LATE PERIOD, CIRCA 4TH CENTURY B.C.

The Bentresh stela from Karnak, now in the Louvre, was compiled in the 4th Century B.C. when the cult of the healing god Khonsu-pa-ir-sekher was strong, but attributed by the priests to a miracle which took place in the time of Ramesses II, some eight hundred years earlier. The document records how Ramesses fell in love with Bentresh, the daughter of the Prince of Bakhtan (Bactria?), who was possessed by an evil spirit. On his return to Egypt the pharaoh consulted Khonsu in Thebes Nefer-hotep. A manifestation of Khonsu, specialising in healing and driving out demons, namely a statue of Khonsu-pa-ir-sekher, was sent to Bakhtan, a journey which took seventeen months and which resulted in the cure of Bentresh. The Prince of Bakhtan kept the statue for three years and nine months until Khonsu as a golden falcon appeared in a dream persuading him to return the statue to Khonsu in Thebes Nefer-hotep, laden with treasure.