Two observations on the tales of The contendings of Horus and Seth and Truth and Falsehood

Abstract

The Contendings of Horus and Seth (Papyrus Chester Beatty I) and The Blinding of Truth by Falsehood (Papyrus Chester Beatty II) –which can be numbered among the most significant texts of the ancient Egyptian literature of the New Kingdom– show a recognized set of common characteristics. Two topics concerning the remarkable similarity between these texts are considered here. On the one hand, the plot of both texts can be clearly linked to the main episodes of the myth that unites the gods Osiris, Isis, Seth and Horus, and the gap between these different literary “realizations” of the myth can be related to the différences de degré recognized by Claude Levi-Strauss in his analysis of the relations between myth (mythe) and tale (conte). On the other hand, a specific feature of the content of both texts is taken into consideration: the quest of judicial solutions for the conflicts in which the main characters engage. In this sense, it is suggested that two different kinds of judicial procedures are present in both The Contendings and Truth and Falsehood, which can be related to the importance of kinship and state “logics” in the internal organization of these texts as well as in the structure of Ancient Egyptian society