I am he who donned the white and bright fringed cloak of Nun which is on his breast, which gives light in darkness, which unites the two companion-goddesses who are in my body by means of the great magic which is on my mouth. My fallen enemy who was with me in the valley of Abydos will not be raised up, and I am content. The remembrance of him is mine, I have taken authority in my city, for I found him in it, I have brought darkness by means of my power, I have rescued the Eye from its non-existence before the festival of the fifteenth day had come, I have separated Seth from the houses of the Above because of the Elder who was with him, I equipped Thoth in the Mansion of the Moon before the festival of the fifteenth day had come, I have taken possession of the Wereret-crown, and right is in my body, also the turquoise and faience of its monthly festival, and my field of lapis-lazuli is there on my river-bank. I am the Woman who lightens darkness, I have come to lighten the darkness, and it is bright. I have lightened the darkness, I have felled the evil spirits, those who were in darkness have given praise to me, I have made the mourners whose faces were hidden to stand up, even though they were languid when they saw me. As for you, I am the Woman of whom I do not permit you to hear.

Re ruled the world as king of men and gods only while he was in full possession of his powers. However, at last the time came when the god-king began to grow old: according to Egyptian legend, ‘his bones were silver, his flesh was gold and his hair was real lapislazuli’ – the Egyptian way of describing old age. And his subjects became rebellious. Chief among these rebellious subjects was the goddess Isis. She, like Re, was omniscient. She was also, according to legend, ‘a woman skilled in words’, a great magician. Her ambition was to reign like Re in heaven and earth. But the only way she could achieve her ambition was by learning the Great Name of Re, his secret name. The way in which she did this is recounted in two papyri, one of which is now in the British Museum and the other in the Turin Museum.

Re had many names, but his Great Name was the one which gave him power over gods and men. It had remained hidden in his body since his birth so that no magician might gain power over him. Isis plotted in her heart the means by which she could learn it. Because Re had grown old, he was inclined to slobber at the mouth and shoot his spittle onto the ground. Isis took some of this spittle, kneaded it with soil and made it into a serpent in the form of a dart, which she laid on the path where Re was accustomed to stroll every day. When Re, accompanied by his retinue of gods, passed by the dart it took shape as a serpent from which issued a living fire. The serpent stung Re. The god opened his mouth and his cry of pain echoed round the sky. His companions rushed up to him, exclaiming, ‘What is the matter?’; gods everywhere asked, ‘What has happened?’