THE TALE OF THE TWO BROTHERS

A semimythological story found in a single manuscript from the Ramesside Period written in the Late Egyptian form of the Egyptian language. The hero, Bata, is the handsome younger brother of a farmer, Anubis, whose wife attempts to seduce him and when rebuffed accuses him of rape. After proving his innocence to his brother by castrating himself, his brother kills Bata’s wife, and Bata goes off to Syria where the gods provide him with a wife. She too proves faithless and deserts him for the king of Egypt. Bata eventually becomes king of Egypt, punishes his wife, and dies, leaving the throne to his brother. The tale paints a rather bleak picture of women’s motives.

See also Literature.