In the golden age of the New Kingdom, when the borders of Egypt stretched like the wings of a falcon across the sands of the Near East, the Pharaoh Ramses II sat upon his throne in the city of Thebes. The air of the palace was thick with the scent of lotus and the low hum of courtly business, yet a shadow loomed from the north. A messenger had arrived from the distant land of Bakhtan, a rugged territory far beyond the familiar banks of the Nile. The messenger brought word from the Prince of Bakhtan, whose daughter, the Princess Bentresh, had fallen into a mysterious and terrifying illness. This was no ordinary fever; the princess was possessed by a spirit that no physician in Bakhtan could name, let alone banish.
Bound by marriage and alliance—for the Pharaoh had taken a daughter of Bakhtan as his queen—the Egyptian monarch felt a duty to assist. He first dispatched a royal scribe and physician named Tehuti-em-heb to the distant land. The scribe was a man of great learning, versed in the secrets of the House of Life, but upon reaching Bakhtan, he found himself powerless. He recognized that the spirit inhabiting the princess was a 'khu,' a powerful and intelligent entity that mocked his herbs and incantations. The scribe returned to Egypt with a heavy heart, informing the Pharaoh that only a god could contest such a presence.
The Pharaoh, understanding the gravity of the situation, made his way to the great Temple Complex of Karnak. He walked through the towering pylons and the forest of columns in the Hypostyle Hall until he reached the Temple of Khonsu, the Moon God. Khonsu was the 'Traveler,' the one who crossed the night sky, but he was also known as the 'Healer' and the 'Provider.' In the inner sanctum, the Pharaoh stood before the statue of Khonsu Nefer-hotep, the primary form of the god in Thebes. The Pharaoh burned fine incense and offered libations of wine, praying for the god's intervention. He did not ask for the main deity to leave the city, for the moon must always remain in the sky to protect Egypt, but he petitioned for a specialized manifestation: Khonsu-pa-ir-sekher, the god who performs plans and drives out evil spirits.
In a moment of divine communion, Khonsu Nefer-hotep granted his 'sa'—his divine essence—to the traveling manifestation. This transfer of power was conducted with great ceremony, as the priests of Karnak watched the statues being positioned together. The smaller statue of Khonsu-pa-ir-sekher was then prepared for a journey that would take him thousands of miles from the familiar warmth of the Nile. It was placed upon a magnificent barque, which was then loaded onto a caravan of chariots and wagons, protected by a phalanx of Egyptian soldiers. This was not merely a diplomatic mission; it was the physical movement of a god across the earth.
The journey to Bakhtan lasted one year and five months. The caravan crossed the scorched deserts of the Sinai, passed through the bustling city-states of the Levant, and climbed into the high plateaus of the north. Everywhere the god passed, the people marveled at the silver-adorned shrine. The moon followed them every night, a constant reminder of the god's presence. When the procession finally reached the gates of Bakhtan, the Prince and his people fell prostrate before the Egyptian deity. They had never seen such a manifestation of power, and they led the priests and the statue directly to the chambers of the Princess Bentresh.
Inside the princess's room, the air was cold and stagnant. Bentresh lay thin and pale, her eyes darting with a light that was not her own. When the statue of Khonsu-pa-ir-sekher was brought before her, a voice that was not the princess's erupted from her throat. It was the spirit, recognizing the authority of the Traveler. 'You have come in peace, great god, driver-out of possessors!' the spirit cried out. 'Bakhtan is your city, its people are your servants, and I myself am your slave.' The spirit acknowledged that it could not withstand the presence of Khonsu, but it made a request: it asked for a great feast to be held in its honor before it departed for the afterworld.