Ubaoner
Encyclopedia
Ubaoner is the name of a fictitious
ancient Egypt
ian magician appearing in the second chapter of a story told in the legendary Westcar Papyrus
. He is said to have worked wonders
during the reign of king (pharaoh
) Nebka (3rd dynasty
).
evidence that he existed. Nevertheless he is an object of great interest for Egyptologists, since his magical trick is connected to later cultural perceptions of the personality of king Nebka. In the story, Ubaoner is described as a high lector priest.
and sends him expensive clothes and other material. The commoner comes to visit Ubaoner's wife and says to her: “Isn't there a pavilion
at the lake?” The wife says: “See, let's spend some time in there.” She calls for Ubaoner's caretaker
and orders him: “Prepare the pavilion with all good things.” And so Ubaoner's wife and the commoner spend their time in the pavilion drinking together, until they were finished. Later that evening the commoner is picked up by his maidservant, who was waiting at the lake. Ubaoner's caretaker was waiting there, too and he says: “I will go to Ubaoner.” Two days later the caretaker tells everything to Ubaoner and makes the comment: “See, it was your wife who spent a day in your pavilion; she was together with that commoner you know. It was adultery
what he did, two times, at your lake.” Thereupon, Ubaoner says to the caretaker: “Bring me a pair of [...] made of ebony
and dja'am
. I will create [...] and send it as a harbinger.” He creates a small figurine of wax
in the shape of a crocodile
with a length of seven fingers. He bewitches the figurine and gives it to his caretaker with the words: “When he comes to purify himself in the lake, this commoner, then you may throw this crocodile made of wax after him.” The caretaker does as ordered and waits until the next day. The next morning Ubaoner's wife orders the caretaker: “Let the pavilion at the lake be prepared, for I will sit in it.” Thereupon she spends the whole day in the pavilion together with the commoner. Later that evening the commoner leaves the pavilion to take a bath in the lake. The caretaker quickly throws the wax figurine after the stranger and when the idol touches the water it becomes a real, living crocodile 3.70m in length. The animal devours the commoner and disappears in the depths of the lake for seven days. During these seven days Ubaoner is received by pharaoh Nebka for an important audience. After the audience Ubaoner invites Nebka to visit his house with the words: “May thy majesty proceed and see the wonder that has happened in the time of thy majesty [...] a commoner.”. Nebka and Ubaoner walk to the lake where Ubaoner orders the crocodile to come out of the water and to release the commoner. When king Nebka sees that he says: “This crocodile is dangerous!” But Ubaoner bends down and touches the crocodile and immediately it becomes a figurine of wax again. Then Ubaoner gives a report to Nebka about the affairs. Nebka tells the crocodile: “Take away what is yours!” and the animal grabs the commoner and then disappears. The wife of Ubaoner is brought to Nebka, too and the pharaoh sentence her to death. She is brought to a place east of the palace and burnt alive. Her ash is thrown into the Nile
.
and Kurt Heinrich Sethe
once considered the stories of Papyrus Westcar as mere folklore
. They saw literary figures like Djadjaemankh
and the other heroes of the Westcar Papyrus as a pure fiction, created only for entertainment, since there is no archeological evidence of them.
Modern Egyptologists like Verena Lepper and Miriam Lichtheim
deny this view and argue, that Sethe and Erman may have just failed to see the profundity of such novels. They hold that the story of Ubaoner describes a classical case of adultery
through the wife and a typical sort of punishment for that during the Old Kingdom (in this case it is the death penalty). Furthermore it throws a positive light on the personality of king Nebka. The king is depicted as a strict but lawful judge
: He punishes mischief and unethical
behavior, in this case the betrayal of Ubaoner's wife. Additionally, Lepper and Lichtheim point to multiple similar but somewhat later ancient Egyptian writings in which magicians perform very similar magic tricks. According to the Egyptologists, their stories are obviously inspired by the tale of Ubaoner. And since they show the same manner of speaking and equal picking up of quaint phrases as the Westcar Papyrus does, Lepper and Lichtheim hold that Ubaoner (and the other wise men from the same papyrus) must have been known to Egyptian authors for a long time.
Fiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
ian magician appearing in the second chapter of a story told in the legendary Westcar Papyrus
Westcar Papyrus
The Westcar Papyrus is an ancient Egyptian text containing five stories about miracles performed by priests and magicians. Each of these tales are being told at the royal court of the King Cheops by his sons...
. He is said to have worked wonders
Miracle
A miracle often denotes an event attributed to divine intervention. Alternatively, it may be an event attributed to a miracle worker, saint, or religious leader. A miracle is sometimes thought of as a perceptible interruption of the laws of nature. Others suggest that a god may work with the laws...
during the reign of king (pharaoh
Pharaoh
Pharaoh is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods. The title originates in the term "pr-aa" which means "great house" and describes the royal palace...
) Nebka (3rd dynasty
Third dynasty of Egypt
For the Sumerian Renaissance, see Third Dynasty of Ur.The Third Dynasty of ancient Egypt is the first dynasty of the Old Kingdom. Other dynasties of the Old Kingdom include the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth...
).
The literary person
Ubaoner appears only in the second story of the Westcar Papyrus – there is no archeological or historicalHistory
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
evidence that he existed. Nevertheless he is an object of great interest for Egyptologists, since his magical trick is connected to later cultural perceptions of the personality of king Nebka. In the story, Ubaoner is described as a high lector priest.
The wonder of Ubaoner
According to the Westcar Papyrus, Ubaoner is betrayed by his own wife several times. She secretly loves a commoner who resides at MemphisMemphis, Egypt
Memphis was the ancient capital of Aneb-Hetch, the first nome of Lower Egypt. Its ruins are located near the town of Helwan, south of Cairo.According to legend related by Manetho, the city was founded by the pharaoh Menes around 3000 BC. Capital of Egypt during the Old Kingdom, it remained an...
and sends him expensive clothes and other material. The commoner comes to visit Ubaoner's wife and says to her: “Isn't there a pavilion
Pavilion
In architecture a pavilion has two main meanings.-Free-standing structure:Pavilion may refer to a free-standing structure sited a short distance from a main residence, whose architecture makes it an object of pleasure. Large or small, there is usually a connection with relaxation and pleasure in...
at the lake?” The wife says: “See, let's spend some time in there.” She calls for Ubaoner's caretaker
Property caretaker
A Property caretaker is a person, group or organization that cares for real estate for trade or financial compensation, and sometimes as a barter for rent-free living accommodations...
and orders him: “Prepare the pavilion with all good things.” And so Ubaoner's wife and the commoner spend their time in the pavilion drinking together, until they were finished. Later that evening the commoner is picked up by his maidservant, who was waiting at the lake. Ubaoner's caretaker was waiting there, too and he says: “I will go to Ubaoner.” Two days later the caretaker tells everything to Ubaoner and makes the comment: “See, it was your wife who spent a day in your pavilion; she was together with that commoner you know. It was adultery
Adultery
Adultery is sexual infidelity to one's spouse, and is a form of extramarital sex. It originally referred only to sex between a woman who was married and a person other than her spouse. Even in cases of separation from one's spouse, an extramarital affair is still considered adultery.Adultery is...
what he did, two times, at your lake.” Thereupon, Ubaoner says to the caretaker: “Bring me a pair of [...] made of ebony
Ebony
Ebony is a dense black wood, most commonly yielded by several species in the genus Diospyros, but ebony may also refer to other heavy, black woods from unrelated species. Ebony is dense enough to sink in water. Its fine texture, and very smooth finish when polished, make it valuable as an...
and dja'am
Electrum
Electrum is a naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver, with trace amounts of copper and other metals. It has also been produced artificially. The ancient Greeks called it 'gold' or 'white gold', as opposed to 'refined gold'. Its color ranges from pale to bright yellow, depending on the...
. I will create [...] and send it as a harbinger.” He creates a small figurine of wax
Wax
thumb|right|[[Cetyl palmitate]], a typical wax ester.Wax refers to a class of chemical compounds that are plastic near ambient temperatures. Characteristically, they melt above 45 °C to give a low viscosity liquid. Waxes are insoluble in water but soluble in organic, nonpolar solvents...
in the shape of a crocodile
Nile crocodile
The Nile crocodile or Common crocodile is an African crocodile which is common in Somalia, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Egypt, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Gabon, South Africa, Malawi, Sudan, Botswana, and Cameroon...
with a length of seven fingers. He bewitches the figurine and gives it to his caretaker with the words: “When he comes to purify himself in the lake, this commoner, then you may throw this crocodile made of wax after him.” The caretaker does as ordered and waits until the next day. The next morning Ubaoner's wife orders the caretaker: “Let the pavilion at the lake be prepared, for I will sit in it.” Thereupon she spends the whole day in the pavilion together with the commoner. Later that evening the commoner leaves the pavilion to take a bath in the lake. The caretaker quickly throws the wax figurine after the stranger and when the idol touches the water it becomes a real, living crocodile 3.70m in length. The animal devours the commoner and disappears in the depths of the lake for seven days. During these seven days Ubaoner is received by pharaoh Nebka for an important audience. After the audience Ubaoner invites Nebka to visit his house with the words: “May thy majesty proceed and see the wonder that has happened in the time of thy majesty [...] a commoner.”. Nebka and Ubaoner walk to the lake where Ubaoner orders the crocodile to come out of the water and to release the commoner. When king Nebka sees that he says: “This crocodile is dangerous!” But Ubaoner bends down and touches the crocodile and immediately it becomes a figurine of wax again. Then Ubaoner gives a report to Nebka about the affairs. Nebka tells the crocodile: “Take away what is yours!” and the animal grabs the commoner and then disappears. The wife of Ubaoner is brought to Nebka, too and the pharaoh sentence her to death. She is brought to a place east of the palace and burnt alive. Her ash is thrown into the Nile
Nile
The Nile is a major north-flowing river in North Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world. It is long. It runs through the ten countries of Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Egypt.The Nile has two major...
.
Modern analysis
Adolf ErmanAdolf Erman
Johann Peter Adolf Erman was a renowned Egyptologist and lexicographer.-Life:Born in Berlin, he was the son of Georg Adolf Erman and grandson of Paul Erman....
and Kurt Heinrich Sethe
Kurt Heinrich Sethe
Kurt Heinrich Sethe was a noted German Egyptologist and philologist from Berlin. He was a student of Adolf Erman...
once considered the stories of Papyrus Westcar as mere folklore
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
. They saw literary figures like Djadjaemankh
Djadjaemankh
Djadjaemankh is the name of a fictitious ancient Egyptian magician appearing in the third chapter of a story told in the legendary Westcar Papyrus. He is said to have worked wonders during the reign of king Sneferu ....
and the other heroes of the Westcar Papyrus as a pure fiction, created only for entertainment, since there is no archeological evidence of them.
Modern Egyptologists like Verena Lepper and Miriam Lichtheim
Miriam Lichtheim
Miriam Lichtheim was a translator of ancient Egyptian texts whose translations are still widely used.-Biography:In the 1930s she studied under Hans Jakob Polotsky at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem...
deny this view and argue, that Sethe and Erman may have just failed to see the profundity of such novels. They hold that the story of Ubaoner describes a classical case of adultery
Adultery
Adultery is sexual infidelity to one's spouse, and is a form of extramarital sex. It originally referred only to sex between a woman who was married and a person other than her spouse. Even in cases of separation from one's spouse, an extramarital affair is still considered adultery.Adultery is...
through the wife and a typical sort of punishment for that during the Old Kingdom (in this case it is the death penalty). Furthermore it throws a positive light on the personality of king Nebka. The king is depicted as a strict but lawful judge
Judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
: He punishes mischief and unethical
Ethics
Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...
behavior, in this case the betrayal of Ubaoner's wife. Additionally, Lepper and Lichtheim point to multiple similar but somewhat later ancient Egyptian writings in which magicians perform very similar magic tricks. According to the Egyptologists, their stories are obviously inspired by the tale of Ubaoner. And since they show the same manner of speaking and equal picking up of quaint phrases as the Westcar Papyrus does, Lepper and Lichtheim hold that Ubaoner (and the other wise men from the same papyrus) must have been known to Egyptian authors for a long time.