Exodus 38:21-31

SEDRA PEKUDEY
Exodus 38:21 – 40:38


Still more on the Tabernacle, the priestly garments, the holy crown, the robe of the ephod, tunics and headgear; then the Mishkan is set up.

All of this must have happened while they were in one place, because you cannot do this kind of work while traveling (and you cannot do this kind of work in the middle of a desert, but that is quite amother matter). So we can assume they must have stopped at Sinai a good long while.


Exodus 38 (from verse 21)


38:21 ELEH PEKUDEY HA MISHKAN MISHKAN HA EDUT ASHER PUKAD AL PI MOSHEH AVODAT HA LEVIYIM BE YAD IYTAMAR BEN AHARON HA KOHEN

אֵלֶּה פְקוּדֵי הַמִּשְׁכָּן מִשְׁכַּן הָעֵדֻת אֲשֶׁר פֻּקַּד עַל פִּי מֹשֶׁה עֲבֹדַת הַלְוִיִּם בְּיַד אִיתָמָר בֶּן אַהֲרֹן הַכֹּהֵן

KJ (King James translation): This is the sum of the tabernacle, even of the tabernacle of testimony, as it was counted, according to the commandment of Moses, for the service of the Levites, by the hand of Ithamar, son to Aaron the priest.

BN (BibleNet translation): These are the details of the Mishkan - the Tabernacle of the Testimony - as they were rendered according to the instruction of Mosheh, through the service of the Leviyim, by the hand of Iytamar ben Aharon the Kohen.


IYTAMAR: See the link

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38:22 U VETSALEL BEN URI VEN CHUR LE MATEH YEHUDAH ASAH ET KOL ASHER TSIVAH YHVH ET MOSHEH

וּבְצַלְאֵל בֶּן אוּרִי בֶן חוּר לְמַטֵּה יְהוּדָה עָשָׂה אֵת כָּל אֲשֶׁר-צִוָּה יְהוָה אֶת מֹשֶׁה

KJ: And Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the LORD commanded Moses.

BN: And Betsal-El ben Uri ben Chur, of the tribe of Yehudah, made everything that YHVH instructed Mosheh.


BETSAL-EL: See the link.


38:23 VE ITO AHALI-AV BEN ACHI-SAMACH LE MATEH DAN CHARASH VE CHOSHEV VE ROKEM BA TECHELET U VA ARGAMAN U VE TOLA'AT HA SHANI U VA SHESH

וְאִתּוֹ אָהֳלִיאָב בֶּן אֲחִיסָמָךְ לְמַטֵּה דָן חָרָשׁ וְחֹשֵׁב וְרֹקֵם בַּתְּכֵלֶת וּבָאַרְגָּמָן וּבְתוֹלַעַת הַשָּׁנִי וּבַשֵּׁשׁ

KJ: And with him was Aholiab, son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver, and a cunning workman, and an embroiderer in blue, and in purple, and in scarlet, and fine linen.

BN: And with him was Ahali-Av ben Achi-Samach, of the tribe of Dan, a craftsman, and a skilled artisan, and a weaver in colours, in blue, and in purple, and in scarlet, and fine linen.


AHALI-AV: See the link.

Which tells us that Betsal-El did the smithwrighting and Ahali-Av the weave-work. We were not given this differentiation formally before. Indeed, it came across that Betsal-El was in charge of everything, and Ahali-Av little more than his apprentice, where this makes them craft-equals.

samech break


38:24 KOL HA ZAHAV HE ASU'I LA MELA'CHAH BE CHOL MELE'CHET HA KODESH VA YEHI ZEHAV HA TENUPHAH TESHA VE ESRIM KIKAR U SHEVA ME'OT U SHELOSHIM SHEKEL BE SHEKEL HA-KODESH

כָּל הַזָּהָב הֶעָשׂוּי לַמְּלָאכָה בְּכֹל מְלֶאכֶת הַקֹּדֶשׁ וַיְהִי זְהַב הַתְּנוּפָה תֵּשַׁע וְעֶשְׂרִים כִּכָּר וּשְׁבַע מֵאוֹת וּשְׁלֹשִׁים שֶׁקֶל בְּשֶׁקֶל הַקֹּדֶשׁ

KJ: All the gold that was occupied for the work in all the work of the holy place, even the gold of the offering, was twenty and nine talents, and seven hundred and thirty shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary.

BN: The total amount of gold that was used for the work, in all the work of the Sanctuary, including the gold of the offering, was twenty-nine talents, and seven hundred and thirty shekels, after the shekel of the Sanctuary.


1 talent = 30 kilograms, 1 shekel = 10 grams; click here for more detail.


38:25 VE CHESEPH PEKUDEY HA EDAH ME'AT KIKAR VE ELEPH U SHEVA ME'OT VA CHAMISHAH VE SHIV'IM SHEKEL BE SHEKEL HA KODESH

וְכֶסֶף פְּקוּדֵי הָעֵדָה מְאַת כִּכָּר וְאֶלֶף וּשְׁבַע מֵאוֹת וַחֲמִשָּׁה וְשִׁבְעִים שֶׁקֶל בְּשֶׁקֶל הַקֹּדֶשׁ

KJ: And the silver of them that were numbered of the congregation was an hundred talents, and a thousand seven hundred and threescore and fifteen shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary:

BN: And the silver collected from those of the congregation who were numbered [in the census] was a hundred talents, and one thousand, seven hundred and seventy-five shekels, after the shekel of the Sanctuary.


ME'AT... ME'OT: another of those oddities that are probably just scribal errors at the Masoretic stage; but see also verse 27. The other "oddity" is that this references a census which hasn't actually taken place yet, though it will, as soon as we begin the next book, Numbers.


38:26 BEKA LA GULGOLET MACHATSIT HA SHEKEL BE SHEKEL HA KODESH LE CHOL HA OVER AL HA PEKUDIM MI BEN ESRIM SHANAH VA MAL'AH LE SHESH ME'OT ELEPH U SHELOSHET ALAPHIM VA CHAMESH ME'OT VA CHAMISHIM

בֶּקַע לַגֻּלְגֹּלֶת מַחֲצִית הַשֶּׁקֶל בְּשֶׁקֶל הַקֹּדֶשׁ לְכֹל הָעֹבֵר עַל הַפְּקֻדִים מִבֶּן עֶשְׂרִים שָׁנָה וָמַעְלָה לְשֵׁשׁ מֵאוֹת אֶלֶף וּשְׁלֹשֶׁת אֲלָפִים וַחֲמֵשׁ מֵאוֹת וַחֲמִשִּׁים

KJ: A bekah for every man, that is, half a shekel, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for every one that went to be numbered, from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty men.

BN: One bekah - which is to say, half a shekel, after the shekel of the Sanctuary - per man, for every one included in the census, from twenty years old and upward: six hundred and three thousand, five hundred and fifty men.


1 bekah = 5 grams

Or maybe they had already conducted the census, and the telling of it was held back for the Book of Numbers, so as not to interrupt the account of the making of the Mishkanhere. Certainly the total are the same, though once again we have to shake our heads in disbelief at that number, which equivalates to at least one and a half million souls in total - the number in the census only counts those of military age (see Numbers 1:3). Think of the Eritrean refugees fleeing into the Sudan in the 1980s, about the same number, and the scale of the refugee crisis, the hunger, the cholera, the thirst, the chaos.


38:27 VA YEHI ME'AT KIKAR HA KESEPH LATSEKET ET ADNEY HA KODESH VE ET ADNEY HA PAROCHET ME'AT ADANIM LIM'AT HA KIKAR KIKAR LA ADEN

וַיְהִי מְאַת כִּכַּר הַכֶּסֶף לָצֶקֶת אֵת אַדְנֵי הַקֹּדֶשׁ וְאֵת אַדְנֵי הַפָּרֹכֶת מְאַת אֲדָנִים לִמְאַת הַכִּכָּר כִּכָּר לָאָדֶן

KJ: And of the hundred talents of silver were cast the sockets of the sanctuary, and the sockets of the vail; an hundred sockets of the hundred talents, a talent for a socket.

BN: And the hundred talents of silver were for casting the sockets of the Sanctuary, and the sockets of the veil: a hundred sockets for the hundred talents, a talent for a socket.


38:28 VE ET HA ELEPH U SHEVA HA ME'OT VA CHAMISHA VE SHIV'IM ASAH VAVIM LA AMUDIM VE TSIPAH RA'SHEYHEM VE CHISHAK OTAM

וְאֶת הָאֶלֶף וּשְׁבַע הַמֵּאוֹת וַחֲמִשָּׁה וְשִׁבְעִים עָשָׂה וָוִים לָעַמּוּדִים וְצִפָּה רָאשֵׁיהֶם וְחִשַּׁק אֹתָם

KJ: And of the thousand seven hundred seventy and five shekels he made hooks for the pillars, and overlaid their chapiters, and filleted them.

BN: And with the one thousand, seven hundred and seventy-five shekels he made hooks for the rods, and overlaid their capitals, and made fillets for them.


38:29 U NECHOSHET HA TENUPHAH SHIV'IM KIKAR VE ALPAYIM VE ARBA ME'OT SHAKEL

וּנְחֹשֶׁת הַתְּנוּפָה שִׁבְעִים כִּכָּר וְאַלְפַּיִם וְאַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת שָׁקֶל

KJ: And the brass of the offering was seventy talents, and two thousand and four hundred shekels.

BN: And the brass of the offering was seventy talents and two thousand, four hundred shekels.


38:30 VA YA'AS BAH ET ADNEY PETACH OHEL MO'ED VE ET MIZBACH HA NECHOSHET VE ET MICHBAR HA NECHOSHET ASHER LO VE ET KOL KELEY HA MIZBE'ACH

וַיַּעַשׂ בָּהּ אֶת אַדְנֵי פֶּתַח אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד וְאֵת מִזְבַּח הַנְּחֹשֶׁת וְאֶת מִכְבַּר הַנְּחֹשֶׁת אֲשֶׁר לוֹ וְאֵת כָּל כְּלֵי הַמִּזְבֵּחַ

KJ: And therewith he made the sockets to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the brasen altar, and the brasen grate for it, and all the vessels of the altar,

BN: With it he made the sockets for the door of the tent of meeting, and the brass altar, and the brass grating for it, and all the utensils for the altar.


38:31 VE ET ADNEY HE CHATSER SAVIV VE ET ADNEY SHA'AR HE CHATSER VE ET KOL YITDOT HA MISHKAN VE ET KOL YITDOT HE CHATSER SAVIV

וְאֶת אַדְנֵי הֶחָצֵר סָבִיב וְאֶת אַדְנֵי שַׁעַר הֶחָצֵר וְאֵת כָּל יִתְדֹת הַמִּשְׁכָּן וְאֶת כָּל יִתְדֹת הֶחָצֵר סָבִיב

KJ: And the sockets of the court round about, and the sockets of the court gate, and all the pins of the tabernacle, and all the pins of the court round about.

BN: And the sockets for the circumference of the court, and the sockets for the gate of the court, and all the pins for the Tabernacle, and all the pins for the circumference of the court.



Exodus: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13a 13b 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30a 30b 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38a 38b 39 40


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The Argaman Press

Exodus 30:1-10



Exodus: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13a 13b 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30a 30b 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38a 38b 39 40



30:1 VE ASIYTA MIZBE'ACH MIKTAR KETORET ATSEY SHITIM TA'ASEH OTO

וְעָשִׂיתָ מִזְבֵּחַ מִקְטַר קְטֹרֶת עֲצֵי שִׁטִּים תַּעֲשֶׂה אֹתוֹ

KJ (King James translation): And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon: of shittim wood shalt thou make it.

BN (BibleNet translation): And you shall make an altar to burn incense upon; you shall make it of acacia-wood.


A group of refugees camped in the wilderness with nowhere to go except a dream of a promised land, does not normally sit down and work out these sorts of precise detail. Laws may well get written, even written down. But the kind of ceremony and ritual and clothing elaborated in these books is simply implausible. If they had dressed the priests, they would have used such clothing as was available, and based it on what they were familiar with in Mitsrayim (Egypt). Where would they have had the equipment to make all these things - the wood in particular, so much seasoned acacia, in what, if this is indeed Sinai, was an immense sand desert? When Shelomoh (Solomon) built the Temple later, he imported all his wood from Lebanon and Cyprus, there being none or insufficient available in Kena'an; and his Temple was scarcely larger than a parish church.

ATSEY SHITIM: Why acacia wood? I have already explained this in my notes to Exodus 25, where the Ark and its Table were also made of acacia (see particularly verse 5); but in brief: in a world in which every aspect of Nature was once connected with a god or goddess, and had previously been used in some context connected with that god or goddess, we have to assume that acacia was not chosen for the quality of its grain or its ease of carpentry. And so it is no surprise to discover that, in ancient Egypt, the acacia that grew along the River Nile was regarded as the Tree of Life, under which all the deities of Mitsrayim were born; but the most important version of it was the one that grew in the temple of Amun-Ra at On (Heliopolis), which of course was where Yoseph served as vizier.



The illustration above shows Pharaoh Rameses II - the most likely candidate for the Pharaoh of the slavery fragments of the Book of Exodus - seated under the Tree of Life, which is held up (much in the manner that Mosheh's arms were held up in the battle with the Amalekites in Exodus 17:11), by the god Thoth on the left, and the goddess Ptah on the right; not difficult from here to make a Yisra-Eli adaptation into Mosheh, Aharon and Mir-Yam (see also my note to Exodus 25:9, which explains that this was also a pictogram of Osher, for whom the Pharaoh was the earthly surrogate).

Magical and healing properties were attached to the Acacia Nilotica then, and still are today, especially among those who take an interest in hallucinogenics and psychedelics.

And had they not already made this altar, in chapter 27? No, this is a second altar, though its design is virtually identical - this will be placed beside the veil and will be used for the burning of incense, where the other was for the animal sacrifices.


30:2 AMAH ARKO VE AMAH RACHBO RAVU'A YIHEYEH VE AMATAYIM KOMATO MIMENU KARNOTAV

אַמָּה אָרְכּוֹ וְאַמָּה רָחְבּוֹ רָבוּעַ יִהְיֶה וְאַמָּתַיִם קֹמָתוֹ מִמֶּנּוּ קַרְנֹתָיו

KJ: A cubit shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof; foursquare shall it be: and two cubits shall be the height thereof: the horns thereof shall be of the same.

BN: Its length shall be a cubit, and its breadth likewise a cubit. It shall stand foursquare. Its height shall be two cubits. The horns shall be of one piece with it.


Barely a plant-stand then, eighteen inches by eighteen inches, three feet off the ground; for details of the ancient measurements, click here.


30:3 VE TSIPIYTA OTO ZAHAV TAHOR ET GAGO VE ET KIYROTAV SAVIV VE ET KARNOTAV VE ASIYTA LO ZER ZAHAV SAVIV

וְצִפִּיתָ אֹתוֹ זָהָב טָהוֹר אֶת גַּגּוֹ וְאֶת קִירֹתָיו סָבִיב וְאֶת קַרְנֹתָיו וְעָשִׂיתָ לּוֹ זֵר זָהָב סָבִיב

KJ: And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, the top thereof, and the sides thereof round about, and the horns thereof; and thou shalt make unto it a crown of gold round about.

BN: And you shall overlay its top and sides with pure gold, and its horns likewise; and you shall make a crown of gold to encircle its top.


KARNOTAV: see my previous note on, and illustration of, the horned altar (Exodus 27:2)


30:4 U SHETEY TAB'OT ZAHAV TA'ASEH LO MI TACHAT LE ZERO AL SHETEY TSAL'OTAV TA'ASEH AL-SHENEY TSIDAV VE HAYAH LE VATIM LE VADIM LASE'T OTO BA HEMAH

וּשְׁתֵּי טַבְּעֹת זָהָב תַּעֲשֶׂה לּוֹ מִתַּחַת לְזֵרוֹ עַל שְׁתֵּי צַלְעֹתָיו תַּעֲשֶׂה עַל שְׁנֵי צִדָּיו וְהָיָה לְבָתִּים לְבַדִּים לָשֵׂאת אֹתוֹ בָּהֵמָּה

KJ: And two golden rings shalt thou make to it under the crown of it, by the two corners thereof, upon the two sides of it shalt thou make it; and they shall be for places for the staves to bear it withal.

BN: And you shall make two golden rings for it, underneath its crown, set upon each of its two ribs, one on either side; and they shall provide houses for the staves with which it may be carried.


LE VATIM...LE VADIM: Literally "houses", in the sense that carpenters use the word: a place to "house" the staves.

BAHEMAH: Sounds like BEHEMAH (= "cattle"), but it isn't, even though it will indeed be oxen that will draw the Ark. BA-HEM-AH, to break it down into its syllables: "in them".


30:5 VE ASITA ET HA BADIM ATSEY SHITIM VE-TSIPITA OTAM ZAHAV

וְעָשִׂיתָ אֶת הַבַּדִּים עֲצֵי שִׁטִּים וְצִפִּיתָ אֹתָם זָהָב

KJ: And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold.

BN: And you shall make the staves of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold.


ATSEY SHITIM: I shall not continuously comment, every time the acacia wood is mentioned; but you will see that acacia is the predominant material of the Ark in the desert, where cedar will be the predominant material of the Temple in Yeru-Shalayim, a switch from the traditions of Mitsrayim to those of Lebanon, from Osher (Osiris) to Adonis; and this latter will also be reflected in the name of god, YHVH here, but which will begin to be pronounced Adonai from that time on, and translated into English later as "the Lord", precisely because that was the meaning of Adonis.


30:6 VE NATATAH OTO LIPHNEY HA PAROCHET ASHER AL ARON HA EDUT LIPHNEY HA KAPORET ASHER AL HA EDUT ASHER IVA'ED LECHA SHAMAH

וְנָתַתָּה אֹתוֹ לִפְנֵי הַפָּרֹכֶת אֲשֶׁר עַל אֲרֹן הָעֵדֻת לִפְנֵי הַכַּפֹּרֶת אֲשֶׁר עַל הָעֵדֻת אֲשֶׁר אִוָּעֵד לְךָ שָׁמָּה

KJ: And thou shalt put it before the vail that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with thee.

BN: And you shall put it before the veil that is by the Ark of the Testimony, before the ark-cover that is over the Testimony, where I will meet with you.


Note the word-play again between PAROCHET and KAPORET, which in Yehudit are anagrams (פָּרֹכֶת - כַּפֹּרֶת).

IVA'ED: suggests the idea of "witness" or "testimony", from which we can read a very different type of religious encounter with god than in modern forms of prayer.


30:7 VE HIKTIR ALAV AHARON KETORET SAMIM BA BOKER BA BOKER BE HEYTIYVO ET HA NEROT YAKTIYRENAH

וְהִקְטִיר עָלָיו אַהֲרֹן קְטֹרֶת סַמִּים בַּבֹּקֶר בַּבֹּקֶר בְּהֵיטִיבוֹ אֶת הַנֵּרֹת יַקְטִירֶנָּה

KJ: And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning: when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it.

BN: And Aharon shall burn on it incense of sweet spices; every morning, when he dresses the lamps, he shall burn it.


KETORET: The same sweet spices used at Havdalah, presumably.

NEROT: These being the seven candles in the Menorah.



30:8 U VE HA'ALOT AHARON ET HA NEROT BEYN HA ARBA'IM YAKTIYRENAH KETORET TAMID LIPHNEY YHVH LE DOROTEYCHEM

וּבְהַעֲלֹת אַהֲרֹן אֶת הַנֵּרֹת בֵּין הָעַרְבַּיִם יַקְטִירֶנָּה קְטֹרֶת תָּמִיד לִפְנֵי יְהוָה לְדֹרֹתֵיכֶם

KJ: And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations.

BN: And when Aharon lights the lamps at dusk, he shall burn it, a perpetual incense before YHVH throughout your generations.


The purpose of the sweet-smelling incense was simply to take away the odours of the sacrifices. The details of the incense are given in "Day of Atonement".

Intriguing to discover that the lights are kept on overnight - very dangerous in a cloth tent, in a desert prone to sandstorms. When he "dresses" them in the morning, is he extinguishing them, or simply cutting the wick and removing the melted wax, so that they can continue burning through the day?


30:9 LO TA'ALU ALAV KETORET ZARAH VE OLAH U MINCHAH VE NESECH LO TISCHU ALAV

לֹא תַעֲלוּ עָלָיו קְטֹרֶת זָרָה וְעֹלָה וּמִנְחָה וְנֵסֶךְ לֹא תִסְּכוּ עָלָיו

KJ: Ye shall offer no strange incense thereon, nor burnt sacrifice, nor meat offering; neither shall ye pour drink offering thereon.

BN: You shall offer no strange incense thereon, nor burnt-offering, nor meal-offering; and you shall pour no drink-offering on it.

Confirming that this is a second altar, different from the one in Exodus 27.

All this incense and sacrifice makes the cult of the Beney Yisra-El really no different from any other cult of the period; just the name of the god and a few minor details are specific.


30:10 VE CHIPER AHARON AL KARNOTAV ACHAT BA SHANAH MI DAM CHAT'AT HA KIPURIM ACHAT BA SHANAH YECHAPER ALAV LE DOROTEYCHEM KODESH KADASHIM HU LA YHVH

וְכִפֶּר אַהֲרֹן עַל קַרְנֹתָיו אַחַת בַּשָּׁנָה מִדַּם חַטַּאת הַכִּפֻּרִים אַחַת בַּשָּׁנָה יְכַפֵּר עָלָיו לְדֹרֹתֵיכֶם קֹדֶשׁ קָדָשִׁים הוּא לַיהוָה

KJ: And Aaron shall make an atonement upon the horns of it once in a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonements: once in the year shall he make atonement upon it throughout your generations: it is most holy unto the LORD.

BN: And Aharon shall make atonement on its horns once every year; using the blood of the sin-offering of atonement, once every year he shall make atonement for it, throughout your generations. It is most holy to YHVH.


This is not an injunction to celebrate Yom Kippur, despite the use of the word "atonement". As we saw in the previous chapter (verses 36 and 37), altars get dirty and have to be purged clean, no different from a human conscience. The actual institution of Yom Kippur takes place in Leviticus 16.

Chapter 30 continues with Sedra Ki Tisa; this sedra now ends.




Exodus: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13a 13b 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30a 30b 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38a 38b 39 40



Copyright © 2020 David Prashker
All rights reserved
The Argaman Press

Shechitah


Shechitah, A Perfectly Humane Method Of Slaughter


Written for "Judaism Today", June 1995

For Rabbi Hugo Gryn, ז״ל, mentor and friend


In these days of animal rights activism, with veal calf transport under constant attack and the eating of meat becoming ever more an issue, we can be nigh on certain that someone – whether as a convenient pretext for anti-Semitism or out of genuine if misplaced conviction – will soon enough launch an onslaught against Shechitah. It is vital that the Jewish community is ready when the knives come out, because we can be sure that there will be no muzzling, no anaesthetic, merely one cut aimed at the jugular and the activists standing there gloating as the last drop of blood drains out. Please do not forgive the gruesome but appropriate metaphors.

Shechitah is the religious – some would call it the ritual – slaughter of animals. In Deuteronomy 12:21 we read: "You shall kill of your herd and your flock which the Lord has given you, in the manner that I have commanded you." Though 
Mosheh
 (Moses) is said to have been given details of the manner which YHVH had commanded, it does not in fact appear in writing until the first two chapters of Tractate Chullin in the Babylonian Talmud, circa 180 BCE. The exact methods used today allow for modifications made by Maimonides in his codification of the Shechitah Laws in the Mishneh Torah, and by Joseph Karo in the Shulchan Aruch (Yoreh Din, chapters 1-18). Amongst these laws are the requirement that the animal be in perfect health before slaughter – thereby disallowing pre-anaesthesia – and that the slaughterer, the shochet, be a thoroughly trained and regularly examined expert.

The process of Shechitah is quite straightforward. Animals are transported from the farm to the abattoir, where they are kept in stalls overnight, foddered and watered. Proverbs 12:10 reminds us that "a righteous man considers the life of his beast", an ordinance reinforced by European Community regulations which require, quite properly, that animals going for slaughter should not be treated cruelly beforehand. On the morning of slaughter the animals are led into the abattoir, and Jewish law makes clear that rough-handling, goading, or tail-twisting are not permitted. Nor, where it can be avoided, do animals actually see other animals being slaughtered (though in truth, being herbivores and not carnivores, there is no reason to assume that the sight or smell of blood would upset them in the slightest). This is achieved by leading the animal directly into a pen, whose frontal section allows for the beast's neck to become fully extended. The shochet makes a single cut immediately, severing the trachea, the oesophagus, the two vagus nerves, the carotid arteries and the jugular veins in one "swift movement" that must be free of upward or downward pressure, without any pause, and with no "hacking, digging, laceration or tear". With that, the process is at an end. Non-Jewish slaughterers, on the other hand, do not use pens; the animal is simply held down, a procedure that may well involve a chase and physical restraint, and which allows the animal space to kick and attempt flight. Nor do they cut immediately; first the animal must be pacified. There is a strong case to be made that the pen system is actually far more humane, especially since changes were made to the penning system during the 1980s, when an upright pen, known as the Cincinnati Pen, replaced the older, rotating, Weinberg Pen, which required animals to be lying on their backs for slaughter.

The argument of the animal rights activists will be that Shechitah is cruel to animals. In one sense they are right: it must be cruel, or at least painful, for any creature to suffer killing, whether they are animal or human. But while this may very well be a perfectly good argument for veganism and vegetarianism – for human beings desisting altogether from the practice of eating meat – it is not in itself an argument against Shechitah. If we accept that it is acceptable to eat meat, and that it is unhealthy to eat the meat of animals who have died by disease, old age or natural causes, then healthy animals have to be killed. For Shechitah to be inherently cruel to animals, it must be proven that it inflicts a measure of pain more severe than any other method of killing. It is also necessary to show that any pain inflicted is unreasonable, that it is intended to hurt rather than being an inevitable, if fully minimised consequence, of the process of slaughtering for food. The key difference in this regard between Jewish and non-Jewish methods is the practice of "stunning".

The non-Jewish method of slaughtering, rather like a human's visit to the dentist, normally involves a process of pre-anaesthesia, in accordance with the British Veterinary Association's ruling that "all animals should be rendered insensible before slaughter". Three methods are used: an injection of anaesthetic gas, electrical stunning, or most commonly the "captive-bolt". The intention is to pacify the animal before cutting its throat. Yet there is strong evidence to suggest that all three methods inflict unnecessary pain, at a level that might well be considered "cruel".

Experience of ECT with human patients shows that electrical stunning frequently has very serious consequences. The electrical impulse itself is liable to cause blood vessels to burst, a process akin to minor haemorrhaging, while the normal tendency is for limbs to become rigid at such an extreme of intensity that there are often broken bones. Epilepsy is also a common side-effect. The use of gas is little better. CO2 causes cerebral hypoxia, which means the brain is starved of oxygen, and thereby damaged, much as is a new-born baby who spends too long in the uterine canal and emerges with cerebral palsy.

The most commonly used method is the captive bolt. This requires the animal to be restrained, its head held absolutely still while a special gun is aimed at a precise spot in its forehead, and a bolt fired into the brain, the purpose being the instant destruction of the brain. This method is treated as being a form of pre-anaesthesia, but in fact it is itself a process of slaughter, since if carried out successfully the animal will die from the bolt. However, official British government statistics suggest that in at least 30% of cases the gun misfires, in which case restraint has to be prolonged while the gun is reloaded and a second attempt made; and because the animal tends to swing its head to resist restraint, it frequently occurs that the bolt misses its target, and the animal, though fatally injured, does not die. There is also considerable evidence to suggest that, even where gas, electrical stunning or the captive bolt are applied with full success, the animal may still retain consciousness; indeed, an RSPCA survey, reported in "The Times" of February 23rd 1990, showed that 6.6% of animals "showed evidence of being less than fully effectively stunned".

So much for humane slaughter! So much for rendering all animals “insensible before slaughter”!

In his pamphlet on Shechitah, Dr Bernard Homa, a senior consultant on the subject to the Board of Deputies of British Jews, describes the Jewish moment of killing as "a single rapid cut to the neck by means of a knife of adequate length, set to exquisite sharpness, more acute than any surgical knife, with a perfect edge, free from the slightest notch or flaw and minutely examined by a specific method for any unevenness immediately before the slaughter of each animal". What happens medically when Shechita operates?

The key to mammal life is the full operation of the brain, and this is dependent upon two factors: its metabolism requires a sufficient level of glucose, which is carried in the blood; its auto-regulation requires sufficient pressure to sustain the blood supply. The process of Shechitah involves the severance of the carotid arteries at the base of the throat, and the effect of this is an instantaneous cutting off of the supply of blood to the brain. One-third of blood-flow to the brain is lost within thirty seconds, fifty per cent within the first minute. Where in normal haemorrhages the arteries contract to resist the loss of blood, the carotids in fact dilate in response, thereby increasing the loss of blood pressure. The vertebral arteries which provide an alternate blood supply through the spinal canal to the back of the brain are not severed in Shechitah; however the severe drop in blood pressure caused by the cutting of the carotid arteries (twenty-five per cent within three seconds) will in fact cause blood in the vertebral arteries to cease flowing, and even to fall backwards. Such a drop in blood pressure, causing such a speedy loss of blood-flow to the brain, will also have the side-effect of plummeting the animal into almost instantaneous unconsciousness, much quicker in fact than even the most successful use of the captive bolt, gas, or electrical stunning. Neurologically the effect is even quicker, as experiments at Cornell University in the 1950s demonstrated; the animal will in fact lose consciousness within two to three seconds, physically collapse within ten, and even corneal reflexes will last no more than between ten and twenty seconds. In that sense the Shechita "cut" may also be seen as an extremely successful form of anaesthesia.

At the opening of this essay I stated that "the argument of the animal rights activists will be that Shechitah is cruel to animals", but responded that, if we accept that it is acceptable to eat meat, and that it is unhealthy to eat the meat of animals who have died by disease, old age or natural causes, then healthy animals have to be killed., and that a suitably humane method of killing needs to be adopted. As the above shows, Shechitah is certainly no less humane, and arguably far more humane, than other methods of killing currently in use. In Genesis 1:29 we read: "And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the Earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for food". No mention there of eating meat. The second argument of the animal rights activists will be that we should return to the Edenic state, where Man too was a herbivore, and meat was not yet given us for eating. That debate is not within the scope of this essay.







Bibliography and recommended further reading:

Sassoon,S.D., Letchworth, A Critical Study of Electric Stunning and the Jewish Method of Slaughter, 1956

Dukes,H.H., Cornell, Blood Pressure in the Vertebral Artery in Ruminants, 1958

Homa,B., London, Shechita, the Jewish Method of Slaughtering Animals For Food, Board of Deputies of British Jews, 1961

Homa,B., Shechita, Soncino Press, 1967

Shechita, A Humane Method, published by the Board of Deputies of British Jews, 1990


Copyright © 2015 David Prashker
All rights reserved
The Argaman Press

The Tale of the Two Brothers


The Tale of the Two Brothers


Adapted as a modern tale from the original translation by W.M. Flinders Petrie 

(Egyptian Tales, Translated from the Papyri, Second Series, 18th to 19th dynasty)

by David Prashker


Once upon a time, or so the story goes, there were two brothers, who shared the same mother and the same father - exactly how families are supposed to be, you might think, but in those days, and at that time, a man could have several wives, and children with each of them.

Now the name of the elder brother was Anubis, though some say that his name was Anpu, and the name of the younger was Bata. Anubis owned a house, and he had a wife, and his younger brother was attached to him, almost as though he were an adopted son, so that it was he (the elder brother, that is) who made clothes for him, while he (the younger brother, that is) shepherded his cattle out into the fields - or really cattleherded them, because you shepherd sheep and so you ought to cattleherd cattle, but alas no such word exists in English - since it was he who had the task of ploughing. It was also he who undertook the reaping for him, and it was he who expedited every other chore pertaining to the fields. Indeed, this younger brother was as perfect a young man as anyone reluctant to pay hired workers could ask for: there was no one like him in the entire land, and it was said that the virility of a god was in his loins, though no one had yet availed themselves of an opportunity to prove, or indeed to disprove it.

Our story finds the two brothers at a particular moment, several days after the younger brother had taken the cattle out to graze and plough, and during which time Anubis had followed him, keeping a supervisory eye on him, or spying suspiciously, if you prefer to see it in that way. Bata had tended the cattle as he did every day. Now, as the evening set in, he set out for his brother's house, carrying in his knapsack whatever vegetables were growing in the fields at that time of the year, plus milk, and wood for the hearth, and any other tasty products offered free by Nature that he happened to find available along the way; and these, as he always did, he placed before his elder brother, who was sitting with his wife waiting for his dinner, and he ate and drank with them, and then he left to spend the night in the stable with the cattle.

When dawn came up the following morning, he brought more of those good foods into the kitchen to be cooked, then set them before his elder brother, with bread baked from corn that he had personally gathered in the fields. After breakfast he drove the cattle out again, to let them graze in the fields, taking advice from them as to which fields had the best grass. He always listened to their advice and took them to the place that they had chosen, because somehow they seemed to know intuitively where the best grass was to be found that day. And clearly they were right, for the cattle that were in his charge grew fat and healthy, and when he put the males in the field with the females, they multiplied their offspring exceedingly, as the saying goes.

So it came to ploughing time, and his brother told him, "Get a team of oxen ready for us for ploughing; the Nile floods have retreated and the first signs are in the soil that we need to start tilling. When you've done that, bring the bags of seed out to the field, because I want to start the cultivation tomorrow." This is what his brother said to him, and by way of a response Bata said not a word, but simply went about his designated tasks, making all the preparations that his elder brother had instructed him. So dawn came up on the next day, and they set off for the field, carrying the bags of seed, and they began to plough, and in their hearts both were decidedly self-satisfied about everything that they had done, and were now doing.




Let us now jump forward several days, and find the brothers still ploughing and tilling and cultivating their field, when they realised that they had used up all the seed. Anubis sent his younger brother back to the house, saying to him "Go and fetch us more seed from town".

So Bata went back to the house, and there he found his sister-in-law sitting by her bedroom mirror, plaiting her hair.

"Get up and fetch me some seed," he told her. "Quickly now, so that I can get back to the field as fast as possible. Anubis is waiting for me. Come on. Don't cause me a delay."

To which his sister-in-law replied: "Why can't you go and open the store yourself and fetch what you want? I have to finish doing my hair."

So Bata went out to the stable, and found the largest containers that he could, because he intended to take back a lot of seed. He loaded himself up like a donkey with seed of barley and of emmer wheat, and came out carrying it.

Then his sister-in-law asked him, "How much is it that you've got on your shoulder?"

And he replied, "This would be... let me see... three sacks of emmer wheat seed and ... two sacks of barley seed. That would make in total, right here on my shoulder, five."

This was what he said to her.

And by way of a reply she said to him, "You really are as virile as everyone in town suggests. I've been watching you, how hard you work, those muscles of yours." For - let's not beat about the bush - it was her desire to know him in what is called sexual intimacy.

Now she got up, seized hold of him, and said to him, "Come, let's spend an hour together, just you and me, in bed. It will be to your advantage, for I will make you fine clothes."

Bata was shocked. This morally upright young man was suddenly transformed into an Upper Egyptian panther, so vehement was his rage over this wicked proposition that she had made to him. And as he raged, so did she grow very frightened. But then he calmed down for a moment, and said to her:

"Now look, you are the nearest thing in this world to a mother to me, and your husband is, well, really, like a father, and not just because he's my elder brother, but because it was he who brought me up. What you have suggested is - what can I say? - a terrible offense to me - to him. Never say it to me again. But to spare you I shall tell no one. I will not let a word of it escape from my mouth to anybody."

And saying this he picked up his load, and went off to the field. And when he reached his elder brother, the two of them quite simply got on with the next phase of their project.

That evening, as usual, elder brother Anubis left work to return home, while younger brother Bata continued tending the cattle, before loading himself up with as much produce of the field as he could carry, and then bringing back the cattle so they could spend the night in their stable back in town. His elder brother's wife, as you can imagine, had spent the afternoon thinking through the inferences and implications of her moment of impulsiveness, though thinking describes a state of calm rationality, whereas in truth we need to be using words like fear and panic to describe her emotional state. What if Bata should tell on her? was the sum of it. Men were untrustworthy creatures. She had no alternative but to ensure the safety of her reputation by her own means. So she fetched grease and fat and smeared them on her body so that it looked like bruises, and rehearsed what was most likely to be effective in pretending to her husband that his younger brother had attempted to assault her.

Her husband left work in the evening, according to his daily habit, as we have already noted. When he reached the house he found his wife lying down, sick apparently, so that she wasn't there to do as she always did, which was to pour water over his hands to clean them. Nor had she prepared a candle to light his arrival, so that the house was in darkness - and herself stretched out on the bed, vomiting.

"Who has quarrelled with you?” her husband immediately jumped to the obvious conclusion.

"No one has quarrelled with me," she replied. "Except your younger brother. When he returned to fetch seed for you, he found me sitting alone and said to me, 'Come, let's spend an hour in bed together. Put on your wig.' So he said to me, but I refused to obey him. 'Isn't it the case that I am practically your mother, and that your brother is to all intents and purposes your father?' That's what I said to him. And he became terribly afraid, and then he assaulted me, to prevent me from telling you what had happened. And now, if you allow him to live, I shall take my life. See, as soon as he returns, don't so much as say 'good evening' to him, because I denounce this wicked proposition which he would have carried out today."

Hearing all of this, it was Anubis' turn to be transformed into an Upper Egyptian panther, and he sharpened his spear, and waited like a sentry by the stable door, spear in hand, ready to kill his younger brother as soon as he returned that evening and came to put the cattle in the stable.

And so it fell out that, as soon as the sun had set, Bata loaded himself up with all manner of vegetables from the fields, as he did every day, and set off for home. But even as the lead cow entered the stable, it turned to Bata, its herdsman, and said:

"Look there, your elder brother's standing waiting for you, with a spear in his hand, like he intends to kill you. You need to get out of here in a hurry."

Bata had understood what his lead cow had said, but it was emphasised and endorsed when the next cow entered and said exactly the same thing. Bata bent down to look under the stable door, and there he saw his elder brother's feet where he was standing behind the door with his spear in his hand. Bata laid his load down on the ground, and ran off as fast as his feet could carry him. But Anubis had seen him go, and set off in pursuit of him, still brandishing his spear.

In his anxiety Bata, the younger brother, offered up a prayer to the deity named Re-Harakhti, saying, "My good lord, it is you who distinguishes wrong from right."

Re-Harakhti listened to all his beggings and petitions, and he caused a vast gulf of water, as wide as the river Nile, to form a barrier between him and his elder brother, infested with crocodiles like the river Nile, so that one of them found himself on one side of the watery divide, and the other on the other. His elder brother struck himself twice on the back of his hand, a gesture of annoyance at his having failed to kill his younger brother.

But just then, and somewhat surprisingly given that escape was now available to him, his younger brother called out to him from the far side, saying:

"Wait there, my brother, until dawn. As soon as the sun rises, I shall be judged with you in the presence of Re-Harakhti, and he will deliver the culprit to the just. And if he finds me guilty I make this vow, that I will never again be present in your company, nor in any place where you are to be found. I will go to the Valley of the Acacia."

Soon enough it was dawn, and the next day had come about. Re-Harakhti arose, and all three looked at each other, observing, scrutinising, judging. Then Bata turned to his elder brother and asked him:

"What is the meaning of your coming in pursuit of me like this, in order to kill me unjustly, without having heard what I have to say? I am still your younger brother, and you are the nearest I have to a father, and your wife is the nearest I have to a mother. Is that not so? When you sent me to bring seed, your wife said to me, 'Come, let's spend an hour in bed together.' But I can see that she must have distorted the tale when she told it to you, turning it into something else."

Then he told Anubis what had really transpired between himself and his elder brother's wife. He even swore the truth of his version in the name of Re-Harakhti, making up a prayer of his own that included parts that he remembered from the ancient liturgy:

"As for your pursuit of me," he said, "in order to kill me unjustly, carrying your spear, do you not know that it was on account of a sexually unsatiated slut. Lo," - this was the part of the ancient liturgy that he more or less remembered accurately - "he fetched a reed knife, cut off his phallus, and threw it into the water. And the catfish swallowed it, and he grew weak and became feeble."

And saying this, Bata acted out the words, and it was not mime.

Hearing him, witnessing it, remembering the whole tale, and understanding why his brother had made reference to it, Anubis the elder brother found his emotions running rather differently than before; indeed he was assailed by an overwhelming grief, and stood there, weeping aloud, definitely for the demi-hero of the ancient tale, even more definitely for Bata too. He might even have embraced him, only he could not cross over to where his younger brother was standing, because crocodiles are crocodiles, and it was a very watery ravine.

When his younger brother called out to him, saying:

"You came here to act evilly upon a grievance that you did not even attempt to prove. Can you not recall a kindness now, or something else that I have done on your behalf, and use that as the inspiration for a good deed? Please, go home now, take care of the cattle, because I have made a vow not to stay in any place where you are. I shall go off to the Valley of the Acacia. And this is what you can do on my behalf. If you find out that something has happened to me, come to the Valley and care for me. Because I am now a dead man in this world, I shall extract my heart and hang it on the top of the flower of the acacia tree. And if the acacia tree is cut down, or falls to the ground, swear that you will come and search for my heart. Even if you spend seven years searching for it, do not let your own heart become discouraged. But if you do find it, when you do find it, as you will, place it in a bowl of cold water, so that I can come back to life and avenge the wrong that has been done to me. And here is a sign for you, to know if something has happened to me: if a glass of beer is brought to you and, when you lift it to drink from it, it starts to produce froth. If that happens, do not delay, but come and seek me in the Valley of the Acacia."

And saying this, he turned and set off to the Valley of the Acacia. His elder brother too turned, but before he set off for home, like a man putting on sackcloth as a sign of mourning, with his own hands he smeared his head and body with both dirt and dust. So at last he reached home, and he killed his wife, threw her body to the dogs, and sat down in mourning for his younger brother.




Many days had gone by following these events, and Bata was now in the Valley of the Acacia, entirely alone, taking advantage of the daylight to hunt for desert game. Each evening he came back to the acacia tree, on the top of whose flower he had placed his heart, to spend the night beneath it. Soon he had gathered enough materials to build for himself a grand country villa in the Valley of the Acacia, filled with all manner of good things, and with the intention of establishing a home for himself here.

And then it happened, one day, when he was out walking not far from his country villa, that he met the Ennead, the pantheon of nine deities who rule the Cosmos - their names were Atum, Shu, Tefnut, Geb, Nut, Osher, Eshet, Set and Nepthys - who were walking along the road, at once observing how the world was going, and in conference to govern it. The nine deities spoke in unison, saying to him:

"Oh, Bata, Bull of the Ennead, are you alone here? Have you abandoned your town, fleeing before the face of the wife of Anubis, your elder brother? Know that he has killed his wife, and through this you are avenged for every wrong committed against you."

The gods, apparently, were feeling very sorry for our Bata. Re-Harakhti (who was also known as Atum) told Khnum, once the deity of fertility, water and the great potter who created children and gave them their ka at their conception, but now living in semi-retirement because the Ennead had taken charge, "Please fashion a marriageable woman for Bata so that he does not have to live alone."

Immediately Khnum made a house-companion for him who was more beautiful in her body than any woman in the entire land, for Khnum had included some element of each of the gods in her. So beautiful that the seven Hat-Hors came to take a look at her, and were so enraged with envy that they made the joint pronouncement: "It is by an execution knife that this creature is going to die."

House-companion was her designation, a helpmeet rather than a wife or even a concubine. But Bata only had to look at her and his famous virility was immediately aroused. For as long as she dwelled in his house. even when he was out hunting, his thoughts went back to her, in images much more than language. It was for her now that he hunted desert game, for her that he brought it back, for her that he laid it down before her. And he told her:

"Don't go outside, in case the sea should carry you away, for I will be unable to rescue you from it, because I am now reduced to something female, though not female like you, and my heart lies on the top of the flower of the acacia tree. But if anyone else should find it, I will find a way to fight with him." Then he revealed to her all his inmost thoughts.

Several days after this, while Bata was out hunting, as was his daily habit, the young woman went out to stroll under the acacia tree that grew up next to the house. No sooner did she reach it than she saw the sea, surging up behind her, and she ran away from it, fleeing to the safety of the house. But the sea called to the acacia tree, saying: "Seize hold of her for me." And the acacia tree plucked a curl from her hair. The sea brought it to Egypt, and placed it right where Pharaoh's launderers did their cleaning, so that the scent of the curl of hair became transmitted to the clothing of Pharaoh (may he live, grow prosperous, and be healthy), and the king rebuked the launderers, saying, very abruptly, while pointing a royal finger: "Scent of ointment is in the clothes of Pharaoh", more than which was majestically unnecessary.

Over the next several days, rebuking them became almost a part of daily ceremony for the Pharaoh, but they had no idea what to do. The chief launderer of Pharaoh walked down to the banks of the river Nile, with his mind exceedingly vexed as a consequence of the rebukes he had received. Suddenly he stopped, and stood dead still, right there by the rivershore, opposite the curl of hair that was lying in the water. He ordered someone go down, and it was brought to him. Its scent was found to be most generously fragrant - a scent of acacia indeed - and he took it to show Pharaoh.

Then the learned scribes of Pharaoh were summoned, and they said to Pharaoh: "As for this braid of hair, it belongs to a daughter of Re-Harakhti in whose body can be found the seed of every god. It must have been sent as a tribute to you from some other country. Send envoys to all of them in order to search for her. As for the envoy who will go to the Valley of the Acacia, have many men accompany him, in order to fetch her."

Then His Majesty said, "What you have said is very good, very good." And they were dismissed.




Yet again our tale jumps forward many days. The men who had gone to each of the foreign countries had soon enough returned to bring their reports to His Majesty, while those who had gone to the Valley of the Acacia had for a long while failed to return, for Bata had killed them, leaving just one of them alive to take his report back to His Majesty, which eventually he did. Then His Majesty sent another delegation, this time comprised of many soldiers riding chariots, but also a woman who had been endowed with all manner of beautiful feminine adornments that she could present to the lady of the scented hair as an inducement.

And induced she duly was. The young woman returned to Egypt with her, and there was a joyous reception for her at every place she journeyed through the land. His Majesty fell deeply, madly in love with her, and appointed her to be the First Lady. Then he spoke to her about her husband, asking her to describe his looks, his personality, his character, and she understood why he really wanted to know, and so she told him, "Have the acacia tree cut down and hacked up". The king sent soldiers bearing copper implements to cut down the acacia tree, and they came to the spot where it was growing, and they cut off the flower on which was Bata's heart, and he fell dead at that very moment.

After dawn came up the following day, and after the acacia tree had been cut down, Anubis, the elder brother of Bata, entered his house, and sat down, though not until after he had washed his hands. His servant handed him a glass of beer, and even as he lifted it to take a sip, the beer started to produce froth. As if this sign were not sufficient, he called for a glass of wine instead, and even as it was handed to him the wine turned sour. So he knew, and his heart sank. He picked up his walking-staff and put on his sandals, dressed himself in clothing suitable for such a journey, and took up his weapons, and with these he made speed to journey to the Valley of the Acacia. Arrived, he entered his younger brother's house, and found his younger brother lying dead upon his mat. O how he wept when he saw his younger brother lying in this state, and he went in search of his younger brother's heart, beneath the stump which was all that remained of the acacia tree under which his younger brother had slept away his evenings.

For three long years Anubis went on searching for his younger brother's heart, but he could not find it. Then, when, in the first days of the fourth year, he felt in his own heart a desire to return to Egypt, he said to himself, "I shall depart tomorrow." This is what he said in his own still beating heart. Just as he did every day. But he could not leave until he had found his younger brother's no longer beating one.

So yet another dawn, yet another following day, had come about, and Anubis began walking under the acacia tree, spent all day indeed searching for his brother's heart. And in the evening he gave up. And then again, and then again, he spent time searching for it, until, this time, how could he not have noticed it before, a seed, scarcely more than a seed, of what might one day become an acacia cone. And he knew without knowing how he knew, that the acacia cone was in fact his younger brother's heart.

So he went back into the house, filled a bowl with cold water, dropped the acacia cone into it, and sat down to think about the daily habits he could soon resume, because soon he would be able to go home. After darkness had fallen that same day, and the acacia-cone heart had absorbed every last drop of water in the bowl, the dead body of Bata, lying on its mat, began to shake, and shuddered, every limb and muscle coming back to life, until there he was, looking up from his pillow at his elder brother, even while his heart was still in the bowl. Anubis, his elder brother, took the bowl of cold water in which his younger brother's heart was also coming back to life, and had him drink it. As the heart went down into his body, it found and once again assumed its proper position in Bata's chest, so that Bata was restored, once again the same young man he used to be. Or very nearly - some missing parts, alas, were not available to be restored.

Now the two brothers embraced each other, and then they conversed with one another. And Bata said to his elder brother, "The gods, when I met them, called me 'Bull of the Ennead'. So I know this is my destiny. Now I shall become a large bull, one that has every beautiful colour, one whose breed is unparalleled, and you shall sit on my back and ride me. As soon as the sun rises, we will go to where my wife is, and I shall avenge myself, and you will take me to where the king is, and every imaginable good thing will be done for you, rewards of silver and gold for taking me to Pharaoh, because I shall become the wonder of the world, and there will be much joyful celebration of me throughout the land. And then you will be free to go back to your home town.


   Another dawn, another following day, had come about, and there was Bata, changed into the form of which he had spoken to his elder brother. So Anubis, the elder brother, climbed on his back, and stayed there until the next next dawn, the following following day, riding comfortably while Bata the Bull strode powerfully over desert sand and stony field, until he reached the place where the king was, and His Majesty was informed about him. He saw him, and the joy was palpable in his face, his eyes, his smile. From the steps of the palace he delivered in his honour a grand oblation, saying: "A great marvel has come to pass." And there was jubilation for him throughout the land. And the king ordered him to be weighed, and as much as he weighed was counted out in gold and silver for his elder brother, who once again took up his abode in his home town. But for Bata much more than this, for the king provided him with a large household of servants, and as many material goods as he could find room for, and Pharaoh preferred him over any other counsellor or advisor in the entire land.


Many, many, more and more, dawns and followings later, Bull Bata wandered into the sacred portion of the palace, and stood next to the First Lady, who was making her daily spiritual ablutions there. He began speaking with her, saying, "See, I'm still alive!"

"Who are you, pray?" she answered him.

"I am Bata," he told her. "I realise that when you caused the acacia tree to be hacked up for Pharaoh, it was on account of me, to keep me from staying alive. But now you can see that I am still alive. Simply, now, I am alive as a bull."

Hearing this revelation by her husband, the First Lady became gripped by an emotional state that can only be described as fear and panic. Bata left the sacred place, and soon enough His Majesty came in to make his daily spiritual ablutions. But instead of these he sat down beside her, and started to behave flirtatiously with her. She poured a glass of wine for His Majesty - a sweet wine, used in the sacred rites - so that the king was exceedingly happy in her company.

Then she said to His Majesty, "Swear something to me in the name of the gods. In these words: 'Whatever it is she asks for, I shall grant it to her.'" And he made that promise, and then he listened to her tell him what it was she wanted.

"Let me," she said to him, "eat of the liver of this bull, for he never will amount to anything."

This was what she said to him.

The king was very angry with her for making this request, and also very sorry for poor Bata. But he had made his promise, and it could not be retracted.

Dawn of the next day duly came about, and the king proclaimed a grand feast, with oblationary honours and sacrificial offerings to the bull. But also of the bull. The king sent his Chief Butler (though some versions of the legend say it was his Chief Baker), to undertake the sacrifice of the bull. And so it happened that Bata the Bull was sacrificed.

While he was being carried on the shoulders of the men, his neck trembled, which caused two drops of blood to be shed beside the two doorposts of His Majesty's grand palace, one landing on one side of the great portal, and the other on the other side. Out of these droplets of blood grew up two large Persea trees (Mimusops schimperi for those of you who like your trees with Latin names), each one as beautiful and fecund as the other. Then someone went to tell His Majesty, "Two large Persea trees have grown up in a single night. It is a great marvel for Your Majesty. Right there beside the great portal of Your Majesty's palace." And there was jubilation throughout the land for the miracle of the Persea trees. And the king presented an offering to them.

And on went the days and dawns and followings, and on one of these His Majesty appeared in public, wearing his crown of lapis lazuli, wreathed around his neck with one of every flower that grew in Egypt, and riding in his chariot of pale gold; all this, so that he could come out of the palace and see the Persea trees with his own eyes. Behind him came the Lady, riding in her own chariot. His Majesty sat down under one of the Persea trees, in order to speak with his wife; but it was the Persea tree that spoke to her.

"Ha, you liar!" it said. "I am Bata. I am alive in spite of you. I realise that, when you cut down the acacia tree for Pharaoh, it was on account of me. So I became a bull, and you had me killed."

The Tale, alas, does not recall the Lady's response, either in word or in emotion.



Still more dawns, days, followings, nexts, and once again the First Lady stood pouring wine for His Majesty in the sacred place, so that the king was happy in her company. And once again she said to His Majesty:

"Swear something to me in the name of the gods. In these words: 'Whatever it is she asks for, I shall grant it to her.'"

And he made that promise, and then he listened to her tell him what it was she wanted.

"Have those two Persea trees cut down," she told him, "and made into fine furniture."

The king heard her request, and after a brief moment he sent for skilled craftsmen, and the Persea trees were cut down for Pharaoh, while the Queen, as she now was, the First Lady, observed it being done. But while she watched, and while they sawed, a splinter flew up into the Lady's mouth. She swallowed the splinter, and in the space of a split second she had fallen pregnant. And the king made out of the wood of the Persea trees whatever was her desire.




Nine months of dawns and days and followings later, the Queen, the First Lady, gave birth to a son, and one of her servants went to tell His Majesty, "A son has been born to you." Then the child was brought, and a wet-nurse and maids were assigned to him. There was jubilation throughout the land, and the king sat down to celebrate, and sat the infant on his lap, and loved and cherished him from the first moment, and he gave the infant the title Viceroy of Kush.

So time again moved on, unneeding of the mentioning of dawns or days or followings, and now His Majesty appointed him Crown Prince, which is to say as Heir Apparent, of the entire land. And in the course of still more time, when he had served in this role for very many years, His Majesty did what only kings can do, which was to leave this Earth unnoticed on a journey to the sky.

Then the new King said: "Have all the great officials of His Former Majesty brought to me, that I may inform them regarding every situation in which I have been involved."

So the Queen Mother, as she now was, the Former First Lady, as she now was, his mother, as she still was, was brought to him along with all the other chamberlains and stewards, and he told his tale, and called for judgement with her in their presence.

So a consensus was reached among them, though sadly the conclusion is not recorded. Or only that the man who was summoned to the palace as a consequence of their discussions was the elder brother of the late lamented Bata, and strangely welcomed by the new King as "my elder brother", and then appointed by the new King as Crown Prince, which is to say as Heir Apparent, over the entire land. And the new King of Egypt reigned supreme for thirty years, and when he too made the invisible journey to the sky, it was his elder brother the Crown Prince who succeeded to the throne that very day.




Thus our tale concludes happily and successfully, and with much gratitide for the ka of the scribe of the treasury of Pharaoh Kagabu, and of the scribe Hora, and of the scribe Meremapt, without whom no versions, let alone this one, could have been made for the benefit of posterity. This scroll written by the scribe Anena, the owner of this roll. He who speaks against this roll, may Tahuti smite him.





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