Isis and the Seven Scorpions
Also known as: Isis and the Scorpions, Isis, Tefen, and the Child, The Tale of the Seven Scorpions
Isis, traveling with the infant Horus and seven scorpion guardians, is refused shelter by a wealthy woman but welcomed by a poor one. When the scorpions avenge the slight by stinging the rich woman’s child, Isis recites a powerful spell to withdraw the venom and restores the child, prompting restitution to the poor hostess.
Description
This brief narrative, preserved most prominently on Late Period healing stelae (Horus cippi), frames a protective spell through a moralized episode from Isis’s wanderings. The seven scorpions—Tefen, Befen, Mestet, Mestetef, Petet, Tjetet, and Matet—escort the goddess as she seeks refuge with the infant Horus. A wealthy lady turns her away; a poor marsh-dweller offers hospitality. In anger the scorpions pool their venom into Tefen, who stings the wealthy woman’s child. Isis then speaks a performative incantation, commanding the poison to return and declaring the divine names and circumstances of the sting. The child revives, and the wealthy woman brings her goods as reparations to the poor hostess. The tale functions as an etiological and ritual text: when water is poured over the inscribed scene and words and then drunk or applied, it serves as a cure for bites and stings, modeling Isis’s compassionate power.
Historiography
The narrative is embedded in magical-ritual inscriptions on Horus cippi, especially the Metternich Stela (Nectanebo II, 4th century BCE). Such stelae combine images of Horus triumphing over dangerous animals with extensive hieroglyphic texts of spells against venom. Recitation of the story, often with libation over the inscribed surface, enacted the myth to neutralize poison. Later copies and variants appear across the Late and Ptolemaic periods, showing standardization of the seven scorpions’ names and the therapeutic rubric.
Date Notes
Best-known version inscribed on the Metternich Stela under Nectanebo II (30th Dynasty); narrative likely older within Isis-Horus cycle.
Symbols
Major Characters
- Isis
- Seven Scorpions
- Rich Woman
- Poor Woman
- Rich Woman’s Child
Myths
- Isis’ Journey with the Scorpions
- The Stung Child and the Refused Shelter
- Isis’ Healing Spell
Facts
- The seven scorpions are traditionally named Tefen, Befen, Mestet, Mestetef, Petet, Tjetet, and Matet.
- The tale is inscribed on Horus cippi, magical healing stelae used against bites and stings.
- Water libated over the inscribed text and image was administered as the curative medium.
- The Metternich Stela (under Nectanebo II) preserves a full version with ritual rubrics.
- The episode situates Isis’s wanderings while protecting the infant Horus from Set.
- The narrative enacts performative speech: Isis commands the venom to return to its source.
- The story models ethical hospitality: a poor hostess is rewarded while arrogance is rebuked.
- Serqet, a scorpion-goddess, is thematically associated though not central in the plot.
- Horus cippi combine text with image of child Horus standing on crocodiles, overpowering dangers.
- Variants and abridgments occur across Late Period and Ptolemaic magical corpora.