Page:Books on Egypt and Chaldaea, Vol. 32--Legends of the Gods.pdf/62

 As a further protection against them Rā promised to impart to magicians and snake-charmers the particular word of power, ḥekau  guarded himself against the attacks of serpents, and also to transmit it to his son Osiris. Thus those who are ready to listen to the formulae of the snake-charmers shall always be immune from the bites of serpents, and their children also. From this we may gather that the profession of the snake-charmer is very ancient, and that this class of magicians were supposed to owe the foundation of their craft to a decree of Rā himself.

Rā next sent for the god Thoth, and when he came into the presence of Rā, he invited him to go with him to a distance, to a place called “Ṭuat,” i.e., hell, or the Other World, in which region he had determined to make his light to shine. When they arrived there he told Thoth, the Scribe of Truth, to write down on his tablets the names of all who were therein, and to punish those among them who had sinned against him, and he deputed to Thoth the power to deal absolutely as he pleased with all the beings in the Ṭuat. Rā loathed the wicked, and wished them to be kept at a distance from him. Thoth was to be his vicar, to fill his place, and “Place of Rā,"  was to be his name. He gave him power to send out a messenger (kȧb), so the Ibis (habi) came into being. All that Thoth would do would be good (khen), therefore the 