| Predynastic period | Early Dynastic | Old Kingdom | First Intermediate | Middle Kingdom | Second Intermediate | New Kingdom | Third Intermediate | Late period | Graeco-Roman period |
| Predynastic period | Early Dynastic | Old Kingdom | First Intermediate | Middle Kingdom | Second Intermediate | New Kingdom | Third Intermediate | Late period | Graeco-Roman period |
Khufu and the Magicians is an ancient tale which appears in theWestcar papyrus which was written some 500 after the events (during the Second Intermediate Period). It is probably an ancient example of propaganda, written to legitimise to the early kings of the Fifth Dynasty. So, it is tempting to assume that the story ends with the pharaoh giving his blessing to the children, and so preserving Ma´at. Some commentators have suggested that the poor handwriting and high numbers of mistakes in the text suggest that the papyrus was a copy done by a student as part of his studies.
Prince Hordedef told Khufu of a great magician called Djed-djedi who lived Djed-djed-Sneferu. He was a common man, unknown to the pharaoh or the court. He was one hundred and ten years old but ate five hundred loaves of bread, a haunch of ox and one hundred jugs of beer every day. He had the power to reattach a severed head and knew the number of secret chambers in the temple of Thoth. The pharaoh wanted to replicate the secret rooms in his own tomb so he ordered his son to bring the magician to him.
When the magician arrived, Khufu ordered a prisoner brought in. He planned to execute him so that the magician could prove his skills and reattach his head. Djed-djedi's begged the king not to sacrifce a human, and instead he performed his magic on a goose. The body of the goose was placed on the west side of the courtyard and its head was placed on the east side. Djed-djedi recited a spell and the body and the head began to move towards each other. The head reattached itslef to the body when they met and the goose ran off. The trick was repeated with another goose and then an ox and then the magician finished by taming a wild lion and making it walk meekly behind him.
Khufu was impressed and now believed that the magician could help him. He ordered him to tell everything he knew, but the magician claimed that he only knew the location of the information. He also claimed that the information (which was hidden in a flint chest labelled "Inspection" in a tomb in Heliopolis) could only be brought to him by the eldest of a set of triplets who had not yet been born.
The triplets were the sons of Raddjedet, who was married to a wab priest of Ra, and they were destined to inherit the throne of Egypt. The pharaoh was understandably unhappy to hear this news, but the magician reassured him that his own son would succeed him and his grandson would also rule before the children of Raddjedet inherited the throne.Djed-djedi told the pharaoh that the children would be born on the 15th day of the first month of winter. The king said that he would have visited the temple of Ra at that time, but that banks of the canal would be dry, making this difficult. Djed-djedi promised to make the river swell to allow him to cross.
When the time came, Raddjedet was having a difficult labour. Ra sent for Isis, Nephthys, Meskhenet, Heqet and Khnum to help her.He promised the gods that the children would become kings and build temples in their honour.
The goddesses disguised themselves as a troop of travelling musicians and dancers, with Khnum as their porter and travelled to the woman’s house. They entered the birthing room and sealed the doors. Then Isis stood in front of Raddjedet, Nephthys stood behind her and Heqet brought on the birth. Isis said "Don´t be strong in her belly, you whose name is Strength" and the first child was born. His limbs were of gold and his royal head cloth of precious lapis lazuli. Meskhenet pronounced that the child was a future king and Khnum gave him good health.
Isis spoke again, "Don´t walk in her belly, you whose name is Feet of Ra" and the second child was born . His limbs were of gold and his royal head cloth of lapis. They washed him and cut his cord. Meskhenet pronounced that the child was a future king and Khnum gave him good health.
Isis spoke again, " Don´t be darkness in her belly, you whose name is called Dark" and the third child was born . His limbs were of gold and his royal head cloth of lapis. They washed him and cut his cord. Meskhenet pronounced that the child was a future king and Khnum gave him good health.
The father, Rawoser, rewarded them with a large sack of barley. Isis suggested that they form three crowns, place them in the sack and return it to the triplets. They put on disguises and created a rainstorm, then they asked Rawoser to keep it out of the rain until they retured and then left.
After a fortnight, Raddjedet was in good health and looking to set her house in order. She discovered that they had no beer, and the only grain left was the sack left by the "dancers". She knew her husband would replace the grain, so she decided to use it. When her maid went into the room where the sack was stored she heard dancing, singing and shouting and people praising a king. She ran out of the room and reported this to her mistress, but when Raddjedet investigated the room she found that the noise was coming fom the sack. She put it in a box and then put that box in another box before sealing it with a thick leather strap.
When Rawoser returned from the fields, she told him what had happened and they celebrated at the though that their children would be kings. However, some time later Raddjedet had an argument with the maid and hit her. The maid decided to get her revenge by telling Raddjedet´s brother. Of course saying that your children were to become kings was tantamount to treason and the brother beat up the maid for making such an acusation. The poor maid went to the river to clean her wounds and was attacked by a crocodile!
Meanwhile, Raddjedet was feeling guilty about the argument and went out to look for the maid. She met her brother and he told her that he hat struck the girl and that she had been taken by a crocodile.
Unfortunately, the papyrus is incomplete and so the story ends here. Khufu was succeeded by his son Djedefre and then his grandsons Khafre and his grandson Menkaura, but soon after came the end of the Fourth Dynasty. The first three kings of the Fifth Dynasty were Userkaf (Strength "his soul is powerful"), Sahura (the lnik to the Feet of Ra is unclear) and Neferirkara Kakai ('Dark' in Egyptian is Kki, so the name is a pun on the king's last name.)
