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Ancient Nubian Deity

THE TALE OF THE TWO BROTHERS
A FAIRY TALE OF ANCIENT EGYPT

Commentary by RUNOKO RASHIDI

In the late 1980s I was approached by W. Paul Coates (one of my favorite people) from Black Classic Press (my favorite publishing house) to write a commentary for a reprint of The Tale of the Two Brothers--an Egyptian fairy tale reputed to be the oldest in the world.  Naturally, I was delighted by the request.  I love to write and thrilled at any effort to bring to light the glory and the wonder of ancient Africa.  The following brief commentary, reprinted from the text, with only a few minor variations, is the result.

Although it was the African Sudan, by which we mean the highly esteemed Ethiopia ("land of the burnt-faced people") of ancient times, that gave birth to the oldest civilization of which we are informed (Ta-Seti), it is in Egypt, the greatest nation of antiquity and Ethiopia's noble offspring, that the bulk of the historical research has been done.  For the time being at least, Egypt continues to be the focal point of much of our African-centered researches, and will seemingly be the object of much of our studies for a long time to come.  The world is fascinated by Egypt.  And why should this not be the case?  Egypt's list of accomplishments is long and noteworthy, and includes, in addition to multitudinous, massive, and precise ancient construction projects, an extremely impressive and diverse array of literary works.

Egypt's most profound literary traditions, which can be traced back into remote antiquity, flowered mightily in the glory years of the Twelfth Dynasty (1955-1750 B.C.E.), and probably reached their zenith in the Nineteenth Dynasty (1320-1200 B.C.E.).  The Nineteenth Dynasty, from which the The Tale of the Two Brothers emerged most distinctly, was an especially pivotal era in African history.  Egypt had suffered dreadfully from a prolonged period of internal crisis. Akhenaten's religious revolution decades earlier had had a highly polarizing effect on Egypt, and a tremendous power struggle had ensued with the monarchy on one side and the well-organized priesthood on the other.  The territorial gains won by the Eighteenth Dynasty warrior-kings had been eroded.  The nation's military prestige had become badly tarnished. Foreign influences were accelerating rapidly, and the enemies of Egypt did not allow her precarious situation to go unnoticed.  These enemy forces, including a large number of West Asian and European tribes, began a series of steady assaults upon Egypt which ultimately hastened her decline.  Great warrior-kings like Seti I, Ramses II, and Merneptah, however, gave Egypt a period of respite, and once again the Black City of Africa rose to the forefront of the world's leading superpowers.

Egypt was perhaps the earliest nation to clearly articulate the purely African concepts of resurrection and immortality.  The Tale of the Two Brothers excellently personifies these very themes. There was no real death in the African way of thinking; only gradual decay and periodic renewal.  As one writer succinctly stated, within the context of Egypt, "If Osiris, the Nile, and all vegetation, might rise again, so might man."  Man could rise, as demonstrated by our hero Batau in The Tale of the Two Brothers, but only if he made God's words (Maat), the moral law of the universe, manifest on earth.  This was central to the Africa psyche.  The words of God: truth, justice, balance, order, harmony, righteousness, and balance, are also prominently displayed in Batau's ability to transcend his humble peasant status to that of even a mighty Egyptian king.  God's words (Maat) must prevail over all injustice in all of its diverse forms.  These themes are essential to any understanding of our fairy tale.  The African masses understood them and so must we.

The challenge to the African world to reclaim Egypt must be seen as an integral part of the Black liberation movement.  Egypt was the heart and soul of Africa and we only need glance at her regal splendor to measure our true fall from power.  When we examine Egyptian civilization, we note what is perhaps the proudest achievement in the whole of human annals.  We must see in Egypt the knowledge that what African people did, African people can do.  In this sense, the great deeds of our illustrious Ancestors are resurrected, and ancient history merges with both what is and what will be, and lays the basis for future development.

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Revised: November 15, 2000.
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