The Shipwrecked Sailor
An ancient Egyptian literary tale from the Middle Kingdom (c. 2000 BCE), the Shipwrecked Sailor tells of a sailor who survives a storm that sinks his ship, killing all his companions. He washes ashore on a magical island filled with food, fruit, and fish. After offering thanks to the gods, he hears a thunderous noise and a giant serpent appears, covered in gold and lapis lazuli, thirty cubits long. The serpent carries the sailor to his lair and questions him. The serpent reveals that the island is enchanted, and that he and his family (seventy-five serpents) once lived there until a falling st