nubie.gif (63902 bytes)                                  Thomas Schneider

University of Swansea


'She was not of the appearance of human beings!' Conjectures about the herdsman's dangerous encounter.

The tale of the herdsman, a short Egyptian literary text from the Middle

Kingdom, is among the many Egyptian tales which still defy interpretation. A

herdsman has a frightening encounter with a female creature in the marshes,

possibly a goddess. The identity of the creature (a goddess? a woman?), her

appearance (a naked woman? a beast?), the reason for his fear, his actions

and his decision to face her again have all produced a range a diverging

opinions. This paper tries to provide clues to understanding the

protagonists' roles and to embedding it in a mythological and folkloristic

context.

 

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