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Nectanebus

by Eugenia Salza Prina Ricotti

the Last Magician and the last Pharaoh

The last magician and the last Pharaoh – Then always magic figurines made part of the Egyptian spells and they were used also by Nectanebo, (378-360 B.C.), the last Egyptian pharaoh, a man very skilled in magic art. In a text of the so called Pseudo-Kallistenes, a book that afterwards was translated in Pehlevi, Arab, Syrian and many other languages, this king was represented as a mighty magician, expert in every branch of human knowledge and master of all the Egyptian learning. He knew how deep was the Nile and how high was the sky, he could read the stars, interpret omens, and predict a baby’s future even before he was born. Of him the people said that by virtue of his magic powers he was the lord of the earth, that all the kings were subjected to him and that his powers were really great. Thus it was also told that each time the country was menaced by an invasion, he succeeded to prevent it by magic. If, to make an example, the enemy was coming from the sea he retired in a special room where, after having brought a large basin, he filled it with water. Then with the magic wax he molded both the boats and the enemies’ figurines, and in the same way he made Egyptian boats and warriors. At last on the basin’s water he drew up the two fleets in fighting order.
When this was done he got out of the room, put up the Egyptian prophet mantle and, taking with him his special ebony wand, went back to the basin to pronounce the “Words of Power”. With them he called to his aid all the winds, the underground demons and the gods who helped him in his enchantments. To them he asked to rush near the basin and succour him. All of them promptly obeyed. Then the figurines acquired life and began to fight while the boats advanced the ones against the others. Helped by all the gods of their land the Egyptian boat’s sailors succeeded in easily winning the enemy, and every time that one of the invaders’ boats sank and lay on the basin’s bottom, the corresponding enemy’s one was lost in high sea. In this way Nektanebus won all the battles and retained his power.
But one day a look out man arrived running and informed him that a mighty league had been formed against him and that their boats were arriving from the East. Nectanebus took it lightly beginning to laugh and spurning the enemy’s power. However he went to his secret room and filled the basin with water repeating all the well known ceremonies. It was only just when he had said the “Words of Power” that he noticed that the Egyptian gods were steering the enemies’ boats and commanded their crews. At this moment he understood that this was the end of his country and rushing out of the secret room, he shaved his head and his beard, put on a simple dress, and flew from Egypt taking refuge at Pella in Macedonia. Here he made other enchantments and casted horoscopes and among them he did also Olympia, Alexander’s mother, one. Egypt was finished. Not Nectanebus.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
E.A. WALLIS BUDGE, Egyptian Magi, Bury St.Edmunds, Suffolk, 1975, first published in 1899
pp. 90-95