu-Neferhetep temple and asked this god to allow his double to go to the king of Bekhten palace and free the princess from the evil spirit. The god accepted and sitting in a boat followed by other five boats on which many other gods had embarked, he started the trip escorted on both sides by chariots and horses. It was not a very quick way to travel and it took to them 17 months to get to Bekhten, where the god was received with great honors and then accompanied to the princess Bent-Ent-Resht’s rooms. As soon as he saw her he didn’t waste any time and with a magic- religious ceremony he forced the demon who possessed her to get out. However the wicked being did not seem too sorry to leave. Maybe the cohabitation with the possessed princess hadn’t been so pleasant as he thought it could be or the girl was becoming too tight for him. After all he was a good devil who only asked that before he went away the king and the people of Bekhten organized a feast for him and for Khonsu. Together, as two old friends, the two supernaturals beings took part to the celebrations and then the demon disappeared going back from were he had came.
But the story didn’t stop there, because Bekhten’s citizens didn’t want to let such a mighty god go away and they succeed in keeping him for a certain time. Three years, four months and five days passed, but at a certain moment Khonsu had enough of it. he lacked Egypt and the honors that the priests bestowed to him in his temple at Thebe.
Thus, while Bekhten’s prince was asleep, Khonsu the god appeared to him. The prince saw him under the shape of a golden falcon going out of the temple that the people of Bekhten had built for him The divine bird rose like an arrow and flew toward Egypt. The day after the preoccupied king hastened toward the holy place but he found tht the cell was empty. The Egyptian priest who came before Khonsu and stayed there to officiate to him confirmed his departure and his return to Egypt. He also told that now they had to send him back his chariot, because this was still there. Of course there was no question to discuss with such a powerful god, thus the prince not only send him back the carriage but filled it up with splendid gifts and when the divine vehicle arrived at Thebe all the offerings were put in Khonsu temple.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
E.A. WALLIS BUDGE, Egyptian Magi, Bury St.Edmunds, Suffolk, 1975, first published in 1899
pp. 207-213. The text comes from a little stele found in Khonsu’s temple and kept in the Nationel Library of Paris
PRISSE, Monuments Égyptyens, Paris 1817