An interesting character
named Sesostris made an appearance in the work of Herodotus (490-425/420 BCE), who
is considered to be the father of the history genre and profession. Even though
Herodotus was a historian, his work was thoroughly laced with folklore and
mythology, and he often made no attempt to separate sober fact from theatrical
embellishment. As such, fair warning is in order—this article is not about what
actually occurred in ancient Egypt. Instead, this article takes a look at the
bizarre piece of folklore that Herodotus recorded about the semi-mythical pharaoh,
Sesostris.
Modern historians think that
Herodotus’ Sesostris was an exaggerated character that combined, under one name,
the feats of several historical Twelfth Dynasty (roughly 20th-18th century BCE)
pharaohs of Egypt, particularly Senusret (or Senwosret) I and II, as well as
Ramses II. Herodotus, or the sources he drew upon, collected the
accomplishments of theses pharaohs under the broad character of Sesostris,
claiming that this mythical man was an expansionist king who successfully
conquered lands from Ethiopia in the south, to the borderlands of the Thracian
and Scythian territory in the north.
The most shocking story about
Sesostris came after Herodotus finished recording the conquests of this
fictitious king. As the tale goes, Sesostris was returning to Egypt after years
of continuous war. He was met by his brother at the edge of the Nile Delta, at
a place called Daphne, near the city of Pelusium. This brother hosted a banquet
for Sesostris, and also invited Sesostris’ wife, as well as two of the
pharaoh’s six sons, to attend the event. This brother, however, was not looking
to celebrate—he had tasted power as the governor of Egypt while the pharaoh was
away, and did not want to relinquish control back to Sesostris. Therefore, the
brother had firewood piled around the venue where the banquet was being hosted
and set fire to the place while Sesostris was inside.
Sesostris had not expected
such treachery from his brother and soon found himself surrounded by a wall of flames.
With the flames closing in, Sesostris’ wife proposed an unthinkable solution.
She calmly explained that she and Sesostris could easily escape the moat of
fire by simply using their two sons who were present at the banquet as a bridge
over the deadly heat. Sesostris was apparently willing to sacrifice his
children to save himself and his wife. According to the grim tale, the royal
couple nonchalantly used the bodies of their sons as a way to escape the trap,
leaving the two princes to burn to death in the fire.
Written by C. Keith Hansley.
Top picture attribution: (Pyramids of Giza and circular flames, both [Public
Domain] via Pixabay.com).
- From The Histories by Herodotus (Book II), translated by Aubrey De Sélincourt and revised by John Marincola (Penguin Classics, 2002).
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