Ancient Egyptian Myths and Stories - Reading Diary B

The second half of the Ancient Egyptian Myths unit included the story of the two brothers, the Book of Thoth, and the tale of King Rhampsinitus. The story of the two brothers was a good read. Two brothers, Bata and Anpu, lived together with Anpu's wife. Bata had the duty of tending to the oxen, and he lived in the stables with them at nights. One day, he and Anpu were working together in the fields to plant seeds. When they needed more seeds, Bata ran to the house to fetch them. Anpu's wife was in the house at the time, and she told Bata that she often thought about him. Bata responded by telling her that she was like a mother to him and Anpu was like a father and that she could not say those things. Later when Anpu returned to the home after the day's work, his wife turned the story around and told him that Bata wanted her but she refused, so Bata beat her. This angered Anpu, so he plotted to slay his brother. His brother could hear the words of the oxen, though, and they warned him that his brother was in the stables waiting to slay him. Bata ran and, eventually, the gods placed a river full of crocodiles between him and his brother so that his brother could not reach him. Eventually the truth came out and Anpu returned to his home and killed his wife, while Bata traveled to the flowering acacia to make a new home. Bata concealed his soul in the highest blossom of the acacia. He was given a wife, the most beautiful wife and the making of Ra, the sun god, for his duties. She was the only one that knew of his secrets. She was taken by the king of Egypt after he encountered a lock of her hair and wanted to have her for himself. The king sent his men to cut down the flowering acacia, and with it Bata's soul. Bata died because of this, and eventually his brother discovered his body. His brother found a seed though, so he planted it and Bata came back to life. Bata was made into a sacred bull when he was reborn, though, and he traveled to the Egyptian king. There, he told his wife that he was still alive and that it was her fault that the acacia tree was cut down. She ordered to have the bull killed though. The bull bled into the soil, and two trees grew. Those trees were also Bata, and they told the wife of that as well. She then ordered to have the trees cut down and made into chairs. A wood chip entered her mouth when they were being cut down, though, and she became pregnant. Her son became the king of Egypt when the other king passed, and he told everyone that he was Bata. Bata ended up ruling the lands until he died and his brother became the ruler. 

(Bata and Anpu's wife by Guido Reni. Source: Wikipedia)