Discover how ancient Egyptians explained the mysteries of the world
The goddess Isis had poisoned the sun god Re. She watched as various deities approached the ailing divinity, each desperately trying to heal him, but none could find a cure to his suffering. One second the god was burning up. The next, he was freezing. He shook. His heart was on fire. The situation was getting desperate, but the gods had little information to go on. All they knew was that he’d been bitten by a snake and poisoned by its venom. Isis could help, but she held back for now. After all, this poisoning was all part of her plan to learn the sun god’s secret name, a key to his power, hidden deep in his belly – and he wouldn’t give it up easily.
Earlier that day, Isis had collected some of Re’s drool while he slept, and mixed it with soil in the shape of a snake. Because all divine fluids had creative power – even Re’s drool – the creature burst into life. She placed the snake on a path where Re walked each day, and just as she’d planned, when he strolled by, it bit him. The poison flooded through his body. From that moment, Re had writhed in pain. Eventually, the gods summoned Isis for help. As a goddess of magic, perhaps she could find a solution? She approached Re and immediately asked him for his secret name – only this could save him, she said. But the stubborn sun god refused to answer truthfully. He told her many of his names, none his secret one. Only when the pain worsened, and no relief was in sight, did Re finally relent. He whispered his secret name to Isis, passing its power into her body. Her plan had worked, so there was no reason to prolong the god’s suffering. Using her magic, Isis cured Re. Pleased that his illness had lifted – and apparently in a surprisingly forgiving mood – the sun god told Isis that she could pass his secret name to her son, Horus.
This myth, known from various copies written in around 1200 BCE, serves as the introduction to a spell meant to relieve the suffering brought on by snake venom. It was a guarantee of efficacy to the ancient reader: the spell had worked for Isis in the mythological past, so it would work again. But the myth also had a wider significance – it explained someth
