Rhampsinit

Rhampsinit (also read as Rhampsinitos and Rhampsinitus, derived from Ῥαμψίνιτος; by Herodotus) is the hellenized name of a fictitious king (pharaoh) from Ancient Egypt. He is named by the ancient Greek historian Herodotus as a literary figure in his Historiae. There it is told that Rhampsinit was the predecessor of the legendary king Kheops. The first tale of Rhampsinit is about two thieves who rob the king until one of them dies. His brother tries to rescue the corpse and then manages to fool the king to avoid arrest. The second tale is about Rhampsinit's visit to Hades.

The stories of Rhampsinit are told in book 2 (chapter 121–124) and today known as Rhampsinit and the masterthief and Rhampsinit's visit to Hades. Herodotus starts the story in chapter 121 with a short introduction of the king: “After Proteus, they told me, Rhâmpsinitós received in succession the kingdom, who left as a memorial of himself that gateway to the temple of Hephaistos which is turned towards the West.” Then he tells the two tales of king Rhampsinit:

The king was obviously a well-behaved and gifted business-man, he had hoarded a great treasure of gold, silver and jewelry like never seen or heard about before. To hide and control his treasury the king orders his treasure keeper to build him a secure and well-guarded room, in which the king wishes to store his goods. But the treasure keeper secretly leaves one brick stone loose, so that it could be removed at any time. When on his deathbed, the treasure keeper tells his two sons about the loose stone. The brothers decide to sneak into the treasury house frequently and fill their pockets with loots.

After some time has passed, Rhampsinit becomes aware that his treasury is decreasing and he gets upset. No one can tell him who stole the goods. Mysteriously, the royal seals are still intact and the doors are well guarded as always. After the third incident the king decides to set traps in the room between the vessels. One night the brothers sneak into the treasury room and one of them gets snared in a hidden loop. Recognizing that he cannot escape anymore, he begs his own brother to decapitate him, so that no one could ever identify him. The brother does as wished and with the head of his kinsman he runs to his mother. Meanwhile, king Rhampsinit throws a tantrum when he discovers the body of the trapped thief without head. He orders the guardians to impale the body and display it in town at the enclosure wall of the palace. Anyone who would stop before the corpse in grief should be arrested at once. The mother of the thief urges her son to find a way to retrieve the body of his brother. Should he refuse, she would immediately go to the king and tell him the truth. The thief has no other choice than obey and so he creates a plan.

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