Throughout their journey through the United States Shadow and Wednesday encounter numerous persons who turn out to be the Old Gods of various cultures, who have arrived in America along with their worshippers in the past centuries. All of them are but a shadow of their former glory. At some point, Shadow and Wednesday arrive in the region known as Little Egypt in Illinois. There, they encounter Mr. Jacquel and Mr. Ibis, modern incarnations of the Egyptian gods Anubis and Thoth respectively, who run a funerary parlour along with Bast and Horus (who is said to have gone mad long ago). Mr. Ibis is portrayed as a highly eloquent person, who loves to write. The violent nature of Seth, the former companion of Jacquel and Ibis, is revealed through the fact that he is credited with creating a massive earthquake in San Francisco in 1906. A number of stereotypes is creatively played upon in this sequence: first of all ancient Egypt is strongly associated with death and funerary sphere, which is why her deities are portrayed here as running a funerary parlour, in which they do embalming, but not cremation. Second, the peculiar way of representing Egyptian gods as animals or animal-headed humans is alluded to by the appearance of some of the characters in purely animal form: dog (Mr. Jacquel), cat (Bast), and falcon (Horus). Third, the common association of ancient Egypt with the cats is alluded to through the character of Bast, while some specific myths (e.g. the secret name of Ra) are explicitly mentioned in the book. In general terms, Egyptian gods, just as deities from other cultures, serve the author to construct a complex meditation on the transitory nature of some customs and traditions as well as on our modern place in the world. An interesting sequence echoes also modern discussions about ancient Egypt’s place in the cultural history and her relation to Africa: on this occasion some other ancient lands associated with Egypt, such as Nubia, Ophir, and Punt are also mentioned.

Author: Filip Taterka