The Tale of the Two Brothers

This is a vivid and complex tale, dating to the reign of King Seti II of the 19th dynasty. This tale has a connection with a myth of two gods, namely Anubis and Bata. What is unique here is that these very gods are depicted as humans with minor super powers, not as the omnipotent beings we normally encounter in Ancient Egyptian mythology. This tale also has a very strong similarity with the tale of Joseph and Potiphar's wife.

Once upon a time, there were two brothers, Anubis who is the elder and married, and Bata, the younger bachelor. Anubis had a house and a wife, treating Bata as his own son. Bata was a perfect man, none like him in the whole land (a god's strength was in him). The two brothers worked together, farming land and raising cattle.

One day when they were in the field, they had a need for seeds. The elder brother sends his younger brother Bata to bring the seeds from home. His sister in law tries to seduce him. Bata becomes very angry and resists her adamantly. When he strongly rejects her, she tells her husband that his brother tried to seduce her and beat her when she refused. Anubis tries to kill his brother with his spear, but Bata runs away and prays to Re-Hourakhty to save him. The god creates a crocodile infested lake between the two brothers across which Bata is finally able to share his side of events with his brother. 

Bata cuts off his phallus and throws it into the water, then a catfish swallows it. Bata says to his brother that he will go to the valley of the pine, that he will place his heart on the top of the blossom of a pine tree. He wanted to further prove his innocence. He tells him if the pine is down, falling to the ground and if he receives a jar of beer, he should come to search for his heart and put it in some cold water so that Bata can became alive again. When Anubis reaches his home, he kills his wife, casts her to the dogs and sits mourning for his younger brother. 

Meanwhile, Bata establishes a life in the valley, building a new home for himself, the Ennead take pity on him. Khnum (the creator God) creates a wife for Bata, but the pharaoh sought her and when he succeeded in bringing her to live with him, she tells him to cut down the tree (which bears Bata's heart) and Bata dies. Then Anubis receives a jar of beer and goes to the valley of the pine, he searches for his brother's heart then he puts it in cold water as previously instructed. Bata is now resurrected.

Bata takes the form of a bull and goes to see his wife, his wife asks the pharaoh to eat the liver of this bull. The bull is then sacrificed, and two drops of Bata's blood fall, from which grow two Persea trees. Bata is now reincarnated in the form of a tree. His wife asks the pharaoh to cut down the trees and use them to make furniture. A splinter ends up in the wife's mouth , impregnating her, then she gives birth a son whom the pharaoh makes the crown prince. The son is no other than the reincarnated Bata. After the pharaoh dies, he becomes the king and he appoints his elder brother Anubis as a crown prince.

The Tale of Two Brothers from the Papyrus D'Orbiney, British Museum. Open Source.