Egyptian Mythology Essay

Egyptian Mythology Essay Egyptian Mythology Essay The Princess of Bekhten The Preface In the reign of Rameses III, a large temple was built at Thebes in honor of the Moon-god Khonsu. According to a tradition which his priests in later times inscribed on a stone stelae, the fame of his Theban representative was so widespread that it reached a remote country called Bekhten. A king of Egypt (probably Rameses III) was in the country of Nehern (a portion of Western Syria near the Euphrates), collecting tribute according to an annual custom, when the prince of Bekhten came with the other chiefs to salute his majesty and to bring a gift. The other chiefs brought gold, and lapis-lazuli, and turquoise, and precious woods, but the prince of Bekhten brought with his offerings his eldest daughter, who was exceedingly beautiful; the king accepted the maiden, and took her to Egypt, where he made her the chief royal wife and gave her the name of Ra-neferu i.e., the "beauties of Ra", the Sun-god. Some time after, in the fifteenth year of the reign of the king of Egypt, the prince of Bekhten appeared in Thebes on the 22nd day of the second month of summer, and when he had been led into the presence he laid his offering at the feet of the king, and did homage to him. As soon as he had the opportunity he explained the object of his visit to Egypt, and said that he had come on behalf of the young sister of Queen Ra-neferu, who was grievously sick, and he begged the king to send a physician to see his daughter Bent-Reshet, or Bent-enth-reshet. Thereupon the king summoned into his presence all the learned men of his court, and called upon them to choose from among their number a skilled physician that he might go to Bekhten and heal the Queen's young sister; the royal scribe Tehuti-em-beb was recommended for this purpose, and the king at once sent him off with the envoy from Bekhten to that country. In due course he arrived there and found that the princess of Bekhten was under the influence of some evil spirit, which he was powerless either to exorcise or to contend with in any way successfully. When the king of Bekhten saw that his daughter was in no way benefited by the Egyptian scribe, he dispatched his envoy a second time to Egypt with the petition that the king would send a god to heal his daughter, and the envoy arrived in Thebes at the time when the king was celebrating the festival of Amon. As soon as the king, had heard what was wanted he went into the temple of Khonsu Nefer-hetep, and said to the god, "0 my fair Lord, I have come once again into thy presence [to entreat] thee on behalf of the daughter of the Prince of Bekhten"; and he entreated him to allow the god Khonsu to go to Bekhten, and said, "Grant that thy magical (or saving) power may go with him, and let me send his divine Majesty into Bekhten to deliver the daughter of the Prince of that land from the power of the demon." "Bent-reshet was possessed of an evil spirit..." The king of Egypt dispatched Khonsu to Bekhten, where the god arrived after a journey of seventeen months. As soon as he had been welcomed to the

Wallace v. Jaffree - School Prayer Silent Meditation

Wallace v. Jaffree - School Prayer Silent Meditation Can public schools endorse or encourage prayer if they do so in the context of endorsing and encouraging silent meditation as well? Some Christians thought this would be a good way to smuggle official prayers back into the school day, but courts rejected their arguments and the Supreme Court found the practice unconstitutional. According to the court, such laws have a religious rather than a secular purpose, though all the justices had different opinions as to why exactly the law was invalid.​ Fast Facts: Wallace v. Jaffree Case Argued: Dec. 4, 1984Decision Issued: June 4, 1985Petitioner: George Wallace, Governor of AlabamaRespondent: Ishmael Jaffree, a parent of three students who attended school in the  Mobile County Public School SystemKey Questions: Did Alabama law violate the First Amendments Establishment Clause in endorsing or encouraging prayer in schools if it did so in the context of endorsing and encouraging silent meditation as well?Majority Decision: Justices Stevens, Brennan, Marshall, Blackmun, Powell, OConnorDissenting: Justices Rehnquist, Burger, WhiteRuling: The Supreme Court ruled that an Alabama law providing for a moment of silence was unconstitutional and that Alabamas prayer and meditation statute was not only a deviation from the states duty to maintain absolute neutrality toward religion but was an affirmative endorsement of religion, violating the First Amendment. Background Information At issue was an Alabama law requiring that each school day to  begin with a one minute period of silent meditation or voluntary prayer (the original 1978 law read-only silent meditation, but the words or voluntary prayer were added in 1981). A students parent sued to allege that this law violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment because it forced students to pray and basically exposed them to religious indoctrination. The District Court permitted the prayers to continue, but the Court of Appeals ruled that they were unconstitutional, so the state appealed to the Supreme Court. Court Decision With Justice Stevens writing the majority opinion, the Court decided 6-3 that the Alabama law providing for a moment of silence was unconstitutional. The important issue was whether the law was instituted for a religious purpose. Because the only evidence in the record indicated that the words or prayer had been added to the existing statute by amendment for the sole purpose of returning voluntary prayer to the public schools, the Court found that the first prong of the Lemon Test had been violated, i.e., that the statute was invalid as being entirely motivated by a purpose of advancing religion. In Justice OConnors concurring opinion, she refined the endorsement test which she first described in: The endorsement test does not preclude government from acknowledging religion or from taking religion into account in making law and policy. It does preclude government from conveying or attempting to convey a message that religion or a particular religious belief is favored or preferred. Such an endorsement infringes the religious liberty of the nonadherent, for [w]hen the power, prestige and financial support of government is placed behind a particular religious belief, the indirect coercive pressure upon religious minorities to conform to the prevailing officially approved religion is plain.At issue today is whether state moment of silence statutes in general, and Alabamas moment of silence statute in particular, embody an impermissible endorsement of prayer in public schools. [emphasis added] This fact was clear because Alabama already had a law that allowed school days to begin with a moment for silent meditation. The newer law was expanded the existing law by giving it a religious purpose. The Court characterized this legislative attempt to return prayer to the public schools as quite different from merely protecting every students right to engage in voluntary prayer during an appropriate moment of silence during the school day. Significance This decision emphasized the scrutiny the Supreme Court uses when evaluating the constitutionality of government actions. Rather than accept the argument that the inclusion of or voluntary prayer was a minor addition with little practical significance, the intentions of the legislature that passed it was enough to demonstrate its unconstitutionality. One important aspect to this case is that the authors of the majority opinion, two concurring opinions, and all three dissents agreed that a minute of silence at the beginning of each school day would be acceptable. Justice OConnors concurring opinion is notable for its effort to synthesize and refine the Courts Establishment and Free Exercise tests (see also Justices concurring opinion in ). It was here that she first articulated her reasonable observer test: The relevant issue is whether an objective observer, acquainted with the text, legislative history, and implementation of the statute, would perceive it is a state endorsement... Also notable is Justice Rehnquists dissent for its effort to redirect Establishment Clause analysis by abandoning the tripartite test, discarding any requirement that government is neutral between religion and irreligion, and confining the scope to a prohibition on establishing a national church or otherwise favoring one religious group over another. Many conservative Christians today insist that the First Amendment only prohibits the establishment of a national church and Rehnquist clearly bought into that propaganda, but the rest of the court disagreed.